1. World History Chapter 2 Section 3
Kingdom of the Nile

2. Geography
Without the Nile river there would not have been an Egyptian civilization
Dessert protected Egypt from invasion
It also limited settlement
Yearly Flood – soaked land and deposited silt?
Egyptians built dikes, reservoirs and irrigation ditches to control the Nile

3. Two Regions Upper Region and Lower Region
Upper Egypt – from the first cataract in the Nile to within 100 miles of the Mediterranean Sea
Cataract - waterfall
Lower Egypt – delta region where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean Sea
Delta – triangle shaped marsh area of land formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of some rivers

5. 3100 B.C. – King of Upper Egypt – King Menes, united both upper and lower regions
Founded the first capital at Memphis – site where Nile empties into delta
Nile helped to unify Egypt as a transportation and communication network and a trade route

7. Kingdom’s of Egypt Old Kingdom – 2575 – 2130
Middle Kingdom – 1938 – 1630
New Kingdom – 1539 – 1075
Power was passed from one family to the next which kept the land united

9. The ancient Egyptian sculpture called The Sphinx is also located on the Giza plateau, and was probably carved at the request of the 4th dynasty pharaoh Chephren or Khafre. The statue is carved out of the native bedrock, and has the body of a lion and (so is believed) Pharaoh Chephren's face. Later the Sphinx became associated with the Egyptian god Harmakhis.

10. Old Kingdom
Kings – who were later called Pharaohs, organized a strong central state
Key in government and state – people believed he was a god
Absolute power – owned and ruled all land in the kingdom
Also seen as human – expected to behave morally and Pharaohs were judge for there deeds

11. Pharaohs of the Old Kingdom took pride in justice
Used bureaucracy – system of government that includes different functions and levels of authority
Vizier – chief minister – supervised business of the government
Headed various departments – tax, farming, irrigation
Thousands of scribes followed his orders

12. Great Pyramids – Old Kingdom built the great Necropolis’ / cemeteries
Giza – location of the greatest pyramids
Tombs inside of pyramids were where the dead would live for eternity
Believed in an afterlife – preserved dead rulers and gave them everything they would need in their new lives
Pyramids took a long time to build, so most rulers started building them when they took power

14. Middle Kingdom
Marked by power struggles, crop failures, and the cost of building pyramids led to collapse of Old Kingdom – so not very well financially
Turbulent Period – Nile did not rise as it used to
Corruption and rebellions were common
Some progress – drainage projects at delta made more farm land
Egyptian armies also controlled gold rich Nubia / Kush
Trade continued with Middle East and Mediterranean

15. 1700 B.C.
Hyksos invaded and took over the Nile delta
Little conflict between people and new rulers
Introduced horse drawn chariot
Hyksos impressed with Egyptian culture
Adopted Egyptian customs, beliefs, and names
After 100 years of Hyksos rule, new Egyptian leaders emerged

16. New Kingdom
Empire grew 1450 B.C. it stretched to Syria and the Euphrates
First Female Ruler
Hatshepsut – exercised all rights of a Pharaoh
Encouraged trade to Mediterranean
Thutmose III – stepson – great military leader and stretched borders farther than ever

19. Ramses II – ruled for 66 years
Best known, as he boasted about himself on monuments – some may not have been true
Fought many battles against the Hittites to the North
Signed a peace treaty with them – first such document known to have survived
Egypt conquered Nubia – this gave them gold, ivory, cattle and slaves
Ramses II – used gold from Nubia to pay his charioteers

21. Decline
1100 B.C.
Invaders – Assyrians and Persians conquered the Nile region
in 332 B.C the last dynasty of the Nile ended as the Greeks took control of the area