Section 1 The Nile Valley Chapter 2 Ancient Egypt Section 1 The Nile Valley

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Settling the Nile The earliest Egyptians moved into the Nile River valley from less fertile areas. They farmed and built villages along the riverbanks. The Nile River is the longest river in the world, about 4,000 miles long. Egyptians used the Nile River for many things.

Settling the Nile They used river water to drink, clean, farm, and cook. They ate fish from the river. The Nile valley is a narrow, green valley in Egypt. The northern end of the valley is a fertile area of land called a delta.

Ginger (3200 B.C.): A pre-dynastic (Egyptian Dynasties) man. He is a natural mummy; dried by desert elements.

Settling the Nile The Sahara, the largest desert in the world, lies west of the Nile Valley. The Eastern Desert lies to the east of the valley. Egypt has several natural borders to protect it. The deserts, the dangerous rapids of the Nile, and marshes in the delta kept enemies from entering Egypt.

Settling the Nile The Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the east allowed trade with other peoples. Within Egypt, people traveled on the Nile to trade with each other.

Hymn of the Nile

Review Questions How did natural protection help Egypt? Enemies had difficulty attacking the country. Keeping people safe helped the Egyptian population grow.

The River People Floods along the Nile were predictable and were not devastating. Each spring the Nile would flood and leave a dark, fertile mud along its banks. Farmers learned about the waters of the Nile. They used the soil left behind by the floods to grow wheat, barley, and flax seeds.

The River People Farmers learned about irrigation. They dug basins to trap floodwaters, dug canals to channel water to the fields, and built dikes to strengthen the basin walls. Papyrus, a reed plant that grew along the Nile, was used to make baskets, sandals, and river rafts. Later, it was used to make paper.

The River People The Egyptian system of writing was called hieroglyphics. This system consisted of thousands of picture symbols. Some Egyptian men learned to read and write. They attended schools to learn to be scribes.

Review Questions Why might scribes be important to Egyptian civilization? Rulers and other people in power, such as priests and priestesses, needed scribes for record keeping. Few people could go to school to be scribes, so there were not many people the rulers could hire to work as scribes.

A United People Because the people in Egypt had surplus food, some people became artisans instead of farmers. Artisans wove cloth, made pottery, carved statues, and crafted weapons and tools. Egyptians traded with each other and with others in Mesopotamia. A few strong chiefs united groups of villages into kingdoms.

A United People Eventually, the strongest kingdoms overpowered the weaker ones. In this way, two large kingdoms emerged—Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. King Narmer united the two kingdoms. He ruled from the city of Memphis, and his kingdom lasted long after his death.

A United People Narmer’s descendants passed the ruling power on from father to son to grandson, forming a dynasty. Ancient Egypt was ruled by 31 dynasties that historians have grouped into three time periods—Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom.

Review Questions In what ways was ancient Egypt like Mesopotamia? Both had access to powerful rivers, economies based on farming and trade, government to help the people, artisans to create products, and technological advances.

Early Egyptian Life Ancient Egypt had social classes. The pharaoh was the highest power. The upper class consisted of nobles, priests, and government officials. The middle class included merchants, artisans, shopkeepers, and scribes. Farmers were the largest group of people and were in a lower class than the middle class. Note: write the above info on triangle shaped chart. Like the one that follows on the next slide.

Early Egyptian Life Unskilled workers were the lowest class of people in ancient Egypt.

Early Egyptian Life Although men were the heads of households, women had more rights in Egypt than in other ancient civilizations. They could own and pass on property, buy and sell goods, make wills, and obtain divorces.

Early Egyptian Life Few children went to school in ancient Egypt. Children had time to play games and had toys. Egyptian girls learned to sew, cook, and run a household. Boys learned farming or a skilled trade.

Egyptian Furniture

Review Questions What is papyrus and how did the Egyptians use it? It is a reed plant that was used to make baskets, sandals, river rafts, and paper.

Review Questions What rights did women have in ancient Egypt? Women could own and pass on property, buy and sell goods, make wills, obtain divorces, and take part in religious ceremonies.

Review Questions Geography Skills How did the geography of the Nile River valley lead to the growth of a civilization there? The Nile River valley had natural barriers for protection, enriched soil for farming, and the river and seas for trade.

Review Questions Analyze What was the significance of Narmer’s double crown? It symbolized the unity of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Review Questions Explain what the “gift of the Nile” means.

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