Ancient Egypt Chart – Study Guide for Quiz on Egypt
GEOGRPAHY
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Egypt sits next to the Nile River, which is west of the
Fertile Crescent
The Nile River is about 4,100 miles long, making it the
longest river in the world
The river flows from East Africa to the Mediterranean
Sea
Egypt was broken into two different sections, Upper
and Lower Egypt
The Nile River flows upstream, so Lower Egypt was
closer to the Mediterranean, and Upper Egypt was
closer to the middle of Africa
RELIGION
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Like in Mesopotamia, the Egyptians were
polytheistic, which means they believe in many
gods
Important gods were Ra, the sun god, and Horus,
the god of light
Their most important goddess was Isis, who
represented the ideal mother and wife
Egyptians worshipped more than 2,000 gods and
goddesses
Unlike in Mesopotamia, with the view of death,
Egyptians believed in afterlife, that they continued
after death
PYRAMIDS AND
MUMMIFICATION
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Egyptians believe their kind ruled even when they
die
Since their kind was expected to reign forever, their
tomb was more important than their palace
The resting place after death was a structure called
a pyramid
Pyramids also reflected the strength of Egyptian
civilization
To this day, there are 80 pyramids in Egypt. The
most known pyramid is the Great Pyramid, built for
Pharaoh Khufu
When an important man died and his body needed
to be prepared for burial there were two states of
mummification
The first state is embalming the body, and the 2nd
state is wrapping and the burial of the body
MENES AND OLD
KINGDOM
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Menes, a ruler in about 3100 B.C., united all of Egypt
Menes established Memphis, where Upper and
Lower Egypt met, as the new capital. This also
created the first Egyptian Dynasty
Egypt’s Old Kingdom existed from about 2649-2150
BC, and majority of the advancements had to deal
with the development of Egyptian art
Architects perfected the skills needed to build
monumental stone structures
Artists created some of the first time images that
represented the culture’s worldview
Sculptors created some of the earliest life-sized
individual portraits through wood, copper, and
stone
ECONOMY
(AGRICULTURE
AND TRADING)
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SOCIETY (SOCIAL
CLASS AND DAILY
LIFE)
Depended on trading as a way of earning money
Used trading, farms and their educated minds to
make strive in their daily lives
Economy was based around the trading of gold
and wheat
They also used many different jobs to help their
economy grow
Egyptian people bought famous arts
There were also a lot of hunters in the country
Kings, Queens, Priests, Royal Families,
Government Officials, Army Commanders
Merchants & Artisans
Peasant farmers & unskilled laborers
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
MIDDLE KINGDOM
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HEIROGLYPHICS
AND ROSETTA
STONE
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Middle Kingdom began when Nebhepetre
Mentuhotep II reunited Upper and Lower Egypt
This set the stage for a 2nd great flowing of Egyptian
culture
Definition: A period of Ancient Egyptian history
Facts: dates 2134-1782 BCE
Facts: Ruled by 42 Nomes, Egyptian provinces
Facts: Was followed by the 2nd Intermediate Period
Crude pictographs were the Egyptians earliest form
of writing
This was called Hieroglyphics, and it meant “Sacred
Carvings”
The Rosetta Stone was a black rock found in the
village of Rosetta, and was filled with 3 different
languages. Those languages were Hieroglyphics,
early hieroglyphic, and Greek
Hieroglyphics could be used as letters of the
alphabet, but they also stood for ideas and sounds
Hieroglyphics was first written on stone and clay, but
Egyptians start to use papyrus
They also used Hieroglyphics to help keep track of
time between floods and farming seasons, scribes
also created a calendar
Heiroglyphics
Rosetta Stone
FAMOUS ANCIENT
EGYPTIANS
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Cleopatra – The 1st Egyptian queen. It is also said
that she was immune to more than 50 poisons
Khufu – Built the Great Pyramid of Giza (2589-2566
B.C.)
His son, Khafra, built Spinz (2558-2532 B.C.)
Pepi II – Was the youngest ruler in Egypt, he died at
100 years of age, and he ruled for 96 years
King Tut – Ruler whose death mask, which was
made of gold, weighs in at over 22.5 pounds not
including the full body casket
Cleopatra
Khufu
Khafra
Pepi II
King Tut