EgyptEgypt

Ancient CivilizationsAncient Civilizations

Historical Overview Ancient Egypt was the

birthplace of one of the World’s greatest civilizations. It was far more advanced than European tribes of the same time period, who were still in the Stone Age.Located in the northeast corner of Africa, Egypt grew to be an important civilization for over three hundred years because of the Nile River.Egypt was originally divided into two kingdoms: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.

Geography: Populated AreasThere were three main areas that

were populated in Egypt:

1. The Nile Valley • sole source of water for Egypt• Predictable flooding provided rich

fertile soil• Both revered and feared (too much

flooding or droughts)

2. The Nile Delta • Area were Nile empties into

Mediterranean Sea• Largest piece of fertile land• Encompassed major centres of

Egypt

3. Faiyum• Lake Moeris lies at end of

branch of Nile is centre of oasis called Faiyum

• Irrigation from Nile made Faiyum the third most populated land

Pharaoh

Pharaoh was believed by the Egyptians to be the supreme ruler chosen by the gods to lead his people. They believed that when a man became a pharaoh, he also became a god. To keep the bloodline of the gods pure, pharaohs often married their sisters, mothers, and cousins.

How did Pharaoh's rule?

• absolute rulers of the land

• believed to be the earthly embodiment of the god Horus who was the son of Amon-Re

• Therefore they had the divine right to rule

• This allowed them to move between god and their people

• People followed their orders because they believed they were from god

• No one would challenge the King’s authority and he could rule in relative peace

Egyptian Pharaohs• 1470 BCE – Reign of Hatsheput (one of four female Kings)

• 1350 BCE – Reign of Akhenaton (Wanted to change religious beliefs to monotheism)

• 1334 BCE – Reign of Tutankhamun (Religious revolution is reversed)

• 1297 BCE - Reign of Ramses II. He had over 200 wives and concubines, approximately 90 sons and 60 daughters and reigned over 67 years! His reign saw massive building projects in Egypt. The Exodus of Jews from Egypt also occurred during his reign.

• 525 BCE – Persians conquer Egypt

• 332 BCE – Alexander the Great defeats the Persians and considered savior of Egypt

• 50 BCE – Cleopatra VII is crowned Queen of Egypt

• 30 BCE – Egypt becomes part of Roman Empire after death of Cleopatra VII and Mark Anthony

King Tut

• Tutankhamen, or King Tut, for short was called “The Boy King”.• He became pharaoh when he was nine years old. During the year

1350 B.C.• He lived in a beautiful palace in the city of Thebes. He had

servants who did everything for him. They believed him to be a god.

• A typical day for him began in the audience chamber of his palace, where he sat on a throne of gold, silver, and jewels, and wore a heavy gold headpiece shaped like a flame. Ambassadors from foreign countries came to bow before him and bring him riches. Egyptians came to him to settle their disputes. He led his people in a three-hour a day worship ceremony. He had a formal dinner in the evening, then visited with his wife, Ankheshamen, who was two years younger than he.

• King Tut died when he was only nineteen years old. No one really knows if he died from an accident, illness, or his enemies. His burial chamber was found by Britain's Howard Carter in 1922. The treasures of King Tut’s tomb can be seen today in Cairo, Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian Laws

•Law was governed by religious principle of Ma’atGODDESS MA’AT represented truth, righteousness and justice= balance and order•Laws were applied equally to all classes specifically protected the family (children and wives)•Punishments could be quite severe

•Examples: •minor crimes had 100 lashes•corrupt officials had their hands amputated•crimes that resulted in a death sentence could have choice= devoured by a crocodile, suicide, burning alive

Major Time Periods of Egypt

The Old KingdomWhen the pharaohs built

the pyramids

The Middle KingdomWhen training and military explorers were sent out to expand Egypt’s boundaries

The New KingdomEnding with Queen Cleopatra losing her land to Augustus Caesar and Rome

Achievements• Pyramids There were about 80 along the banks of the

Nile River. The largest is the Great Pyramid, built by King

Khufu in about 2600 B.C. It stands about 481 feet high and covers 13

acres. The pyramids functioned as huge burial tombs

for the Egyptians’ dead pharaohs and queens.

• Ship-building They used the Nile River like a highway to

transport people and goods to foreign lands. The first ships were made out of bundles of

papyrus reeds tied together to make a canoe-like vessel.

As the ship trade flourished, the hulls of the ships were made of cedar, and oars and sails were added for greater speed.

• Hieroglyphics These were pictures and symbols that served

as one of the first written languages in the world.

• Calendar Calendars were developed in 4241 B.C. with

365 days in a year. It was based on the flooding of the Nile River. New Years was on June 1, not January 1!

Achievements• Ship-building They used the Nile River

like a highway to transport people and goods to foreign lands.

The first ships were made out of bundles of papyrus reeds tied together to make a canoe-like vessel.

As the ship trade flourished, the hulls of the ships were made of cedar, and oars and sails were added for greater speed.

Achievements• HieroglyphicsThese were

pictures and symbols that served as one of the first written languages in the world.

Achievements• CalendarCalendars were

developed in 4241 B.C. with 365 days in a year.

It was based on the flooding of the Nile River.

New Years was on June 1, not January 1!

Vocabulary

1) cartouche – a tablet with a border, used as a nameplate

2) hieroglyphics – a sophisticated system of pictures and symbols used in ancient Egypt to communicate information

3) Nile River – river that runs through Egypt

4) Ankh – a symbol for life after death

5) pyramids – burial place for kings

6) Pharaoh – Ruler of Egypt

7) necropolis – the place of the burial tombs for the kings and the wealthy

8) papyrus – type of plant paper was made from

Social Roles

Role of Women• Well treated and had considerable legal rightscompared to other civilizations

• Same legal rights as men (land, property, divorce)

• Left women to be economically independent

• Primary role was in domestic life

• Common title for a married women in ancient Egypt was “nebet per” meaning “the lady of the house”

• Bear and raise children

Role of Men• Head of the family

• Men could have numerous wives but economically men had only 1 wife

• Laborers, craftsmen

• Jobs were hereditary

Jobs

• Labor required for construction projects and was mostly filled by poor, serfs

• Stability of Egypt thrived as skilled trades were passed from father to son

• Children always learned the trade from parents; rarely could choose occupation

Daily Life of Workers

The poor worked long hours for goods that they could exchange in the marketplace for the products they needed.

Agriculture was a major trade and many workers were farmers.

Boys learned a trade from their fathers, and girls were taught to care for the home and family by their mothers.

Women and girls wore straight, sheath-like dresses of rough, unbleached linen.

Men and boys wore short cloth kilts. Their homes were usually one-story made out of sun-dried

brick. There would be a basement and four rooms. They had little furniture. Stairs led to the flat rooftop so that the family could enjoy the cool night air after the sun went down.

Daily life of the Wealthy Men were busy all day as merchants, trading along the Nile River.

Others supervised the daily workings of gigantic farms. Many of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Egypt were

priests. Boys were taught to read and write. Women could own land, run businesses, testify in court, and bring

charges against men. Women oversaw the running of the households and gave the

servants instructions for daily menus and child care. Children were allowed much playtime. Girls practiced singing and

dancing. Boys wrestled and played army. Women and girls wore straight dresses of beautiful lined and a lot

of jewelry. At parties, they wore cones of incense on their heads that melted slowly giving off a pleasant smell.

Men and boys wore linen kilts Both men and women wore eye make-up made from black ashes. Their homes were brick and wood containing many rooms, as well

as walled garden and a shrine for a favorite god.

Economy

Wealth• Agriculture made up most of Egypt’s

wealth – grain, vegetables, fruit, cattle, goats, pigs

and fowl• Abundance and management of food

supplies (not royal treasury) was the measure of Egypt’s wealth = full granaries, plenty of wildlife and fish, and thriving herds were the signs of prosperity. These were the images used in the tombs of the Pharaohs to illustrate the wealth of their reigns

Economy• Simple economy based on food

production and minerals from desert• access to the Mediterranean their

routes extended trade as far as Northern Europe, Africa and the Near East

• Trading was done by bartering goods• extensive trading made Egypt a

powerful influence on culture, art, ideas and technology (ie. Western calendar was taken from the Romans who had borrowed it from the Egyptians)

• Trade eventually grew and expanded, bringing new ideas and goods into Egyptian society

Education

• Contributed to stability and continuity of Egypt• All children, regardless of social class, received some

education• Followed a moral and ethical guide “Instructions in

Wisdom”• Goal for education was to ensure youth exhibited self

control and good manners• At 14, young boys followed fathers in jobs, and girls

learned from mothers in the household• Children of priests were schooled more formally• Literacy was stressed for government jobs• Education respected for creating a well rounded individual

Hieroglyphics

• History of Writing: 1) pictograms (sun= sun) 2) ideograms (sun = sun, daylight, warmth, light)3) phonograms: symbols that suggest a particular sound; related ideas and also sound (Sun = sun, son, Sunday)

• Each hieroglyph found in pyramids and tombs often symbolized more than one consonant. Not only that, but actual Egyptian hieroglyphs were a combination of sound-signs, pictograms, and ideograms. No wonder it was so hard to decode them!

Life after Death

• The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife of beauty, peace, and contentment.

• Since most of their lives were filled with hard work, they looked forward to death as a release from this lifetime.

• They believed their souls would need to use their bodies again, so the Egyptians invented a process to embalm their bodies called mummification.

• Wealthy could afford better mummification than the poor

Steps in Mummification

• After the body was washed and covered with scented oils, the liver and kidneys were removed and placed in jars that would be put in the coffin later.

• The brains were removed carefully, but the heart was left in the body because they believed it was the mind and would be needed immediately in the next life.

• Then the body was wrapped in either linen or rough cotton strips and a sticky tar-like mixture was poured over the cloth strips forming a protective outer covering for the body.

• When the mixture hardened, the mummy was placed in a wooden coffin, which was carved and painted to resemble a person.

• Then the mummy was laid in its tomb, along with many objects the Egyptians thought it would need for daily use in the next lifetime, such as tools, jewelry, furniture, religious statues, and food.

Painting and Sculpture

• Egyptians reached a highly advanced level of sculpture. Beautiful figures sculpted from wood, ivory, bronze, gold, and turquoise have been found in tombs.

• One of the most famous sculptures in the world is the head of Queen Nefertiti.

• Another famous work of art is the Great Sphinx, a huge statue of a man’s head on a lion’s body, which guards the pyramids near Giza.

Why was Ancient Egypt So Stable?

• Ancient Egypt lasted for 3500 years due to factors in:• Geography• Politics• Social structure• Education• Economy• Religion

= Stability was goal and change slow and cautious

Questions to ReviewQuestions to Review1) Egypt is located in which continent?2) What is the famous river in Egypt?3) What were the name of the three period of times into which

Egypt was divided?4) What happened to Egypt when Pharaoh wouldn’t obey God’s

command?5) Name the four most remembered accomplishments from

the Egyptians.6) Discuss at least three likenesses and differences between

the workers and the wealthy.7) Briefly name the steps of mummification. You may list

them.8) Name two famous works of art by the Egyptians.9) How old was King Tut when he became Pharaoh?10) Who discovered his tomb and where is it located?

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