1. Along the Nile
Ch 2 Section 1

2. River was more predictable and mild than Mesopotamia
Rain, snow, and lakes are the source of the River

4. Cataract (rapid)

5. Transportation Nile was the main source of transportation
Roads could not be built on sandy desert or
places that flooded annually
Nile was the main source of transportation
Traveling on the Nile was easy because of the wind
Boats carried goods and people

6. Animals
Fish, ducks, crocodiles, hippos , giraffes, ostriches and geese
Lived in the Nile River and delta region
Hunted animals for food, resources and protection

7. Irrigation Nile Floods more consistent and gentle
Farm and live securely, Did not worry
A thick layer of dark, fertile silt or mud.
Irrigation

8. Farming & Domesticating Animals.
Planted wheat, barley, and flax
Animals separated grain by trampling it out

9. Shadoof (Shaduf) Shadoof (Shaduf) bucket attached to a long pole
Fields were higher than the Nile
Lift water from the river
Stones balance water from the bucket

10. Papyrus Reed plant grew along Nile’s marshy places
baskets, sandals, river rafts, and paper

11. A System of Writing PAPYRUS: The earliest form of paper
The reeds would be criss-crossed and pounded down to a paper-like thickness.

12. A System of Writing The word HEIROGLYPHICS means “sacred writing”
This Egyptian “alphabet” was made up of about 800 picture-symbols.

13. A System of Writing Cartouche
HIEROGLYPHICS helped to preserve the memory of deceased people.
They also kept track of government records
taxes
the passage of time

14. A System of Writing
Not all Egyptians could read or write hieroglyphics:
SCRIBES:
Pharaoh’s record keepers
Very Educated in reading, writing & math
Highly respected
Only boys could become SCRIBES
A SCRIBE’S training started at the age of 10
SCRIBES used rolls of PAPYRUS to write on
Only the SCRIBES used HIEROGLYPHICS.

15. A System of Writing Some symbols stood for words
Some symbols stood for sounds
By 400 AD, no one could read the hieroglyphics anymore.
UNTIL…..

16. The Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone was the key that unlocked the mysteries of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Napoleon's troops discovered it in 1799
The inscription is written on the stone three times, once in hieroglyphic, once in hieratic, and once in Greek.
Jean Francois Champollion, a French Egyptologist, deciphered the hieroglyphic and hieratic texts by comparing them with the known Greek text.
From this meager starting point, a generation of Egyptologists eventually managed to read most everything that remains of the Egyptians' ancient writings.
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