Egypt: The Power of the Nile
E. Napp
Objective: To identify and explain the impact of the Nile River on the rise ancient
Egyptian civilization as well as to describe several characteristics of Egyptian civilization
Do Now: List two benefits of living near a river.
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Facts:
 Surrounded by desert, Egypt (located in Africa)
depended for its survival on the Nile’s waters
 Agricultural settlements began in 3100 B.C.E.
 The Egyptians developed a centralized society
 The monarch or pharaoh was considered a living
incarnation of the sun god
 The pharaoh was a divine ruler
 The Egyptians built cities
 Egyptian women had some rights such as the right to
divorce and own property
 The Egyptians believed in many gods (polytheism)
 The Egyptians believed in life after death
 Belief in life after death gave rise to mummification
or preserving the body after death
Questions:
 In what continent is Egypt located?
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 When did agricultural settlements begin in Egypt?
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 Who was the ruler of ancient Egypt?
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 Explain the meaning of the term: Divine Ruler
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 List two rights of Egyptian women.
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 Define polytheism.
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 Why did the Egyptians mummify bodies?
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 Critical Thinking Question: Why is Egyptian civilization considered the gift of the
Nile?
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 Critical Thinking Question: How did the desert benefit the Egyptians?
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 Critical Thinking Question: Why was the Nile River Valley a good location for the
Neolithic Revolution?
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Daily life in ancient Egypt revolved around the Nile and the fertile land along its banks.
The yearly flooding of the Nile enriched the soil and brought good harvests and wealth to
the land. Most ancient Egyptians worked as field hands, farmers, craftsmen and scribes (people
who copied manuscripts – could read and write). A small group of people were nobles. Together,
these different groups of people made up the population of ancient Egypt.
With the rise of
civilization came the
rise of the class system
or the hierarchy.
Before the Neolithic
Revolution, hunters
and gatherers lived in
societies with great
equality. But with
civilization came
different classes: the
rich and the poor, the
powerful and the
powerless.
Look at the table below: Compare and contrast the rich and the poor in ancient Egypt
A Nobleman’s Family
One bright morning in ancient Egypt, a
nobleman woke up in a bed covered in fine linen
sheets. He opened his eyes and looked around
his bedroom. He saw the cabinet where his
clothes were kept, his wife's cosmetic box, and a
lamp for lighting the room in the evening. His
thoughts were disturbed by the servant who
entered the room. The servant helped him to
wash and shave. Then, the nobleman dressed in
a kilt made of fine linen and sandals made of
leather. Meanwhile, the nobleman's wife got
up. She washed and dressed with the help
of another servant. The nobleman's wife
wore a dress made of fine linen and jewelry
made of glass. She applied some kohl to her
eyelids and went downstairs. She applied
some kohl to her eyelids and went downstairs.
The nobleman and his wife had a small meal
of bread and fruit. They sat on cushions and
ate from a low table.
A Farmer’s Family
One bright morning in ancient Egypt, a
farmer woke up in a bed covered in a coarse
linen sheet that had been woven by his wife.
He opened his eyes and looked around his
bedroom. He saw the shelf where his clothes
were kept and a basket. The farmer got out of
bed and washed and shaved. Then, he
dressed in a kilt made of coarse linen and
sandals made of reeds. The farmer's wife
was already awake. She had washed and
dressed in the early morning light. Then she
had gone into the next room to wake the
children and begin her daily chores. She
wore a dress made of coarse linen. Around her
neck was an amulet of the goddess Tawaret on a
piece of papyrus string. The farmer, his wife
and their children sat down to a small meal of
bread and fruit. They sat on a bench and ate on
reed mats. Then, the farmer got up and
went to work in the fields near his house.
~Adapted from ancientegypt.co.uk
Create a list of differences between a nobleman’s family and farmer’s family:
 ________________________________________________________________________
 ________________________________________________________________________
 ________________________________________________________________________
Learn to Write Your Name in Hieroglyphics:
The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to record and communicate
information about religion and government. Thus, they invented written scripts that could
be used to record this information.
The most famous of all ancient Egyptian scripts is hieroglyphic. However, throughout
three thousand years of ancient Egyptian civilization, at least three other scripts were used
for different purposes. Using these scripts, scribes were able to preserve the beliefs, history
and ideas of ancient Egypt in temple and tomb walls and on papyrus scrolls. Hieroglyphic
is a Greek word for “sacred carvings”.
Write Your Name in Hieroglyphics:
Write your name here
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Now rewrite your name phonetically ______________________________________ (think
about how you would write it for someone who never heard it before so they could
pronounce it correctly e.g. Phyllicia = Filisha, Shirley = Sherly, Stephen = Steven
Cross out any duplicate or silent letters _________________________________________
Since these are redundant (e.g. Knute = nute, Jeffry = Jefry, Bill = Bil)
Eliminate any unneeded vowel sounds ___________________________________________
In Ancient Egypt, vowels were only used when they were vital to pronunciation. If your
name is still recognizable without a specific vowel sound, then you don’t need it! E.g. Ernie
= Erny, Steven = Stevn, David = Davd
Now, use the symbols in the chart below for your remaining letters and write the symbols
for your letters vertically in the “cartouche” space next to the chart:
A Belief in Life after Death:
Death in Ancient Egypt was a journey into eternity rather than an ending. The Ancient
Egyptians believed the body contained three souls, ‘ka’, ‘ba’ and ‘akh’ which would be
reunited in the next world if the physical body remained intact. The dead could only fully
appreciate eternity, it was thought, if they remained corporally complete.
The earliest ancient Egyptians buried their dead in small pits in the desert. The heat and
dryness of the sand dehydrated the bodies quickly, creating lifelike and natural 'mummies'.
Later, the ancient Egyptians began burying their dead in coffins to protect them from wild
animals in the desert. However, they realized that bodies placed in coffins decayed when
they were not exposed to the hot, dry sand of the desert.
Over many centuries, the ancient Egyptians developed a method of preserving bodies so
they would remain lifelike. The process included embalming the bodies and wrapping them
in strips of linen. Today we call this process mummification.
During the process of mummification, it was important to remove the internal organs
because they are the first part of the body to decompose. The liver, lungs, stomach and
intestines were washed and packed in natron (salt substance) which dried them out. The
heart was not taken out of the body because it was the centre of intelligence and feeling and
the man needed it in the afterlife. And of course, a long hook was used to smash the brain
and pull it out through the nose.
The ancient Egyptians built pyramids as tombs for the pharaohs and their queens. The
pharaohs were buried in pyramids of many different shapes and sizes from before the
beginning of the Old Kingdom to the end of the Middle Kingdom.
Complete the Crossword Puzzle: