AIM: What were the accomplishments of the Ancient Egyptians?
Do Now: Review – What were the 8 basic characteristics of
civilization?
HW: The Ancient Egyptians used their gods to teach lessons to the
people. Create a story using some of the Egyptians gods &
goddesses we discussed today.
Pyramids
The pyramids were built from LIMESTONE.
The Great Pyramid, built for
Pharaoh Khufu, contains over 2
million limestone blocks, each
weighing roughly 2 ½ tons!
As the pyramids
still stand today it
is easy to see the
ancient Egyptians
knowledge in
mathematics &
geometry.
The diagram below shows the outside of the Great Pyramid.
The pyramids in front of the
Great Pyramid were built for
the Pharaoh’s Queens.
A temple was built in front of the
Great Pyramid to allow daily rituals,
and where offerings were left.
The buildings surrounding the
pyramid are called MASTABAS, which
were tombs that held nobles.
The inside of the pyramid contained many
different areas.
• Air Shafts
• King’s Chamber
• Other Chambers
• Grand Gallery
• Queen’s Chamber
• Underground Chamber
The Great Sphinx
The Great Sphinx is a large
human-headed lion that was
carved from a mound of natural
rock. It is located in Giza where it
guards the front of Khafra’s
pyramid.
Legends have been told for many
years about the Great Sphinx.
These stories tell about the powers
& mysteries of the Sphinx. Some
people believe that there are
hidden passageways or rooms
underneath, but nothing has been
found…. yet!
Mummification: Process of embalming & drying corpses to prevent
them from decaying.
Ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife.
They mummified the body so the soul could
return later.
Anubis was the god who
watched over the process
of mummifying people
when they died.
After the embalming
procedure, the mummy’s
internal organs were
placed in these clay
Caponic jars.
As you know, the ancient Egyptians practiced
a polytheistic, animistic religion. Here are
some of the key gods of the Egyptian religion.
Notice their animalistic qualities. Next to
each god you will see their name, and what
they are a god of.
Ra – the sun god.
He was the most
important god of the
ancient Egyptians.
Isis – the protective
goddess. She used
powerful magic to help
people in need.
Anubis – the
god of embalming
and the dead.
Osiris – god of the
dead, and ruler of
the underworld.
Seth – the god of chaos.
Atum – the creator god.
Believed to be the first
god to exist.
Sekhmet – goddess of
war.
Horus – god of the
sky. Protector of the
pharaoh.
The earliest form of writing in Egypt were
pictographs, like the one you see below. Each
picture stood for an idea. For example a
picture of a bird would mean bird.
As time past, the scribes needed to find an easier way of writing. As a
result, a newer form of hieroglyphics was formed.
Another innovation came
overtime. Papyrus, a paperlike material was developed.
Now scribes could write on
a more compact surface,
instead of stone or clay.
As the Egyptian civilization declined, any chance of deciphering
hieroglyphics was lost….
… That is until the Rosetta Stone
was discovered in 1799.
The Rosetta Stone contained a
message in 3 different languages:
•Hieroglyphics
•Hieroglyphics (in a simpler form)
•Greek
Finally, in 1822 the stone was deciphered!!