Ancient Egyptian SocietyRevision

of Key Concepts and Words

Ancient Egyptian civilisation developed in the fertile floodplains of the

Nile River in Northern Africa

from about 3100 BCE to 1200 BCE

The Pharaohs Lands

• All the farming land along the Nile River was owned by the Pharaoh.

• Farmers had to pay a share of the food they grew to the Pharaoh as tax.

• Because the river was so fertile, it farmers were still able to grow enough food for themselves.

The Egyptian SeasonsThe annual flooding or inundation was essential to the farmer’s life.There were 3 seasons:• Akhet, from June when the Nile Flooded.• Peret, from October, when the water levels

dropped. This marked the start of the growing season.

• Shemu, from early March, was the harvest season

Before Akhet, the farmers would build a network of irrigation canals running from the Nile out into their fields.

The used the shaduf – a balanced pole with a leather bucket on one end and a weight on the other – to lift water from the river into these canals.

Development on the Nile

• Once people had discovered how many resources the river gave, they learned to farm animals and plant crops (neolithic society).

• As they settled down in one place, people were able to build houses, then villages, then cities.

• The rich mud of the river and the burning sun gave them everything they needed to make mud bricks for thousands of buildings.

Civilisation on the Nile River

• The nature of any land will affect the sort of society that develops there.

• In the case of Egypt the desert protected the civilisation from easy invasion.

• The River Nile made it possible for humans to survive, and even live very well, in its fertile valley.

Civilisation Develops

• Egyptians began in smaller tribes, then joined together until the country was ruled by a King of Upper Egypt and a King of Lower Egypt.

• King Namer finally brought them together in one country in about 3100 BCE.

• The Egyptians found that they only needed some people to grow enough food for everybody.

• People were able to specialise and some became priests, scribes, architects, builders, artists and soldiers.

Governing and Records

• Egypt covered a vast area and had a large population of five million people.

• One of the secrets of Egypt’s success was a strong, ruler, the Pharaoh, who was served by a large number of officials who helped him rule (a bureaucracy).

• It was important to have a way of telling people of new laws and recording taxes paid.

• The Egyptians invented hieroglyphs (writing) and made papyrus (paper of reed leaves) to record and pass on information.

Death and Funeral Rites

• The Egyptians believed that it was possible to survive death and to go on to the afterlife,

• The body was preserved in a process called mummification so that the soul could return to it.

• This belief inspired great buildings, such as the pyramids for the pharaohs and the tombs found in the Valley of the Kings and elsewhere.

Contact - Conflicts

• Civilisations can be changed by contacts with people who have different beliefs and knowledge.

• At first Egyptians had no respect for other civilisations.

• They were invaded by the Hyksos in about 1670 BCE who had better technology and weapons.

• The Egyptians learned from the Hyksos to make wheeled chariots, composite bows and to make bronze, which is stronger than copper.

Contacts - Trade

• Civilisations also contact each other by trade. • The Egyptians traded with other countries from

their earliest days which made Egypt even wealthier.

• Egyptians traded wheat, barley and dried fish for luxury goods like ebony, ivory, gems and the incense myrrh.

• The Egyptians also imported camels, horses and chickens that changed the way they lived.

Check out these online activities:http://web1.beverlyhg-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/Faculty/History/LIAKOPOULOS/Land%20of%20the%20Pharaohs/land_of_the_pharaohs.htm