I.Old Kingdom RulersA. Egyptian kings were

called pharaohs (meaning “great house”) lived in grand palaces

B. The pharaoh’s word was law and was obeyed without question

C. The pharaoh was believed to be the son of Re, who is the Egyptian sun god

II.Egyptian ReligionA. Believed in afterlifeB. Preparations for afterlife were:

1. Pyramid building2. Preparation of the body-If body

decayed, spirit would too, so they wouldn’t be able to enjoy the afterlife•Body was embalmed- dried out

and then covered in tree sap•The Body was then wrapped in

400 yards of linen• The mummy was put into a

protective sarcophagus (coffin)

3. Favorite possessions were placed in the tomb

4. Paintings were drawn on the walls showing scenes from their everyday life

5. Priests prayed, chanted hymns, to make sure they had a successful journey to the

afterlifeJourney to the Afterlife

Mummies

• Pharaohs were buried in Pyramids

Normal people were not buried in pyramids but still were buried with some possessions

The Great Pyramid 2540 BC- Egyptians built the

largest pyramid for King Khufu 500 feet tall Covers the area the size of

NINE football fields Equal to the size of a 48 story

building Amazing- because it was built

without special tools or even the wheel

Great Pyramid at Giza

Sphinx

III. Pyramids

Pyramids

IV. GodsA. Polytheism– Osiris: God of the

dead/god-king of the afterlife

– Re: Sun god– Anubis- Prepared bodies

for the afterlife

B. Some gods had bodies of human and head of an animal

C. Each city had own godD. Popular god- “Bes”-

god of familyE. Creation Story

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/story/main.html

Anubis

Osiris

Osiris and Isis

The Sacred

Cat

• The Goddess Bastet, represented the moon and beauty and was depicted with a cat's head.

• Legend says that Bastet sometimes transferred herself into a cat. Because of this, the cat was viewed as sacred.

• People who killed a cat, even unintentionally, were punished by death. Killing a cat was more serious than killing a man.

• If a house caught on fire, the cats were rescued out of the burning house before the people in it.

The Sacred Cat

• Cats brought happiness and fortune into people’s homes. When a cat died, the family went into great mourning.

• Members of the family shaved their eyebrows as a part of the mourning ritual.

• The cat was mummified and put in a cat coffin with a bowl of milk and mummified mice