Ancient River Valley Civilizations: Mesopotamia and Egypt Standard 6-1 Indicators 6-1.3

Standard 6-1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the development of the cradles of civilization as people moved from a nomadic existence to a settled life. Indicator 6-1.3: Compare the river valley civilizations of the Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia), the Nile (Egypt), the Indus (India), and the Huang He (China), including the evolution of written language, government, trade systems, architecture, and forms of social order.

Huang He (China) Mesopotamia (Tigris and Euphrates Egypt (The Nile) Asia Huang He (China) Europe Mesopotamia (Tigris and Euphrates Egypt (The Nile) Africa Indus (India)

Ancient Egypt

“Write Like An Egyptian”

Geography of the Nile Longest river in the world Flooding from the Nile makes the land fertile (silt from flooding) South of Egypt – cataracts that made sailing that portion of the Nile difficult

Geography of Egypt “The Gift of the Nile” 2 Kingdoms: Upper Egypt Southern region, upriver in relation to Nile’s flow Lower Egypt Northern region A delta: triangle-shaped area of land made by soil deposited by river 2/3 of Egypt’s fertile farmland was located in the Nile delta

Geography of Egypt Most of Egypt was desert. Rainfall each year far to the south of Egypt cause the Nile to flood – floods were very predictable The silt made the soil ideal for farming River’s floods were considered a life-giving miracle

Civilization More than 12,000 years ago Farmers also developed irrigation systems Food: Wheat, barley, fruits vegetables Raised cattle and sheep Fish and wild geese and ducks Natural barriers that made Egypt hard to invade: Desert to the west; Mediterranean Sea to the North; Red Sea; cataracts made the Nile too difficult to sail from the South

Civilization Protected from invaders, villages grew Wealthy farmers emerged as village leaders By 3200 BC the villages had banded together and developed into two kingdoms: Lower Egypt Upper Egypt

History – Kings Unify Egypt In the beginning, the king of Lower Egypt ruled from a town called Pe and wore a red crown to symbolize his authority. The king of Upper Egypt ruled from Nekhen and wore a cone-shaped white crown.

History – Kings Unify Egypt 3100 BC: Menes (king of Upper Egypt) invades Lower Egypt and married the princess and united the two kingdoms Menes wore both the white and red crown to symbolize his leadership over both kingdoms.

History – Kings Unify Egypt Menes: 1st pharaoh (Means “great house”; ruler of Egypt) Started 1st Egyptian dynasty (series of rulers from same family) Built new capital city called Memphis – political and cultural center of Egypt Dynasty lasted about 200 years

If You Were There…. Writing You are a peasant farmer in ancient Egypt. To you, the pharaoh is a god, a descendent of the sun god, Re. You depend on his strength and wisdom. For part of the year, you are busy planting crops in your fields. But at other times, you work for the pharaoh. You are currently helping to build a great tomb in which the pharaoh and many of his belongings will be buried when he dies. How do you feel about working for the pharaoh?

The Old Kingdom – 2700 BC to 2200 BC First Dynasty – Menes and his family Second Dynasty – Rivals of Menes overthrew his dynasty Around 2700 BC, the Third Dynasty rose to power This marked the beginning of what is known as The Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom – 2700 BC to 2200 BC Egyptians continued to develop their political system The pharaoh was both a king and a god. Egypt belonged to the gods. Pharaoh came to earth to manage Egypt for the rest of the gods Absolute power over all the land and people He was blamed if ill came to Egypt or the people. To help carry out his duties, the pharaoh hired government officials from his family. Most famous – Khufu (2500s BC): Best known for monuments built to him

Egyptian Social Classes Scribes Other than priests and government officials, no one in Egypt was more honored than scribes. Worked for government, temples, kept records and accounts or the state, wrote and copied religious and literary texts Did not pay taxes and many became wealthy

Egyptian Social Classes Artisans, Artists, and Architects Below scribes Sculptors, builders, carpenters, jewelers, metal workers, and leather workers Most artisans worked for the government or temple Architects and artists built and worked in the pharaoh’s tombs

Egyptian Social Classes Soldiers Professional army was created after the Middle Kingdom Offered a chance to rise in status Received land as payment and could keep treasure they captured in war

Egyptian Social Classes Farmers and Other Peasants Bottom of the social scale Made up the majority of Egypt’s population Slaves Lower than farmers Had legal rights and in some cases could earn their freedom

The Old Kingdom – 2700 BC to 2200 BC Trade Sumerian designs are found in Egyptian art Nubia – gold, ivory, slaves, and stone Punt – incense and myrrh Syria – wood

The Old Kingdom – 2700 BC to 2200 BC Religion and Egyptian Life Polytheism Everyone was expected to worship the same gods, though how they worshipped the gods differed from one region to another Built temples to the gods Major gods: Anubis – the god of the dead Re, or Amon-Re – the sun god Osiris – the god of the underworld Isis – the goddess of magic Horus – the sky god, god of the pharaohs

The Old Kingdom – 2700 BC to 2200 BC The Afterlife Much of Egyptian religion focused on the afterlife Believed that the afterlife was a happy place Belief came from their idea of ka, or a person’s life force When a person died, his or her ka left the body and became a spirit. However, it remained linked to the body and could not leave the burial site. It had all the same needs as the person had when he or she was living. To meet these needs, they filled tombs with objects for the afterlife

The Old Kingdom – 2700 BC to 2200 BC Burial Practices Believed the body had to be prepared for the afterlife – it had to be preserved If it decayed, its spirit could not recognize it and that would break the link between the body and the spirit. The ka would then be unable to receive the food and drink it needed to have a good afterlife. Embalming – allowed bodies to be preserved for many, many years Mummies Make a Mummy!

The Old Kingdom – 2700 BC to 2200 BC Burial Practices Only royalty and other members of Egypt’s elite could afford to have mummies made. Peasant families buried their dead in shallow graves at the edge of the desert. The hot dry sand and lack of moisture preserved the bodies naturally.

The Old Kingdom – 2700 BC to 2200 BC The Pyramids Built to bury Egypt’s rulers Began building pyramids during the Old Kingdom Largest – Great Pyramid of Khufu Amazing feats of engineering Size of the pyramid symbolized the pharaoh’s greatness Bigger the pyramid = the great the pharaoh Point of the pyramid symbolized the pharaoh’s journey to the afterlife Wanted pyramids to be spectacular because they believed that the pharaoh, as their link to the gods, controlled everyone’s afterlife

The Middle Kingdom – 2050 BC to 1750 BC Ahmose of Thebes drove Hyksos out of Egypt – declared himself king of all Egypt – Beginning of New Kingdom 2050 BC: Menetuhotep II takes control – Beginning of Middle Kingdom Old Kingdom – Wealth and power of pharaohs begins declining End of Old Kingdom – 160 years, Nobles battle for power (no central ruler); Chaos within Egypt; people faced economic hardship and famine Pharaohs could not hold power – Hyksos invaded and conquered Lower Egypt. Ruled for 200 years – Egyptians not happy paying taxes to foreign rulers

The New Kingdom – 1550 BC to 1050 BC Ahmose Rises to Power Egypt’s 18th Dynasty Beginning of the New Kingdom Egypt reaches the height of its glory and power Conquest and trade brought tremendous wealth to the pharaohs

The New Kingdom – 1550 BC to 1050 BC Building an Empire To prevent future invasions, Egyptian leaders decided to take control of all possible invasion routes into the kingdom -> Leaders turned Egypt into an empire 1st Target – homeland of the Hyksos 2nd – Syria By 1400s BC, Egypt was the leading military power in the region. Military conquests made Egypt rich

The New Kingdom – 1550 BC to 1050 BC Growth and its Effects on Trade Egypt’s trade expanded along with its empire Profitable trade routes developed

The New Kingdom – 1550 BC to 1050 BC Ramses the great 1200s BC came to power Reign was one of the longest in Egyptian history Fought and defeated invaders such as the Hittites and the Sea Peoples (after his death) but were weakened and lost parts of empire Shortly after the invasions, the New Kingdom came to an end Egypt once again fell into a period of violence and disorder

Egyptian Family LIfe Men Expected to marry young to start having children Women Devoted to homes and families Some did have jobs outside the home A few served as priestesses Some worked as administrators and artisans Unlike women in other civilizations, Egyptian women did have certain legal rights Could own property Make contracts Divorce their husbands Children Played with toys, took part in ballgames, and hunted Both boys and girls received an education in morals, writing, math, and sports Most boys at age 14 left school to enter their father’s profession (job)

If you were there….. Writing You are an artist in ancient Egypt. A noble has hired you to decorate the walls of his family tomb. You are standing inside the new tomb, studying the bare walls that you will decorate. No light reaches this chamber, but your servant holds a lantern high. You’ve met the noble only briefly but think that he is someone who loves his family, the gods, and Egypt. What will you include in your painting?