1. 9/4 Before: Anticipation Guide Recreate the following on your own paper. Answer the before reading side.
True
Before Reading
False
Statement
After Reading
The Nile River is the main source of water for Egypt.
The Sahara Desert in the second largest desert in the world.
Egyptians picked up ideas about writing and government from Mesopotamia.
Women were the head of the household in Egyptian culture.
Priest and nobles were the highest of all the social classes in Egypt.

2. 9/5: Before
Quad Card: Use one of the following words Delta, Hieroglyphics, Papyrus, dynasty
Word
Definition
Synonym
Picture

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

4. Settling the Nile
The earliest Egyptians moved into the Nile River Valley between 5000 B.C. and 6000B.C.
The Nile River is the longest river in the world, about 4,000 miles long. (Traveling the length of the Nile would be like going from Atlanta, Georgia to San Francisco, California and back again)

5. What did the Nile provide?
Egyptians used the Nile for many things:
Drink
Clean
Farm
Cook
Food (ate fish from river)

6. The Nile begins as two separate rivers
The Nile begins as two separate rivers. The Blue Nile of east Africa and the White Nile in central Africa. They meet to form the Nile just south of Egypt.
The Nile Valley is a narrow, green valley in Egypt.
Narrow cliffs and boulders in the Nile form wild rapids called cataracts (KA*tuh*rakts)

7. The Nile looks like the long stem of a flower
The Nile looks like the long stem of a flower. Before the Nile reaches the Mediterranean Sea, it divides into different branches that look like the flower’s blossom called a delta.

8. Egypt’s Deserts
The Sahara (suh*HAR*uh), the largest desert in the world, lies west of the Nile Valley.
The Eastern Desert lies to the east of the valley.

9. Egypt’s Natural Borders
Egypt had several natural borders and geographic features to protect it.
The deserts, the dangerous rapids (cataracts) of the Nile, and marshes in the delta kept enemies from entering Egypt.
As a result, Egyptian civilization was able to grow and prosper.

10. Water Travel
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 one another.

11. The River People
Floods along the Nile were more dependable and gentle than those of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Each spring the Nile would flood and leave a dark, fertile mud along the banks.
Farmers used the soil left behind by the floods to grow wheat, barley, and flax seeds.

12. Irrigation
Farmers dug basins to trap floodwaters, dug canals to channel the water to the fields, built dikes (earthen banks) to strengthen the basin walls, and used a shadoof (shuh*doof – basket attached to a long pole) to lift water from the Nile to the basins.

13. Papyrus
Papyrus (puh*PY*ruhs), a reed plant that grew along the Nile, was used to make baskets, sandals, river rafts, and later used to make paper.

14. Hieroglyphics
The Egyptian form of writing is called hieroglyphics (HY*ruh*GLIH*fihks). This system consisted of thousands of picture symbols.
Some symbols stood for objects or ideas, and others stood for sounds, just as our alphabet.
Few Egyptians could read and write. Some Egyptian men however attended schools to become scribes (record keeper).

15. Examples of Hieroglyphics

16. A United Egypt
Because of the surplus of food in Egypt, some people became artisans instead of farmers. Artisans wove cloth, make pottery, carved statues, and crafted weapons and tools.
Egyptians traded goods with each other and with others in Mesopotamia, where they picked up ideas about writing and government.
To settle disputes and direct daily life, governments/laws were needed.

17. The Rise of Government and Ruling Families
A few strong chiefs united groups of villages into kingdoms. Eventually, the strongest kingdoms overpowered the weaker kingdoms. Two large kingdoms emerged: Lower Egypt in the Nile delta and Upper Egypt to the south.
About 3100 B.C. the two kingdoms became one under Narmer (NAR*muhr also known as Menes). Menes’s descendants passed the ruling power on from father to son to grandson, forming a dynasty (a line of rulers from the same family).
Ancient Egypt was ruled by 31 dynasties which lasted more than 2,800 years that historians have grouped into three time periods – Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom.

18. Early Egyptian Life Ancient Egypt had social classes.
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/Herders were the largest group of people and were in a lower class than the middle class.
The Lower Class were unskilled workers and slaves.

19. Family Structure Egyptian men were the head of the households.
Egyptian women had more rights than in other ancient civilizations.
Women could:
Own and pass on property
Buy and sell goods
Make wills
Obtain divorces
Few children went to school in ancient Egypt.
Egyptian girls learned to sew, cook, and run a household.
Egyptian boys learned farming or a skilled trade.

21. 9/4 After
Pull back out your anticipation guides. Do the after reading side. For any false statements write in what the correct answer should be.

22. 9/5: After
Using the paper I have provided, you will create your own hieroglyphic messages. Please title your work Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Make sure to color your work. You must use at least 20 of the characters I have provided for you. You may create 6 of your own if you need to (no more than 6). I have examples up front if you are unsure what to do!