“The Gift of the Nile”

“Gift of the Nile” Video

Nile River

Nile River From Space

Nile RiverMost Egyptians lived near the Nile as it provided

water, food, transportation and excellent soil for growing food.

Ancient Egypt could not have existed without the river Nile. Since rainfall is almost non-existent in Egypt, the floods provided the only source of moisture to sustain crops. The floods also left behindValuable “silt” that helped replenishthe fields.

Facts About the Nile RiverLength 4,184 miles

2 Sources Lake Victoria, Uganda (White Nile); Lake Tana, Ethiopia (Blue Nile)

Mouth Mediterranean Sea, off Egypt

Countries Flows Through

Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi

Name Origin Greek word Nelios, which means "River Valley"

Nile DeltaLocated in northern

Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and empties into the Mediterranean Sea

240 km of coastline, 106 km in length

Rich agricultural region

Most fertile soil in Africa

FloodplainThe low strip of fertile

land located on either side of the Nile River

The river flooded during the annual inundation

When the inundation subsided, it left the earth soaked and overlaid with a fresh layer of black silt.

Most of the farming occurred here

Ancient Egyptians Video

PyramidsPyramids were tombs for the kings.The Egyptians believed that if the

pharaoh's body could be mummified after death the pharaoh would live forever. The tombs were designed to protect the buried Pharaoh's body and his belongings.

HIGH PRIESTS AND PRIESTESSESServed gods and goddesses

PHARAOHEarthly leader; considered a god

NOBLESFought pharaoh’s wars

MERCHANTS, SCRIBES, AND ARTISANSMade furniture, jewelry, and fabrics for

pharaohs and nobles, and provided for other needs

PEASANT FARMERS AND SLAVESWorked in the fields and served the pharaoh

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Egyptian Gifts’: HieroglyphicsHieroglyphics is the picture writing used

in ancient Egypt. The word hieroglyphics is made up of two Greek words - hieros, which means sacred, and glyph, which means carving.

The Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system consists of several hundred picture signs. The signs can be divided into two classes, phonograms and ideograms

Phonograms represent sounds, much as alphabet letters do. Ideograms are signs that represent whole words or concepts.

Egyptian Gifts’: Paper

Making paper from papyrus

Religion: PolytheisticBelief that many

gods and goddesses ruled the world and the afterlife Amon-Re: sun god Osiris: god of the underworld and of the Nile

The pharaoh was believed to be a god as well as a ruler

Falcon Headed Sun God

Comparing Modern Americans and

Ancient EgyptiansVENN Diagram

  

Modern Americans Ancient Egyptians

Comparing Modern Americans and Ancient Egyptians

VENN Diagram