The civilization of the ancientEgyptians developed in response toboth its desert environment and theflooding waters of the Nile River.

The ancient Egyptian civilization isa model of a well-organized societywith limited natural resources.

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW

TERMS & NAMESpapyruspyramidpharaohhieroglyphicsReHorus

A new building project got under way this

week. Our new ruler, Thutmose III, has

decided to build a temple near the Nile

River. Thousands of workers are needed to

work on it.

The foreman of the

project told this reporter,

“We will need stone

cutters, water carriers,

painters, and cooks. We

can find work for almost

anyone who wants a job.”

They hope the temple will

be finished in a few years.

Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt

Human-Environment Interaction •

It will take thousands of workers

to complete the pharaoh’s new

temple. �

Thutmose III �

CAIRO, EGYPT, 1458 B.C.

TAKING NOTES

1. Bodies of water provideresources for people inNorth Africa and . . .

2. Complex civilizationsdeveloped religions and . . .

Generalizations Details

Use your chart to take notes about North Africaand Southwest Asia.

Ancient Egypt and the NileMany of the temples and other monumental structures of ancientEgypt still stand. Without the Nile River, however, they probablywould never have been built. As the Greek historian Herodotus(hih•RAHD•uh•tuhs) said approximately 2,500 years ago,Egyptian civilization was “the gift of the Nile.”

North Africa and Southwest Asia: Place and Times 223

The River in the Sand Desert cov-ers most of Egypt. The sandsspread for hundreds of miles to thewest and the south, discouragingoutsiders from invading. The NileRiver, which runs through thedesert, is sometimes called “theriver in the sand.”

The Nile’s yearly floodsdeposited tons of silt in the river valley. The depositsmade the soil black and fertile. Every year, aroundOctober, the floodwaters began to retreat. Then thefarmers planted their seeds. They harvested theircrops during the months the Nile was at its lowestlevels. The Egyptians knew the Nile would flood eachyear. But they could not predict how much it wouldflood or how high the water would rise. In years withvery low floods, there might not be enough food. Inyears with very high floods, the waters would destroyfields and homes.

Taming the Nile The ancient Egyptians found waysto manage the unpredictable river. They built canals

to carry water from the Nile to the parts of the land the floodingwater did not reach. They strengthened the riverbanks to keepthe river from overflowing.

Egyptian towns and cities were spread along the Nile Rivervalley. The Nile made it possible for Egyptians living in distantplaces to come together. The Egyptians were expert boat builders.They built harbors and ports for large cargo boats. The Nile pro-vided such good transportation that there were few roads inancient Egypt. Because goods moved easily along the Nile, tradewas very profitable.

The Nile’s Gifts The ancient Egyptians used Nile mud to makepottery and bricks. They made a paperlike material called papyrus(puh•PY•ruhs) from the papyrus plant. This tall plant grew inmarshes and swamps around the Nile. In fact, the English wordpaper comes from “papyrus.” It was easier to write on papyrus thanon the bulky clay tablets the Mesopotamians used.

224 CHAPTER 8

Vocabulary

silt:particles of earthand rock that buildup in rivers orstreams

Human-Environment Interaction • This page from theBook of the Dead was drawn on papyrus. �

A. IdentifyingProblems Whatproblems did theNile River causeEgyptian farmers?

Place • Papyrusreeds grow alongthe Nile River. �

The Great Builders The Egyptians noticed that bodies buried in thesand on the edge of the desert resisted decay. Itmay have affected their beliefs in an afterlife.The concept of an afterlife played a central rolein ancient Egyptian life and culture. It led theEgyptians to build huge pyramids, as well asmany other temples and monuments.

The Pyramids Pyramids are easily recognized bytheir shape. Four triangular sides on a rectangu-lar base meet at a single point. The Egyptiansbuilt the pyramids for their kings, or pharaohs(FAIR•ohz). Each pyramid is a palace where anEgyptian king planned to spend the afterlife.

Materials and Labor To build the pyramids, theEgyptians used large blocks of stone. A singlepyramid might contain 92 million cubic feet ofstone, enough to fill a large sports stadium. Thetips of pyramids were often capped with gold.

Building a pyramid was complicated. Thepharaoh appointed a leader to organize theproject. The leader and his staff used hieroglyphics—a writing system that uses pic-tographs to stand for words or sounds—tomake lists of the workers and supplies theyneeded for the project.

North Africa and Southwest Asia: Place and Times 225

Vocabulary

afterlife:a life believed to follow death

Nubia (NOO•bee•

uh), a country tothe south of Egypt,was a source ofthe gold theEgyptians used in their pyramids.

Recording the Past The great statues and monuments of ancientEgypt have lasted thousands ofyears, but they will not last forever.They are threatened by pollutionand other changes in the environ-ment. Now a nonprofit group calledINSIGHT (Institute for the Study andImplementation of Graphic HeritageTechniques) is using the latest tech-nology, such as digital photographyand laser scanning, to record Egypt’scultural heritage.

Working with archaeologists,INSIGHT volunteers record ancienttombs, temples, and statues beforethey fall apart or are destroyed. Theresults will be used for researchand educational purposes.

Place • In 1922, the tomb ofEgyptian king Tutankhamen(TOOT•ahng•KAH•muhn) wasfound almost exactly as ithad been left thousands ofyears before. Although histomb may be the mostfamous, Tutankhamen wasnot buried in a pyramid. Hewas buried in an area nowknown as the Valley of theTombs of the Kings. �

Tutankhamen’s Tomb

The Egyptians had no cutting tools ormachines to get the stone they needed.Removing the stone and shaping it into blockswas very difficult work. The work was also dan-gerous. Every Egyptian family had to help withthe project. They either worked as laborers orprovided food for the workers.

The Pharaoh and the GodsEgyptians believed that the ruling pharaoh wasthe living son of the sun god, Re (RAY). Thepharaoh was also linked with Horus, the sungod. The pharaoh was not only ancient Egypt’schief judge and commander in chief, he was alsothe chief religious figure. His religious exampleguided the common people in their daily livesand in their preparations for the afterlife.

Religion in Daily Life Temples were every-where in ancient Egypt. Some were dedicatedto major gods, like Re. Others were dedicatedto local gods. Pharaohs had temples built intheir honor so that people could worship them.

Ordinary citizens did not gather for prayerin the temples. Only priests car-ried out the temple rituals.Smaller buildings stood out-side the temple groundswhere common peoplecould pray or leaveofferings to the gods.Many private homesalso contained smallshrines where familymembers worshiped

their gods and honored the spirits ofdead family members.

226 CHAPTER 8

Hatshepsut (hat•SHEHP•SOOT) was the first woman to rule Egypt.Like male pharaohs, she wore atightly braided false beard.

Hatshepsut came to the thronearound 1500 B.C., when her hus-band, the pharaoh Thutmose II,died. The throne passed toThutmose III, Hatshepsut’s son.Because he was a child, Hatshepsutacted as ruler. Even when he grewup, she refused to give him thethrone. Instead, she had herselfproclaimed pharaoh and ruled for20 years.

She encouraged foreign tradeand building projects, including anumber of magnificent temples.

Culture • Egyptian artists’ drawings followed rules.Eyes and shoulders were drawn as if from the front,the rest of the body sideways. Important peoplewere drawn larger than others. �

B. MakingInferences Howimportant wastheir religion toEgyptians?

Preparing for the Afterlife AverageEgyptians were not buried in pyramids.They made careful preparations for theafterlife, however. Family memberswere responsible for burying their deadrelatives and tending their spirits.Egyptians believed they could help thedead person live comfortably in the

afterlife.They prevented bodies fromdecaying by treating them with

preservatives, or mummifyingthem. The Egyptians filledtombs with items for thedead to use in the afterlifeand they decorated thetombs with art. Theyalso made regular offer-ings to honor the dead.

North Africa and Southwest Asia: Place and Times 227

Suppose that you are an ancient Egyptian. Write a journal entry about the daily work of aninhabitant of ancient Egypt.

SECTION ASSESSMENT

Using Graphics2. Use a spider map like this one to

record all the ways the Nile Riverbenefited the ancient Egyptians.

Main Ideas3. (a) Why did the Egyptians

build pyramids?

(b) How did the use of hierogly-phics help Egyptian builders?

(c) Why was the pharaoh soimportant to the Egyptians?

Critical Thinking4. Summarizing

How did belief in an afterlife affect the culture of the ancientEgyptians?

Think About◆ burial practices◆ buildings

Terms & Names1. Explain the significance of: (a) papyrus (b) pyramid (c) pharaoh

(d) hieroglyphics (e) Re (f) Horus

Culture • A mask covers this mummy’s face. �

NileRiver

Culture • Osiris andIsis were the Egyptiangod and goddess ofthe dead. �