Egypt
Geography of Egypt
• The Gift of the Nile= Egypt
• Yearly, regular flooding brought water
and rich soil that allowed settlements
to grow
• Wheat and barley
• Dug irrigation ditches
• Cycle: flood, plant, harvest
Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt
• Lower part- last 750 miles near the
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Mediterranean
Cataract- churning rapids that blocked further
passage
Nile provided a reliable system of
transportation between upper and lower Egypt
Nile flows north; then sails used for travel south
Easy transport allowed for unity among Egypt’s
villages and promoted trade
Challenges to the Environment
• Nile flooded regularly but they couldn’t
predict the amount of flooding so it
could be too little or too much at times
• Deserts on either side of the Nile acted
as natural barriers and protected Egypt
from invaders and attacks but also
forced Egyptians to stay close to the
Nile, thus interacting with others much
less
Movement of Goods and Ideas
• By 3200 BCE Egyptians were coming into contact
with Mesopotamians
• By 2000 BCE Egyptian traders were going up the
Nile in search of gold, ivory, cattle, and granite
• Early on Egypt probably borrowed ideas from
Mesopotamia but then developed independently
and blended the cultures of the Nile Valley peoples
with others who migrated there from Africa and
the Fertile crescent. This meant that there was
always a lot of diversity in Egypt
Left Page Assignment
• Compare the geography of Mesopotamia with that of Egypt. What is
similar? What is different? Think about the challenges they had
geographically, the solutions they came up with, and how geography
influenced their political structure (type of government, attacks, expansion,
etc)
Egypt Unites into a Kingdom
• 5000 BCE Egyptians lived in villages, each with its own rituals and gods and chieftans
• By 3200 BCE villages under the rule of two separate kingdoms, Upper Egypt and Lower
Egypt
• About 3100 BCE king of Upper Egypt, Menes, united all of Egypt
• Established a capital called Memphis where Upper and Lower Egypt met
• Established the first Egyptian dynasty
• Third dynasty is where records improve.
• Historians call this the Old Kingdom.
• 2660-2180 BCE
• This sets the stage for Egypt’s great civilizations
Pharaohs Rule as Gods
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Role of king different between Mesopotamia and Egypt
In Egypt kings were gods, not just representatives of god
They were called Pharaohs
Pharaohs were at the center of the religion and government and army =
theocracy
• Pharaohs had full responsibility for the wellbeing of the kingdom
Old Kingdom of Egypt
2686 to 2181 B.C.E
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United under King Menes
Included the 3rd to the 6th dynasties
Capitol was Memphis
“Age of Pyramids”
Egyptians believed that the king ruled even after his death
He had an internal spirit- ka- which took part in governance
Pharaohs Buried in Pyramids
Pharaoh viewed as an inaccessible god-king who rules absolutely over his people
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
2055 to 1650 B.C.E.
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United under King Mentuhotep
Included the 11th to the 12th dynasty
Capitol was Thebes
"Golden Age"
. Stability
. Property boundaries
. Territorial expansion
• Pharaohs Buried in hidden tombs
• Pharaoh viewed as the “shepherd of his people” with the task to build public works and
produce for the welfare.
• 1640 BCE Hyksos (Asian nomads) swept in on chariots and ruled Egypt from 1640-1570
BCE. This is called the Second Intermediate period
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New Kingdom of Egypt
1550-1070 BC
• United under Pharaoh Ahmose I
• Included the 18th to the 20th dynasty
• Capitol was Thebes
• "Imperial Age"
. New Empire
. Expansion period
. Military conquest
. Peak of power
• Pharaohs Buried in the Valley of the Kings
• Pharaoh viewed not only as a leader and ruler of an empire, but also as an important figure
in religion and religious practice
Religion and Culture in Egypt
• Belief in the afterlife
• Osiris, the powerful god of the dead, would judge each dead person’s heart based on weight
• Heavy ones had a lot of sin
• Light ones were pure and would be granted life in the beautiful Other World
• Egyptians spent a lot of time planning their burials
• Preserved the dead bodies by mummification- embalming and drying the corpse to prevent
it from decaying
• Attendants placed the mummy in a coffin inside a tomb. Then they filled the tomb with
things they would need in the afterlife.
• Book of the Dead- collection of texts that contained declarations intended to prove the
soul was worthy of eternal life
Life in Egyptian Society
• Social pyramid: king and queen, upper class I landowners, gov. officials, priests,
army commanders, middle class (merchants, artisans), lower class (peasants and
unskilled laborers)
• Slavery became widespread source of labor (usually these were captives from
foreign wars)
• Not locked in social classes
• Women held many of the same rights as men
• Own and trade property
• Get married and divorced
Egyptian Writing: Hieroglyphics
• Pictographs and then hieroglyphics
from the Greek “sacred carving”
• First written on stone and clay, then
papyrus (another gift of the Nile)
Science and Technology
• System of written numbers for counting,
adding, subtracting to collect taxes,
geometry to survey and resent property
boundaries after the annual floods
• First to use stone columns in homes,
places, and temples
• Calendar to keep track of planting season,
365 days, 12 months, 30 days with five
holidays
• Medicine- check heart rate with a pulse, set
splints for broken bones, surgery