Chapter 2
The first Civilizations—Egypt—The
Gift of the Nile
Egypt
Nile River Valley
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Narrow strip of land about 10 miles wide
Early people learned to control river –
canals, dikes, reservoirs, irrigation
ditches
Nile River
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River
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Flows north
Originates in the highlands of Ethiopia
(Blue Nile)
White Nile comes from lakes of central
Africa-main source is Lake Victoria
Ends in the Mediterranean Sea
Longest river in the world at 4,160 miles
Nile River
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Floods
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Until recently, flooded annually in JulySept
Floods predictable
Added moisture to the soil
Deposited silt, replenishing the soil with
nutrients-food, water and transportation
delta to form at the mouth of the river
Provided papyrus-reed that grows along
the banks of the Nile
First People
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5,000 to 4,000 B.C.E.
Divided into two regions
Upper Egypt – first cataract to 100 miles
of the sea
Lower Egypt – from delta inland 100
miles
Natural Barriers
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Deserts- Lybian, Nubian, Arabian
Seas- Mediterranean and Red
Cataracts- waterfalls and rapids which
interrupt Nile six times
Only real access into Egypt was across
the Sinai Peninsula- invaders and
traders used this route into Egypt
The Nile River
Valley
King Menes 3100 B.C.E.
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Unites the two kingdoms
First Egyptian dynasty
Ruling Dynasties
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Approximately 31 dynasties (ruling
families) from 2700 B.C.E. to 1090
B.C.E.
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Dynasties ruled Egypt for a total of ~
2700 years
Years between kingdoms without
ruling dynasty usually marked by
civil wars and/or invasion
Egyptian Historical Periods

Ancient Egyptian history divided
into three periods
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Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
New Kingdom
Old Kingdom 2700 B.C.E. to 2200
B.C.E.
AKA - The Pyramid Age
Rulers called Pharaohs (great house) - claimed to
be divine and worshiped as gods on Earth
Chief god – Amon-Re (pharaohs sons of Sun
god)
Pharaohs had absolute power ( owned all land
and water)
Viziers – supervisors that ran the government
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OLD KINGDOM
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Era was remarkable for prosperity,
artistic flowering, and the evolution of
religious beliefs
Pharaoh commanded the wealth,
resources, and people of all Egypt
Pharaoh cared for his people
The Great Pyramid of Khufu
About 2560 B.C.E.
The Great Pyramid of Khufu
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Egypt had great enormous quantities of
stone for building
Took 20 years to build
481 feet tall- tallest structure in the
world for 43 centuries
Each side perfectly aligned North, South,
East, & West
The Great Pyramid of Khufu
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Each side 751 feet long – error of less
than 9 inches per side
Covers 13 acres
Used more than 2 million stones – each
more than 2 tons some more than 15 tons
The Great Sphinx
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Located in Giza
Body of a lion and face of a man (the
pharaoh Khafre)
Faces the rising sun—tall as a six-story
building
Step Pyramid at Sakkara is oldest stone building in
the world which was built for the pharaoh Zoser
Old Kingdom ended about 2200 B.C.E.
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Reasons:
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Cost of Pyramids
Crop failure
Power struggle
Results: over 100 years of chaos
Princes from the city of Thebes reunited
Egypt
Middle Kingdom2050 B.C.E. to 1800 B.C.E.
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Marked by troubles –
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corruption, rebellions, Nile failed to flood
regularly
Accomplishment:
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Drainage projects
Canal from Red Sea to Mediterranean Sea
Pharaohs more concerned with common
people-allowed mummification
Middle Kingdom
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Increased trade
Egyptian Army invades Nubia and
occupied rich gold lands
End of Middle Kingdom
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About 1700 B.C.E. invaded by the
Hyksos
Hyksos had advance military
technology-the horse drawn chariot
Hyksos
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Adopted Egyptian customs, language &
beliefs
Fully introduced bronze age to Egypt
Ruled for about 100 years
About 1600 B.C.E. overthrown by the
Egyptians
New Kingdom 1550 B.C.E. to 1100 B.C.E.
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Powerful Pharaohs created a new larger
empire – all the way to the Euphrates River
Egypt at the height of wealth and power—
widespread slavery became a feature of
Egyptian life for the first time
Hordes of slaves brought home
Important rulers of the New Kingdom
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Hatshepsut- first
female ruler known
in history
1501 B.C.E.- 1482
B.C.E.
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Increased trade
Thutmose III
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Known as the Napoleon of Egypt
because of his military victories
Not allowed to rule in his own right
because of his age
Ruled Egyptian Empire at its greatest
size
Tried to wipe out the memory of
Hatshepsut
Pictures of Thutmose III
Ramses II
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Last great ruler of the New Kingdom
Signed first known treaty in history
with the Hittites
Ruled for 67 years—he was in his
nineties when he died
It is believed he fathered more than 150
children
Mummy of Ramses II
Foreign Invaders
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Nubia – 750 B.C.E.
650 B.C.E. Assyrians
Persians
Later the Greeks & Romans
All wanted the Nile Valley for its food
Religion (polytheism)
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Amon-Re – Sun god- Chief god
Osiris and Isis
Osiris and Isis
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God of the Under
World-ruler of the
Nile
Judges the dead
Rise & Fall the Nile
believed to be the
death & rebirth of
Osiris
Father of Horus
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Wife of Osiris
Brought him back to
life after Set killed
him-symbol is the
ankh-mother of Horus
Taught women how
to grind corn, spin
flax, care for children
Horus
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Son of Osiris – kills Set – god of the sky
Bastet and Anubis
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Goddess of
fertility,
sensuality and fire
prevention
Symbolized by
cats
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god of mummy
wrapping/embalm
ing
Holds the scales
of justice while
your heart is
weighed
Pictures of Bastet
Pictures of Anubis
Egyptian Afterlife
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Believed in a life after death
Each soul needed to pass a test
Weighed the heart against the feather of
truth
Sinners were fed to the Eater of the
Dead
Worthy souls entered the “Happy
Field of Food”
Mummification—presevation of
the body after death
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At first just for Pharaohs
Process took 70 days
Removed all organs and
preserved them in jars
Needed body in afterlife-home
for the Ka-eternal spirit
Valley of the Kings
Amenhotep IV
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Religious rebel
Akhenaton
Tried to outlaw all
gods except Aton
Introduced monotheism
Nefertiti
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Wife of Amenhotep
IV
Helps her husband
Husbands rule
started the downfall
of the New
Kingdom
Tutankhamen
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Reestablished
Amon-Re
“Boy King”
Howard Carter
Pharaohs organized
centralized state
Corrupt government
suffered frequent
rebellions
Pharaohs created a
large empire
Built enormous
tombs, the pyramids
Land drained for
farming
Traded with lands
along eastern
Mediterranean and
Red Sea
Power struggles,
crop failures and cost
of pyramids caused
collapse
Hyksos invaded and
conquered
Nubians, then others
invaded
Egyptian Society
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Social Class
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A persons social position and
occupation determined at birth
Parents taught their children their own
trade
Egyptian Society
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Social Structure
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Top = Pharaoh (royal family)
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Ruling class of vizier, priests and nobles
Scribes and soldiers
Middle class of merchants, artisans, doctors
Peasant farmers were majority of population and
slaves
Egyptian Social Stucture
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Ruling Class
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Egyptian life revolved around religion
Priests and nobles had highest status after
pharaoh
Only priests knew how to please gods
Gods controlled nature
Priests performed rituals to obtain fertile
land etc.
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People paid tax to the temples
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Grain, gold, linen, etc
nobles mainly held government positions
Generals in armies, governors of provinces,
tax collectors and court officials
Had many luxuries
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Middle Class
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Small group
Settled in cities
Provided goods & services to the ruling
class
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Peasants
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Majority of Egyptians
Lifestyle unchanged for thousands of years
Pharaoh owned all the land
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60% of the crops had to be paid as taxes
Usually had to work on palace or
government project-serve in army, up keep
and repair of irrigations systems
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Slaves
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Brought to Egypt as POW’s or were
descendents of POW’s
Some slaves lived comfortable lives
Some became trusted officials (Joseph)
Some earned their freedom
Life was tough for most- Average 36 at
death
Status of Women
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Relatively high status for that time
in history—more independence
Could buy and sell property
Could seek divorce (although rare)
Property inherited through female
line
Role of wife and mother important
A woman’s status increased
when she had children
Status of Women
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Sometimes women considered
property, but were treated kindly
Wore make-up/wigs etc. (lice
always an issue)
Queen might rule with pharaoh
If pharaoh had more than one
wife, the first wife was most
important
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Her son would be the next pharaoh
Egyptian Writing
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~3100 B.C.E.
Hieroglyphics
Developed by priests
Scribes
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Scribes were very important
Kept records, recorded history
Could possibly become rich
About the only social mobility of the era
The Rosetta Stone - 1799
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Slab of black rock carved in
three languages
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Hieroglyphics
Demotic (everyday language)
Greek
Jean Champollion
deciphered the Rosetta
Stone
Egyptian Achievements
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In areas of math and science
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Developed system of surveying land
Important due to annual floods
Surveying land led to Geometry
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Area & volume
Did not develop the concept of zero
Egyptian Achievements
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Development of astronomy
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To predict floods, eclipses
Led to development of calendar based on Sirius
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365 days, 12 months
3 seasons, 30 days for 11 months, 35 for the 12th
6 hours short of a solar year
Development of building techniques
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engineering
Egyptian Achievements
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Medical discoveries
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Magic heavily used
Developed surgery
Greeks & Romans based much of their
medical knowledge on that of the
Egyptians
Egyptian Achievements
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Literature
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Hymns
Book of the Dead
Love poems
Folk tales
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The Tale of Sinuhe
The Fertile Crescent
“Crossroads of Civilization”
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It commands land routes to 3
continents
Few natural barriers
Constant exchange of ideas through
invasions and migrations
Mesopotamia
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Tigris River & Euphrates River
Floods almost every year (April –June)
Periods of drought
Rivers unpredictable and deadly
Sumerian Civilization – 3200 B.C.E.
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City States—large towns and cities and
the surrounding countryside
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Ur
Uruk
Kish
Cities are independent of each other
Social classes set up in hierarchy-system
of ranks
Ziggurats
Largest building
in the city-state
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Pyramid-temple
Economy
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First to use wheeled vehicles
Trade with neighboring city-states was
basis of the economy
Sumerians fought for control of land and
water
Cities protected by high walls
Religion
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Polytheism
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Council of gods & goddesses rule the earth
Each city-state had it specific god/goddess
Natural events explained through actions
of gods/goddesses-keep gods happy
Gods & goddess behaved like ordinary
people—kings were gods representatives
Believed in an afterlife-gloomy underworld
Writing – cuneiform means
wedged-shaped
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Stylus
Scribes
Achievements
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Basic algebra & geometry
Number system based on 6
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Hour = 60 minutes
Circle into 360 degrees
Invented the plow & sail
First to use columns, inclined walks &
arch
Empires of the Middle East
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Sargon – 2300 B.C.E. ruler of Akkad
conquered the city-states of Sumer
First empire in recorded history
Babylonian Empire
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Amorites invade Sumer & locate their
government in Babylon
Became known as the Babylonian
Empire
Promoted chief Babylonian god called
Marduk
Hammurabi
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Code of
Hammurabi
300 laws carved
into stone pillars
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Criminal law
Civil Law
“eye for an eye”
Hittites – 1400 B.C.E.
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Conquered Mesopotamia because of
their secret weapon – iron
Introduced Iron Age in Europe, Africa,
& Asia
Assyrians – 1100 B.C.E.
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Most cruel & warlike
First people to develop effective way of governing
an empire
Ruled by fear-uprooted people which spread ideas
Well-ordered society-capital at Nineveh
New military techniques-cavalry, siege weapons,
disciplined army
Assurbanipal established first library-helped
preserve history of Middle East
612 B.C.E. crushed by their neighbors
Nebuchadnezzar (Chaldeans)
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Ruled from Babylon-New Babylonians
Enslaved the Jews- known as the
Babylonian Captivity
Built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
& Tower of Babel
Accomplishments
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Astrology-stars determined human
destiny
Calendar – accurate to within 7 minutes
Lydians
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Introduced the
use of coined
money
Created money
economy which
helped trade
Did not eliminate
barter system
Persian Empire – 539 B.C.E.
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Cyrus the Great began empire
Created the largest empire yet seen in the
world-Asia Minor to India to Egypt
Treated conquered peoples with
toleration and respected customs and
traditions
Darius – 522 B.C.E.
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Concerned for justice
Divided empire into provinces called a
Satrapy which was ruled by Satrap
Sent spies “eyes and ears of the king” to
check on satraps
Accomplishments
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Linked empire with roads-Great Royal Road
(1,677 miles)--early pony express system
Created set of common weights & measures
First large empire to create uniform system
of coinage
Single code of laws for all
Persian Religion
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Created by Zoroaster – 600 B.C.E.
Single wise god – Ahura Mazda-symbolized by
light
In a battle with evil prince of lies Ahrimansymbolized by darkness
Sacred book called Zend Avesta
Each individual chooses who to follow and there
would be a Day of Judgment
Phoenicians
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Greatest sailors/explorers of ancient
times-established colonies
“Carriers of Civilization”-spread
Middle Eastern civilization around the
Med. Region
Made glass and had purple dye made
from a tiny sea snail
Gave us our alphabet
Hebrews – 2000 B.C.E.
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Nomads out of Ur in Mesopotamia
Abraham – founder of Judaism
Monotheism – single God – Yahweh
Torah-first five books of the Old
Testament which is their most sacred
text
Developed a code of ethical laws
Moved to Canaan then to Egypt
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Enslaved by
Egyptians
Moses
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Passover
Freed Hebrews from
bondage in Egypt
Ten Commandments
Religious
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The Covenant—binding agreement
Prophets— spiritual leaders who
interpret God’s will
Ethics—moral standards of
behavior
Kingdom of Israel – 1000 BCE
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Saul first king of Israel
David – slew Goliath—ruled for 40
years
Solomon was the son of David
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Built the Temple of Jerusalem
Home of the Ark of the Covenant
Kingdom of Israel

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Kingdom split – Israel in north & Judah
in the south
Israel conquered by the Assyrians in 722
B.C.E.
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Judah conquered by the Babylonians in
586 B.C.E.