Pyramids of the Nile
Chapter 2, Section 2
Setting the Stage:
 The Egyptian Civilization emerged around the Nile River Valley
 Different from other civilizations because it was at one point one single kingdom
which allowed it to enjoy a high degree of unity, stability, and cultural continuity
for 3,000 years
The Geography of Egypt
 Nile river flows northward across Africa for 4,100 miles [longest river in the
world]
 Settlements arose along the Nile on a narrow strip of fertile land by the river
Figure 1 http://www.egyptweb.norfolk.gov.uk/images/egmap.jpg
The Gift of the Nile:
 Yearly floods and rains brought the water and rich soil made the river spill over
and left behind a rich deposit of fertile black mud called silt
 Water field through a network of irrigation ditches
 Egyptians worshiped the Nile as a god who gave life and seldom turned against
them because it brought so much abundance to them
Environmental Challenges
 Risks associated with the Nile:
o When the floodwaters are a few feet lower than normal, the amount of
fresh silt and water for crops is reduced- thousands starve
o When the floodwaters are a few feet higher than normal, the unwanted
water destroyed houses, granaries, and precious seeds for planting
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o Deserts on both sides of the Nile acted as natural barriers between Egypt
and other lands- forced them to live on a very small portion of land and
reduced interaction with other people
Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt
 Lived along the whole river and traveled by river up until where boulders turn the
river into churning rapids called a cataract…called First Cataract
 Between the First Cataract and the Mediterranean, there are two regions:
o Upper Egypt: river area in the south because elevation is higher
o Lower Egypt: to the north near the sea and it includes the Nile delta
region
 Broad, marshy, triangular area of land formed by deposits of silt at
the mouth of the river
 Nile flows north so northbound boats floated with the current: helped unify
Egypt’s villages and promote trade
Egypt Unites into a Kingdom
 Lived in farming villages with unique rituals, gods, and chieftain
 3200 B.C, villages under the rule of to separate kingdoms: Lower Egypt and
Upper Egypt
o Two kingdoms eventually united under a king called Narmer
 Crowns:
o King of Lower Egypt wore a red crown
o King of Upper Egypt wore a white crown shaped like a bowling pin
o Narmer created the Narmer Palette which lets him wear both crowns at the
same time, which celebrates the unification of Egypt around 3,000 B.C.
Figure 2
Figure 3: http://www.toutankharton.com/IMG/gif/pschent.gif


New capital was Memphis, which was at the spot where Upper and Lower Egypt
met
He created first Egyptian dynasty
o Total of 31 dynasties over 2,600 years
o Pattern for Egypt’s great civilization set from 3200 to 2700 B.C.
o From 2660 to 2180 B.C. was known as the Old Kingdom
Pharaohs Rule as Gods
 Differences in Kings
o In Mesopotamia, kings were representatives of Gods
o In Egypt, kings were Gods
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
These god-kings were called Pharaohs who were thought to be
as powerful as the gods in heaven
 This type of government based on religious authority is called
a theocracy
 Roles of a Pharaoh:
o Head of religion
o Head of government
o Responsible for Kingdom’s well-being
o Caused the sun to rise, Nile to flood, crops to grow
o Duty to promote justice and truth
Builders of the Pyramids
 Believed King rules even after his death
 Kings had an eternal life force, or ka, which continued to take part in
governing Egypt
 Because they were to reign forever, tombs were more important than palaces
o For Kings of the Old Kingdom, resting place after death was an
immense structure called a Pyramid
 Granite and limestone
 Each stone block weighed at least 2.5 tons-15 tons
 Great Pyramid of Giza had over 2 million blocks, stacked to a
height of 481 feet…. Covered 13 acres
 Pyramids show strength of Egyptian civilization, economic
strength, technological means to support massive projects,
leadership, and government organization
Figure 4 http://aceflashman.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/pyramid-diagram.png?w=500&h=500
Egyptian Culture
 Religion is an important part of Egyptian culture
Religion and Life:
 Like Mesopotamians, Polytheistic: believed in many gods…over 2,000
o Important gods were:
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
 Re: the sun god
 Osiris: god of the dead
o Built temples to honor the major deities
Unlike Mesopotamians who had a bleak look at death, Egyptians believed in
an afterlife- a life that continued after death
o Will be judged for their deeds when they died
o Anubis is the god and guide of the underworld
 He would weigh person’s heart: to win eternal life, heart has to
weight no more than a feather… If the heart tips the scale, it
means its heavy with sin and a beast called the Devourer of
Souls would pounce on heart and eat it
Everyone planned their burial so they would safely reach the Other World
o Kings/queens built tombs in Pyramids
o Royals and elites were preserved through mummification, which
involved embalming and drying the corpse to prevent it from decaying
 Mummy placed in a coffin inside tomb… filled the tomb with
items the dead person could use in the afterlife
[clothing/food/cosmetics/jewelry/guards/animals]
 Organs divided into different containers
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0116982/HTML%20page%20folder/hm
ummification.htm
[Show mummy picture and the organ containers]
1.Imsety the human - headed god looks after the liver.
2.Hapy the baboon - headed god looks after the lungs
3.Duamutef the jackal - headed god looks after the stomach
4.Qebehsenuef the falcon - headed god looks after the intestines
o Book of the Dead is a collection of hymns, prayers, and magic spells
that is supposed to guide the soul in the afterlife
Life in Egyptian Society
 Egyptian society forms a pyramid of classes:
o King/Queen/Family
o Priests/Army commanders/wealthy landowners/government officials
o Middle class: artisans/crafts workers/merchants
o Lower class: Peasant farmers/laborers
o Slaves
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Figure 5 http://www.mrwanat.info/worldhistory/egypt/vizier/pictures/01.jpg


Could gain higher classes by marriage or success in their jobs and had to know
how to read/write
Women had same rights as men: own and trade property, postpone marriage, seek
divorce [then would get one-third of couple’s property]
Egyptian Writing:
 Simple pictographs were earliest forms of writing
 Then developed hieroglyphics, a writing system where a picture stood for an
idea or sounds
 First carved into stone then they invented a writing surface from papyrus
reeds
o Grew in marshes and pressed into sheets
Figure 6 http://www.idstyle.com/safari/egypt/hieroglyphics-table.jpg
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Egyptian Science and Technology :
 Achievements:
o Calendar to keep track of time between floods and plan planting
season…used start Sirius which appeared about the eastern horizon
before floods came
 365 days…divided into 12 months, 30 days each: 5 extra days
for holidays
Figure 7 http://www.fromcairo.com/images/natural-calendar.jpg
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
System of written numbers for counting, adding, and subtracting
Early form of geometry to survey/reset property boundaries
First to use stone columns
Knew how to check pulse rate
Set broken parts with splints
Effective treatments for wounds/fevers
Surgery for some conditions
Invaders control Egypt
 Power of Pharaohs declined around 2180 B.C. and ended Old Kingdom
o They regained power during the Middle Kingdom 2040-1640
B.C….improved trade, transportation, built huge dikes to trap Nile water,
drained swamps for new farmland
 1640 B.C., Hyksos from Palestine moved in to Egypt and ruled from 1630-1523
B.C.
 Regained control again in the New Kingdom
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