Ancient Egypt
Central Question…
deities
art
laws
Spirit
Ba/ka
politics
HOW DID RELIGION
INFLUENCE THE
DEVELOPMENT &
SUSTAINABILITY OF
ANCIENT EGYPT?
ethics
Pharaoh
afterlife
nature
WHAT WAS THE “SOUL” OF ANCIENT EGYPT?
NILE WAS THE “SOUL” OF EGYPT

THE NILE was considered the
SOUL as it was the source of life
and path to immortality

Egyptians lived on Eastern side
but buried on Western side

River was symbol of passage of
one life to next (eternity)

Yearly flooding – essential for
agriculture

Creation story began in swirling
waters of the Nile when god
Horus gave power to Pharaohs
Click here for Creation Story
Egyptian Deities
 What did the (gods and
goddesses) resemble?
Why?
 Why have so many gods
and goddesses?
 The deities married, had
families and children- why?
O-D-H Activity
What do you observe?
What do you
deduce?
What do you
hypothesize?
Egyptian God- THOTH
 God of Wisdom, Time, Writing
 Represented by a male body
with the head of an Ibis.
 Ibis=stork like bird with long
legs and beak to catch fish in
mud
 Ibis, symbolized wisdom
because beak shaped like a pen
and dips in the mud as if it was
ink
O-D-H Activity
What do you observe?
What do you
deduce?
What do you
hypothesize?
Egyptian God- OSIRIS
•God of Vegetation and Underworld
•Represented by a male body with a
greenish complexion and usually
depicted wrapped in white linen
• The greenish complexion draws the
connection with vegetation
• Wrapped in white linen like a
mummy to connect with the
underworld
Notice: Osiris’ legs
are bound together
like a mummy
different from most
Gods
Goddess: Ma’at
 Ma’at- represented truth, righteousness
and justice
GUIDING QUESTIONS
 How would the concept of ma’at create
balance and order in Egypt?
 How would ma’at affect everyone (from
the Pharaoh to the people)?
 What is the connection of ma’at to life
and the afterlife?
Egyptian Theocracy
 A theocracy is a form of government in which the
government (in ancient Egyptian case- the Pharaoh)
claims to rule on behalf of a god or deities
 Think aloud:
-Why would a king promote the belief that he had the
support of the gods?
-How would theocracy create the idea of “divine
kingship”?
-How would the concept of ‘divine kingship’ affect the
status of the pharaoh?
How did Pharaoh's rule?
•absolute rulers of the land
•believed to be the earthly embodiment of the god
Horus who was the son of Amon-Re. Therefore they
had the divine right to rule
•This allowed the Pharaoh to move between god and
their people (hourglass analogy)
•People followed their orders because they believed
they were from god = cult like status in life and in
death
•No one would challenge the King’s authority and he
could rule in relative peace
Fun Fact…
-The throne passed on to eldest son of
Principal Queen who was usual the eldest
daughter of the previous king therefore the
king’s __________
Dress of the Pharaoh
What do you observe?
What do you
deduce?
What do you
hypothesize?
Fit for a Pharaoh
Crook and Flail
Double Crown
Royal Cobra (Eye of
Ra)
Headcloth
Shaved heads
Prominent Beard
Gold
Sceptres
Education
 All children, regardless of social class,
received some education
 Followed a moral and ethical guide
“Instructions in Wisdom”
 Goal for education was to ensure youth
exhibited self control and good manners
 Education respected for creating a well
rounded individual
Law
 Law was governed by religious principle of Ma’at
 Laws were applied equally to all classes
specifically protected the family (children and
wives)
 Women shared the same legal rights as men (free
slaves, make adoptions, divorce, own property)
 Punishments for crimes could be quite severe- act
as a deterrent or disgrace the guilty (Examples:
minor crimes had 100 lashes; corrupt officials
had their hands amputated; crimes that resulted
in a death sentence could have choice= devoured
by a crocodile, suicide, burning alive)
What determined Egypt’s
Wealth?
Egyptian Wealth
 Agriculture made up most
of Egypt’s wealth – grain,
vegetables, fruit, cattle,
goats, pigs and fowl
 Abundance and
management of food
supplies (not royal treasury)
was the measure of Egypt’s
wealth = full granaries,
plenty of wildlife and fish,
and thriving herds were the
signs of prosperity. These
were the images used in the
tombs of the Pharaohs to
illustrate the wealth of their
reign
Economy and
Trade
 Simple economy based on food production and
minerals from desert
 access to the Mediterranean their routes extended
trade as far as Northern Europe, subtropical Africa
and the Near East
 Trading was done by bartering goods (grain, oil,
wheat)
 Taxes, salaries and loans were all paid entirely on
goods
 extensive trading made Egypt a powerful influence on
culture, art, ideas and technology (ie. Western
calendar was taken from the Romans who had
borrowed it from the Egyptians)
 Trade eventually grew and expanded, bringing new
ideas and goods into Egyptian society
Social Roles
Role of Men
 Head of the family
Role of Women
 Well treated and had
considerable legal rights
compared to other
civilizations
 Left women to be economically
independent
 Primary role was in domestic life
 Men could have numerous wives but
economically men had only 1 wife
 Labourers, craftsmen
 Jobs were hereditary
Jobs
 Labour required for construction
projects and was mostly filled by poor,
serfs
 Common title for a married women
in ancient Egypt was “nebet per”
meaning “the lady of the house”
 Stability of Egypt thrived as skilled
trades were passed from father to son
 Bear and raise children
 Children always learned the trade from
parents; seldom could choose
occupation
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stone with writing on
it in two languages (Egyptian and Greek),
using three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic
and Greek). It was carved in 196 BCE.
Why is it in three different scripts?
The Rosetta Stone is written in three scripts
(hieroglyphs for religious documents; demoticcommon script of Egypt; Greek- language of the
rulers of Egypt at that time)
The Rosetta Stone was written in all three scripts
so that the priests, government officials and rulers of
Egypt could read what it said.
When was the Rosetta Stone found?
The Rosetta Stone was found in 1799 by French
soldiers who were rebuilding a fort in Egypt (in a
small village in Delta called Rosetta (Rashid)
What does the Rosetta Stone say?
The Rosetta Stone is a text written by a group of
priests in Egypt to honour the Egyptian pharaoh. It
lists all of the things that the pharaoh had done that
were good for the priests and the people of Egypt.
Afterlife: How is
death is a new
beginning?
• mummification = significance and
connection to nature
•Monuments = significance of stone
•Items in tomb = significance
Egyptian Art: “Funerary Scene”
 Ka (soul /spiritual duplicate)
 ba (personality)
 akh (form mummy took in afterlife)
 ankh (the key of life)
 Anubis, Ma’at, Ammit, Thoth, Horus, Osiris
BIG IDEA…
deities
art
Pharaoh
laws
economy
afterlife
politics
Social roles
ethics
nature