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EGYPTIAN CONCEPTS AND KEY IDEAS
-taken from our readings in the "Green book"
BEGINNINGS
(pgs.5-16)
-Sources of the Nile River-
-Herodatus- -"Gift of the Nile"
-3 natural buffers of ancient Egypt are-
-Contributions
-geometry, mathematics, astronomy
-columns, stone fortresses,
-domesticated cats, honey bees,
-tanned leather, glass, mosquito netting
-canals,
-paper
-solar calendar, scientific method
-Creation Myth-
-from our Nome work
-Annual Flood
-"Great Inundation"
-Shadufs
-Black (Kemet) Land vs. Red (Desret) Land

-Domestication- what animals?
-Products- wheat, barley, …what other crops/
-Specialization of Tasks- how did it get started?
-Growth of government
- What are Nomes? Nomarchs?
-Pharaoh- what are his/her symbols of power?
-What system of payments did Egyptians use?
-Upper Egypt
-where located? Characteristics
-Lower Egypt
-where located? Characteristics
-Role of Nile River as a trade route
-means of transportation- what did they use?
-what effect did wind and current have on their use of the river?
-Main trade products of Egypt are?
-Unification of Upper and Lower
-Menes
-What King first united Upper and Lower Egypt?
-Memphis ("Balance of the two lands")
CHAPTER II- THE PHARAOH
(pg. 17-22)
-Pharaoh – ("He who lives in the Great House’)

-cartouche- what is it?
-titles- "Horus", "Lord of the Diadem of the Vulture and of the
Snake," "Son of Ra,"
-power/duties- list them
-Growth of government
-vizier-what is he and what are his duties
-chancellor-duties
-"Maat"-idea that "order" in the Egyptian world is very important
-Life of a young pharaoh
-how were they raised ?
-who did they usually marry?
-Throne of Pharaoh
- What are the main differences between the double crown and the “War Crown”?
-Nemes- What is it?
-crook and flail- mean ?
-pectoral- what is it?
THE EPOCHS OF EGYPTIAN HISTORY
Old, Middle, New
(pgs. 23-42)
Understand in general terms what each epoch is known for-
Old Kingdom-Age of Pyramids- 2700-2200 BC
-prospering economy

-international trade-
-lapis lazuli, gold
-copper age
-growth of writing- how did it start?
-Mesopotamian influence (cuneiform)
-hieroglyphics
-Pyramids
-Decline of Old Kingdom
-shrinking of Pharaoh’s power
-corruption of upper class, loss of money
-Pepi II
-longest ruling pharaoh- 90 years
-Great Famine caused what?
-Dark Ages of Egypt- why called that?
1.
Middle Kingdom – 2000-1700—BC
-Mentuhotep
-control of Egypt, Thebes new capital
-Power of Pharaohs restored- how?
-Period of great jewelry making
-Senwosnet
-conquered Nubia
-built great channel- where and why?

-stone fortresses
-New trade markets
-Draining of the Fayum- what is it and where?
-Hyksos invasion
-horse and chariot
-2 riders, bronze-tipped spears
-new Hysksos ideas
-loom, musical instruments, potter’s wheel, new cattle
*-bronze
2.
New Kingdom 1500-1000 BC
-Hyksos driven out- how did that happen?
Ahmose-
-Aggressive change in Egyptian outlook towards world
-Pharaohs become warrior leaders interested in what?
*Great Pharaohs of New Kingdom
-Thutmose I.
-conquest of Asia
-1 st
pharaoh buried in Valley of Kings
Hathshepsut
-pharaoh after husband Thutmose II dies
-*history’s first female leader* (well that we really talk about.....)
-not warlike, interested in trade, and rebuilding temples.

-How did she stay in power?
-Thutmose III.
-Stepson who takes throne from Hathshepsut- Why did he do that?
-What does he do to get rid of her “history.”?
-Characterize his reign as Pharaoh. What is he known for?
-Expanded to Mesopotamia’s Euphrates River, and south to fourth cataract
-Interested in nature
-Conquered royal children raised in pharaoh’s palace
-Golden Age of Art, Architecture- What does that mean?
-Growth of bureaucracy, and changes in army
-Amonhotep
-What is he known for? Why was he so different? Why do some historians say he might have been influential way beyond the borders of Egypt?
-Tutankhaten (King Tut)
What is his history? What did he accomplish? Why is he famous?
-son-in-law of Amonhotep
-removes all trace of Amonhotep
-“Rameside”
-11 pharaohs named Ramses

-Ramses the Great (Ramses II)
-How would you characterize Ramses II as a leader?
-Battle of Kadesh
-*world’s first peace treaty
-Great Temple at Karnak
-Ramses III
-Last great pharaoh
-Great migrations of people threaten Egypt
- The Decline of Egypt
*-What are some of the reasons Egypt declined and eventually fell apart?
Conquered by
-Africans- Lybia, Nubia,
-Asians
-Persians
-Alexander the Great 332. BC
-Ideas to think about
-Moses- Egyptian connection
-City of Alexandria- how it made Egyptians feel
-Thor Heyerdahl- sailed to prove his ideas about sea travel and pyramids
-How Egyptians counted the number of enemy dead after a battle-
WRITING

(pgs. 46-54)
-Cuneiform tablet writing first influence on Egyptian writing
-Changing of Egyptian writing:
-1 st
- "pictographs" (picture writing)
-2 nd - soon called "hieroglyphics" ( means ‘sacred carved writing’)
-based on ‘pictures’
-then became ‘sound’ based
-"determinatives" – pictures that indicate which meaning are used.
Ex.- symbol for a ‘man’ would follow a man’s name.
-750 symbols then 24 main ones
-3 rd
- variations of hieroglyphics
-"hieratic"- cursive version
-"demotic"- short hand for legal writing
-Hieroglyphics face direction to start –ex. Symbols face left of page, start reading from left
-Scribes- training, life?
-roles
-2% of society
-World’s first paper
-papyrus
-steps on making it
-types of ink
-Rosetta Stone- found where? By whom? What is its importance?

-Napolean Bonaparte- 1799
-what stone was it?
-4 foot basalt, hieroglyphics, demotic, Greek
-Jean Francois Champollion- What was his profession? What did he do that is famous in connection with Egypt?
Ideas to Think About
-How language has changed in Egypt- now Arabic
-Napolean’s impact upon "Egyptology" (the study of Ancient Egypt)
CHAPTER 5 – RELIGION
(55-68)
-Divine spirits
-Gods connected to animal world- how did they see this?
-see nome handout of Gods
-Story of Creation
(see creation myth handout)
-Chaos....water (Nun)
-Great Flood
-Ra and his eye
-Creation of Man from his tears
-Ra’s fight with Man
-Power of the sun in Egyptian Religion
-Why is it so important to them?
-Importance of "Cycles" in Egyptian life-

Know examples of the various cycles:
-crop cycle
-movement of the sun cycle
-voyage of Ra cycle
-Nile Flood cycle
-Belief in the Afterlife
-life, death, life cycle
-burials in the sand
-later mummification
-Myth of Osiris- explains rebirth, mummification process
-miracle of rebirth
-Osiris, Isis, Seth, Horus, Anubis
-know the myth
-Power of Maat
-"state if perfect harmony"
-goddess symbol-outstretched wings, ostrich feather
-failure to keep Maat means return to state of "chaos"
(remember creation myth)
-Growth of many gods/goddesses
-depicted half human, half animal
-Sacred animals
-cats, bulls, monkeys, crocodiles

-Temples
-every town, inner sanctuary, priest go only
-Priesthood
-role went from father to son normally
-women could be priests
-bath four times daily
-shave twice a day
-conduct important ceremonies
-Daily Rituals
-feeding the god statue, cleaning the sanctuary, conducting ceremonies
Amonhotep IV (4 th )-(changed his name to "Akhenaten")
-wife was "Nefertiti"
-pharaoh who changed the religion
-worship one god known as "Aten"
-abandoned all other gods
-temples ordered closed
-new temples to Aten built
-moved capital from Thebes to new place-"Akhetaten"
-artistic rules dropped, people painted realistically
-Akhenaten seen as "distorted" in his paintings
-time of great upheaval in Egyptian history, people and priests became angry

-Restoration of old gods
Tutankhaten ("King Tut")
-young son-in-law, restores old religion, moves capital back to Thebes
*Today- most countries worship one god
*Egypt today has many Moslems who worship "Allah" – a single God
*"Was Akhenaten ahead of his time?"
CHAPTER VI- MUMMIES AND BURIAL
(70-77)
-The Ka and The Ba
-Ka- invisible twin
-Ba- soul
-at death body needed to be ready for Ka to live in it.
-Ba flies around comes back each night
-Mastaba
-mud brick tombs pharaohs buried in
-bodies fell apart, too moist
-Mummification
-discovery of use of "natron"
-Steps of Mummification
-initial slit by a non-priest
-removal of organs
-canopic jars-for liver, lungs, intestines, stomach

-washing body with wine
-brush with sweet smelling spices
-natron bath- 40 days
-wash with Nile water
-brushed with spices
-stuffed with linen, sawdust, wrapped in linen
-jewelry placed in layers of linen
-"amulets"- small figures, charms
-"shawbatis"- (man shaped figures)
-body covered with resin
-death mask
-The Coffin
-early ones were rectangular shaped wooden boxes
(Old Kingdom0
-then became human shaped boxes
-then later they were human shaped boxes placed in a series of boxes, the largest called a "sarcophagus"
(New Kingdom)
-"Book of the Dead"
-Journey to Underworld
-Journey across River of Death to Osiris, 12 gates guarded by serpents
-Use of spells (Book of the Dead)
-Trial of spirit- Weighing of the heart vs. feather of Maat
-heart heavier than feather= doomed

-Anubis, Thoth,
-The Devourer
-Funeral
-ceremony of touching the mouth
-Mortuary Temple
-temple outside of the tomb
-Friends, relatives could visit
CHAPTER VIII-SCIENCE AND MATH-
(pgs. 99-104
-First solar calendar
-connection between Sirius (star) and the Inundation
-3 seasons in the year
-Inundation, Reemergence, Drought
-12 months with thirty days (moon cycle)
-added five extra days at end of each year
-Nilometer
-stone gauge with lines measure rate of river rising
-near First Cataract
-helped determine what flow of flood would be
-Links between Astronomy and Engineering
-pyramids four sides faced North, South, East, and West
-determined how to find North

-Time measurements
-Shadow Clock
-Water Clock
-Land measurements
-ropes laid out straight lines, knots at intervals
-"knots wide"..."knots long"
-surveyors = "rope stretchers"
-geometry- area of circles, 360 degrees
-Basic mathematics
-counting based on the number 10
-picture symbols for 1, 10, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, 1,000,000 and some fractions
-Cubits- unit of measure- elbow to tip of middle finger
-Weights
-fixed in gold, copper, or silver
-"deben" (ex. "That barley weighs 5 debens....")
-Science
-Biology
-anatomy knowledge from mummification process
-Physicians
-experimented with herbs, spices, minerals
-castor oil, poppy plants
-followed "Scientific method"

-could treat broken bones, headaches, tumors, infections
(did not know about antibiotics), pull teeth, toothaches, false teeth, headaches
-religious chants to make you better
CHAPTER X- EGYPT’S LEGACY
(117-120)
-The Gift of the Nile
-Why was it important? The Nile?
-Writing
-How did writing move from Egypt to the
Phoenicians? What did they do with that influence?
The Greeks?
-Math and Science
-Solar calendar
-basic principles of mathematics, geometry
-human anatomy, physiology
-Religion
-How did Akhenaten’s move to one god resemble other religions?
-Do you think Egypt influenced other religions?
-Architecture
-influenced later cultures –temples, statures, obelisks, houses, pyramids

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