Ancient Egypt

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Ancient Egypt

• 8.2.3

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Mediterranean Sea
Nile Delta
.
Giza
LE
.
Red Sea
UE
Aswan
LN
Sahara Desert
Nile River
.
UN
Eastern Desert
Blue Nile
Khartoum
White Nile
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4 Geographic Regions of Anc. Egypt

• 1. The Nile- makes life possible
• Longest river in the world
• Main means of travel
• Flows from S to N
• Winds blow from the N
• Important source of food
• Water for bathing drinking
• Crucial for farming

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4 Geographic Regions of Anc. Egypt

• 2. The floodplain- low strip of fertile land on
  either side of the Nile river
• Flooded yearly
• Most settlements located in the highest part
• Most farming happened here
• Agricultural year began in Sept. or Oct.
• Emmer, barley, flax
• Cattle and poultry

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4 Geographic Regions of Anc. Egypt

• 3. The Low Desert- strip of higher land on either
  side of the floodplain, not watered by the nile.
• Little vegetation, could not be farmed
• Used for hunting antelope, hares, lions
• Before tombs, this is where bodies were buried

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4 Geographic Regions of Anc. Egypt

• 4. High Desert- barren area beyond the low desert
• Crossed only by trade caravans or groups
  searching for stone or minerals
• Calcite, gold, copper, amethyst, carnelian,
  diorite
• Several oases located here grew dates grapes
• Links in trade and used to house prisoners

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The Geography of the Nile

• Egypt is the gift of the Nile.
• Worlds longest river

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Sources of the Nile

• The Nile has 2 sources.
• The Blue Nile and the White Nile
• Today the city of Khartoum sits where the rivers
  meet
• The city of Aswan sits at the tip of the S

Aswan
Khartoum
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Ancient Nubia

• Ancient Nubia made up the area along the Nile
  between Khartoum and Aswan
• The Nile has 6 rock-filled rapids called
  cataracts.

Lower Nubia
Upper Nubia
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Upper Nubia

• Lies between the 2nd 6th cataracts
• South of Lower Nubia
• Does get rainfall, so farming took place in the
  spring and fall
• Only a narrow strip of farmable land

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Lower Nubia

• Lies between the 1st 2nd
• Desert and mountains line the river
• There is very little farmable land and it barely
  rained

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Ancient Egypt
Mediterranean Sea

• From Aswan to the Mediterranean Sea
• is the area that made up Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt
Aswan
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• Upper Egypt
• Fertile strip of land about 6 miles on each side
  of the Nile
• Stretches from Aswan to the Nile delta
• Lower Egypt
• The area around the Nile Delta
• Delta- a marshy, fertile area where a river
  splits into several streams and flows into a
  larger body of water.

Mediterranean Sea
Lower Egypt
Upper Egypt
Aswan
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Gifts of the Nile

• Each spring the Nile floods
• Silt is washed down from the highlands
• Silt- rich, fertile soil deposited by a flooding
  river
• This silt made the land ideal for farming
• The Egyptians praised Hapi, the god of the Nile

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Black Land Red Land

• Black land- the fertile land left by the flood
• This land was essential to the existence of the
  Egyptians
• Red land- the dry, hot deserts beyond the flood
  area
• Made up of the Sahara Eastern Deserts
• Protected the Egyptians and Nubians from foreign
  attacks

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Civilizations Along the Nile

• Egyptian communities developed around 4000 B.C.
• Homes were
• built with straw
• or mud bricks
• Early Egyptians
• farmed
• Early Nubians
• hunted fished

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The Growth of Trade

• The Nile river served as a highway for trade
• They could travel upstream downstream to trade.
• The Mediterranean Sea Red Sea also provided
  valuable trade routes
• The Cataracts made water
• through Nubia impossible
• so land routes were made

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• http//www.ancientegypt.co.uk/geography/story/main
  .html

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Egyptian Religion

• Chapter 3, Lesson 3

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How would you move it?

• Imagine that you have to move a huge stone (5,000
  lbs).
• You have no machines, trucks, elevators, cranes,
  or forklifts.
• The stone has to be moved without anything
  powered by an engine.

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Egyptian Religion
Religion in Daily Life Belief in an Afterlife Pyramids

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Religion in Daily Life

• Explained nature
• Gods controlled weather, death, sickness
• Different areas of Egypt believed in different
  gods
• West was the world of the dead

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Belief in Afterlife

• Spirits of the dead went to a pleasant afterlife
• If bodies were preserved, the spirit would make
  it to afterlife
• Mummies were buried with items for the afterlife

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Pyramids

• Created tombs for pharaohs
• Could take 20 years to build
• Barges carried stones for pyramids
• No wheels, so sleds, rollers, levers were used