Nile River Valley Notes

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Nile River Valley Notes
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I. Egyptian Geography

• A. Location
• 1. Egypt is located on the Nile River.
• 2. The Nile begins in the Highlands of Ethiopia
  with two branches
• a. The White Nile and the Blue Nile

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I. Egyptian Geography

• A. Location
• 3. These rivers unite and flow north where they
  empty into the Mediterranean Sea.
• 4. Where the river empties into the Nile it
  forms the Nile Delta, a rich area of
  alluvial (muddy) soil.

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I. Egyptian Geography

• B. The Nile
• 1. The most important thing to the Egyptians
  about The Nile was the yearly flooding.
• 2. The Nile would flood each year in the
  spring. With the flood it would deposit a
  rich later of silt, or soil on either side
  of the river.

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I. Egyptian Geography

• C. Protection
• 1. Egypt had several natural barriers which
  helped to protect it from invasion.
• 2. The major barrier was the Sahara Desert.

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II. Egyptian Civilization

• A. Origins
• 1. 5000 B.C. Neolithic hunter-gatherers began
  settling along the Nile River Valley
• 2. 4000 B.C. Egypt consists of 2 large
  kingdoms
• a. Lower Egypt in the north, Nile Delta
• b. Upper Egypt in the south, Nile Valley

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II. Egyptian Civilization

• A. Origins
• 3. 3100 B.C. King Menes unites Upper and
  Lower Egypt and established a capital at
  Memphis
• a. Hereditary Rule - Menes reign marks
  the beginning of the first Egyptian
  dynasty a line of rulers from one
  family.

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III. Old Kingdom

• A. 2700 BC 2200 BC
• 1. The Old Kingdom was a period of great
  prosperity.
• 2. This time is also called the pyramid age,
  because the great pyramids were built
  during this time.

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III. Old Kingdom

• A. 2700 BC 2200 BC
• 3. Egyptian kings came to be known as Pharaohs.
• 4. The Pharaoh was seen as divine, or godlike.
  The people believed that the Pharaoh
  controlled many things including the flooding
  of the Nile itself.
• 5. The Pharaoh wielded absolute power.

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III. Old Kingdom

• A. 2700 BC 2200 BC
• 6. Pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom
• 7. They were designed to be tombs for the
  Pharaoh

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III. Old Kingdom

• A. 2700 BC 2200 BC
• 8. Originally there were step pyramids, then
  the pyramids evolved into the ones we see
  at Giza.
• 9. The Pyramids were designed to protect the
  mummies of the Pharaohs, but they
  ultimately failed. They were robbed and
  pillaged.

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Valley of the Kings
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Mummification To preserve the body so that the
soul could stay in the afterlife, the Egyptians
perfected the process of mummification.
Mummification was expensive, however, and during
the Old Kingdom was a luxury of the rich. First
the body was washed and the internal organs
including the lungs, stomach, liver and
intestines were removed. The heart was left in
the body because the Egyptians viewed it as the
center of emotion. The Brain was removed
through the nose and thrown away. The Egyptians
didnt think it served any purpose
The Body was packed in Natron (a drying agent)
and left for 70 days. After that the body was
wrapped in linen with tree resin for glue.
Magical amulets and other treasures were buried
with the body.
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Mummies
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IV. Culture

• A. Hieroglyphics
• 1. Form of writing developed around 3000 BC
• 2. Uses 600 signs, pictures, and symbols to
  represent words and sounds

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IV. Culture

• A. Hieroglyphics
• 3. Rosetta Stone
• a. Discovered by the French in 1798 when
  invading Egypt.
• b. Passages on the stone were
  written in Greek Hieroglyphics
• c. Scholars used the Greek to
  decipher (read) the Hieroglyphics

The last line of each section says each
section says the same thing.
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B. Egyptian Religion
IV. Culture

• 1. For the Egyptians, religion was closely tied
  to daily life.
• 2. The Egyptians were polytheistic, worshipping
  many different gods.
• 3. The most important god was the god of the
  sun, Re, also sometimes referred to as Ra or
  Amon-Re. It was believed that the Pharaoh
  was connected to this god.

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IV. Nubia Civilization (Kingdom of the Kush)

• A. Origins
• 1. Located between the Red Sea and the
  Nile River, important trade routes.
• 2. Nubia was south of Egypt and were at
  ruled for over 500 years by the Egyptian
  Pharaohs. (1500 BC 1000 BC)

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Nubian Civilization
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IV. Nubia (Kush) Civilization

• A. Origins
• 3. Traded Gold, ivory, ebony and ostrich
  feathers.

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Nile and Mesopotamia Map
Mediterranean Sea
Nile River
Sahara Desert
Red Sea