“The Gift of the Nile”
“Gift of the Nile” Video
Nile River
Nile River From Space
Nile River
 Most Egyptians lived near the Nile as it provided water,
food, transportation and excellent soil for growing food.
 Ancient Egypt could not have
existed without the river Nile.
Since rainfall is almost non-existent
in Egypt, the floods provided the
only source of moisture to sustain
crops. The floods also left behind
Valuable “silt” that helped replenish
the fields.
Facts About the Nile River
Length
4,184 miles
2 Sources
Lake Victoria, Uganda (White Nile);
Lake Tana, Ethiopia (Blue Nile)
Mediterranean Sea, off Egypt
Mouth
Countries
Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia,
Flows Through Zaire, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda,
Burundi
Name Origin
Greek word Nelios, which means
"River Valley"
Nile Delta
 Located in northern
Egypt where the Nile
River spreads out and
empties into the
Mediterranean Sea
 240 km of coastline,
106 km in length
 Rich agricultural
region
 Most fertile soil in
Africa
Floodplain
 The low strip of fertile land
located on either side of the
Nile River
 The river flooded during the
annual inundation
 When the inundation
subsided, it left the earth
soaked and overlaid with a
fresh layer of black silt.
 Most of the farming occurred
here
Ancient Egyptians Video
Pyramids
 Pyramids were tombs for the kings.
 The Egyptians believed that if the
pharaoh's body could be mummified after death the
pharaoh would live forever. The tombs were designed to
protect the buried Pharaoh's body and his belongings.
2
Social Classes
PHARAOH
Earthly leader; considered a god
HIGH PRIESTS AND PRIESTESSES
Served gods and goddesses
NOBLES
Fought pharaoh’s wars
MERCHANTS, SCRIBES, AND ARTISANS
Made furniture, jewelry, and fabrics for
pharaohs and nobles, and provided for other needs
PEASANT FARMERS AND SLAVES
Worked in the fields and served the pharaoh
Egyptian Gifts’: Hieroglyphics
 Hieroglyphics is the picture writing used in
ancient Egypt. The word hieroglyphics is made up
of two Greek words - hieros, which means sacred,
and glyph, which means carving.
 The Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system consists
of several hundred picture signs. The signs can be
divided into two classes, phonograms and
ideograms
Phonograms represent sounds, much as
alphabet letters do. Ideograms are signs that
represent whole words or concepts.
Egyptian Gifts’: Paper
Making paper from papyrus
Religion: Polytheistic
 Belief that many gods
and goddesses ruled
the world and the
afterlife
Amon-Re: sun god
Osiris: god of the
underworld and of the
Nile
 The pharaoh was
believed to be a god as
well as a ruler
Falcon Headed Sun God
Comparing Modern
Americans and Ancient
Egyptians
VENN Diagram
Modern Americans
Ancient Egyptians