Chapter 4 Sections 1 and 2

The Nile and The Old Kingdom

Vocab Section 1

• Delta – fan shaped fertile area at the mouth of a river

• Cataracts – waterfalls

• Basins – bowl shaped holes that hold water

• Shadoof – a machine used by the ancient Egyptians to lift water from the Nile to the basins during the dry season

Vocab Section 2 • Narmer (Menes)- King of upper Egypt

• Old Kingdom – Period of Egyptian history that started about 2600 BC and lasted for nearly 500 years

• Pharaoh – “Great House” Egyptian Ruler

• Granaries – brick buildings used for storing grain

• Pyramids – “Houses of Eternity”, large Egyptian tombs

• Hapi – the river god

• Re- the sun god

• Osiris – god of harvest and eternal life

• “Book of the Dead”- the book the Egyptians studied to gain eternal life

• Embalming – preserving the bodies of the dead

• Mummy – wrapped body of a preserved dead person

1. Which direction does the Nile run?

• North

2. What protected the ancient Egyptians from foreign invasions?

• The Desert

• The Sea

• The Catartacts

3. Describe the farming process in ancient Egypt.

• The farmers would plant their crops while the

soil was still moist from the floods

• During the dry season the farmers would water their crops using the water from the irrigation basins

4. What did the ancient Egyptians grow?

• Flax

• Wheat

•Barley

•Grapes

5. How did Narmer unite the 2 kingdoms of Egypt?

• He conquered lower Egypt and married one of

its Princesses

6. What were cities used for during the Old Kingdom?

• Centers for religion and government

7. Where did the majority of Egyptians live during the Old Kingdom?

• On large estates on the banks of the Nile River

8. Compare how the wealthy lived with how the commoners lived in the

Old Kingdom. The Wealthy

• lived in large brick and wooden houses with beautiful gardens and pools

• Colorful decorations

• The household consisted on the owners family, servants, and artisans

The Commoners

• Most were farmers

• They lived in villages on the estates of the wealthy

• Houses were made out of reeds and mud with palm leaf roofs, eventually they began to use sundried brick

• Built on high ground to be protected from the yearly floods

9. What were the duties of the Pharaoh?

• A ruler, a priest, and a god

• They owned all of the land in Egypt, but gave it out as gifts to wealthy Egyptians and priests

• Make sure the land produced well using irrigation

• Store grain so the people would not starve during years of bad harvest

• Choose government officals

10. Why were the pyramids built?

• To honor the Pharaohs and to keep their bodies safe from floods, wild animals, and robbers

11. How were the pyramids built?

• During the summer months when the fields were flooded the Egyptians cut granite and limestone blocks from quarries up the Nile and floated them across the river

• Huge mud and brick ramps were built so that workers could pull the blocks to where they would be placed on the pyramid

12. Who according to the ancient Egyptians watched over the dead?

Osiris and his wife Isis

13. How were the Egyptians granted eternal life?

• They were weighed on a scale in the

underworld

• If the scales balanced out then they lead a good life and knew all of necessary spells from the “Book of the Dead” to be granted eternal life

14. Why did the Egyptians use embalming?

• They believed that the soul could not live

without the body

15. Describe the process of embalming. What did they do with the

mummies? • The body was placed in a box with the

chemical natron, which caused all of the water in the body to dry up

• Then the dried body was wrapped in long strips of linen

• A poor person was then buried in the sand or a cave, a rich person was placed in a coffin