Chapter 1
Ancient Egypt
Nile River
 longest river in the world
 stretches from the highlands of central Africa to the Mediterranean Sea (4,160 miles)
 Egypt is “wholly the gift the Nile” (sustenance and transportation)
 flood waters and silt create fertile soil
 the Nile Delta creates a massive area of fertility
Natural Barriers
 the Libyan and the Nubian Deserts and the Mediterranean and Red Seas form natural barriers
around Egypt
 a series of six cataracts (waterfalls and rapids) prevent easy passage on the Nile River
 the easiest way into Egypt is to cross the Sinai Peninsula
Religion in Ancient Egypt
 reflected the importance of nature in ancient Egyptian life
 polytheistic
 Ptah – depicted as mummified man holding a measuring rod; creator-god, who brought the
world into being through thought and speech
Major gods of Ancient Egypt
 Re – depicted as the sun or falcon-headed man with a sun disk; supreme judge of the dead;
“father of the pharaoh”
 Osiris – depicted as a mummified king; god/judge of the underworld and god of resurrection;
symbolic of eternal life
 Isis – depicted as mother figure; acted as divine mourner of the dead
 Horus – depicted as a falcon; divine protector and patron of the living king
 Seth – depicted as a greyhound-like creature; god of the desert and source of thunderstorms
and violence; feared for his ability to cause harm, but admired for strength and ferocity
 Hathor – depicted as cow-goddess; symbolized motherhood and fertility; protected women in
childbirth
 Anubis – depicted as a jackal-headed man; god of the dead; created mummification; patrongod of embalmers; guide of the dead
 Thoth – depicted as an ibis-headed man; god of the moon; inventor of writing; scribe of the
gods, who recorded the verdict of the dead after being tried in the Hall of Judgement; held a
book containing all of the wisdom of the world
 Amun – depicted as a man wearing a two-plumed hat and holding a scepter; associated with
virility
 Aten – depicted as a sun-disk; elevated to importance by Amenhotep IV, who viewed himself
as the Aten in the flesh
 Bastet – depicted as a woman-headed cat; virgin goddess
Religious Hierarchy of Ancient Egypt
gods
assembly of the dead
pharaoh – the only link between the world of the living and the world of the spirits
all of humanity
Afterlife in Ancient Egypt
 the dead descended into the underworld
 Osiris, the judge of the dead, weighed their hearts against a feather, the symbol of truth
 those who were unworthy met a horrible fate
 those who were worthy went into the afterlife or “the Happy Field of Food”
 the afterlife was much like the living world, but ideal, so the body and belongings were
prepared for the journey (mummification and elaborate tombs)
Record-keeping and Religion in Ancient Egypt
 the need for religious records prompted the development of a writing system
 hieroglyphics – writing system using pictograms and ideograms
 recorded on stone, wood, and papyrus
 the Rosetta Stone, found by Napoleon’s soldiers in the 1800s, contained hieroglyphics and
their Greek translation, thus enabling Greek-speaking people to decipher hieroglyphics
Upper and Lower Egypt
 two kingdoms developed along the Nile River (Upper and Lower Egypt)
 3100 BC Menes of Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt
 he gained control of the Nile and the region’s natural resources
 he built his capital at Memphis
 he most likely established the first dynasty
Old Kingdom
 2700 BC through 2200 BC
 pharaoh ruled absolutely as he was the son of Amon-Re
 pharaoh’s administrators collected taxes and governed the provinces
 administrators passed their jobs down to the next generation (noble class)
 the pharaohs and the nobles built huge pyramids (example: Imhotep designed the Step
Pyramid at Sakkara
 eventually the common people revolted because of heavy taxes and intense labor
 a 150-year period of disorder ended the Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
 2050 BC through 1800 BC
 a new dynasty restored order
 the lower class gained access to mummification
 the pharaohs ordered the swamps of the Nile delta to be drained and a canal dug from the
Nile River to the Red Sea
 the pharaohs expanded Egypt’s borders and widened trade and increased contact with others
 the Hyksos conquered Egypt by using horses and chariots and ruled over the Egyptians for
200 years
New Kingdom
 1570 BC through 1090 BC
 the Egyptian nobles expelled the Hyksos
 the pharaoh expanded Egypt’s borders and stood at their greatest power
 Hatshepsut – queen who ruled for 22 years
 Thutmose III – expanded Egypt to its greatest size
 Amenhotep IV or Akenaton – attempted to establish monotheism in Egypt and lost support of
the people
 Tutankhamon – the 8 year old son-in-law of Akenaton whose tomb yielded the greatest
treasure
 Ramses II – the last of the great pharaohs who ruled for 67 years
 many invaders, including the Greeks led by Alexander the Great, conquered Egypt
 Cleopatra, the last pharaoh, attempted to resurrect Egypt’s greatness
 Egypt became a Roman province in 31 BC