1. Ancient Egyptian History

2. Essential Questions
1) What is the affect of environment and geography on the development of civilizations?

3. Geography Nile River Fertile soil Transportation & trade
Floods twice a year
Predictable
Upper – south
Lower – North (delta)
Barriers
Cataracts -- Nile
Desert – East/West
Mediterranean Sea
-North
Why important?

4. Egyptian Religion Polytheistic Chief gods and goddesses:
Amon-Ra: the sun-god (linked to the pharaoh)
Osiris: god of the underworld and the Nile
Believed to control the Nile’s annual flood
Isis: wife of Osiris, she taught women many important skills

5. Afterlife Live good and faithful life = eternal life after death
Sinners: crocodile-shaped Eater of the Dead
Worthy: Happy Field of Food (good place)
Book of the Dead – spells that help ones passage into the afterlife

6. Belief in the Afterlife
To gain eternal life, Egyptians believed they had to pass a test:
Osiris was the judge
Heart weighed against feather of truth to gain eternal life,

7. Old Kingdom Old Kingdom ~2660-2180 BCE Also known as Pyramid Age
When all pyramids were built
At first, lived in individual tribes/villages
3100 – Menes – united Upper/Lower regions and tribes into one kingdom
1st pharaoh
Capital at Memphis
Dynasty lasted ~2600 years

8. Pharaoh
Seen as divine, or godlike  people believed they controlled many things such as the flooding of the Nile
Wielded absolute power with the help of advisors

9. The Pyramids Designed to be tombs for the Pharaoh
Originally they were step pyramids – later evolved into the ones we see at Giza
Valley of the Kings
1922: Howard Carter found King Tut’s tomb
Unleashed the “mummy’s curse”

11. Mummification
Preserve the body so that the soul could stay in the afterlife -> luxury of the rich during the Old Kingdom
STEPS
Body was washed and all internal organs were removed – heart was left in body
Brain was removed through the nose & thrown away
Body packed with Natron and left for 70 days  body was then wrapped in linen w/ tree resin for glue

14. Intermediate Periods Period in between kingdoms
Time of turmoil and chaos for about 150 years
No unity or stability
Constant fighting among each other

15. Middle Kingdom ~2080-1640 BCE Begin expansion Strong pharaohs
Improve trade and transportation
Period of corruption and rebellion
1st encounter with Hyksos
Advance technology
Horse-drawn chariots
Bronze weapons
Conquered Egyptians

16. New Kingdom ~1570-1075 BCE Most prosperous period
Hatsheput – 1st female pharaoh
Dressed like man
Akhenaton – religious rev. >> monotheistic
Tutankhamen (King Tut) – restored old ways of worship
Ramses II – last great pharaoh >> decline after him
Decline: Hittites, weak rulers, Nubian
Conquer
~ BCE
Most prosperous period
Wealthier and more powerful
New weapons learned from Hyksos allow expand even farther
encounter Hittites
Iron weapons
Peace treaty

17. King Tut: Tutankhamen Became pharaoh after the death of Akhenaton
Has the only tomb to be found intact

18. Ramses II (The Great) Reigned from 1279 until 1213 B.C.
One of the longest reigns in Egyptian History
Increased the size of the military & went on many military conquests
Fathered over 100 children
Some believe he is the Pharaoh of the Hebrew Exodus

19. Abu Simbel: Temple of Ramses

20. Egyptian Society
Monogamy was the rule, and women had more rights in Ancient Egypt than the rest of the Ancient world.
Women could own property, business, and request a divorce.
Class system:
Pharaoh - viewed as a god
High priests and priestesses
Nobles
Merchants, scribes, artisans
Peasant farmers
Slaves

21. Appearance White linen clothes Black and green eye makeup
Amulets; jewelry
Children: naked with jewelry & sidelock

22. Lasting Records Hieroglyphics Symbols that represent words
Used to keep important records
Scribes (record keepers)
Papyrus -- reeds

23. The Rosetta Stone
Archaeologists were unable to translate hieroglyphics
Discovery of the Rosetta Stone allowed for this translation
Contained the same passage in three languages:
Hieroglyphics
Greek
Demotic

24. Egyptian Wisdom Medicine Anatomy, surgery, diagnosis and cures
Astronomy
Mapped constellations and planets
Calendar – 365 day
Used math to calculate area and volume in building the pyramids and in surveying flooded land for farming

25. Egyptian Wisdom Math Geometry used to survey land
Design pyramids and temples
Literature
Hymns and prayers, poems, folk takes, advice, history

26. Painting and Sculpture
Statues, wall paintings, carvings
Tell stories of Egyptian life

27. Egypt fell into a period of decline and foreign invasion.
Egypt was ruled by many different people and eventually defeated by the Romans.
The last Pharaoh of Egypt was Cleopatra VII, who committed suicide rather than surrender to the Romans.