Ancient Egypt

Geography Northeastern Africa Desert Nile River is 4,100 miles long Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt divided by cataracts (rapids) The delta empties the Nile into the Mediterranean Sea Main source of the Nile is lake Victoria in Eastern Africa Flooding in Ethiopia brought fertile soil to Egypt

Desert = Natural Defense All of the cities and villages were found along the Nile The Sahara desert to the west and the Arabian desert to the east The deserts kept invaders out

Economics of the Nile Silt = Excellent for agriculture Transportation of goods Slow, annual floods Silt = Excellent for agriculture Wheat and barley Olives and grapes Irrigation Sun Before silt would harden, the workers would plow the soil, preparing it for planting:wheat and barley

Governments Unite Small villages eventually united into agricultural districts called nomes Each nome had its own specific rituals, gods, and chieftains The nomes united into two groups: Upper and Lower Egypt King Menes united all of Egypt Lower Egyptian king wore a red crown and the upper wore a tall white one like a bowling pin Menes wore a combo crown Menes put his capital in the middle, Memphis

Pharaohs Dynasty: series of rulers from the same family Ancient Egypt has 31 dynasties over 2,800 years Pharaoh is head of government, religion, and army. Very little turmoil or strife. Why? Pharaohs were more than just political leaders, they were spiritual leaders too. The Pharaohs were gods on earth. They cause the sun to rise, Nile to flood, and crops to grow.

Culture in Egypt Nobles: governors, generals, tax collectors, and priests Lived in luxury Many servants Middle class: army, shop keepers and artisans A little social mobility scribes Peasants: farmers and slaves Producing food or domestic service Physical labor during flood season Nobles were basically employed to serve the pharaohs and thus the empire Women, own and trade property, propose marriage, seek divorce (1/3 the property)

Religious Practices Maat: Justice, truth, right, and order Osiris would judge the dead, putting hearts on scale The afterlife was really similar to real life Priests could influence the gods for you Maat was sort of a moral code. They law did not call for particular behaviors, but the religion did. Heart could not be heavier than a feather. If you pass and your heart is weightless, you live forever. Priests specialized in magical charms, and chants to protect the living and dead. The priests probably controlled more land, mores slaves, and more wealth than the pharaoh himself.

Religion and afterlife Pharaohs ruled after death People would need to provide for the eternal comfort of the Pharaoh Preserving the body ensured the pharaoh could enter whenever he wanted An eternal spirit, known as the ka. The ka has needs too. Servants, animals, food, cool stuff on tomb walls. The ka was a spiritual being, but occasionaly it would refresh itself by entering the body.

First, they draw out the brains through the nostrils with an iron hook…Then with a sharp stone they make an incision in the side and take out the bowels…Then, having filled the belly with myrrh and other perfumes…They steep the body in mineral salt water for 70 days…Then they wash the corpse, and wrap the whole body in bandages of waxen cloth.

The Time of the Pyramids Tombs=palaces for dead guys Stones weigh 2 ½ tons 2 million blocks in each All this work, no slaves You too could have a career as a grave robber The great pyramids were built willingly for the glory of the god-king. Good work during flood season. The government was keeping the population employed. 80 pyramids still stand. The pharaohs’ bodies are missing though.

Make-up! Kohl on the eyes, applied with a stick Fragrant oils on skin and hair Powdered iron ore and oil on lips and cheeks The kohl made from powedered stone, malachite for dark green and galena fro black. Both men and women wore the eye make-up, it protected from the glare of the sun. Hairdo cones Protected skin, lips, and hair from dry dessert air

Culture/Technology Calendar: planting at the right time Writing: Pictographs and ideographs are hieroglyphics Rosetta stone Papyrus Numbers: assessing and collecting taxes Geometry: plots of land and building Calendar: planting at the right time Medicine: famous doctors In demand around the Mediterranean Reset bones studies After the decline of Egypt, the knowledge of reading hieroglyphics was lost, not until 1799 was a tablet found in the city of Rosetta found. Written in 3 languages, 2 hieroglyphics and Greek The governement of Egypt needed a way of doing arithmetic for taxes. The system was fairly clumsy for numbers greater than 100. 999 would need 27 symbols. The Nile’s floods would yearly wipe out the boundaries of property so the land had to be measured and marked again. To save time and money, they began to develop an efficiant system. Sirius on the eastern horizon before floods. Divided the year into 12 months of 30 days, adding 5 days for holidays and festivals, fell short of our solar calendar by about 6 hours