World History Chapter 2Section 3

Kingdom of the Nile

Geography

• Without the Nile river there would not have been an Egyptian civilization

• Dessert protected Egypt from invasion• It also limited settlement• Yearly Flood – soaked land and deposited silt?• Egyptians built dikes, reservoirs and irrigation

ditches to control the Nile

Two Regions

• Upper Region and Lower Region• Upper Egypt – from the first cataract in the Nile

to within 100 miles of the Mediterranean Sea• Cataract - waterfall• Lower Egypt – delta region where the Nile

empties into the Mediterranean Sea• Delta – triangle shaped marsh area of land

formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of some rivers

• 3100 B.C. – King of Upper Egypt – King Menes, united both upper and lower regions

• Founded the first capital at Memphis – site where Nile empties into delta

• Nile helped to unify Egypt as a transportation and communication network and a trade route

Kingdom’s of Egypt

• Old Kingdom – 2575 – 2130• Middle Kingdom – 1938 – 1630• New Kingdom – 1539 – 1075• Power was passed from one family to the next

which kept the land united

• The ancient Egyptian sculpture called The Sphinx is also located on the Giza plateau, and was probably carved at the request of the 4th dynasty pharaoh Chephren or Khafre. The statue is carved out of the native bedrock, and has the body of a lion and (so is believed) Pharaoh Chephren's face. Later the Sphinx became associated with the Egyptian god Harmakhis.

Old Kingdom

• Kings – who were later called Pharaohs, organized a strong central state

• Key in government and state – people believed he was a god

• Absolute power – owned and ruled all land in the kingdom

• Also seen as human – expected to behave morally and Pharaohs were judge for there deeds

• Pharaohs of the Old Kingdom took pride in justice• Used bureaucracy – system of government that

includes different functions and levels of authority

• Vizier – chief minister – supervised business of the government

• Headed various departments – tax, farming, irrigation

• Thousands of scribes followed his orders

• Great Pyramids – Old Kingdom built the great Necropolis’ / cemeteries

• Giza – location of the greatest pyramids• Tombs inside of pyramids were where the dead

would live for eternity• Believed in an afterlife – preserved dead rulers

and gave them everything they would need in their new lives

• Pyramids took a long time to build, so most rulers started building them when they took power

Middle Kingdom

• Marked by power struggles, crop failures, and the cost of building pyramids led to collapse of Old Kingdom – so not very well financially

• Turbulent Period – Nile did not rise as it used to• Corruption and rebellions were common• Some progress – drainage projects at delta made more

farm land• Egyptian armies also controlled gold rich Nubia / Kush• Trade continued with Middle East and Mediterranean

• 1700 B.C.• Hyksos invaded and took over the Nile delta• Little conflict between people and new rulers• Introduced horse drawn chariot• Hyksos impressed with Egyptian culture• Adopted Egyptian customs, beliefs, and names• After 100 years of Hyksos rule, new Egyptian

leaders emerged

New Kingdom

• Empire grew 1450 B.C. it stretched to Syria and the Euphrates

• First Female Ruler• Hatshepsut – exercised all rights of a Pharaoh• Encouraged trade to Mediterranean• Thutmose III – stepson – great military leader

and stretched borders farther than ever

• Ramses II – ruled for 66 years• Best known, as he boasted about himself on

monuments – some may not have been true• Fought many battles against the Hittites to the North• Signed a peace treaty with them – first such document

known to have survived• Egypt conquered Nubia – this gave them gold, ivory,

cattle and slaves• Ramses II – used gold from Nubia to pay his

charioteers

Decline

• 1100 B.C.• Invaders – Assyrians and Persians conquered

the Nile region • in 332 B.C the last dynasty of the Nile ended

as the Greeks took control of the area