Ancient Egypt

Objective 2.1- Objective 2.1- Compare how different geographical issues of the ancient

period influenced settlement, trading, networks, and the sustainability of various ancient

Civilizations

Life in Ancient Egypt

• Life centered around the Nile river

• Yearly floods brought nutrients to the soil

• The river was a main route of travel

“Egypt is the gift of the Nile” -Herodotus

Egyptian Timeline• Old Kingdom (2700-2150)

– Hieroglyphics and religion develop in Egypt

– pyramids built

• Middle Kingdom (2040-1786)– extension of Egyptian control into

Nubia

• New Kingdom (1570-1075)– militaristic - Hebrews enslaved– mummification perfected

Social Pyramid of Egypt

• Pharaoh- Egyptian King

• Upper Class– Royal Family, Government Officials,

Army Officers, Priests, Landowners, and Doctors

• Middle Class– Merchants, Manufacturers, and

Artisans or skilled laborers

• Lower Class– Unskilled Laborers and Farmers

• Slaves and Servants

The Pharaoh• God-King - unlike

Mesopotamia• Pharaoh’s cities did not

have walls-unlike Mesopotamia– Religious significance

• direct descendant of the Sun god

• controls access to the afterlife• July-Sept, during floods life is

controlled by the Pharaoh– 365 day calendar.

IV. Farmers in Egypt

Egyptian Religion

• Polytheism– About 2000

gods & goddesses

EXAMPLES– Amon-Ra (Creator God)

– Osiris (God of the Dead)

– Horis (Sky God)

• Death and Funerals– Three souls “ka, ba, and akh”

– Embalming

– Burial Tombs

Ka, Ba, Akh

• Egyptians believed that humans possessed a ka, or life-force, which left the body at the point of death. In life, the ka received its sustenance from food and drink. Each person also had a ba, the set of spiritual characteristics unique to each individual.[30] Unlike the ka, the ba remained attached to the body after death. Egyptian funeral rituals were intended to release the ba from the body so that it could move freely, and to rejoin it with the ka so that it could live on as an akh. However, it was also important that the body of the deceased be preserved, as the Egyptians believed that the ba returned to its body each night to receive new life, before emerging in the morning as an akh.

Egypt’s Economy

• Pharaoh was at the center of the economy

• Based upon Agriculture• Pharaoh took taxes on

the crops that were grown, and goods that were made

• Goods were “bartered” or traded for other needed goods

A System of Writing

• Hieroglyphics– Used to keep record

• Scribes– Record keepers– Original Accountants

• Papyrus– Paper made from plants

• Rosetta Stone– Transcribed Hieroglyphics,

Greek, and Demotic

IV. Hieroglyphics

• Language is written without letters

• Different pronunciations– MNFR as Memphis– SR as Osiris– TTMS as either Thutmose,

Thutmosis, Tatmusa or Atithmese

• Who learns this writing style?

Building the Pyramids

• Built as tombs for the Pharaohs• Afterlife

– Housed everything needed for the Paraoh

• Khufu’s pyramid – Total number of blocks

• 2,300,000

– One block’s average weight• 2.5 tons

– Number of blocks added each day• 285

• Tall as a 45 story building

Daily Life in Egypt

• Cosmetics, cleanliness (bath 3 times a day), shaved bodies, wigs

• main food is beer and bread– Grow many crops: emmer, barley, flax, lentils,

onion, beans, and millet

• common building made of sun-dried mud bricks - up to three stories in height

• Four social classes - slaves on the bottom• Most common job … farming

Children in Egypt

RICH• Children of Pharaoh

swam in palace pools• Learned their parents

trade• Spun tops, and

played games

POOR• Swam in canals• Worked alongside

their parents• Little time to play• Daily chores

End of Ancient Egypt

• The Egyptian Civilization lasted over 2000 years.

• After 1100 B.C. the civilization declined.

• Eventually The Greeks would conquer under the leadership of Alexander the Great.