Civilization Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1g60SSGmeY

Pyramids on the Nile

The Geography of Egypt(Development of Civilization)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdtgX9ORiW4

Gift of the NileWhile Sumer was forming in the Middle East a similar process was happening to the west in Africa along the Nile River but with different results—united into a single kingdom

Nile flows northward for over 4,000 miles

Width of continental US is 2,442 miles!

Egypt divided into an upper and lower

Environmental Challenges. . .or are they?

The Nile looks like a thin green ribbon cutting through the vast desert

Nile naturally flows northward but one can easily sail against the current

The ease of travel on the Nile helped unify Egypt’s villages and promote tradeThe Nile was like clockwork when it came to floodingDeserts served as barrier to invaders

Movement of Goods and IdeasBy 3200 BC Egyptians were actually trading goods with Mesopotamians and moving further South to Nubia and

Kush by 2000 BC

Egyptians did borrow some ideas about writing and city structure from the Fertile Crescent.

Lasted for apprx. 3,000 years as a civilization

Egypt Unites as a Kingdom

Unification BeginsEgyptian farming villages go back as early as 5000 BCBy 3200 BC Egypt divided into 2 kingdoms—upper (S) and lower (N)

Menes, a strong-willed king, united all of Egypt (capital at Memphis)

Old Kingdom begins 2660—good records start during 3rd dynasty (Pyramids)

Pharaohs Rule as GodsKings, or Pharaohs were considered to be representatives of the gods.

Kings=gods

Pharoahs= center of religion, government, and army

Known as Theocracy.

Pyramid Era at its it HeightBelieved in life after death

Kings continued to rule even after death=ka (spirit)

Tombs were even more important than palaces b/c pharaohs continued to need things and entertainment after death.

Old Kingdom focuses on building pyramids

Pyramids= burial grounds for dead Pharoahs.

Egyptian CultureWere polytheistic

The most important gods were Ra (sun god) and Horus (god of light)

Most important goddess was Isis—represented the ideal mother and wife

Over 2000 gods and goddesses altogether

Huge temple were built in order honor the major deities

AfterlifeBelieved in afterlife that was not bleak

All classes of people planned for their burial

Preservation of the body was done through mummification

Book of the Dead—spells, prayers and hymns for the dead

Egyptian Hierarchy

Life in Egyptian SocietyEgyptians not locked into social classes

Marriage or success in jobs could move one up in the pyramid structure

Slaves could be rewarded for loyal service by being promoted

Highest positions=ability to read and write

Women had many of the same rights as men—own and trade property, propose marriage and divorce, etc….

Record keeping--DejavuStarted as crude pictographs

Picture changed from standing for an idea to standing for a sound—like our own alphabet

Started with clay tablets but progressed to papyrus

Our understanding of their language came from the Rosetta Stone

Science and TechnologySystem of numbers

Basic geometry

Columns

Calendar

Advanced knowledge of medicine

The KingdomsOld Kingdom—3000BC to 2180BC

Middle Kingdom 2080BC to 1640BC

New Kingdom 1570BC to 1075BC

Gaps in years indicates Intermediate Periods when weakness or invaders ravaged Egypt—esp. the Hyksos (aka chariot riders)

Fall of Egypt (Decline of Civilization)

After Ramses the Great (Ramses II) died, Egypt began to decline.Outside invasions eventually destroyed much of ancient Egyptian civilization.