Geography: The Nile

Longest River4,000 miles longFlows through the Sahara DesertWithout water, nobody could liveNatural protection

Geography: The Nile DeltaDelta – Mouth of a RiverSilt DepositsLongest Delta in the World

Geography

Black LandRed LandCataracts

The Sahara

Gave comfort to the EgyptiansIt was difficult to crossDiscouraged people from invading

The Fertile Nile Valley

The Annual Flooding of the Nile

Nile Irrigation – The Shaduf

Two Kingdoms

1st were villages – 5,000 BCVillages consolidated into two kingdomsNorthern KingdomSouthern Kingdom

Northern Kingdom

Lower EgyptLower end of NileOccupied most of the DeltaCobra GoddessSnake was their symbol

Southern KingdomUpper EgyptLaid along the riversStretched from south of the delta to the 1st CataractPrayed to a vulture goddessThe vulture was their symbolA white crown Symbolized Upper Egypt

Unification3100 BCKing MenesMemphis became the CapitalAdopted the Symbol of Lower and Upper EgyptEstablished the 1st DynastyWore a red and white crown – using the two kingdom’s colors

Old Kingdom: 3rd Dynasty 2650 BC

Lasted 500 yearsThe pyramidsNear GizaTombsChanged over timeMostly peasants built them

Pharaohs Government developed during the Old KingdomHead of the governmentMeans “Great House”

Owned all the landTheir word was lawActed as judgesLeaders of the Egyptian Army

A god in human formTheocracy

Egyptian BureaucracyEgyptian Bureaucracy

Middle KingdomOld Kingdom collapsed in 2100 BC200 years of civil warFamine made things worseIn 2055 BC, a new dynasty emergedStrong leadership – strong economyTrade Routes were not Always safe1650 BC – the Hyksos invaded the Nile DeltaThe Hyksos brought superior military technologies They ruled for 100 yearsEgyptians resented being ruled by foreignersThey rose against the Hyksos

New Kingdom

Egyptians realized that they could not rely solely on geographic barriors for protectionCreated a powerful militaryAdopted Hyksos weaponryExpanded their empireHeaded into Nubia and conquered the Kingdom of Kush and forced them to pay tribute to Egypt

Reign of Hatshepsut Encouraged tradeBrought gold, apes, and myrrhOne of the few women to rule egyptReferred to herself as the “son of the sun god”Her nephew took over after she died and tried to destroy any evidence of her ruling

Akhenaton: Monotheism in Egypt1353 BC – Amenhotem IV took overChanged his name to Akhenaten, which means, “beloved of Aten”Egyptians were polytheistic, but he changed Egypt to a monotheistic culture during his reignBanned worship of any other god other than AtenStripped power from the priests of other gods and ordered their god’s image be destroyedThis religion didn’t last past his deathPharaoh Tutankhaman restored the worship of Egypt’s traditional gods and moved the capital back to Thebes

Great Hymn To Aten

Ramses the GreatHittites from Mesopotamia invaded Egyptian territoryRamses II led his army out to confront the HittitesAccording to Hittite records, the Hittites wonThe Egyptian records say that the Egyptians wonHowever, the two armies agreed to a truceRamses married a Hittite princessHe ruled for 60 yearsBuilt more temples and monuments than any other pharaoh

Egypt’s declineFirst major invasion – the sea peoplesPriests and nobles struggled for powerEgypt broke into smaller statesOver the next 700 years, foreign rulers controlled Egypt

Libyans KushitesThen the AssyriansThen the PersiansThen the Egyptians drove the Persians outThen the Persians returnedThen in 332 BC Alexander the Great marched into Egypt