The Nile Valley Chapter 2:ib The Old Kingdom 2700 – 2200 B.C “The Land of the Pharaohs.”...

The Nile Valley Chapter 2:ib

The Old Kingdom2700 – 2200 B.C

“The Land of the Pharaohs.”[Image source: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/6539/pic.htm]

[Image source: http://www.library.nwu.edu/class/history/B94/nilevall.gif]

[Image source: http://www.library.nwu.edu/class/history/B94/delta185.gif]

Historians have organized ancient Egyptian dynasties into three great periods:

• Old Kingdom (2700 to 2200 B.C.)

• Middle Kingdom (2050 to 1800 B.C.)

• New Kingdom (1600 to 300 B.C.)

A strong, centralized

national government developed under the Egyptian pharaohs.

[Image source: http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/COSTUME1_INDEX.HTML#Plate1]

The title pharaoh means “great house.”

[Image source: http://www.unites.uqam.ca/dhist/pagesp/pagemg3.htm]

Egyptian society revolved around providing for the “great house.”

[Image source: http://www.library.nwu.edu/class/history/B94/society.gif]

Egypt was a theocracy, where the

pharaoh was both the

religious and political leader

of Egypt.[Image source: http://www.pharaonicarts.com/ramses-horus.htm]

The pharaoh was aided in governing his

realm by a bureaucracy, or group of government

officials.[Image source: http://www.artchive.com/ftp_site.htm]

[http://www.elkhound.demon.co.uk/pictures/imhoteppics.htm]

The highest ranking official

- second only to pharaoh in power - was the vizier, or

prime minister.

To honour their god-kings, Egyptians built “houses of eternity,” or pyramids, to entomb their remains.

[http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp./org/orion/eng/hst/egypt/giza.html]

[Image source: http://www.okanagan.bc.ca/hist/hist110/Egscene.html]

The first pyramid

constructed was the stepped-

pyramid of Saqqara built for

King Djoser.

Egyptians preserved the bodies of theirkings fromdecay throughembalming.

[Image source: http://www.ccer.ggl.ruu.nl/abu_simbel/ramses.html]

[Image source: http://www.natashascafe.com/cgi-bin/dbase.cgi?judge]

One’s entry into the afterlife was determined by the weighing of the heart.

Around 2200 B.C. the kings in Memphis began to lose control and powerful nobles fought each other for

control of Egypt.

The kings of Thebes brought unruly local governments under

control and restored order.

The Nile Valley Chapter 2:ic

The Middle Kingdom2200- 1800 B.C.

“The Land of the Pharaohs.”

The Theban kings established a new dynasty that ushered-in the period known as the Middle Kingdom.

[Image source: http://pages.ancientsites.com/~Duat_Ramesses/wast_plaque.htm]

The Theban kings conquered the kingdom of Nubia on the

upper Nile River south of the first

cataract.[Image source: http://www.library.nwu.edu/class/history/B94/nubgeog.html]

Nubian warriors

ultimately played an

important role as mercenaries in the Egyptian

army.

Theban kings also promoted

trade by constructing a

canal that connected the

Nile River to the Red Sea.

The Hyksos conquered Lower Egypt using bronze weapons and horse-drawnchariots.

The Hyksos ruled Lower Egypt for about 110 years.


About 1600 B.C. Prince

Ahmose raised an army and, using Hyksos

tactics and technology, drove them from Egypt.