Ancient Egypt “THE GIFT OF THE NILE” – HERODOTUS (GREEK HISTORIAN, 5 TH CENTURY BCE

The Nile River  Longest river in the world  Begins at Lake Victoria, flows north, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea  The river creates a green fertile strip of land in the middle of desert  The river likely carved out the Nile Valley over centuries  Yearly flooding, but predictable  Each June, the waters would slowly begin to rise  The star Sirius (Sopdet/Sothis in Egyptian) would appear in the sky  The waters would stay high until about September, and then slowly recede, leaving behind precious, precious silt  Egypt’s settlements arose along narrow strip of land made fertile by the river  The Nile is the primary source of food, transportation, and communication

Compare & Contrast MesopotamiaEgypt The Tigris and the Euphrates rivers The Nile river Farming is hard work The rivers are necessary but not necessarily helpful The land was a desert wherever the rivers weren’t, but the rivers moved around Farming is easy The river is the source of life and is beneficial Clear delineation between fertile (black) soil and hostile (red) desert Catastrophic, unpredictable floods that would damage growing crops Relatively predictable floods that aided in the growing of crops July – October: the inundation

Geography’s Impact on Egypt  Upper and Lower Egypt  Most of Egypt’s history focuses in and around Lower Egypt  Specifically, around the Nile delta, where the river flows into the Mediterranean Sea  Unfortunately, most of the records we have are from Upper Egypt, where life was a little different  Upper Egypt develops later – upstream  Environment  Deserts on both sides of the Nile  Provides natural protection against invaders  Reduces interactions with other people  No water-borne threats really possible  No harbours  Marshy sea coast (at the Mediterranean)  Cataracts in the river  Egypt develops mostly in isolation, producing a pretty unique culture

All About that Stasis  Egypt’s geography provided stability, regularity, and predictability  The people created a social order to match  Social hierarchy does not allow for much mobility  Also contributes to creation of a unified state – unlike Mesopotamia

From Kings to Pharaohs  As population increased, small local areas developed kings  Eventually, the smaller kingships are absorbed through conquest, and a centralized state emerges  Three major periods  Old Kingdom ( BCE)  Middle Kingdom ( BCE)  New Kingdom ( BCE  32 dynasties (rulers/ruling families)  Cleopatra was the last pharaoh

The Pharaoh  Central figure in the Egyptian state  Believed to be a god  Link between the people and the gods  Purpose:  maintain ma’at – truth, justice, law, order, balance – in the universe (but mostly in Egypt)  no written laws (like Hammurabi’s Code): no need since the god-king was here on Earth  ensure the welfare (well-being) of the people

Boring Political Stuff  Bureaucracy from the village all the way to the palace  Main purpose of government: to keep detailed records and collect revenue (taxes)  Government kept track of labour, land, products, and people  Revenue needed to run the palace, government, and army  Capital city could move around: picked by the ruling dynasty  Memphis : capital of Lower Egypt  Prominent during the Old Kingdom  Thebes : capital of Upper Egypt  Prominent during the Middle and New Kingdoms

Religion  Polytheistic religionreligion  Egyptians believed that the natural world was a place of recurrent cycles and periodic renewal  Ra (the sun god) traveled across the sky in a boat (of course) every day, and rode through the underworld fighting the forces of chaos every night  Believed in the afterlife: story of Osiris.

The Afterlife  Egyptians saw the afterlife as an extension of this world  Preparations needed for safe passage to the next world  Mummification  People buried in tombs with personal items they would need for the next life  Tombs usually reflected the wealth and stature of the individual  Common folk had to settle for pit graves or small mud-brick chambers

Inside King Tut’s Tomb

What Happens When You Die?

From the Book of the Dead  Homage to thee, O great God, Lord of Maati! I have come unto thee, O my Lord, and I have brought myself hither that I may behold thy beauties. I know thee, I know thy name, I know the names of the forty- two Gods who live with thee in the Hall of Maati...I have not committed sins against men. I have not opposed my family and kinfolk. I have not acted fraudulently in the Seat of Truth. I have not known men who were of no account. I have not defrauded the humble man of his property. I have not done what the gods abominate. I have not vilified a slave to his master. I have not inflicted pain. I have not caused anyone to go hungry. I have not made any man to weep. I have not committed murder....I have not encroached on the fields (of others). I have not added to the weights of the scales...I have not driven the cattle away from their pastures. I have not snared the geese in the goose-pens of the gods. I have not caught fish with bait made of the bodies of the same kind of fish. I have not stopped water when it should flow...I am pure, I am pure. I am pure...

Common Myths  Egypt was NOT obsessed with death  The pyramids were NOT built by slaves  While we’re on that topic, the pyramids were probably NOT built by aliens  We don’t fully know what Egyptians looked like