Unit 4: Ancient Egypt

Mr. Davis/Mrs. BurnetteWarren East Middle School

Social Studies 7

PART I: Geography

Unit 4 – Ancient Egypt

Environmental Factors

• Three factors influence where people settled in ancient times:

• WATER• TOPOGRAPHY: the surface features of a place

or region, such as mountains or deserts• VEGETATION: the plants of a place or region

WATER

• Fresh drinking water to live• Bathing and washing to prevent disease• Source of food: fish, water birds, animals• Growth of crops: farmers settle near rivers• Irrigation: control the water’s flow, dig canals• Transportation: traveling and trading along

rivers

TOPOGRAPHY

• Farming in flat, fertile areas• Best area: early river valleys• Mountains and deserts create obstacles for

survival• Mountains: jagged peaks, rugged terrain• Deserts: very little precipitation

VEGETATION

• Includes trees, bushes, flowers, grass, reeds• Also includes crops people grow• Climate affects the vegetation in a region• Vegetation used as food• Later, vegetation used to make products: rope,

medicine, baskets, tools, and paper

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF EGYPT: THE NILE RIVER

• MOST IMPORTANT PHYSICAL FEATURE = NILE RIVER

• The Nile flows north from the highlands of Central Africa and ends in a marshy delta into the Mediterranean Sea

• DELTA = a triangle-shaped area of sediment deposited by the mouth of a river

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF EGYPT: DESERTS

• The Nile was surrounded by the Libyan, Arabian, and Nubian Deserts

• Most people avoided them• BUT—they created a natural barrier that

helped people living in the Nile Valley, few invaders ever crossed

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF EGYPT: THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

• Located to the north• Salt water, but abundant source of fish and

other kinds of life• A waterway that linked Egypt to other

civilizations

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF EGYPT: RED SEA

• Located to the east• Across a hot, dry expanse of desert

HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN EGYPT

• Nile River provided fresh water in an area that was mostly desert.

• Lack of water in the outlying desert made the idea of farming useless

• The river provided natural FERTILIZATION (adding plant food/nutrients to the soil)

• After the annual floods, SILT was leftover, making the soil ideal to farm

HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN EGYPT

• The Nile provided fish to catch and animals to hunt• Ducks, Geese, Hippos, Crocodiles, Giraffes, and

Ostriches• Wide flat areas along river bends were ideal for

farming• Along the river, a tough water plant was used to

make paper and rope, it was called PAPYRUS.• Other crops like wheat and barley were also grown

CANAAN

• Now Israel (area where Phoenicians once lived)

• Mediterranean Sea to the West• Lebanon Mountains to the North• Sea of Galilee and Dead Sea connected by

Jordan River• To the east: Syrian Desert• To the south: Negev Desert

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS OF CANAAN

• Sea of Galilee: Fresh water, ideal for fishing and farming

• Jordan River: Also fresh water, most important feature… but did not flood annually like other rivers

• Dead Sea: Too salty for life. Surrounded by harsh desert. Not ideal for farming near.

SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN

• Many herders and NOMADS-people who move place to place with no permanent home

GIFT OF THE NILE

• Geography played a key role in the development of Egyptian civilization.

• The Nile River brought life to Egypt. • Greek writer Herodotus called Egypt “The Gift

of the Nile.”

LOCATION AND PHYSICAL FEATURES

• The Nile is the longest river in the world• 4,000 miles long from Central African

highlands north to the Mediterranean Sea• Egyptian civilization developed along a 750-

mile stretch of the Nile in northern Africa.• Two regions: Northern and Southern

LOCATION AND PHYSICAL FEATURES

• The SOUTHERN part was called UPPER EGYPT. This is because it is located UPRIVER from the Nile’s flow.

• Since the elevation in southern Egypt was higher, it is therefore called Upper Egypt.

• The NORTHERN part was called LOWER EGYPT and was located DOWNRIVER.

• Since the elevation was lower and close to sea level in the north, it is called Lower Egypt.

LOCATION AND PHYSICAL FEATURES

• The Nile sliced through the desert of Upper Egypt. There, it created a Fertile Valley about 13-miles wide. On either side of the Nile lay hundreds of miles of desert.

• At several points, rocky terrain caused the Nile to form CATARACTS, or strong rapids, to form.

• In Lower Egypt, the Nile divided into several branches that fanned out and flowed into the Mediterranean Sea. This forms a DELTA, a triangle-shaped area of land made of silt deposited by a river.

THE FLOODS OF THE NILE

• Each year, rainfall far to the south of Egypt in the highlands of East Africa caused the Nile to flood

• The Nile floods were easier predict than those of the Tigris and Euphrates.

• Floods would hit Upper Egypt in midsummer• Lower Egypt in fall• Coated the land around the river in rich silt

THE FLOODS OF THE NILE

• The silt from the Nile made it ideal for farming. They called their country the black land because of all the fertile, rich, dark soil. They called the desert the red land.

• Without the floods, people never could have settled in Egypt.

CIVILIZATION DEVELOPS ALONG THE NILE

• Hunter-gatherers enter the Nile Valley about 12,000 years ago.

• They found fish, wild animals, and plants to eat.• Just like Mesopotamia, farmers developed an

irrigation system.• Basins collected water from annual floods• Built a series of canals that were used during

the drier months.

CIVILIZATION DEVELOPS ALONG THE NILE

• Abundance of food: Farmers grew wheat, barley, fruits, vegetables, and raised cattle and sheep.

• River provided fish and hunting for geese and ducks.

• Also like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians enjoyed a varied diet.

CIVILIZATION DEVELOPS ALONG THE NILE

• Aside from a stable food supply, the Nile Valley had natural barriers to protect people from invaders

• The Mediterranean Sea to the North• The Red Sea to the East• Hundreds of miles of vast desert on both sides

of the Nile Valley