Before the Old Kingdom

1
Before the Old Kingdom

• King Narmer (Menes) united Lower and Upper Egypt
  around 3000 BCE.
• He named Memphis the capital and ruled the entire
  country from there.

2
Before the Old Kingdom

• Cities grew.
• Written records increased
• People developed an irrigation system that helped
  them take advantage of the flooding of the Nile.

3
The Old Kingdom 2500-2100 BCE

• Egypt was rich, powerful, and united.
• Referred to as Egypts Golden Age.
• Memphis was the capital.

4
The Old Kingdom2500-2100 BCE

• People began to believe in an afterlife.
• They thought only a king could have an afterlife
  because they were considered gods on earth.

5
The Old Kingdom2500-2100 BCE

• At first, Kings were buried in mastaba tombs.
• These were like mudbrick palaces.

6
The Old Kingdom2500-2100 BCE

• King Djoser was the first to build a step
  pyramid.
• It was designed by Imhotep and was thought to be
  steps leading to the sun.
• After this, pyramids became smooth-sided stone
  structures.

7
The Old Kingdom2500-2100 BCE

• Known as a time of great pyramid building.
• King Sneferu built the first true pyramid.

8
The Old Kingdom2500-2100 BCE

• The Pyramids at Giza were built during this time.
• These included three pyramids built for King
  Khufu, King Kafre, and King Menkaure.

9
The Old Kingdom2500-2100 BCE

• There were also other statues like the Great
  Sphinx, built during this time.
• Egyptian art reached a high point during the Old
  Kingdom.

10
The Old Kingdom2500-2100 BCE

• A very important rule during this time was
  respect for ones elders and tradition.
• The king had absolute power and people were
  obedient.

11
The End of the Old Kingdom

• The Old Kingdom ended when the climate began to
  get drier.
• There was a series of low flood seasons.
• Farmers were not able to grow enough food, this
  brought about famine.

12
The End of the Old Kingdom

• The local rulers were becoming powerful and
  independent.
• Pepy II ruled for 94 years during this time.
• The government gradually lost power.
• The kingdom collapsed and split into separate
  provinces, each with its own ruler.

13
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• King Mentuhotep reunited Egypt in 2000 BCE.
• He ruled from Thebes
• Other Middle Kingdom kings ruled from a new
  capital at El Lisht.

14
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• Egyptian trade networks grew.
• Egyptian border stretched south into Nubia.
• Egyptians conquered much of Nubia in order to
  control trade along the Nile.

15
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• This great amount of trade lead to increased
  wealth, arts, crafts, and literature.
• The art was high quality.
• They produced much sculpture, jewelry, paintings,
  and literature.

16
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• People became prosperous.
• People began to value fairness and justice.

17
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• There were many new temples built because people
  continued to worship many gods.
• Temple of Karnak was built.

18
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• People began to believe that everyone could
  experience the afterlife.
• Osiris was worshipped the most.
• If people could afford it, they had themselves
  mummified.

19
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• Kings still had pyramids built as tombs but they
  were not as elaborate ot well built as the ones
  in the Old Kingdom.

20
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• Senusret I was one of the more well known kings
  during this time period.
• Senusret III built many forts for armies
  controlling Nubia.

21
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• King Amenemhet I was known as a great builder.
• His funerary temple at Hawara is one of the most
  famous building in ancient Egypt.

22
The Middle Kingdom2000-1650 BCE

• Queen Sobekneferu ruled Egypt near the end of
  this kingdom.
• It was very unusual for a woman to rule Egypt.

23
The End of the Middle Kingdom

• The Middle Kingdom ended when the central
  government became unorganized and weak.
• Foreign invaders called the Hyksos came.
• They began ruling Lower Egypt and brought
  horse-drawn chariots, new weapons made of bronze,
  and musical instruments.

24
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Ahmose defeated the Hyksos and reunited Egypt to
  begin the New Kingdom.
• During the New Kingdom, the rulers wanted to
  expand the empire to conquer other lands.

25
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Kings were now called pharaohs and had total
  control of the country.
• Pharaohs were no longer buried in pyramids.
• They were buried in underground tombs in the
  Valley of the Kings.
• Thutmose I was the first to have his tomb there.

26
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Hatshepsut was an important ruler during the New
  Kingdom.
• She was more than a queen, she considered herself
  to be pharaoh.

27
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Hathsepsut had the temple at Deir el-Bahri built.
• When she died, Thutmose III became pharoah.
• He had all images of Hatshepsut destroyed.

28
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Thutmose III was a powerful military leader.
• He led many campaigns to conquer different lands.
• He then forced these people to pay taxes to him.
  This increased Egypts wealth.

29
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Amenhotep was one of Egypts great builders.
• He began the building of the Temple at Luxor.

30
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Amenhotep IV often called himself Akhenaten and
  was a controversial pharaoh.
• He and his queen, Nefertiti, tried to make a lot
  of changes in religion and art.
• He wanted everyone to worship only one god, Aten
  (Ra) the sun god.

31
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Akhenaten closed many temples to other gods.
• He made a new capital for himself at El Amarna.
• When he died, Tutankhamen brought back the old
  gods and made Thebes the capital once again.

32
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Near the end of the New Kingdom there were 11
  pharaohs named Ramses.
• Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great, is the
  most famous of these pharoahs.

33
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• Ramses II had many monuments constructed to honor
  himself.
• He had the temple of Abu-Simbel built.
• He also started the Valley of the Queens for his
  wife, Nefertari.

34
The New Kingdom1550-1100 BCE

• The last ruler of the New Kingdom was Ramses III.

35
The End of the New Kingdom

• The New Kingdom ended before 1000 BCE.
• The government lost power and Egypt became
  poorer.
• The Nubians were the first to conquer Egypt.
• They were driven out by the Assyrians, then the
  Persians, who ruled Egypt for 200 years.

36
After the New Kingdom

• Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BCE
• He had the city of Alexandria built.
• After Alexander died, one of his generals,
  Ptolemy took over.
• After this, a series of Greeks ruled Egypt, the
  last was Cleopatra VII.
• Finally, the Romans conquered Egypt and Egypt
  became a Roman Province.