Name:
Ancient Egypt Notes
Geography Slide:
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Almost all of the land of Egypt is desert
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South, east, and west borders are the Sahara Desert
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North borders the Mediterranean sea
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Protected from outsiders
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Almost uninhabitable except for…
…The Nile River Slide:
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Longest river in the world (over 4,000 miles)
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Was the lifeblood of Ancient Egypt
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Made life possible in the barren desert
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Served as a source of food for the people
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Only source of water for bathing and drinking
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Crucial for farming
The White & Blue Niles Slide:
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2 sources:
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Lake Victoria
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White Nile (Uganda)
Lake Tana
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Blue Nile (Ethiopia)
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Nile flows from South to North
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Mouth (or end) of the river empties into the Mediterranean Sea
The White & Blue Nile meet in Sudan
Upper & Lower Egypt Slide:
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Ancient Egypt was once two lands
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Lower (north) Egypt:
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Nile River's delta
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Upper (south) Egypt:
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the long, narrow strip of fertile land along the riverbanks
The Union of Two Crowns Slide:
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Red Crown
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White Crown
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Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Menes
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Overthrew the king of Lower Egypt
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Wore a Double Crown
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Unified, or joined, the two lands together
Three Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt Slide:
OLD KINGDOM
2650 BC – 2134 BC
Achievements
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Organized strong central state
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Pharaohs were considered gods
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Pyramids at Giza
Collapse
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Power struggles
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crop failures
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cost of pyramids
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MIDDLE
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KINGDOM
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2125 BC – 1550 BC
Achievements
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Large drainage project created farmland
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Traded with Middle East and Crete
Collapse
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Corruption
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Rebellions
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Invasions
NEW KINGDOM
1550 BC – 1295 BC
Achievements
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Large empire that reached Euphrates River
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Hatshepsut encouraged trade
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Ramses II expanded Egyptian rule to Syria.
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Valley of the Kings
Collapse
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Egyptian Empire fell for good
Invasion Slide:
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During Middle Kingdom, nomadic army called the Hyksos invaded Egypt
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Gained control of Egypt
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Used unknown weapons
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Horse-drawn chariots
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Swords
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Metal armor
Egyptians learned military skills from the Hyksos, rebelled, and drove them out
Building An Empire Slide:
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Empire – different lands and peoples under one government
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After regaining control, Pharaohs set out to conquer other lands
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New territories were placed under Egyptian rule
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Egypt became an empire
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Thebes became the capitol
Record Keeping Slide:
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Hieroglyphics
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Written on papyrus
(Egyptian Paper)
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Scribes
The Pharaohs Slide:
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Worshipped as gods
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Made the laws and owned all land
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Divided Egypt into about 40 regions
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Named governors to rule them
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Governor answered to Pharaoh
Total power over everyday life
Hatshepsut Slide:
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First female ruler
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Many statues of her show a beard
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Increased trade
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Built many temples
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Temples signified wealth and power for a pharaoh
Akhenaten Slide:
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Father of Tutankhamen
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Moved the capitol of Egypt to Amarna
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Turned Egypt monotheistic
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Changed royal art from powerful to more natural
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Worshipped only the sun-god Aten
Showed family life
Most Egyptians hated the changes
Tutankhamun Slide:
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Son of Akhenaten
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Restored Egypt back to polytheism
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Took the throne at age 9 & died at 18
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Historians unsure how he died
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Possibly murdered by his high priest Ay
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Tomb discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter
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Found in the Valley of the Kings
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Historical
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untouched for thousands of years
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contained beautiful treasures
Most pharaoh tombs had been robbed before they were discovered
Cleopatra Slide:
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Took the throne at age 18
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Actually Greek & ancestor of Alexander the Great
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To keep control of Egypt she married Julius Caesar, Emperor of Rome
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Had a son
After his death, married Mark Antony
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Also Roman
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Had three children
After losing a major battle Mark Antony & Cleopatra committed suicide
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Preferred death over being captured
Religion Slide:
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Guided every aspect of life
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Polytheistic
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Important Gods/Goddesses
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Amun – father of the gods
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Isis – mother of the gods
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Aten – sun god
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Horus – god of the pharaohs
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Osiris – god of the dead
The Afterlife Slide:
The Afterlife
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Death was only the end of physical life on earth
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Spirit moved on to live eternal life
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Called “Afterlife”
Still needed earthly body for happy afterlife
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Preserved body through mummification
Mummification
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About a 70 day process
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Ritual from the Book of the Dead
1. Embalmed body
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Removed internal organs
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Placed in Canopic Jars
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Dried out body
2. Wrapped body
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Stuffed insides
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Covered with death mask
3. Placed in sarcophagus
Decline of Egypt Slide:
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Egyptian Empire began to fall around 1100 B.C.E.
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For about 700 years, Ancient Egypt split back up into two kingdoms
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North ruled by Pharaoh
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South ruled by High Priests
Eventually, Egypt was taken over
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Greece around 300 B.C.E by Alexander the Great
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Roman Empire around 30 B.C.E. after Cleopatra’s death
By 400 A.D., all aspects of Ancient Egyptian culture disappeared
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Christianity took over after Roman Empire’s control
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Arabic culture spread in the 600’s A.D.
The culture and the language was lost until…
…The Rosetta Stone
Contributions to Today Slide:
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Made advancements in math, astronomy, and language
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First civilization to give us:
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Modern calendar
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Paper
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Ink
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Cotton fabrics
Experts at preservation
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Human body
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Ancient artifacts & record keeping