The First Civilizations

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Chapter 2

• The First Civilizations

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• Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

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• The Story Continues
• Hail to thee, O Nile! Who manifests
• thyself over this land, and comes to give
• life to Egypt! These lines begin
• Hymn to the Nile, an ancient poem
• celebrating the river that gave birth to and
• sustained the culture of the Egyptians.
• Without the Nile, there would be no Egypt as we
  know it.

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I. The Land Its Geography and Importance

• A. The Nile River

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A. The Nile River

• The Nile River has dominated the geography of
  Egypt for 5000 years

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A. The Nile River

• Egyptian civilization was built along the Nile

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A. The Nile River

• The worlds longest river (4,160 miles) flows
  north to the Mediterranean Sea

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A. The Nile River

• Prevailing north-to-south winds enabled boats to
  sail south, up the river

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A. The Nile River

• Trade goods moved north with the rivers flow,
  and south with the wind

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A. The Nile River

• The Nile flooded for 3 months each summer and
  left behind fertile soil

This is a "Nilometer". The vertical markings
alongside the stairway were used to measure the
height of the crest of the Nile flooding. The
pharaohs used this information to predict the
bounty of the crops and set the tax rates
accordingly.
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A. The Nile River

• Egyptian farmers irrigated their fields and
  harvested crops before the floods came

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A. The Nile River

• With irrigation and Egypts warm climate, two to
  three crops a year could be grown

Grape cultivation, one of the ancient Egyptian
crops
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A. The Nile River

• The Nile linked all of the valley, uniting the
  region into one kingdom

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B. Other Natural Advantages

• Granite, sandstone, and limestone from the valley
  provided building material

Sandstone quarry
Unfinished obelisk at Aswan
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B. Other Natural Advantages

• The surrounding deserts and seas provided
  protection against invaders

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B. Other Natural Advantages

• A land bridge between Africa and Asia, the
  Isthmus of Suez, allowed for trade and cultural
  diffusion

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II. Early Steps Toward Civilization

• 12,000 B.C. - Hunter-gatherers lived in the Nile
  Valley

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II. Early Steps Toward Civilization

• 6000 B.C. - A Neolithic farming culture developed
  

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II. Early Steps Toward Civilization

• 3800 B.C. - People mined copper and discovered
  how to make bronze

This tomb painting shows the basic techniques of
the metal workers casting bronze.
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II. Early Steps Toward Civilization

• 3000 B.C. - Egyptians developed a form of writing
  using signs, pictures, and symbols hieroglyphics

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II. Early Steps Toward Civilization

• Hieroglyphics were carved in stone and later
  marked on papyrus

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Egypt is important for papyrus in two respects.
First, papyrus plants grew almost exclusively in
the region of the Nile delta. Secondly, the dry
climate of Egypt made it possible for papyri to
endure, in many cases, for over 2 millennia.
Paper is made from the papyrus plant by
separating it with a needle point into very thin
strips as broad as possible. The choice quality
comes from the center, and thence in the order of
slicing. The first use of papyrus paper is
believed to have been 4000 BC.
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II. Early Steps Toward Civilization

• 1798 A.D. - A French officer discovered a black
  inscribed stone in the village of Rosetta

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II. Early Steps Toward Civilization

• The Rosetta Stone told the same story in
  hieroglyphics and Greek gave the first clue to
  deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics

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III. The Egyptian Kingdoms

• Over time two distinct cultures and kingdoms
  developed, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt

Cobra - Lower Egypt Vulture - Upper Egypt
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III. The Egyptian Kingdoms

• 3200 B.C. - Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt
  into one kingdom

Menes, aka Narmer or Catfish
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• The pharaoh, Narmer or King Menes, created Egypt
  by uniting Upper and Lower Egypt into a single
  kingdom. Narmer, as with succeeding pharaohs,
  considered himself an incarnation of the god
  Horus. He started Memphis in the north and Abydos
  in the south as his capital cities

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III. The Egyptian Kingdoms

• Menes founded a dynasty, where the right to rule
  passes on within the family

Tomb painting in the Temple of Abydos, Egypt,
Dynasty XIX, 1317 B.C.
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III. The Egyptian Kingdoms

• Pharaohs were religious and political leaders,
  viewed as gods. Temples and tombs were built to
  honor them

Court of Ramesis II, Luxor Temple
The Step Pyramid of King Djoser - the first
monumental royal tomb and one of the oldest stone
structures in Egypt
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III. The Egyptian Kingdoms

• The rulers took the title pharaoh and held
  absolute power

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III. The Egyptian Kingdoms

• 30 dynasties ruled Egypt until about 300 B.C.
  Historians divide their rule into three kingdoms

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A. The Old Kingdom

• The Old Kingdom lasted from 2680 B.C. to 2180
  B.C.

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A. The Old Kingdom

• The Great Sphinx and the largest pyramids were
  built during this period

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A. The Old Kingdom

• Society was split into 2 classes
• The lower class
• peasants and farmers
• soldiers in the army
• canal and pyramid workers

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A. The Old Kingdom

• The upper class included the royal family,
  priests, scribes and government officials

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A. The Old Kingdom

• At the end of the Old Kingdom, pharaohs were weak
  and the nobles grew stronger.
• - 100 years of civil war
• - Known as the first
• Intermediate Period

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B. The Middle Kingdom

• 2050 B.C. - a new dynasty ushered in the Middle
  Kingdom - Egypts golden age

Arts and crafts flourished during the Middle
Kingdom as is shown in this lovely amulet of
Sesostris III
Mentuhotep II, First Ruler of the Middle Kingdom
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B. The Middle Kingdom

• By 1780 B.C. powerful nobles and priests were
  again making the kingdom unstable

MAGIC WHEREBY THE PRIESTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT AWOKE
THE MUMMIFIED DEAD
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B. The Middle Kingdom

• By 1650 B.C. the Hyksos, or foreigners, had
  conquered Egypt with new tools of war - chariots
  and powerful bows

Composite bow made of woods, horn, sinew and
covered in birch bark - range .25 miles - better
penetration than a magnum firearm
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C. The New Kingdom

• About 1570 B.C. Egypt was united under a new line
  of pharaohs during the New Kingdom

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C. The New Kingdom

• The New Kingdom pharaohs conquered new lands and
  built an empire

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C. The New Kingdom

• 1503 to 1450 B.C. -Hatshepshut and her stepson
  Thutmose III brought Egypt to the height of its
  power

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C. The New Kingdom

• 1380 to 1362 B.C. - Amenhotep IV changed his name
  to Akhenaton (he who is pleasing to Aton) and
  tried to change Egyptian polytheistic beliefs

Akhenaton and his wife, Queen Nefertiti
Akhenaton
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D. Egypts Decline

• Ramses II (1279 B.C. to 1213 B.C.) was one of the
  last strong pharaohs constructed many temples
  and monuments

Temple of Karnak - Ramses II with his daughter
Bent'anta 
Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbal
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D. Egypts Decline

• By the 300s B.C. Egyptian rule ended after a
  series of invasions by the Assyrians, Nubians,
  and Persians