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Egypt
Upper and Lower Egypt
• Ancient Egypt was
divided into two
regions: Upper and
Lower Egypt.
• Lower (northern)
Egypt consisted of the
Nile River’s delta
made by the river as it
empties into the
Mediterranean.
• Upper (southern)
Egypt was the long,
narrow strip of ancient
Egypt located south
of the Delta.
Nubia
• Land to the south of Egypt between the
Nile’s first and sixth cataracts
– Cataracts are steep descents of the water of a
river, usually making navigation difficult or
impossible
• Lacked Egypt’s broad floodplain and
therefore was less able to agriculturally
support a large population
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Characteristics of a Civilization
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Intensive agricultural techniques
Specialization of labor
Cities
A social hierarchy
Organized religion and education
Development of complex forms of economic
exchange
• Development of new technologies
• Advanced development of the arts. (This can
include writing.)
Agriculture
The Nile
River Basin:
A Ribbon of
Green
Agriculture
• Herodotus called Egypt the
“Gift of the Nile”
• Egyptians took advantage
of the Nile’s annual floods
to become an especially
productive agricultural
region
– After the floods receded
in late summer,
cultivators could go into
the floodplains and sow
their seeds without
extensive preparation of
the soil
Nile River Delta
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rivers
Agriculture
agriculture
• Expanded agriculture led to
expanded populations and demand
for increased production
• Cultivators moved beyond the Nile’s
immediate floodplains building dikes
to protect their fields from floods and
catchment basins to store water for
irrigation
populations
cities
specialization
hierarchy
Shaduf
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To lift water from the canal
Egyptians used a shaduf, a
large pole balanced on a
crossbeam with a rope and
bucket on one end and a
heavy counter weight at the
other.
When the rope was pulled, the
bucket would be lowered into
the canal.
The counterweight would raise
the bucket.
The farmer would then carry
the bucket to the field and
water it.
Specialization
Brewing and Breadmaking
Sailing
Plowing and Sowing
Harvesting papyrus and Herding
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Specialization
• Nile societies were
much slower than
their Mesopotamian
counterparts to adopt
metal tools and
weapons
• Did develop pottery,
textile manufacture,
woodworking, leather
production,
stonecutting, and
masonry occupations
Egyptian pottery
makers
Specialization
• Building a pyramid would require
– Laborers
– Architects
– Engineers
– Craftsmen
– Artists
Cities
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Cities
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Relatively few cities and high
administrative centralization
Memphis
– Founded by Menes around
3100 BC as capital of a
united Upper and Lower
Egypt
– Located at the head of the
Nile River Delta
Thebes
– Administrative center of
Upper Egypt
– Seat of worship for Amon
Religion and Education
Religion and Education
• Two main gods were
Amon (Thebian deity
associated with the
sun, creation, fertility,
and reproductive
forces) and Re (the
sun god worshipped
at Heliopolis)
– Eventually the two
were combined in the
cult of Amon-Re
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Brief Period of Monotheism
• For a brief period
Akhentan
challenged the
Amon-Re cult by
proclaiming Aten
as the one and
only true god
– Once Akhenaten
died, traditional
priests restored
the Amon-Re
cult
The sun disc Aten shining on the
names of the royal family
Mummification
• In order to prepare
a person for the
long and
hazardous journey
before they could
enjoy the pleasures
of the afterlife, the
body of a dead
person was
preserved by a
process called
mummification.
The Judgment
• The Egyptians viewed the heart as the seat of
intellect and emotion.
• Before entering the pleasures of eternity, the
dead person had to pass a test in which
Anubis, the god of the dead, weighed the
person’s heart against Ma’at, the goddess of
justice and truth, who was represented by a
feather.
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The Judgment
• If the deceased’s good deeds
outweighed the bad, then his
heart would be as light as the
feather (heavy hearts bore
the burden of guilt and evil),
and Osiris would welcome
the newcomer to the next
world.
• If the deceased fell short in
his judgment, his body would
be eaten by a monster that
was part crocodile, part lion,
and part hippopotamus.
Osiris
• Patron of the underworld, the
dead, and past pharaohs
• Cult of Osiris demanded
observance of high moral
standards
– As lord of the underworld,
Osiris had the power to
determine who deserved the
blessing of immortality and who
did not
Social Hierarchy
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Social Hierarchy
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Pharaoh
– Egyptian kings of a centralized state
– Claimed to be gods living on earth in human form
Bureaucrats
– Because the pharaoh was an absolute ruler there was little room
for a noble class as in Mesopotamia
– Instead professional military forces and an elaborate
bureaucracy of administrators and tax collectors served the
central government
Patriarchal
– Vested authority over public and private affairs in men
– However, more opportunities for women than in Mesopotamia as
evidenced by Queen Hatshepsut reigning as pharaoh
Peasants and slaves
– Supplied the hard labor that made complex agricultural society
possible
– Among the slaves were the Hebrews
Pharaohs
Tutankhamun (King Tut)
1334 and 1325 BC
Ramesses II
1279-1213 BC
Economic Exchange
In this scene from the grave of Ipui at Thebes, sailors are
seen leaving the boat carrying sacks containing grain. A
woman is selling bread and possibly beer (top left), beside
her a sailor is exchanging grain for fish. On the right a buyer
checks out a cake or a loaf of bread while beside him
another is acquiring some vegetables.
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Economic Exchange
• The Nile provided excellent
transportation which facilitated
trade.
• Nile flows north so boats could
ride the currents from Upper to
Lower Egypt.
• Prevailing winds blow almost
year-round from the north so
by using sails, boats could
then make their way back
upriver.
Economic Exchange
• Egypt needed to trade because,
beside the Nile, it had few
natural resources
– For example, Egypt had very few
trees so all its wood came from
abroad, especially cedar from
Lebanon
• Much trade between Egypt and
Nubia
– Importance of trade was reflected
in the names of southern Egyptian
cities
• Aswan comes from the ancient
Egyptian word swene which
means “trade”
• Elephantine owed its name to the
elephant ivory trade
New Technologies
Ramps and stonecutting required to
build pyramids
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New Technologies
• Papyrus
– The raw material came from the
plant Cyperus papyrus which grew
along the banks of the Nile
– Used not only in the production of
paper but also used in the
manufacture of boats, rope and
baskets
• Shipbuilding
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Wooden boats
Multiple-oars
Sails
Rope trusses to strengthen hulls
Art and Writing
Art and Writing
• Pyramids
– Symbols of the
pharaoh’s authority and
divine stature; royal
tombs
– Pyramid of Khufu
involved the precise
cutting and fitting of
2,300,000 limestone
blocks with an average
weight of 2.5 tons
– Estimated construction
of the Khufu pyramid
required 84,000
laborers working 80
days per year for 20
years
The Sphinx and Great
Pyramid of Khufu at
Giza.
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Art and Writing
• Hieroglyphs
– Pictures that were used to
write the ancient Egyptian
language
– Originally used to keep
records of the king’s
possessions. Scribes could
easily make these records by
drawing a picture of a cow or
a boat followed by a number.
• As the language became more
complex, more pictures were
needed. Eventually the language
consisted of more than 750
individual signs.
Mesopotamia vs. Egypt
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Agriculture
+“Land between the rivers”
(Tigris and Euphrates forms
Fertile Crescent
+Artificial irrigation
+”Gift of the Nile”
+Artificial irrigation
Specialization
+Pottery, textiles, woodworking,
leather, brick making,
stonecutting, masonry
+Pottery, textiles, woodworking,
leather production, stonecutting,
masonry
Cities
-Numerous, densely populated
city-states (Ur and Babylon)
-Fewer cities with high
centralization (Memphis and
Thebes)
Social Hierarchy
-Noble class
-Patriarchal
+Slaves
-Absolute authority of the
pharaoh made a noble class
unnecessary (had bureaucrats
instead)
-Patriarchal, but the presence of
Queen Hatsheput may indicate
greater opportunities for women
+Slaves
Mesopotamia vs. Egypt
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Religion and Education
-Polytheism
-No afterlife
-Polytheism, but brief period of
monotheism under Akhentan
-Afterlife and judgment
(mummification)
New Technologies
-Superior in metallurgy
-Papyrus, shipbuilding,
pyramids
Economic exchange
-Trade by land and water
-Trade principally by water along
the Nile
-Trade more important because
Egypt lacked natural resources
beside the Nile
Art and Writing
-Cuneiform
-Hieroglyphs (more pictorial
than cuneiform)
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