Ancient Egypt

The Nile River 1. The Nile River, 4000 miles long, is the world’s longest river. 2. The Nile River Valley provided the early Egyptians with rich farm land while the surrounding deserts gave them protection from foreign invaders. 3. Cataracts, which are rock- filled rapids, protected Egypt in the south. 4. The Mediterranean and Red Seas gave the Egyptians a way to trade with people outside of Egypt.

Egypt and the Nile River

Egyptian Government The earliest Egyptian rulers were village chiefs. 1. Over time, a few strong chiefs united their villages to form kingdoms. 2. The strongest of the kingdoms eventually conquered the weaker kingdoms and by 4000 B.C. there were only two, the Upper and Lower Kingdoms. 3. Around 3100 B.C., Narmer, the king of the Upper Kingdom, conquered Lower Egypt, uniting the two. 4. Narmer became Egypt’s first pharaoh.

Dynasties 1. Narmer began the first ruling dynasty of Egypt. A dynasty is a group of rulers from the same family. Egypt was ruled by 31 different dynasties. These dynasties are divided into three separate “kingdoms”. a. The Old Kingdom b. The Middle Kingdom c. The New Kingdom

Old Kingdom The Old Kingdom lasted from 2600 B.C. to 2300 B.C. As Egypt grew and prospered, the pharaohs developed a bureaucracy, which is a body of officials who are used to carry out various duties within the government. The pharaoh was still the head of the government and the people of Egypt considered him a god on earth who controlled Egypt’s welfare. 3. Egypt practiced a polytheistic religion.

Life After Death The Egyptians believed in an afterlife. 1. In order for a person’s spirit to make the journey to the afterlife, they needed their body. 2. To protect the pharaoh’s body, they were embalmed. 3. The body’s organs would be removed and then salt would be used to dry out and preserve the body. 4. The body would then be filled with spices, cleaned and wrapped with linen. 5. The wrapped body was known as a mummy.

The Pyramids Pyramids were built as the tomb of the pharaohs. 1. The pyramids protected the pharaohs bodies and held the supplies they would need in the afterlife. 2. The pyramid were made of huge blocks of stone using human labor. 3. The largest of the pyramids is the Great Pyramid at Giza, which is the only Ancient Wonder of the World still in existence. 4. The Step Pyramid is the oldest pyramid in existence.

The Middle Kingdom 1. Around 2300 B.C. the Old Kingdom collapsed due to civil war. In 2100 B.C. a new dynasty came to power and the Middle Kingdom began (it went to1670 B.C.). The Middle Kingdom was a golden age of stability, prosperity and achievement. Egypt conquered new lands and forced them to pay tribute, or forced payments, to Egypt. The arts grew with wall paintings, sculptures and literature. The pharaohs quit building pyramids and instead were buries in tombs cut into the cliffs of the Valley of the Kings.

The Valley of the Kings

The Hyksos In 1670 B.C. the Hyksos (from western Asia) invaded Egypt. 1. The Hyksos brought an end to the Middle Kingdom. 2. The Hyksos defeated the Egyptians because had horse-drawn chariots and weapons made of bronze and iron – the Egyptians still used weapons made of copper and stone. 3. The Hyksos ruled Egypt for 150 years and introduced the horse and chariot, the compound bow, improved battle axes, and advanced fortification techniques into Egypt

The New Kingdom Around 1550 B.C., Ahmose drove the Hyksos out of Egypt. Ahmose’s reign was the beginning of the New Kingdom, which lasted until 1080 B.C. During the New Kingdom, Egypt was at the height of its power. Most pharaohs during this period worked to conquer new lands, which were forced to pay tribute. The Egyptians made slaves out of their prisoners of war.

Hatshepsut and Thutmose III In 1479 B.C., Thutmose became pharaoh around the age of five. Because he was so young, his step-mother Hatshepsut acted as regent, or someone who rules for a child until the child is old enough to rule. When he Thutmose turned 20, Hatshepsut refused to step down and ended up ruling as pharaoh until she died (she ruled around 22 years). Later, all of the monuments built to Hatshepsut were defaced.

Hatshepsut and Thutmose III

King Tut 1. Tutankhamen, more commonly known as “King Tut”, became pharaoh at the age of 10. Tut ruled for nine years before he died. Tut is mainly remembered because his tomb, which was discovered by Howard Carter in 1992. The tomb contained Tut’s mummy and other incredible treasures.

Tut’s Tomb

The End of the New Kingdom 1. After King Tut, Egypt became a great power again under the leadership of Ramses II. After Ramses’ reign, later pharaohs had trouble keeping Egypt’s neighbor’s under control. One big problem was Egypt had no iron to make weapons and they had to spend a great deal to buy them. By 1150 B.C., Egypt only consisted of the Nile River Valley. During the 900’s B.C., Egypt came under the rule of several outside groups and were eventually conquered by the Assyrians.

Egyptian Advancements The Egyptian civilization made many advances over the course of it’s history. Early Egyptians developed geometry, which is the mathematics of points, lines, angles, surfaces, and solids. 3. The reed plant papyrus was used to produce paper. The Egyptians developed hieroglyphics, which were symbols that stood for objects and ideas. In the course of embalming, Egyptians learned a great deal about the human body and Egyptian doctors used herbs and drugs to treat illnesses, stitched up cuts and set broken bones. The Egyptians developed principles of astronomy and invented a 365 day calendar divided into 12 months.

Papyrus

Hieroglyphics and the Rosetta Stone