1. Ancient Egypt
Unit 4

2. Fill in the blanks with the words provided
We are going to start a brand new unit today. Before we get there, let’s run through Mesopotamia quickly. We started learning about the importance of geography. We know that Mesopotamia was the land between two rivers, and those two rivers were the _________________ and Euphrates. Since they lived between two rivers, the soil there was ______________, which meant it was easier to farm on. Many early humans wanted there to be a flood, because this made the soil better. Since people could finally settle down, people started getting really good at different jobs, which was called _____________________. People in Mesopotamia built __________________, which is where they believe gods lived in. These could be seen many miles away. This is also the place where the first set of laws, called _________________________, was written down on clay tablets. These laws were tough, but they applied to everyone.
Tigris
fertile
specialization
ziggurats
Hammurabi’s Code

3. Red Sea Lower Egypt Cairo Arabian Desert Libyan Desert Nile River
Think, Write, Pair, Share
Where would be the best place to live?
Where would be the worst place to live?
Why was Egypt protected from invaders?
Arabian
Desert
Libyan
Desert
Nile River
Red Sea
Upper Egypt
Nubian Desert

4. Questions
How is Egyptian geography similar to the geography of Mesopotamia?
If I wanted to attack ancient Egypt, what would be difficult about it?
Why is Egypt called “the gift of the Nile?”

5. Artisans and Crafts People
Social Structure
Pharaoh
Government Officials
Priest and Priestess
Scribes
Artisans and Crafts People
Peasants (Workers)

6. Pharaoh
Job: The pharaoh was the king of Egypt. He had all the power and owned all the land. He was the head of the military, made all of the laws, and was the most important religious leader. In addition, many Egyptians believed the pharaoh was a god. Though the pharaoh was in charge, he had many government officials and priests who did the work of running the country for him. (Pharaohs were usually men, but a few (like Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra) were women.)
Lifestyle: Pharaohs often had many wives, and generally the pharaoh’s son became king after the pharaoh died. The royal family lived in great luxury, with jewelry and clothes made of the finest linen. They lived in the grand palace, but also had many other homes throughout Egypt.

7. Government Officials
Job: Government officials served as advisors to the pharaoh. They helped make laws, and were in charge of collecting taxes from the Egyptian people living on the land. (Taxes were paid in crops, not money.) Important officials were often in charge of sections of the country or led sections of the army.
Lifestyle: Government officials lived lives of luxury. Their mud-brick homes had many rooms – for business, entertaining, and servants quarters. They and their families wore make-up, fine linen clothes, and jewelry. They often had banquets with beer, wine, ducks, sheep, goats, dates, and figs.

8. Priests and Priestesses
Job: Priests and priestesses held places of great honor in Egyptian society. They served as religious advisors to the pharaoh and performed ceremonies at temples, festivals, and funerals. On a daily basis, they worked in temples taking care of the statues that honored each god or goddess. They also oversaw the whole process of making mummies, to ensure that each person’s soul made it to the afterlife.
Lifestyle: It was common for both men and women to be priests. They were allowed to marry and have children, and generally lived in very nice homes.

9. Scribes
Job: The scribes were in a slightly lower class than the priests and government officials. They worked for the government as the official writers and record keepers. They told the pharaoh about what was happening in his country. They kept records of the grain supply, taxes, and court cases.
Lifestyle: Scribes spent 12 years learning more than 700 symbols in the Egyptian writing system, hieroglyphics. Schools for scribes were very strict, and beatings for laziness or not paying attention were common. However, once done with school scribes were respected and fairly well paid.

10. Artisans and Crafts People
Job: The artisans were the carpenters, jewelers, metalworkers, painters, potters, basketmakers, and stone carvers. They usually worked under the eye of a boss in workshops, making tools, furniture, linen cloth, jewelry, and stone statues. Pharaohs asked hundreds of artisans at a time to work on the statues and paintings for tombs, temples, pyramids, and monuments they were building.
Lifestyle: The artisans rarely got the respect they deserved – even the most talented were not allowed to sign their work, because people in the upper classes viewed them as common workers. They usually worked for 9 days in a row before getting a day off. They lived in small, three-room houses and sometimes went without food when it was hard to find work.

11. Peasants (Workers)
Job: The peasants were at the bottom of the social pyramid, even though everyone depended on them. They grew the crops that supplied everyone with food. They farmed using a plow pulled by cows. There were three seasons in Egypt, and during the planting and harvesting seasons they worked in the fields. During the summer season when the Nile flooded the farmlands, they worked for the pharaoh struggling to build monuments and pyramids. Some peasants were actually slaves captured from other countries and put to work on the pharaoh’s pyramid building projects.
Lifestyle: The peasants lived in simple brick homes with little furniture. They ate fish and bread, but rarely ate meat like the upper classes. They often worked for 9 days straight and rested on the 10th day. They had to pay their taxes in crops (not money), and were beaten buy government officials if they were not able to pay.

12. Journal Write (Graded)
Directions: Write a journal entry describing your life and how you feel about it. Fill up all of the lines! First, look at the notes you took today in class, and then think about the following as you write:
What do you do?
What do you like/dislike about your job?
How much power and respect do you have in Egyptian society?
What is your lifestyle like?