Pyramids of the Nile

The Geography of Egypt

The Gift of the Nile

• Egyptians worshiped the Nile as a God

• Herodotus called it the “gift of the Nile”

Environmental Challenges• Nile was regular but…• When Nile was lower

people starved• Nile higher, destruction• It was a natural barrier but

there was only a small area of land and little interaction

Upper and Lower Egypt

• Cataracts made it impossible for travel

• To the south is Upper Egypt; to the north, Lower Egypt and Nile delta region

Villages under two separate Kingdoms

They were united by either King Scorpion or King Narmer

Read excerpts Lower Egypt wore a

red crown, upper Egypt had a tall white crown

Narmer formed the first Egyptian dynasty with the capital of Memphis

Differences between the kings in Mesopotamia and Egypt: Egyptians were

considered pharaohs

They were the center of religion, government and army

Government called a theocracy

Builders of the Pyramids• Kings ruled after death• Eternal life force, ka• Tombs more important

than palaces• Pyramids were the

resting place

Life was more optimistic than Mesopotamia

What are the two reasons?

Polytheistic Re Osiris Isis

Believed in afterlife Anubis

Royal and elite bodies mummified Cats page 43

Materials used in mummification: 1. linen 6. natron 2. sawdust 7. onion 3. lichen 8. Nile mud 4. beeswax 9. linen pads 5. resin 10. frankincense

Canopic JarsBrain hooksOil jarFunnelEmbalmer's knife

Could gain higher class status through marriage or jobs

Reading and writing required for highest positions

Women many of the same rights as men

Egyptian Writing

• Pictographs led to hieroglyphics

• First written on stone/clay until papyrus was invented

Rosetta Stone

Calendar Helped keep track

of floods Short of the true

solar year by 6 hours

Written numbers Taxes, property

boundaries, construction measurements

Medicine Pulse, splints,

surgery

2180 b.c. power of pharaohs declined

End of Old Kingdom Middle kingdom 2040-

1640 Restored law,

improved trade, transportation, built dikes, new acres created

Hyksos ruled 1630-1523

New Kingdom 1570-1075

2500 B.C. Less known

about India’s history because language is not yet translated

Subcontinent: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

Hindu Kush, Karakorum and Himalayas separate them from the rest of the Asian continent

Rivers Indus River

Himalayas to the Arabian Sea

Ganges Himalayas East across

northern India. Joins the Brahmaputra

River to the Bay of Bengal Desert

Thar: much of lower Indus valley

Plains Indo-Gangetic Plain Deccan Plateau

Monsoons: Seasonal Winds Environmental Challenges

October – February: winter monsoons NE to W

June through October: W to SW winds

Unpredictable flooding

Rivers changed course

Monsoons

• Came by boat from Africa settled in South• From the North through the Khyber Pass in

the Hindu Kush mountains

• Levees built around cities• Raised cities• Largest cities: Kalibangan,

Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa• Indus Valley civilization

sometimes called Harappan civilization

• Cities on grid system– Held a citadel– Plumbing as sewage system

Had mud-brick platform, 3 ½ mile long levee, and a citadel

Streets up to 30 feet wide

House size varied

• Most homes had a bathroom• This was not achieved until the 19th and 20th

century by other civilizations

Not yet deciphered

What Did These Items Show?Housing

There were not large social classes

Toys Prosperous society to make nonessential

goods

Few weapons Conflict limited

Animal images showthey were important to their culturewhat animals existed in the area

Theocracy? Linked to Hindu

culture

• Thriving• Indus River allowed transportation of goods

and link to the sea

Indus Valley Culture Ends• Cities fell into decay• Tectonic plates shifted• Aryans invaded