1. Chapter 5: Ancient Egypt and Kush

2. How does geography influence the way people live?
Lesson 1: The Nile River
How does geography influence the way people live?

3. The Nile River Valley Occurring at the same time as Mesopotamia
Egypt = Northern Nile Valley
Kush = Southern Nile Valley
Valley civilizations
Hunter-Gatherers from Africa and Southwest Asia
Built villages and began farms along Nile’s banks
Egyptians called the area Kemet
Means “black land” due to the rich soil
Egyptian ruins
Pyramids and the Sphinx
Survived due to hot, dry climate
Very little water

4. The Gift of the River For drinking and bathing For growing crops
The “Creator of all good” and “Lifeblood” of Egypt
Two separate rivers
Blue Nile in the snowy mountains
White Nile in the tropics
Meet just south of Egypt
Cataracts -
The Nile: Then and Now

5. A Protected Land Nile created a valley
Ends in a fan-shaped area of fertile marshland - delta
Borders the Libyan Desert (part of the Sahara) and the Eastern Desert
“Red lands”
Kept Egypt isolated
Cataracts, delta marshes protected
Rarely invaded
Peaceful civilization
Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea provided trade
Used wind patterns to travel and trade

6. People of the River Flooding was seasonal and predictable Farming
Floods in Summer
Normal in late fall
Left silt
Farming
Wheat, barley, and flax
Irrigated crops during dry season
Canals connected to basins
Shadoof - lifts water from Nile
Used geometry to measure land
Papyrus - reed plant used to make paper

7. Writing
First were thousands of symbols that represented objects and ideas
Later, represented sounds
Combination of pictures and sound symbols - hieroglyphics
Used on stone walls and monuments
Few could read
Scribes could and worked in government and businesses
Used simpler text on papyrus

8. Uniting Egypt Trade lead to influences from other cultures
Life and Government
Forming kingdoms
Needed government
Organize farms and trade
Oversee irrigation systems
Process of storing and distributing food
Conflicts over land ownership
Small villages merged to make small kingdoms with kings
Weaker kingdoms fell under control of stronger ones
By 4000 BCE, Egypt was two kingdoms
Upper and Lower

9. Narmer Menes King of Upper Egypt Conquered Lower Egypt
Married a Lower Egyptian princess
Unified the two kingdoms
Memphis as capital city
Hierarchy
Family rule - Dynasty
30 dynasties over 3 time periods
Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom

10. Lesson 2: Life in Ancient Egypt
What makes a culture unique?

11. Egypt’s Early Rulers A Political Leader
Built cities, increased trade, unified government
Ruler was both religious and political
Theocracy
King later called a Pharaoh
“Great House”
Held total power
Subjects extremely loyal
Pharaoh appointed bureaucrats - government officials
Carried out pharaoh’s orders
Pharaoh distributed land to officials
Son of Re (Sun God)
Participated in ceremonies

12. Religion in Egypt Worshipped many gods and goddesses
Controlled natural forces and human activities
Two crucial gods
Re (controlled the sun)
Hapi (the river god)
Gods
Osiris - An early pharaoh who gave people laws and taught farming
Isis - His wife
Together they ruled the underworld
Thoth - God of learning

13. The Afterlife Life after death would be better The Book of the Dead
Prayers and magic spells
Pharaoh’s soul resided in his body
Body had to be protected
Continued to rule from the afterlife
Later, everyone’s souls and bodies were important
Began embalming bodies
Wealthy were placed in tombs
Poor were in caves or in the sand
Animals were sacred
Basic Medical Skills
Sutures and broken bones
First to use splints, bandages, and compresses
First medical “books” on papyrus scrolls

14. Pyramid Tombs Pyramids were great tombs for the pharaohs
Protected the bodies from floods, animals, and robbers
All the pharaoh’s belongings were buried with him to take to the afterlife
How were they built?
Textbook pg
Create a graphic organizer as a group

15. Daily Life

16. How the Egyptians Lived Project
Create a reality show episode about one of the social levels of Egypt as well as family life
6 groups of 5 students
2-5 minutes long
Pharaoh
Upper class
Middle class
Farmers
Unskilled workers
Families

17. Lesson 3: Egypt’s Empire
Why do civilizations rise and fall?

18. A Golden Age Pharaohs in Memphis weakened Conquests The Arts
Nobles fought over control for 200 years
A new dynasty came into power
Moved capital to Thebes
Began the Middle Kingdom
Conquests
Expanded to Nubia and Syria
Grew in wealth from tributes
Added more farmland
Built canal between Nile and Red Sea
Easier trade route
The Arts
Painted walls of temples and tombs
Carved into limestone

19. The Hyskos Civil war began in 1900s BCE Weakened Middle Kingdom
Hyskos came from Asia
New ways of warfare
Horse drawn chariots, bronze and iron weapons
Ruled Egypt for 100 years
Egyptians disliked the Hyskos
Learned to use their weapons and fought back
Ahmose - Egyptian prince
Drove out the Hyskos
Began the New Kingdom