Egypt

1. Egypt By Ann Heinrichs Author’s Purpose: To Inform

2. Land of the Pharaohs: • Farming along the Nile began as early as 7000 B.C. • Two Kingdoms: • Upper Egypt in the south • Lower Egypt in the northern Delta • Menes- Egypt’s first pharaoh (or king) united the two kingdoms • Ancient Egypt was governed by one dynasty (or ruling family) after another. • 31 dynasties reigned between 3100 B.C. and 332 B.C.

3. Levels of Society: • The pharaohand his family were at the top part of society. • Upper classwere priests, nobles, doctors & high-ranking officers • Middle classwere artisans, merchants, & engineers • Scribes – (professional writers) held a special place of honor. • Scribes wrote letters & government documents & recorded the pharaoh’s decrees. • Every family hope to have a son become a scribe • Common peoplewere farmers, laborers & soldiers

4. Love & Marriage: • Love was an important part of marriage • Women in ancient Egypt had more rights than women in many cultures have today. • They could: • Own property • Buy & sell goods • Inherit wealth • Sue for divorce if they had a good reason • They couldn’t: • Work outside the home

5. Homes, Adornments, & Games: • Most people lived in simple houses made of mud bricks • Wealthy people had beautiful homes with dozens of rooms

6. Men & Women • Women painted fingernails, wore hair ornaments & jewelry • Both men & women wore lightweight linen skirts or robes • Lower-class people went barefoot • Upper-class people wore leather sandals and wigs

7. Ancient paintings & artifacts show how much Egyptians loved games • Played leapfrog & tug-of-war • Wooden toys • Girls played ball while riding piggyback • Grownups played senet (similar to checkers) • Played ‘snake’ on round board shaped like coiled snake • On p. 253, study the picture and write a sentence about what she is doing……..

8. Ancient Cuisine • Typical meal included vegetables and fruit such as beans, lentils, peas, cucumbers or cabbage. Fruits were figs, dates, pomegranates, melons or grapes. • Hunters went into desert for wild game. • Included antelope, gazelle, ducks, geese, quail, pigeon, beef & fish • Bread was a basic everyday food. • Pharaohs & nobles had own bakeries • In most homes, women ground wheat & barley into flour and baked loaves in clay pots

9. The Cycle of Floods • Three seasons of 4 months each: • Akhet flooding of the Nile. This was when the new year began • Peret in November when the waters receded and plowing & planting began • Shemu the dry season from March to July • Floodwaters left a deposit of silt that fertilized the fields and produced abundant crops • Farmers produced more than enough food for Egypt’s people • Ancient Egypt has been called the “granary (grainhouse) to the world • Grain & other crops were traded with Africa & Asia

10. Animal Life & Climate • Ancient Egypt swarmed with animals that no longer live there • Hippos, lions, baboons, wildcats, gazelles, Golden jackals, flamingos, red-breasted geese • As the climate grew hotter & dryer, the animals went away • Egyptians left paintings of them. • Many animals were drawn in hieroglyphic symbols • Some were honored as gods

11. Hieroglyphs (picture symbols) • Began as early as 3000 B.C. • Represented objects, ideas, homophones, sounds, singular or plural nouns, or verbs • By 300 B.C. there were more than 700 hieroglyphic symbols

12. Life Everlasting • Most people did not live past their thirties • Every Egyptian, from pharaoh to laborer, believed in life after death • They also believed that the dead would enjoy all their earthly comforts in the afterlife. • Burial chambers were filled with favorite possessions, clothes, furniture, games & food.

13. Mummies • After death the body was made into a mummy to keep it from decaying. • Mummification could take as long as 70 days • Mummies of some pharaohs were encased in jewel-encrusted gold & placed in a stone coffin • Scrolls of the Book of the Dead were buried with the body • These were special prayers & instructions for getting through the mysterious world of the dead

14. Pyramids • Pharaohs built fabulous toms for themselves to ensure they would have eternal life. • Imhotep built the 1st pyramid called a ‘step pyramid’ • 4th Dynasty pharaohs built the most famous pyramids

15. How Did They Build the Pyramids? • Ancient Egyptians left only a few clues about how they built them • Greek historian Herodotus says that 100,000 men worked on the Great Pyramid in 3 month shifts! • Then another 100,00 went to work • This went on for more than 20 years!!

16. Kingdoms Unite & Divide • Memphis was Egypt’s capital during the Old Kingdomperiod • Memphis lies about 15 miles south of what is now Cairo

17. Hyksos • Hyksos – were Asian people that rose to power in the 1600sB.C. • They taught the Egyptians about the art of war • The Hyksos introduced horse-drawn chariots, bronze & iron swords & other military gear

18. The New Kingdom: Conquests & Construction • The New Kingdom Period - Thebes was the capital • Egyptians were now a major world power with new military skills • They acquired new lands – which were new sources of wealth • Pharaohs built huge temples, monuments & statues of themselves • Ramses II was the greatest builder of all

19. The New Kingdom • The rulers of the New Kingdom built necropolises- cities of the dead •  They are known today as: • Valley of the Kings • Valley of the Queens • Tombs of the Nobles

20. In 1995, the largest tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings • It holds most of Ramses II’s 52 sons • 60 tombs have been found there so far • That is only a small part of those waiting to be discovered

21. The End