The Kingdoms of Egypt Chapter 3, Lesson 2 Pages 88-95

United Egypt Although communities along the Nile cooperated with each other, wars between villages were frequent. Menes, King of Upper Egypt overthrew the king of Lower Egypt. Menes was the first Pharaoh of Egypt.

Crowns Menes combined the crowns from Upper and Lower Egypt to make one headpiece that both regions would accept. Egypt was the largest empire of its time. Pharaoh refers to the great place that the rulers of Egypt lived in.

Government Menes made Memphis the capital. Local leaders collected taxes, served as judges, but still reported to government, headed by the pharaoh. No money or coins were used in Egypt. Instead the pharaoh took a portion of everything produced in Egypt as a tax. –The pharaoh took days of work as well.

Religion Polytheism – many gods with animal attributes. Most important was Ra, the sun god. –Ra gave life to the earth. Egyptians believed that they needed their bodies in the afterlife. –Mummified, or preserved their bodies after death.

Pyramids Pyramids were burial chambers for the pharaohs. Other people had smaller tombs, if they could afford it.

Glories of the Old Kingdom Pyramids are important sources of information about ancient Egypt. The largest pyramid was the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The pyramids used large amounts of resources.

Hieroglyphics Picture-based writing. Scribes wrote on papyrus – reeds pressed together to make a kind of paper. Kept records of taxes & the pharaoh’s goods, and other writing duties.

Deciphering Hieroglyphics Egypt was conquered by Greece in 300BC. –The meanings of hieroglyphics were lost. In 1822, a French scholar, Jean Champollion deciphered the ancient language using the Rosetta stone.