The Stable Civilization 3100 BCE – 30 BCE Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt                                                                    The Stable Civilization 3100 BCE – 30 BCE

The “SOUL” of Ancient Egypt The Nile was the source of life and path to immortality Egyptians lived on Eastern side but buried on Western side River was symbol of passage of one life to next Creation story began in swirling waters of the Nile when god Horus gave power to Pharaohs Click here for Creation Story

Geography: Populated Areas There 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 Revered and feared The Nile Delta Nile empties into Mediterranean Largest piece of fertile land All the major cities of Egypt 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

Geographic Effects on Egypt’s Stability Regular flooding of Nile = predictability Deserts provided protection and isolation source of minerals and building supplies: copper, tin, gold and natron Access to Mediterranean increased and expanded trade Philosophy of stability, rejection of change

Historical Highlights Unification of Egypt King Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt and wears double crown in 3100 BCE. Beginning of the united and stable civilization After Menes -31 dynasties over 3000 years Personifications of Upper and Lower Egypt place their crowns upon Menes head

Age of Pyramids Old Kingdom 2690 BCE – 2181 BCE Embodiment of Pharaoh's god like absolute power Medium of immortality. Mastaba – used since before Menes Step Pyramid at Saqqara for Djoser 2650 BCE Great Pyramids of Giza for Khufu 2600 BCE

Imhotep First non-ruler whose life is recorded Served Pharaoh Djoser (2686-2613 BCE) Designed step pyramid Furnished and sculpted stone images for tomb Founded Egyptian medicine Statuette in bronze of Imhotep at Louvre, from Ptolemaic era (332-30 BCE)

National God Amon Re Popular as Amon or Amun in many areas throughout entire history of Egypt Associated with bull, goose, ram and protector of the weak Amon, the local god of Thebes merged with sun god Re and became Egyptian national god Amon-Re Figure of Amon Re from late period - ROM collection

Exodus Colossal statue of Ramses II from temple of Ptah - Spain Hebrew slaves under Ramses II leave Egypt in mass migration called Exodus (13th c. BCE) Moses receives the 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai but never finds the “Promised Land”

Was Egypt Really a Stable Civilization? Your tasks: Research a particular topic to discover if ancient Egypt really was a stable civilization Write a thesis statement which answers the research question Simple thesis statements: Yes, Egypt was stable OR No, Egypt was not stable. More complex thesis statements: Egypt was stable for the most part except for… Egypt’s was mostly unstable, but we believe it to be stable only because of … Provide evidence via a class presentation to prove your thesis Pod Organization Write an in class paper at the end of all presentations explaining your final point of view.