Ancient

Egypt
Chris Anderson
Randolph-Henry High School
 Ancient Egyptians
What do you think of when you hear
Egypt?
River Valley and Its People
The Nile River runs through the middle of
Egypt
4,160 miles long
the river has predictable floods which bring
needed water and fertile soil
Flows South to North from the mountains of
east Africa into the Mediterranean Sea
Fan shaped Delta at the mouth of the river
Delta

Flows South
to North
 A 10 mile band of rich soil extends from the river
out into the desert
the river floods every year in the late spring and early
summer
melting snows in the mountains and spring rains
cause these floods
when the flood waters recede, a rich layer of silt is
left behind
What is silt?
 5000 BC: hunter-gatherers began settling in the
Nile Valley
1st crops: wheat and barley
What else could the river provide the people
besides water?
Hunting (water fowlducks, geese) and fishing
the river also gave the people papyrus
What could papyrus be used to create?
baskets, rope, sandals, and paper
 Uniting Egypt
Egypt was protected from invasion
Why?
Surrounded by a desert
Small farms became large kingdoms
The two major kingdoms that would eventually
unite were:
1.) Upper Egypt
2.) Lower Egypt
 Upper Egypt
Symbolized by a white
crown
located in Southern Egypt
 Lower Egypt
Symbolized by a red crown
located in Northern Egypt
Lower Egypt

River flows South to

North
Upper Egypt
 Upper and Lower Egypt were brought together
by Narmer (aka. Menes)3100 BC
Narmer led his forces into Lower Egypt, taking over
Lower Egypt, and, thus, creating a united Egypt
he built a capital city at Memphis--located between
both kingdoms
the new unified kingdom was symbolized by a
white and red crown--a double crown
Narmer (Menes) created the 1st Egyptian
dynasty
What is a dynasty?
 3000 BC--332 BC: Egypt had series of
30 dynasties
these 30 dynasties have been divided into
three periods
1.) Old Kingdom
2.) Middle Kingdom
3.) New Kingdom
Old Kingdom 2700-2200 BC
a strong Egyptian government was being created
people saw their ruler as a god who ruled over the
people
A theocracy was created
What is a Theocracy?--__________________
The pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom
Why were pyramids built? _________________
Start asmastabas (rectangular burial mounds)
Built mastaba on top of another mastaba= step
pyramids
 one of the 1st step pyramids built was
for King Djoser
built in Memphis
was the 1st all stone building in the world
 Eventually, the architects wanted to create
smoother pyramids
The first attempts were not perfectBent
Pyramid
 Giza Pyramids
Great Pyramid: built for King
Khufu in 2500 BC
481 feet tall
largest of the three pyramids at Giza
 Mummification
Involved the drying/preservation of the body using
spices and salts
internal organs removed
body wrapped in strips of linen and placed in a
sarcophagus
body buried with all of the kings earthly possessions
Interior of the pyramid contained elaborate wall
paintings
believed these wall paintings would come to life in the after life
Mummification Video
SARCOPHAGUS & CANOPIC
JARS
Shabtis: The Pharaohs
Servants in the Afterlife
Middle Kingdom 2050-1640 BC
2050 BC: a new ruling family takes over
Egypt
this new dynasty moves the capital to Thebes
the new dynasty marks the beginning of the
Middle Kingdom
built irrigation systems
cleared more land for agriculture
gained land for Egypt by attacking Syria
constructed a canal between the Nile and the Red
Sea to allow for better trade
 1700 BC: rulers start losing power
Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos
Hyksos had very good weapons
bronze weapons
horse drawn chariots
Hyksos conquered the Egyptians who had
inferior weapons
Hyksos ruled over Egypt for 110 years
New Kingdom 1570-1080 BC
Egyptians learned how to make and
use the Hyksos weapons
Egyptians also copied the Hyksos
style of fighting
1600 BC: Ahmose--an Egyptian
prince--led an army against the Hyksos
Drove the Hyksos from Egypt
 Ahmose created a new dynasty in
Egypt--ushering in the New Kingdom
Ahmose and his successor were called
pharaohs
What is a pharaoh?
 1503 BC: Hatshepsutfirst female
pharaoh of Egypt
She built lots of temples
 1320 BC: Amenhotep IV became pharaoh
Broke from the Egyptian tradition of
worshiping many gods
Wanted the people to worship only 1 god
(____________)--the god Aton (the sun disk
god)
Amenhotep changed his name to
Akhenaton--spirit of Aton
 Amenhotep
(Akhenaten)
 Recovery and Decline
From 1200 BC, pharaohs were
mostly military leaders
Ramses II: one of the New Dynasty
pharaohs
he ruled for 67 years
built many temples and statues
RAMSES II
 Eventually Egypt became
weak and split back into 2
separate kingdoms
by 945 BC, Egypt was ruled by
foreigners--the Libyans and
Kushites
 Levels of Egyptian Society
There were different levels to Egyptian
society
1.) Upper Class
royalty, nobles, priests
2.) Middle Class
Artisans, scribes, merchants
3.) Lower Class
Farmers and servants
 Egyptian Religion
Polytheists
Godspart animal, part human, married each
other, had children
Major gods:
Ra: sun god
Osiris: god of the Nile, life, death, and rebirth
Isis: wife of Osiris, ruled the underworld
believed in an afterlife
spent much of their lives preparing for death
 Writing
Hieroglyphics--Egyptian writing
picture symbols that stood for objects,
ideas, and sounds
scribes: people who were trained to read
and write
after the fall of the Egyptians,
hieroglyphics were no longer used
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone
was a piece of
tablet that had
Greek writing and
two forms of
Egyptian writing
Allowed historians
to decode the
hieroglyphics
 Scientific Achievements
Skilled in math and geometry--
pyramids
Number system
365 day calendar
Advancements in medicine
treating broken bones
treating some diseases