Ancient Egypt & Kush

I. Egypt Under the Pharaohs

A. The Nile

1. longest river in the world (4,100 miles)

2. flows north into Mediterranean Sea

3. Upper Nile is in South

4. Lower Nile is in North

5. Flooded every summer, making soil rich with silt

*Notice the triangular shape of lush, green land at the end of the Nile. This area is where a majority of great minerals and soil from farther upstream pile up. This triangular shaped area is called a delta due to its resemblance to the Greek letter ∆ (delta).

B. Trade and Commerce

a. wheat & barley

b. flax – clothing was made from this plant

c. farmers grew many other crops(e.g. lentils, onions, dates, figs, and grapes)

1. Major Crops

2. Other Resources

a. stone – for building houses and temples

b. gold & silver – for jewelry

c. copper – tools, weapons

d. papyrus – for paper, baskets, mats, boats, sandals, ropes, etc.

C. Growing into a Nation

1. c. 3050BCE, warrior king Menes (or Narmer) united Upper and Lower Egypt, made Memphis the capital

2. beginning of 3,000 years of Egyptian history, comprised of 30 dynasties

3. first hieroglyphic writing dates to this time

D. Old Kingdom (c. 2686 – 2181 BCE)

Step Pyramid of Djoser

1. King Djoser orders first pyramid to be built

4. many other monuments are built during this time

2. religious devotion strong, many temples built

3. King Khafre orders Sphinx to be built

5. Central government became weak*, unity crumbled

*too much spending at the top, local rulers grew in wealth and power, among other factors

E. Middle Kingdom (c. 2055-1650 BCE)

4. built pyramids, but smaller ones

1. After a century of civil wars, Egypt was reunified

2. Thebes made new capital

3. kings had canals built to control floods and irrigate the land

5. brought to abrupt end by invading Hyksos*

*Hyksos are still a mystery to scholars, but it’s thought they came from SW Asia. They effectively took control of the Lower Nile for a while.

F. New Kingdom (c. 1550-1069BCE)

1. Hyksos driven out of Egypt after nearly 200 years

2. rulers started using term pharaohmeaning “great house”

3. great warrior-pharaohs, like Thutmose III and Ramses II,expanded their territory into Asia

4. more massive building projects

5. weakened by a series of civil wars and then being passed into foreign hands

G. Egyptian Society (see graphic organizer)

1. Pharaoh – “god-king”

2. Ruling class

a. vizier – king’s advisor

b. nobles – government jobs, large estates

c. priests* – pleased the gods, paid no taxes

*some women held particularly high-ranking positions within Egyptian religion as priestesses, but most of the important roles and power within the religion went to men.

a. scribes*

3. Skilled workers

b. skilled men (e.g. merchants, artisans**, & physicians)

c. skilled women (e.g. weavers, perfume-makers, musicians, dancers, etc.)

**artisans are men or women who have a special skill and make things by hand

***women could be merchants, artisans, or skilled in medicine, but those were typically male-dominated professions; women could be business owners

*scribes were in a unique position because of their importance to the government and religion, as most people were not trained to read and write hieroglyphs

4. Peasants – farmed, kept canals and reservoirs in good order, worked in quarries, built royal monuments

5. Slaves – usually prisoners of war who worked in quarries, homes of nobles, or possibly in temples

A. Egyptian Pantheon

1. The gods were often depicted as human with animal head

2. Each god had a different role (a LOT of gods)

3. The Pharaoh and priests appeased the gods

4. The gods followed Ma’at*—divine order, justice, truth**

II. Egyptian Religion

Ra – sun god

Anubis – god of the dead

Serket– god of scorpion stings/bites

**Compare this to the Mesopotamian gods who were moody and unpredictable.Think about how their geography was different. Could this contribute to their view of the gods?

*People were also expected to follow Ma’at in their lives

Scarab Beetle

Khepri – god of rebirth

and the sunrise

Cats

Bastet Sekhmet

Mafdet

B. Afterlife

1. If the soul was lighter than a feather,the soul would go on to paradise

2. If not your soul would be devoured by Ammit

C. Mummification

1. After death, those who could afford it,would be mummified

3. Belongings buried with mummies for afterlife

4. Poor Egyptians would be buried in the desert– natural mummification

5. Believed that spirit and body would reunite in the afterlife

2. body preserved, wrapped up, put in sarcophagus

Amun Hathor Horus Isis Osiris

Set Ra

Anubis

Bastet Thoth SobekSekhmet

*The numbers and lines on this map indicate where the cataracts are that helped to separate Egypt and Kush for much of their history and make it difficult to sail up and down the full length of the Nile. Cataracts—rock-filled rapids or waterfalls—were a protective barrier for both kingdoms, really.

III. Egypt and Kush

A. Trade in Ancient Egypt

1. Egypt had fertile soil to grow crops,

but lacked other resources

2. Traded with other peoples for lumber, horses, etc.

3. Interdependence with a kingdom to the south

a. Egypt came to depend on Kushite gold

b. Kush came to depend on Egyptian grain

Some Additional Maps of Egypt & Kush for Context

1. Egypt and Kush learned much from each other

3. Kush conquered Egypt (c. 753BCE)

4. c. 671, Assyrians invaded and kicked the

Kushites out of Egypt

B. A Complicated Relationship

2. Egypt conquered Kush during both Middle and New Kingdoms

IV. Important Leaders & Achievements

B. Hatshepsut (r. c. 1479-1458BCE)

3. built Egypt’s wealth through trade, not war

1. ruled Egypt for her stepson (Thutmose III)

2. built a grand temple at Deir el Bahri

4. her stepson destroyed many records of her after her death

A. King Narmer (Menes)– united Upper and Lower Egypt (c. 31st cent. BCE)

*I was lucky enough to see a massive temple wall that was reconstructed in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto that shows a huge painting of Hatshepsut that was chiseled off during the reign of her stepson Thutmose III. You can still see the faint silhouette of her body to the right of the much smaller painted figure. Call me over if you can’t see it.

Hatshepsut:

Nearly Erased

Female Pharaoh

C. Pharaoh Akhenaton and his wife Nefertiti (r. c. 1353-1336BCE)

1. forced Egyptians to worship one god – “Aton”

2. Akhenaton, later called criminal by Egyptians

3. Nefertiti – very smart and beautiful queen

4. After their deaths, many records of them

were destroyed and the old gods were restored

*King “Tut” Tutankhamen was Akhenaton’s son

Art was done in a different style during the reign of Akhenaton. Notice the sun disk.

D. Ramses II (the Great) (r. c. 1279-1213BCE)

1. Regarded as the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt

2. Expanded Egypt to north of modern-day Israel

3. Completed massive building projects

Fun facts: Lived to be 90+ years old, had red hair,

90+ kids, favorite wife was Nefertari

E. Cleopatra (VII) (r. c. 51-30BCE)

1. Last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt

2. Very intelligent, witty, beautiful

4. After Caesar dies, marries Roman leader

Mark Antony

5. Caesar’s heir, Octavian, finds out Antony and

Cleo have betrayed Rome, hunts them down

6. Cleo and Mark kill themselves, and Rome

conquers Egypt

3. Made alliance with the

major threat, Rome (Julius Caesar)

F. Egyptian Accomplishments

1. Pyramids…duh

2. Obelisks

3. Hieroglyphic writing

1. Used symbols to represent ideas, words, sounds

2. Deciphered after discovery of Rosetta Stone in 1799

4. Advances in medicine, shipbuilding,and a numeral system

5. Papyrus – world’s first paper

6. Women’s rights – could divorce and own property*

*women were by no means treated as equals to men, but they had more rights in Egypt than in most other places in the ancient world