The Nile ValleyEgypt’s Old KingdomThe Egyptian Empire

The Civilization of Kush

Location

Egyptians relied on it for

drinking water, irrigation, cooking, cleaning, transportation, fish…

4,000 miles – The World’s Longest River!

Large ships can only travel on the last 650 miles because of crazy rapids called cataracts

The Nile River Valley

Deserts West of the Nile is the Saharan Desert East of the Nile is the Eastern Desert

Protection Deserts, the marsh land of the delta & cataracts

provided Ancient Egypt with natural barriers to fend off enemies!

Waterways The Nile, the Mediterranean, & the Red Sea

Geography

Regular flooding means less

worrying about crops!

Floods left behind fertile mud that looked black

Kemet = Black Land

Irrigation meant healthy crops of wheat, barley, & flax seed

The River People

Made from a reed plantUsed to make baskets, sandals, river rafts, paper

Papyrus

Complex writing system; had picture & sound symbols

Hieroglyphics

Cartouche Project: Print out the blank cartouche and make a

copy for each student. Have the students take the cartouche home and make the

paper look old. They could do this several ways (the best is to place the cartouche paper in a deep pan, pour coffee or dark tea over it, then bake it in the oven for a few minutes).

Have the students bring the cartouche back to class and then they can write their name on it in hieroglyphics.

They can also add some Egyptian pictures and color it with earth tones.

Cartouche Project

Today, I will learn about when Egypt united under one ruler. I will learn about dynasties, the social class structure of Ancient Egypt, and Egyptian life.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Villages grew into kingdomsStrong kingdoms took over weak kingdoms.Eventually, there were 2 large kingdoms:

Lower Egypt – the Nile deltaUpper Egypt – upriver; to the south

Their names may seem backwards…but it’s called “Upper” and “Lower” because of their elevation…not because they are North or South.

Upper & Lower Egypt

Upper Egypt- is higher in elevation

Lower Egypt (the river delta is lower in elevation)

Wait…Upper Egypt is south & Lower Egypt is North?!

~ 3100 B.C., Egypt’s 2 major kingdoms were combined

into 1…thanks, King Narmer (aka Menes MEE-neez)

Capital at that time was in Memphis

Narmer’s dynasty lasted long after his death

dynasty = a line of rulers from one familyAncient Egypt had 31 dynasties

A United Egypt

Assignment Section 1 Review:

On a piece of headed paper:Complete # 1-7 on page 46. Do

your BEST work!

Today, I will learn that Egypt was ruled by all-powerful pharaohs, that the Egyptians believed in many gods and goddesses & in life after death for the pharaohs. The Egyptians of the Old Kingdom built huge stone pyramids as tombs for their pharaohs.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

1. It is a reed plant that was used to make baskets, sandals, river

rafts, and paper.2. Women could own and pass on property, buy & sell goods, make

wills, obtain divorces, and take part in religious ceremonies.3. Farming, Crafts, Trade led to the growth of government in

Ancient Egypt.4. The Nile River valley had natural barriers for protection, enriched

soil for farming, & the river and seas for trade. 5. Picture symbols (hieroglyphics) stood for objects, ideas & sounds.6. It symbolized the unity of Upper & Lower Egypt.7. Answers will vary.

Section 1 Review Answers

Write the word and the definition for: hieroglyphics, dynasty, papyrus, cataract, delta

1. The Nile River – the longest river in the world – is ____________ miles long.

2. The Egyptians took advantage of the Nile’s yearly spring flooding by becoming successful ___________.

3. After 3100 B.C, Egypt’s government was a __________.4. A diagram of Egypt’s social classes looks like a _________.5. Two ways Mesopotamia & Egypt are the same are:

_____________ & _______________.

Quiz 2-1 The Nile Valley

Today, I will continue to learn about Egypt’s Old Kingdom. I will review what we learned on Wednesday about pharaohs & their religion. I will then take notes & read about their beliefs in life after death, the pyramids, and the Great Pyramid in particular.

Friday, September 23, 2011

2600 B.C. – 2300 B.C

Egypt grew & became wealthy

Built cities

Expanded trade

Kings set up a strong government

Egypt’s Old Kingdom

Powerful ruler, unlimited

power

Appointed officials to do their work

People believed the pharaoh was the son of Re

(the sun god)

Pharaohs

Polytheism “many gods or deities”

Major godsRe – the sun god

Hapi – goddess of the Nile

Isis – represented loyal wife & mother; Osiris’s wife; goddess of the dead

Osiris – Isis’s husband; god of the dead

Egypt’s Religion

The Book of the Dead – collection of spells & prayers

that Egyptians studied to obtain life after death

Osiris would meet them upon death & they would have to say the spells to have life after death

Wanted bodies to be preserved for afterlife (embalmed mummies)

Embalming = a process to preserve dead bodies

Life after Death

Mountain-like tombs for pharaohsBuilt by slaves & farmers during Nile floodsEntrance faced North

The Pyramids

First specialists in medicine 365-day calendar with 12

monthsMath

- numbers based on 10- fractions- advances in geometry

Egyptian Inventions

Built in 2540 B.C

Largest & grandest of all the pyramids

Built for King Khufu

In Giza on the west bank of the Nile

The Great Pyramid

Turn in your green folder.Make sure you have all your stuff!Sharpen your pencil (the

sharpener is back in action)!Sit quietly and wait for WCMS.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Today, I will read about and discuss Ancient Egypt’s Middle & New Kingdom. I will learn about important Egyptian people like Queen Hatshepsut, Akhenaton, Tutankhamen, and Ramses II.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Each person will read a section. You will have

15minutes.You will have 20 minutes to discuss as a group & take

notes on what you all think are the most important things to know about this section.

Red – The Middle Kingdom p. 60Green – The New Kingdom p. 61Yellow – The Legacies of 2 Pharaohs p.64Blue – The End of the New Kingdom p.65

Jigsaw Reading

2050 B.C.E – 1670 C.EEverything was good: stable, became more

rich, and powerfulCapital moved from Memphis to ThebesNobles started fighting for power, got

distracted & wham!... the Hyksos attacked & ruled Egypt for

120 years!

The Middle Kingdom

Lasted from 1550 B.C.E – 1080 C.EHeight of Egypt’s gloryAhmose (Egyptian Prince…how dreamy!) drove out the

HyksosQueen Hatshepsut - 1st Woman Pharaoh…sweet!

interested in trade (economy), not war (conquests). ruled for 21 years & it was peaceful. Thutmose III – put the focus back on conquest

The New Kingdom

AhmoseHatshepsut Thutmose III

Akhenaton – tried to change the

religion…wow…that must have REALLY upset a lot of people! He was so focused on his new religion, enemies came and took a bunch of their land!

Tutankhamen (his son-in-law) – was 10 when he became king. That’s younger than y’all…yikes! Ruled for 9 years and died mysteriously.

King Tut didn’t really do much, but his tomb was discovered un-looted, so all the good stuff was still in there. Cool!

The Legacies of 2 Pharaohs

Pharaohs tried to get Egypt back on its feet.Ramses II did a good job of this.He helped regain lands, rebuilt the empire, built a

lot of new temples (they were banks too). Whaaaat?! – He had many wives and more than 100 kids!

Here we go again…the Egyptian empire fell because another group had better weapons! Poor Egypt. They didn’t have any iron ore.

The End of the New Kingdom

Remember how the Assyrians were the 1st empire &

they had iron weapons that they had learned to make from the Hittites? You gotta have good weapons to have an empire.

Remember how when people start fighting for power, they get so distracted that another group is waiting on the sidelines ready to attack while no one is looking? This happens a lot in history…

Ohhhh, yeaaah!...