Ancient Egypt

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Ancient Egypt

• The gift of the Nile

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Nile River

• Extremely important to development of Egyptian
  civilization
•   Yearly floods soaked the land with water and
  deposited silt (soil).
• The most fertile land was where the Nile empties
  into the Mediterranean, the delta.
• Flows from south to northUpper Egypt is south
  and Lower Egypt is north.
• Egypt had natural barriers the desert and
  cataracts, which made the river impassable. So
  Egypt couldnt be invaded from the south.

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The Nile
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History

• Two kingdoms Lower and Upper, with different
  customs and dialects.
• Menes is the king who unites Upper and Lower
  Egypt, in 3100 BC.

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Old Kingdom (2650 BC to 2150 BC)

• --Ruled by pharaohs, Egyptian kings, who were
  thought to be gods, immortal.
• --They performed elaborate rituals to ensure the
  sun would rise, crops would grow, etc.
• --Viziers were the chief ministers to the
  pharaohs, helping with day to day governing.
• --Large bureaucracies were also created.
  (governors, irrigation supervisors, crop
  inspectors, census takers, tax collectors)

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Old Kingdom

• They had a strong belief in the afterlife.
• Pharaohs were buried in enormous pyramids, such
  as the Great Pyramid at Giza.
• Pyramids built from the inside out by peasants
  (not slaves) who worked on them for one month a
  year. Skilled craftsmen too.

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The Pyramids at Giza
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Interim period

• Weakness and turmoil, economic and social
  problems.
• Coffin textsone of the
• few advances

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The Middle Kingdom--2055 BC 1650 BC)

• New dynasty (family that rules for many years)
• Strong leaders, stable government, prosperity.
• Trade encouraged, armies secure trade routes. 
• The Hyksos invaded and dominated Egypt for 100
  years.
• The Hyksos were the first to use war chariots.
• Also had good armor and strong bows.
• Eventually the Egyptians revolted and overthrew
  them.

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Hyksos Chariot
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New Kingdom (1550BC 1100 BC)

• Powerful pharaohs made Egypt strong again, knew
  they couldnt rely on natural barriers, created a
  standing army, adding charioteers and archers,
  extended borders and creating a buffer by
  conquering Nubia and Kush.
• Queen Hatshepsut was the only female pharaoh ever
  to rule. Encouraged trade, many trade
  expeditions.
• One ruler tried to force monotheism Amenhotep IV
  ? Akenaten to honor god Aten. Banned worship of
  other gods.

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New Kingdom contd

• Tutankamen next pharaohno more monotheism.
• Rameses II was famous for military victories,
  particularly over the Hittites. Made treaty with
  them and secured peace. Egypt largest.
• Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings.
• Egypt then declined, breaking up and conquered by
  the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks (Alexander, 332
  BC) and Romans.

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Valley of the Kings

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Inside of a tomb
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Egyptian Religion

• They were polytheistic (believed in many gods).
• Gods
• 1) Amon-Re sun god, chief god.
• 2) Osiris god of the Nile, and underworld.
  Judge of the Dead. (First was Anubis)
• 3) Isis wife of Osiris, goddess for women and
  girls.
• 4) Horus son of Osiris.

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Osiris Isis and Horus
http//worldreligion.nielsonpi.com/media/osiris_is
is_horus.jpg
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Egyptian Society

• Social Classes
• Pharaohs
• High priests and priestesses, government
  officials, nobles
• Merchants, scribes and artisans (middle class)
• Farmers and slaves (largest part of Egyptian
  population)
• Slaves were POWs and criminals.

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Women

• Had higher status than in other societies,
  allowed to own property, worked in the beauty
  industry.

Womeninthebible.net
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Mummification

• They believed in spirit or ka, which needed to be
  reunited with body.
• Buried with their possessions, and pharaohs even
  with statues of servants and models.

http//www.thekidswindow.co.uk/images/CMScontent/I
mage/Mummies.jpg
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Mummies!

• Sarcophagus

Therugs.com
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Legacies

• Scribes took records of everything, including
  medicine, astronomy and mathematics.
• Papyrusfirst form of paper, made from plants
  growing near the Nile.
• Hieroglyphicspictures represent ideas, sounds
  and objects. Demotic was a simpler form of
  writing used for legal and literary texts,
  hieratic used for religious texts.

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Hieroglyphics
Tqync.org
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Rosetta Stone

• Decoded hieroglyphics