DO NOW
November 16 is Button
Day. What do you think
people used on their
shirts and other pieces
of clothing before they
had buttons?
DO NOW
Where
was the fertile land located
in ancient Egypt?
Why do you think most of the
cities developed along the Nile
River?
DO NOW

If you lived in ancient Egypt, what qualities and
characteristics would you want in a pharaoh?
Would you want an intelligent leader who
provide for his people or would you prefer a
fierce warrior who will protect you? Maybe you
want a leader who preserves peace and
encourages trade. Explain your reasons with
evidence. (5 complete sentences)
ANCIENT EGYPT
Important
pharaohs
Hatshepsut
Ramses
II
THINK ABOUT IT
Please answer the question in 5 complete
sentences
 Why did the ancient Egyptians create
mummies?
 Use examples and evidence to show that you
know why they created mummies

WHAT TYPE OF PHARAOH??
Intelligent
• Talk
• Read
• Know things
Fierce Warrior
Peaceful
RUBRIC FOR TOMB PICTURES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Neat and colorful
At least 4 pictures on walls
At least 3 Egyptian symbols
Your name in hieroglyphics
Draw yourself as a mummy in the tomb and
include a “death mask”
GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
Write your number in appropriate circle
 Look in textbook in CHAPTER 5
 Table 1 = Lesson 1
 Table 2 = Lesson 2
 Table 3 = Lesson 3
 Table 4 = Lesson 4
 Write 3-5 important facts from your lesson
 Use bullet point format

INTRODUCTION TO…ANCIENT EGYPT!!
We have finished the first two units of our
year, which were Early Humans and Ancient
Mesopotamia.
 Now, we are going to begin out unit on
Ancient Egypt!!

PREVIEW OF WHAT WE WILL LEARN THIS UNIT!!








The importance of the Nile River
The social order in Ancient Egypt
The religious beliefs the Egyptians held
Egyptian art and architecture
Language and writing
Important figures in Ancient Egyptian history
Egyptian afterlife
Trade in Ancient Egypt
MYSTERIES
OF
ANCIENT
EGYPT

At around the same time of Mesopotamia a
civilization was thriving in Egypt.
Mesopotamia
Egypt
EGYPT IS LOCATED ON THE CONTINENT OF
AFRICA!!
MAP OF ANCIENT EGYPT
The Nile River
MAP OF ANCIENT EGYPT
The Nile River
flowed from
South to North
from Africa into
the
Mediterranean
Sea.
MODERN DAY EGYPT
The capital of Egypt is
Cairo.

Let’s take about five minutes to locate Egypt
on the maps that are taped in your
notebooks. Let’s fill it in with an orange
colored pencil.
GLOSSARY BUILDER!!
Source-place where something begins
 Cataract-a set of rocky rapids. (An example
would be a waterfall).
 Interior-in reference to a continent, it is the
area away from the coast
 Delta-an area of soil deposited at the mouth
of a river
 Annual-taking place every year
 Double-crop-the ability to raise two crops on
the same land within a year

WHAT IS THE NILE RIVER AND WHY WAS IT SO
IMPORTANT FOR ANCIENT EGYPTIANS??


A historian called Egypt
“the gift of the Nile.” All
life in Egypt was
dependent upon this river.
Just like life in
Mesopotamia depended
on the two rivers, the Tigris
and Euphrates, life in
Egypt would not have been
successful if the Nile river
did not exist.
THE NILE RIVER IS…
THE
WORLD’S
LONGEST
RIVER!!!!
THE NILE RIVER
The Nile begins in Central Africa and is
3,500 miles long!! It flows north into the
Mediterranean Sea.
 The Nile has two sources!!

 The
White Nile
 The Blue Nile
THE BLUE NILE
THE WHITE NILE
THE WHITE AND BLUE NILE MEET AT
KHARTOUM, PRESENT-DAY SUDAN
In ancient times, this land
was known as Kush, or
Nubia!!



North of Khartoum, or Kush, the Nile goes through the
Sahara desert. This desert covers much of North
Africa!!
The river flows through SIX cataracts, which are in
Kush!! These separate Kush from Egypt!!
 What is a cataract again??
Do you think the cataracts were a good thing for the
Egyptians??
 NO!! It made it impossible for people to travel by
ship from the sea to the interior of Africa!!
 The ancient Egyptians did not know the sources of
the Nile because of the cataracts!!
The cataracts are right
below Egypt.
 Above the cataracts,
the Nile travels 700
miles through Egypt.
 The river flows through
Upper Egypt and Lower
Egypt!!
 What’s the
difference??

UPPER EGYPT
Upper Egypt is given its name because it is
upstream from the Mediterranean Sea!!
 In Upper Egypt, the river flows through a narrow
valley lined with cliffs.
 It is located south of the Delta. What is the
Delta?? Let’s find out.

LOWER EGYPT
Near the end of its journey, the Nile slows down
and fans out into many streams and marshy
areas.
 It leaves silt, or soil, in this area.
 Over thousands of years, this silt (carried from
the African highlands) has build up to form a
large river delta.
 The Nile delta forms Lower Egypt!!
 The delta has the most fertile soil in all of
Africa!!

THE BLACK LAND AND RED LAND
The Nile is lined with dark, fertile soil. This
soil was so important for Ancient Egyptians,
that they named their country Kemet, or
“The Black Land.”
 How was the Black Land created??

 Remember
how Mesopotamia was often flooded
by the two rivers?? Likewise, the annual floods
from the Nile created the Black Land.
In Mesopotamia, when the floods went away,
they left a fertile soil called silt. This is what
gave Mesopotamia its name, “The Fertile
Crescent.”
 Similarly, in Egypt, when the flood waters
drained away, they left behind a layer of fresh
soil that was ready to plant!!
 The Egyptians could double-crop the land.

THE RED LAND
The Sahara desert
surrounded both sides of the
Black Land. Egyptians called
this desert land the “Red
Land.”
 Unlike the fertile land of the
“Black Land,” the “Red
Land” was a deadly place of
hot, burning sands!!

THE SAHARA DESERT
The Sahara
Desert protected
Ancient
Egyptians from
outside
influences!!
LET’S SEE WHAT THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
THOUGHT OF THE NILE!!

Who can remind me…what is a primary
source??
 Right!!
A primary source is an artifact, document,
or picture that comes from the time and place we
are studying.

You will work in partners to read they “Hymn to
the Nile,” which was a primary source that
historians found.
THE HYMN TO THE NILE
Some 3,000 years ago, the Egyptians wrote
poems and hymns like this to the river that
made their lives possible.
 They knew that without the Nile, they would
have nothing, but dry land!!


You will have twenty minutes to read through the
worksheet and answer all four questions with your
partner!!
Let’s go over the worksheet together!!
 Be sure to jot down vocabulary words that
are difficult, such as manifests, inundation,
and valiant.

HOMEWORK!!
Please
study today’s notes
for a quiz on Wednesday!!