Emily Supe’
Pre AP World History
Readers Notebook Ch. 3
September 8, 2010
Readers Notebook Chapter 3: Sections 1 and 2:
I. The Kingdom of Egypt
- Greek named Herodotus visits Egypt
- Amazed by Nile and its ability to support a whole society
- Yearly floods made a farmer’s job easier
- Many animals flock to riverside
A. Geography and Early Egypt
1. The Nile
- Important physical feature (4,000 miles)
- Survival would be impossible in the Sahara without the Nile
2. The Geography of Egypt
- Floods were yearly and predictable and deposited silt all over the land
- Nile Delta: area at the mouth of a river, made up of silt deposits
- Egypt is also known as The Black Land because of the unique color of
the silt; the surrounding desert was called The Red Land
- Sahara discouraged invaders because of its unlivable land; and the Nile
because of its cataracts and rough water
- Cataracts: rocky stretches surrounded by currents and rapids
3. Two Kingdoms
- Northern kingdom= Lower Egypt: located at the lower end of the Nile,
by its delta, worshiped cobra, cobra was sign of country
- Southern kingdom= Upper Egypt: located at upper part of the Nile,
worshiped vulture goddess, vulture was sign of country
4. Unification
- Menes: conquered Lower Egypt and was first ruler of unified Egypt
- Founded Memphis: capital of unified Egypt
- Adopted both signs of Egypt’s (vulture and cobra)
- Began first dynasty (31 dynasties)
B. The Old Kingdom
- took place in 3rd dynasty; represented stable rule
1. The Pyramids
- Most famous symbols of ancient Egypt
- Built as tombs for pharaohs: buried with treasures and sometimes
surrounded by traps to prevent looting
- Pyramid design changed from stair step sides to smooth sides
- Made of limestone that was layered on top of each other; built from the
inside out; took so long to build that many royalties had their pyramids
started to be worked on shortly after they gained power.
- Built by peasants that worked for the “government”; received food
shelter and clothing while working; also built by artists and architects
2. The Pharaohs
- Pharaoh: “great house”; leader of Egypt; absolute power, word was law,
owned all land, acted as judge, lead army
- People believed he was god; responsible for prosperity of Egypt
- Theocracy: state ruled by religious figures
3. Egyptian Bureaucracy
- Bureaucracy: organization of high structure; management by officials; no
real power; acted on pharaoh’s wishes
- Vizier: official with most power; advised pharaoh, carried out orders,
and trying court cases
- Officials aid pharaoh in ruling country and maintaining order
C. The Middle Kingdom
1. Government
- Pharaoh lost power; nobles took over sections
- Rises after havoc and poverty in 2055 BC; new capital= Thebes
- Stability and economic prosperity caused pharaohs to encourage sailors
and merchants to trade and import goods
- Armies sent to protect traders and trade routes; fortresses set up by Nile
- Hyksos take over Lower Egypt then conquer the rest of it
D. The New Kingdom
1. Securing Egypt
- Now ruled by nobles from Thebes who kicked out Hyksos
- Expand to Euphrates; and built army to protect empire
2. The Rein of Hatshepsut
-Territory and trade expand
- Hatshepsut: one of few women to rule Egypt; husband dies and she is
left with young son; declares herself pharaoh
- Acted like a man; called herself son on the sun god; best known for
trading expedition she organized to Punt; came back with many new
riches such as gold; nephew took over once she died and tried to erase her
and everything she did from history
3. Monotheism in Egypt
- Akhenaton: worshiped sun god; believed all in Egypt should too
- Banned worship of other gods; stripped priests of their power; ordered
other gods images destroyed; built new city and temple for his god
- Tut restores polytheism and moves capital back to Thebes
4. Ramses the Great
- Hittites try to take over; he marries their princess and they come to truce
- Very extravagant and greatly remembered (ruled for 60yrs)
5. Egypt’s Decline
- Successors: the rulers who gain rule after your death
- Sea People invasion weakened empire
- Broke up into small states ruled by various people; Persians take control;
Egyptians win Egypt back; Persians to Greeks to Romans
II. Egyptian Culture
A. Egyptian Religion
1. Chief, Gods, Goddess
- Polytheism
- Sun god (later became king of gods) was central along with Anubis
(protector of dead), Osiris (introduced civilization), Isis (nature and
renewal), and Horus (first king of Egypt)
2. Temples and Religious Practice
- Temples for gods and goddesses
- Obelisks: tall thin pillars with pyramid shaped tops
- Priest preformed rituals for gods so they would make pharaohs immortal
B. Mummification and Burial
1. Teachings on the Afterlife
-“Ka” or spirit would go to afterlife while body stayed
- Wanted to preserve dead bodies so ka would survive
2. Mummification
- Mummification: the process to prevent the breakdown of bodies
- All organs removed except the heart then buried with the body
- Special salts used to dry out body; then wrapped in linen and painted
with the features of that person
3. Burial
-Body buried with all the things the ka might need in afterlife (food,
riches, guardians, waiters, etc.)
- Images painted on the walls of daily life
C. Daily Life
1. Discoveries
- Archeologists find bodies and riches buried in tombs
- Show historians life of Egyptians
2. Social Structure
- Pharaoh and royal family, government officials, and priests (wealthy)
- Artisans, merchants, and crafts people (traded and sold goods)
- Peasant farmers (90 % of population)
- Peasant farmers built pyramids and served in army
- Slaves (not many; usually prisoners of war)
- Jobs were usually passed down from father to son however it was
possible to become educated and move up in social status. The easiest way
to do this was by becoming a scribe (highly thought of and sought out)
3. Home and Family Life
- Royalty married sisters and brothers and men often had many wives’s
(keep royal blood pure)
- Commoners had one wife and lived simply
- All Egyptians lived as family units
4. Women and Children
- Take care of children and home
- Could become priestess, own and inherit property, create wills, and
divorce their husbands, become hairdressers, wigmakers, and singers
- Boys educated by learning trades; girls learned from mothers; kept pets
5. Appearance and Custom
- Upper class people shaved their heads and wore wigs; wore makeup and
perfume; long robes; gold jewelry
- Common men wore short loin cloths
- Women of all classes wore long dresses; children wore no clothes until
they reached adolescence
- Board games were popular along with wrestling, dancing and boating
D. Art Writing and Science
1. Egyptian Art
- Detailed, colorful, and recognizable
- Subjects vary; torsos are seen straight ahead but heads arms and legs are
seen by profile; gods and pharaohs are drawn bigger
- The Great Sphinx; huge statue of man with lion head
2. Egyptian Writing
- Hieroglyphics: Egyptian system of writing; picture symbols to represent
words; one of the world’s first writing systems (an art)
- Hieratic: writing system used for religious texts
- Demonic: used for legal and literary writings
- Papyrus: plant that grows along Nile (used to write on)
- Rosetta Stone: stone that had Egyptian hieroglyphics and a Greek
translation written underneath
3. Egyptian Math and Science
-used to improve life
-understood geometry and basic computations of math; building skills and
architectural skills; human anatomy and medicine