1. The Egyptians 5000 BC, nomads began settling along the Nile Farming villages that grew wheat and barley

2. The Two Kingdoms Early Egypt divided into north and south Lower Egypt in the north where Nile empties into Mediterranean Upper Egypt in the south bordering Ethiopia

3. The Old Kingdom 2700 BC to 2200 BC the two kingdoms began to merge identities under one central government Theocracy evolved with a king and his bureaucracy First pyramids built during this time as tombs for the kings

4. The Middle Kingdom Old Kingdom collapsed New Dynasty seized power in 2050 BC to establish the Middle Kingdom with capital at Thebes

5. The New Kingdom Around 1700 BC, invaders from southwest Asia attacked Egypt Hyksos conquered Egypt with bronze weapons and horse drawn chariots (Egyptians fought on foot with copper and stone weapons) Around 1500BC, Ahmose led the revolt against Hyksos rule and drove them out

6. Ahmose was the first ruler of the New Kingdom, first to use the title pharaoh (great house of the king) Ahmose rebuilt Egypt to even greater glory

7. The Woman Pharaoh Around 1480 BC, Hatshepsut came to power when her husband Thutmose II died. Her stepson was too young to rule She became Regent of Egypt

8. Hatshepsut About 7 years into her regency, she proclaimed herself pharaoh and wore men’s clothing and the false beard Why? Had to take on the persona of a male pharaoh to gain legitimacy and acceptance

9. Huge building programs under her reign, including the Valley of the Kings

10. Thutmose III became pharaoh upon her death Unlike his stepmother, focused on military and conquest Conquered northern Mesopotamia and parts of central Africa Huge wealth came into Egypt from conquered areas

11. After Thutmose III died, series of weak pharaohs brought about decline Saved from destruction by Ramses II

12. After Ramses II died in 1237 BC, Egypt began to Finally conquered by Libyans from the west and Kushites from the south

13. Egyptian Culture and Society Similar to Sumer: a)Upper class—nobility and priests b)Middle class— artisans, merchants, scribes c)Lower class—farmers and laborers d)slaves

14. Religion Polytheistic Greater focus on afterlife Idea of god/king Religion evolved over time to include afterlife for all people Originally only royalty and nobility had an afterlife, but by the New Kingdom the concept was universal

15. Hieroglyphics Writing with pictures Scribes Papyrus paper

16. Other Advancements Mathematics—geometry Calendar with 365 days Embalming and surgeries medicines

17. Age of Empire What is an empire? It involves a government that rules over multiple cultures and/or ethnic groups.

18. The First Empires After the fall of Sumer to the Amorites, a series of foreign invasions swept the region.

19. The Akkadians Semitic nomads moved into northern Mesopotamia and settled at Akkad around 5000 BC 2300 BC Sargon I seizes power and launches invasions across Mesopotamia Akkadian Empire predated Egyptian New Kingdom by 800 years Adopted Sumerian customs while maintaining Akkadian language

20. Akkadian control ultimately did not disrupt Sumerian civilization. Only the ruling class changed, along with the spoken language—Akkadian eventually took over. Adapted the Akkadian language to cuneiform. Akkadians were basically “Sumerized”.

21. Akkadian Empire After the death of Sargon’s grandson, Naram- Sin, the empire began to collapse.

22. The Amorites Another Semitic group from eastern Syria, the Amorites, conquer the region Conquered the Sumerian city-states to the south Established capital at Babylon Greatest expansion and growth under King Hammurabi

23. King and Lawgiver Strong leader who united most of Mesopotamia Growth of trade and agriculture Hammurabi is most famous for his written code of laws 282 sections with laws from around the region—created a type of equity of law Specific laws with harsh punishments kept harmony

24. Babylonian Society Similar class system to Sumer with laws/punishments differing for each class Borrowed heavily from Sumerian culture and adopted cuneiform to their Semitic language

25. Collapse of Babylon After Hammurabi’s death, empire collapsed Successors unable to keep empire together Hittite invasion destroyed Babylon