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Ancient Egypt. Location Pharaohs Pyramids Writing Gods Temples Afterlife. Ancient Egypt. Nile River - Running over 4,000 miles, it is the longest river in the world. Geography. Egypt is a country in the continent of Africa. This is Egypt. Mediterranean Sea. Nile Delta.
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Location Pharaohs Pyramids Writing Gods Temples Afterlife Ancient Egypt
Nile River - Running over 4,000 miles, it is the longest river in the world Geography
Egypt is a country in the continent of Africa. This is Egypt.
Mediterranean Sea Nile Delta
Natural Geographic barriers Geographic barriers that protect from invasion. • Deserts to the west and east • The Red Sea to the east • The Mediterranean Sea to the north • Rapids and mountains in the southern Nile
Transportation • The Nile served as a great highway that enhanced transportation and communication, unifying Egypt. • Sailing technology from Mesopotamia and Phoenicia worked even better on the Nile because the winds blow southeast while the current runs north
Floods The most important fact about the Nile is that it floods each year, enriching the soil around it with silt. The surplus of food Egyptian farmers could grow in this fertile soil made Egypt prosperous.
Where did the farmers grow their crops? The Egyptians grew their crops along the banks of the River Nile on the rich black soil which was left behind after the yearly floods.
What crops did the Egyptian Farmers grow? Egyptians grew crops such as wheat, barley, vegetables, figs, melons, pomegranates and vines of grapes.
What else did they grow? They also grew flax, a strong fiber which was made into linen.
How many seasons were there in Ancient Egypt? Egyptian farmers divided their year into three seasons, based on the cycles of the River Nile
Akhet The Flooding Season. June - September. No farming was done at this time, as all the fields were flooded. Many farmers worked for the pharaoh instead, building pyramids or temples.
PeretThe growing season October-February: In October the floodwaters receded, leaving behind a layer of rich, black soil. This soil was then ploughed and seeded.
Shemu The Harvesting Season March-May. The harvest season was the time when crops were cut and gathered. It was also the time to repair the canals to get ready for the next flood.
How was the corn harvested? Reapers (people who cut grain) cut the ripe corn with wooden sickles, edged with sharp flints (sharp edge of a stone). Women and children followed behind the reapers to collect any fallen ears of corn.
How is the grain processed? Cattle were used to trample over the cut corn to remove the grain from the ears. Then the grain was tossed into the air so the breeze blew the light useless chaff away.
Storage • Grain is placed in linen bags and placed in a dry place to last until the next harvest
Periods of History • - Historians divide Egyptian history into three major periods of stability, peace, and cultural flourishing: the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom. Periods of upheaval fell between them
MIDDLE KINGDOM NEW KINGDOM OLD KINGDOM • Rise • Egypt unified under the rule of Menes • Pharaohs became • absolute rulers • organized a strong central government • were considered gods. • pyramids at Giza. • Fall • Power struggles between rulers and priests for control • Crop failures due to low Nile River levels • The cost of pyramids • Rise • Large drainage projects created arable farmland out of swampland • Began extensive trade with the Middle East and Mediterranean • Fall • Corruption • Small rebellions were common • Hyksos invaded and occupied the delta region. • Powerful pharaohs created a large empire by military expeditions for other places • Pharaohs encouraged trade • Ramses II expanded Egyptian rule to Syria. • Fall • Egyptian power declined due to overstretching the empire • Invasion by the Romans
Menes - Founder of Ancient Egypt He created the first royal dynasty in Egypt in 3100 B.C. Pre-dynastic Period: 5500 - 3100 BC. Very little is known of the pharaohs of the early dynasties. Egyptian civilization begins with the unification of the two lands of Upper and Lower Egypt by Menes (Hor-Aha).
Dynasty • - a family of rulers. Their right to rule is passed on through the family.
Pharaohs • - Egyptian ruler. Pharaoh means “great house” or “palace.”
Egyptian pharaohs • Absolute power – Total control over every aspect of life • Bureaucracy—an administrative organization of officials and regular procedures to help carry out the orders of a ruler • Vizier (“steward of the whole land”)- The head of the bureaucracy, reported directly to the pharaoh. Egypt was divided into 42 provinces, each with its own vizier (governor)
Pharaoh High Priests & Priestess Nobles & Warriors & Scribes Merchants & Artisans Peasants & Slaves Class system hierarchy
Society in Ancient Egypt and Daily Life in Ancient Egypt Egyptian society was organized like a pyramid. The pharaoh was at the top. A ruling class of nobles and priests surrounded him. They ran the government and managed their extensive land and wealth.
Women • Men and women worked the land and repaired dikes • Men farmed in the growing season and served the pharaoh building palaces, temples and tombs during the off season • Women’s rights – Egyptian law allowed women to inherit property, enter business deals, divorce and join the priesthood. Women raised children, collected water, food and generally higher status and independence than other places in the ancient world
Merchants and artisans. • Below them was a class of peasants, who usually worked land held by the upper class, and provided revenues, military service, and forced labor for the state.
Egyptian Religion Polytheistic – Belief in many gods. They had two main groups of gods:
Land Gods & Sun gods
Re: The Sun God: • The sun was worshipped as the source of life. The sun god was named or Re (earlier referred to as Atum). The Egyptian ruler was called Son of Re, the sun god in earthly form.
Osiris and Isis – The story They were husband and wife. Isis brought Osiris back to life after his brother, Seth, had cut up his body into 14 pieces. Osiris had an important role as a symbol of rebirth, whether after physical death or through the rebirth of the land when flooded by the Nile. Isis’s bringing together the parts of Osiris’s body each spring symbolized the new life that the floods brought.
Tombs • What would you put in your tomb if you believed that you were going to another life? • List things you would want in your tomb. • How would you make your tomb so no one would be able to break in and steal things?
Gods • The man with a jackal head was the god who protected the tomb.
The Weighing of the Heart • 1. What was the guidebook for the dead called?2. What was the guidebook for?3. Who judged the dead person before they could be allowed into the paradise of the afterlife?4. What did the dead person claim?5. How did they weight the dead person's heart?6. If the two pans on the scales balanced, what could the dead person do?7. What happened if the heart was heavier than the feather?8. If you have time, draw a picture of the devourer.
Temples • A temple was considered to be the home of of the god. Each god had a temple where people could come to worship and ask for favors. A statue of the god was in the temple.
