Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Egyptian Culture
Preview
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• Egyptian Religion
• Mummification and Burial
• Daily Life
• Art, Writing, and Science
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Egyptian Culture
Main Idea
The ancient Egyptians are famous for their religion, their burial
practices, and their advances in art, writing and science.
Reading Focus
• What were the main principles of Egyptian religion?
• Why did Egyptians practice mummification and burial?
• What was daily life like in ancient Egypt?
• What advances did Egyptians make in art, writing and
science?
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Egyptian Religion
Egyptians worshipped many gods
• Some from the earliest days of the Old Kingdom
• Others like Imhotep added later
• Believed that gods controlled all natural events
Chief gods and goddesses
• God of sun always a key figure, Re in Old Kingdom
• Later linked to sky god, Amon, and known as Amon-Re
• Sun god temple at Karnak the largest ever built in Egypt
Anubis
• The protector of the dead, weighed souls to decide fate
• Light souls had been good in life and were rewarded
• Unworthy souls fed to terrible monster
Nile Civilizations
Section 2
Osiris, Isis and Horus
• Osiris introduced civilization into Egypt
• Brother Seth killed Osiris, scattered pieces of his body around Egypt
• Wife Isis reassembled pieces and brought Osiris back to life
• Osiris became new judge of dead, replacing Anubis
Hathor and Thoth
• Hathor was the cow-headed goddess of love
• Thoth was the god of wisdom
• There were also local gods with power over small areas or single
households
Nile Civilizations
Section 2
Temples and Religious Practices
Temples built to honor, provide homes for gods
Ruins can still be seen in Egypt
• Features
– Decorated with massive statues
– Elaborate paintings, detailed carvings
• Obelisks
– Tall, thin pillars with pyramid-shaped tops
– Made from single piece of stone
– Carved with intricate designs
Nile Civilizations
Section 2
Temples and Religious Practices
• Rituals to fulfill gods’ needs
– Cleaned and refreshed statue of god daily
– This kept gods alive
– In return gods would bring Egypt prosperity
• Priests had responsibility for care
– Common people had no part in rituals
– Ordinary Egyptians never entered temples
– People did worship gods at annual festivals
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Analyze
What religious practices did the Egyptians
follow to honor their gods?
Answer(s): They built temples to honor them and
provide homes for them. In the temples, priests
performed rituals to fulfill the gods' needs.
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Mummification and Burial
Central to Egyptian religion was the belief in an afterlife, a land of the
dead where souls would go to live. Because of this belief, Egyptians
developed elaborate rituals regarding death and burial.
Teachings
Mummification
• Physical body dies,
releases ka
• Developed process
to prevent
breakdown of body
• Ka was individual’s
personality
• Ka needed food
and drink to survive
• Sought to prevent
decomposition so
ka would not vanish
Process
• Internal organs
removed
• Heart left in body
• Mummification
only for kings, royal
family at first
• Body wrapped with
linen strips
• Process available
later to any who
could afford
• Features painted
on mummy to help
ka recognize its
body
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Burial
Possessions
• Dead Egyptians buried with possessions needed for afterlife
• Food and drink for the ka
• Pharaohs and nobles buried also with treasures and riches
Pharaohs’ tombs
• Filled with statues of servants
• Egyptians thought statues would come to life to serve ka
• Also contained models of animals, chariots and boats
Decorations
• Walls painted with scenes from person’s life
• Walls painted with stories about the gods
• Egyptians believed figures would come to life and maximize ka’s happiness
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Summarize
How did beliefs about the afterlife shape
Egyptian burial practices?
Answer(s): Egyptians believed in an afterlife for
the ka, or life force. The ka needed food and drink
to survive, so both were buried with bodies. Great
care was taken to keep the body from
decomposing so that the ka would not shrivel
away and vanish.
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Daily Life
Burial Practices
• Archeologists learned much from
items buried in tombs
• Also learned from images painted
on tomb walls
• Good picture of society, culture
Social Structure Next Level
Social Structure Top Layer
• Highly layered, with pharaoh, then
key officials, priests, priestesses,
scribes, military leaders, doctors,
landowners
• All among wealthiest in Egypt
Social Structure Bottom
• Next level included artisans,
craftspeople and merchants
• 90% of society were peasant
farmers
• The people who made and sold
goods used by others
• Sometimes recruited to build large
public works, pyramids
• Recruited also for mines, army
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Daily Life
Slaves
• Slaves were not a large part of the
population
• Most convicted criminals or
prisoners of war
• More slaves in New Kingdom
Home and Family Life
• Varied from class to class
• Pharaohs had more than one wife,
most men only one
• Pharaohs married sisters to keep
royal blood pure
Status
• Egyptian society less rigid than
other ancient civilizations
• Possible to move up in society
• Becoming scribe the fastest way to
gain status
Houses
• Most lived as family units with
father as head of household
• Poor families lived in huts
• Rich families had brick homes
• Noble families lived in palaces
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Nile Civilizations
Daily Life
Women and Children
Appearance and Customs
• Woman’s primary duty to care
for home and children
• Egyptians paid close attention
to their appearance
• Egyptian women had more
rights, could work outside home
• Many shaved heads, wore wigs,
as well as perfume and makeup
• Could be priestess, own
property, divorce husband
• Clothing of linen and wool
• Few children educated
• Played with wooden toys
• Children wore no clothes until
adolescence
• Enjoyed sports, fishing, sailing
and board games
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Contrast
How did life differ for rich and poor
Egyptians?
Answer(s): Rich had large homes, poor might live
in tiny huts; wealthy men wore longer skirts or
robes than peasants; wealthy men and women
often wore gold jewelry.
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Art, Writing, and Science
Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted more than 2,000 years and made
many tremendous advances, particularly in art, literature and science.
Egyptian Art
• Very distinctive and easily
distinguished from art of other
ancient civilizations
• Paintings
–
–
–
–
Detailed and colorful
Stories of gods
Pictures of daily life
Most on walls of tombs,
temples
– Some in manuscripts
Egyptian Statues
• Statues
– Large, imposing
– Most show gods,
pharaohs
– Show power and majesty
• Great Sphynx, the largest and
most famous
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Egyptian Writing
The Egyptians were prolific writers who recorded events in great detail
and composed beautiful songs and stories. However, before they could
create even the simplest tale, they needed a system of writing.
Hieroglyphics
• The main Egyptian writing system
• Uses picture symbols to represent
objects
Other Systems
• Two other systems for texts that
needed to be written more quickly
• Hieratic, religious texts
• formal writing, stone monuments,
religious texts
• Demotic, legal and literary writings
• Difficult to learn, time consuming
• Made on wood, pottery and papyrus
• Simpler and less attractive
Egyptians used the pulp of the papyrus plant that grew along the Nile to
make paperlike sheets. Many papyrus scrolls are still readable today.
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Egyptian Writing
Historians could not decipher hieroglyphs
• Rosetta Stone
– Discovered near Nile Delta village of Rosetta in 1799
– Long passages of writing on the broken stone
• Same text in hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek
– Using Greek as guide, hieroglyphs and demotic
meanings revealed
– Unlocked the mystery of Egyptian writing
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Egyptian Math
• Egyptians had thorough understanding of basic arithmetic
• Also understood basic principles of geometry
• This along with grasp of engineering helped them build pyramids
• Buildings still standing, so skills were great
Egyptian Science
• Greatest scientific advances were in medicine
• Egyptians masters of human anatomy
• Doctors treated wounds, performed surgery, used medicines made
from plants and animals
• Prescribed regimens of basic hygiene to prevent illness
Section 2
Nile Civilizations
Find the Main Idea
What advances did the ancient Egyptians
make in art, writing, and science?
Answer(s): detailed, colorful paintings, large,
imposing statues, developed several writing
systems, grasp of geometry and engineering,
anatomy