Chapter Two
Ancient Middle East and Egypt
3200 B.C.-500 B.C.
Section Three
Kingdom on the Nile
The Nile Delta is
a rich agricultural
region.
The Nile Delta
Delta is the fourth
letter of the Greek
alphabet. It
corresponds to out
letter “D.” It has a
triangular shape.
This is the Nile
Delta as seen
from space by
the MODIS
sensor on
NASA’s Terra
satellite.
The irrigation channel
that turns this part of the
Egyptian desert green is
like a stem, and the life
giving waters of the Nile
create the green leaf that
grows from it.
These are irrigation circles in the Libyan desert.
A different
perspective
The Nile Delta at night as seen from the International Space Station
Ancient Egypt was a kingdom.
It did not have city-states.
The New Kingdom Period was
Egypt’s most prosperous time and
marked the peak of its power.
This is a map of ancient Egypt as it
existed at about 1450 B.C. During
this period Egypt gained territory
from the Hittites in the north and
the Nubians in the south.
Egypt’s New Kingdom period included the eighteenth,
nineteenth, and twentieth dynasties.
The dynasty at the right is
not from Egypt. These
people worked in California.
Thirty years ago their
“Dynasty” was the most
popular show in the United
States. The show was about
several generations of one
very rich family.
This is the Duck Dynasty. They’re not Egyptian either.
A dynasty is a sequence of
rulers from the same
family, usually in a
monarchical system.
The Robertson family
became wealthy from their
family-operated business,
Duck Commander. They
make and sell duck calls.
Ramses II was the third pharaoh of Egypt’s Nineteenth Dynasty.
Ramses II
reigned from
1279 to 1213
B.C. - sixty-six
years. No other
pharaoh held
power as long as
he did.
Ramses II is also known as Ramses the Great.
This is the Great
Temple at Abu
Simbel, which was
completed around
1265 B.C.
This temple was dedicated to the gods Amun, RaHorakhty, and Ptah, and to the deified Rameses himself.
Each of the four
colossal sixty foot
statues represents
Ramses II.
Ramses II is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated,
and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire.
This is a painting on
papyrus from Ramses II’s
temple at Abu Simbel. It
shows Ramses II riding
into battle at Kadesh.
Ramesses II had two hundred
wives and concubines, ninetysix sons and sixty daughters.
Ramses II
expanded his
empire to the
South.
He is depicted
here with
Nubian
captives.
Ramses II expanded his
empire to the North.
His enemies in
the north
were the
Hittites.
Ramses’ 1258
B.C. treaty
with the
Hittites, in
cuneiform, is
at right.
Ramses never got the upper hand with the Hittites.
By 1269 B.C. he was at war with them again.
This is an artist’s rendering of a mural in Ramses II’s temple in
Tebes showing the siege of Dapur in 1269 B.C.
Contemporary
illustrations of
the siege of
Dapur show
the use of
ladders and
chariots with
soldiers
supported by
archers.
Ramses II died
at the age of
ninety. His
mummified
remains have
been on display
at the Egyptian
Museum of
Cairo since the
late 1970s.
In order to run
the Egyptian
government,
defend Egypt,
and build public
monuments,
Egyptian
pharaohs made
the people pay
taxes.
Tax collectors and the
scribes who recorded the
tax payments were a part
of the ancient Egyptian
government’s bureaucracy.
This tomb
painting from
2400 B.C. shows
a tax official
meeting with
men who hadn’t
paid their taxes.
The next scene
shows one of
them being
flogged.
The very
first ancient
Egyptian
dynasty
imposed a
nationwide
system of
taxation.
Tax collectors
and scribes
were high in
the ancient
Egyptian
hierarchy.
Ancient
Egyptian
royalty,
nobility, and
clergy enjoyed
lives of
wealth and
comfort while
farmers and
slaves
struggled to
subsist.
Because hieroglyphics were so complex, young scribes
- almost always boys from wealthy or royal families would attend school for many years to become adept
at writing and reading hieroglyphics.
Boys (like those
left and right)
labored for
twelve years to
learn
hieroglyphics,
mathematics,
and record
keeping.
Several statues of scribes show them with rolls of fat around
their bellies, indicators of their place in the hierarchy.
An Egyptian proverb
states “What you gain
in one day at school is
for eternity. The work
done there lasts as long
as mountains.”
Another text advises
“Plunge into a book as
you would into a clear
pool of water.”
Taxes were not enough to build the great monuments of
ancient Egypt. The pharaohs demanded corveé labor.
Corveé labor is unpaid
work required by the
state. In ancient Egypt
certain classes of
people, such as
peasants, were
required perform work
on public projects.
Egyptian peasants were sometimes seized and put to
work building the pyramids for not paying their taxes.
H. G. Wells wrote
science fiction books
(like The War of the
Worlds). He also wrote
books about history.
The illustration at the
left comes from his 1920
book entitled The
Outline of History.
Corveé labor is not slavery. Corveé labor has been used
by governments from the beginning of civilization.
When the
Mississippi River tore
through levies and
flooded nearby
towns in 1927,
southern leaders
forced poor black
men to work on
restoring the levees.
and now…
some final exam
questions…
The most common farming feature shared by all
river civilizations of the ancient world was
a)
using cattle for work.
b)
designing and using irrigation in fields.
c)
the practice of sifting grain from a screen.
d)
the use of plows only made from stones.
The most common farming feature shared by all
river civilizations of the ancient world was
a)
using cattle for work.
b)
designing and using irrigation in fields.
c)
the practice of sifting grain from a screen.
d)
the use of plows only made from stones.
In order to run the Egyptian government, defend
Egypt, and build public monuments, Egyptian
pharaohs
a)
spent all their time conquering other lands.
b)
gave everyone in Egypt equal rights.
c)
put an end to all religion so people would not waste money.
d)
made the people pay taxes.
In order to run the Egyptian government, defend
Egypt, and build public monuments, Egyptian
pharaohs
a)
spent all their time conquering other lands.
b)
gave everyone in Egypt equal rights.
c)
put an end to all religion so people would not waste money.
d)
made the people pay taxes.
Which civilizations were organized
into city-states?
a)
Ancient Greece and Mayans
b)
Rome and Egypt
c)
Phoenicia and India
d)
Ancient China and Ghana
Which civilizations were organized
into city-states?
a)
Ancient Greece and Mayans
b)
Rome and Egypt
c)
Phoenicia and India
d)
Ancient China and Ghana
In many ancient civilizations, commoners were
required to work free for the government a
certain number of days a month. This is an
example of
a)
union labor.
b)
a community minded spirit.
c)
volunteer labor.
d)
corveé labor.
In many ancient civilizations, commoners were
required to work free for the government a
certain number of days a month. This is an
example of
a)
union labor.
b)
a community minded spirit.
c)
volunteer labor.
d)
corveé labor.