2. Which direction is the Great River flowing? What are the basic needs in this kind of environment? What would you need to succeed in keeping your goats alive? Which sites have security concerns? Distance concerns? Trade concerns?

5. What do you notice about Egypt’s geographic location?

8. 1.After each paragraph is read aloud, we will pause so that you can write 3-4 words in the margin about the paragraph. 2.After we read the entire essay, look back in the margins and write a 2 sentence summary of the entire background essay in your spiral notebook.

9. Black Land- the fertile areas fed by the Nile where the soil is rich Red Land- the deserts to the east and west of the river Tributaries- rivers and streams that flow into a larger “parent” river Papyrus- a plant with fibrous inner stems used to make paper Irrigation- diverting water to farmland with ditches, canals, or pipes

10. What is the analytical question asked by this Mini-Q? What terms in the question need to be defined? Rewrite the question in your own words.

12. Egypt’s culture valued order, dependability, and security Found the annual flooding of the Nile to be reassuring. They found comfort in the cycle of the Nile. Nile River information: Floodplain along the river has an area of 4,250 square miles, ranging from 1 mile wide at Aswan to 11 miles wide at el- Amarna Nile Delta: 8,500 square miles, 125 miles across

13. Labor tax- usually 1 member of a household for several weeks of the flood season- work included mining, canal repair, building, and quarrying Egypt has very low annual rainfall so Nile River was essential for irrigation (and still is today)

15. North: The Mediterranean borders the delta, which is marshy and full of wildlife and water plants East: The Arabian Desert includes mountains and wadis, dry riverbeds which fill with water only after very heavy rains. When dry, the wadis were used as trade routes across deserts. West: The Libyan Desert covers 2/3 of Egypt South: Southern boundary begins in Nubia with the first Nile cataract (rapids). The Nile Valley in Nubia is very narrow and supports little agriculture. Thus, many Nubians were nomadic desert-dwellers. At times, the Egyptians invaded this area and captured Nubians to serve as slaves. Nubia was also known for gold mines, also of interest to Egyptians.

16. Boating on Nile River very popular in ancient times -trade -pilgrimages -leisure trips (wealthy) Wooden boats were expensive to build. Much of the wood (cypress) used to build these came from Lebanon.

17. Tomb paintings are like comic strips- “characters” appear over and over again Egyptians believed that a quality funeral, mummification, and nice tomb increased a dead person’s chances of making it successfully to the Field of reeds

19. Religious hymns first appeared in Egypt around the 2500s BCE Nile River treated in the hymn as a supernatural being, a giver of life The river compliments the sun god, Ra. Egyptians realized that without the Nile, life could not produced in Egypt.