Chapter 2-First Civilizations: Africa and Asia

Objective: To understand the grandeur and accomplishments of ancient Egyptian civilization Focus: KWL on Egypt

The Nile Rivers Power  The Nile River fueled ancient Egyptian civilization just as it does today  Flows north to the sea from the mountains of interior Africa  Annual floods soaked the land and deposited nutrients making the soil rich  Had to control the floods with irrigation projects  Served as a trade route

Kingdoms of the Nile  3 main periods of Egypt: –Old Kingdom a.k.a Pyramid Age (2700 B.C B.C.) –Middle Kingdom(2050 B.C B.C.) –New Kingdom (1550 B.C B.C.) –How long ago is this?

Old Kingdom  Government was created  Vizier-chief minister of the Pharaoh Departments (bureaus)  Oversaw tax collection, farming and irrigation  Great Pyramids of Giza were constructed  Why build such lavish projects?

Why build such grand projects?  Burial purposes  Symbolized power  The Old Kingdom’s downfall was created by power struggles, crop failures, and the cost of the pyramids, leading to the Middle Kingdom

Middle Kingdom  During the Middle Kingdom, corruption and rebellions were commonplace.  It occupied part of Nubia (south)  By 1700 B.C., they were defeated by the Hyksos and their war-chariots.  After 100 years, the Egyptians drove out the Hyksos and set up the New Kingdom.

New Kingdom  Powerful pharaohs created a large empire  Merchant class and skilled artisans rose as a result from increased trade and war  First woman pharaoh-Hatshepsut and the most powerful pharaoh, Ramses II ruled during the New Kingdom.  After Ramses II, Egyptian power slowly declined.  Egyptians forgot the meanings of ancient hieroglyphics  They were invaded by Assyrians, Persians, and later Greek and Roman armies.

Key Rulers of New Kingdom  Ramses II  Hatsheput  Akhenaton  King Tutankhamen

Women’s Rights  Women had the right to divorce, inherit property, go to court and engage in trade  Women could not be scribes or hold government positions, however.

Egyptian Religion  The belief in eternal life had a profound effect on their civilization  Key gods: –Amon-Re; the sun god who was closely linked to the pharaoh. –Osiris-ruler of the underworld and god of the Nile, who controlled the annual floods –Isis; wife of Osiris who taught women everything –Horus-the son of Osiris and Isis revenged his parents by killing Set (his uncle)

The Path to the Afterlife  Book of the Dead helped navigate someone in their journey to the other side  Osiris puts the soul on trial  Anubis weighs the dead person’s heart against the feather of truth  Thoth, the scribe God, records the verdict  The heavy, sinful heart that weighs more than a feather is eaten by the croc shaped eater of the dead  After-life was just like this life  Mummification and buried with things needed for the after-life (Book of the Dead, personal items)

Egyptian Society/Social Stratification  Class system/society (in order of importance): Pharaoh, high priests, nobles who fought the wars, merchants, scribes and artisans, and finally, the peasant farmers/slaves

Cont…  Rossetta Stone (demotic, hieroglyphs and Greek)  Medicine (anise, saffron)  Human anatomy was learned how?  Created a calendar through astronomy (12 months and 30 days-5 days at the end of the year)  Used geometry to recalculate boundaries of fields and what else?  Distinctive Art  Grand architecture and construction