 Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt unified by King Menes  Three periods: Old (pyramids built), Middle, New. Series of 30 dynasties.  God-king: Pharaoh, to maintain ma’at (divine order)  Theocracy  Gov’t advisors  Sometimes war with neighbors (Hittites…) sometimes peace (intermarriage)  Major cities include Memphis & Thebes

 Primarily agricultural  Everything belongs to Pharaoh  Traded for stone, gold, animals  Made/traded papyrus  Gov’t bureaucrats tracked land, labor, products, people, taxes  Scribe high-status, inherited job  Craftsmen for metalworking, jewelry, weaving, pottery  Traded with Nubia & Mesopotamia (gov’t monopolized trade)

 Polytheistic  King is god on earth  The world is an orderly place  Afterlife important – focus of art, ritual, mummification.  Many gods have animal features, so corresponding animals sacred too  Book of the Dead

 Classes: King/priests/nobles/officials; lower officials/priests/artisans/farmers; peasants. Slaves, but limited importance; could be freed.  Scribes high-status  Ethnic mix  Women had rights to property, divorce… Noblewomen painted with lighter skin – stay inside? Probably treated w/more respect & had more rights/freedom than Mesopotamia.

 Invented papyrus and hieroglyphic writing  Makeup  Knowledge of chemistry & medicine based on skills of priests making mummies (anatomy, surgery)  Accurate calendar: 12 months of 30 days, 5 days of festivals, used to predict floods  Geometry for re-surveying fields, maintaining irrigation systems; engineering for construction  River barges, ships, sledges; 1 st paved road  Nilometers to measure height of floodwaters

 Most building from mud brick – cheap & easily rebuilt  Temples/pyramids/palaces of stone – brought from long distances. Pyramids built only in Old Kingdom time. Used tools of stone; levers, pulleys, rollers.  Tombs carved from stone in Valley of Kings & V. of Queens  Hieroglyphics  Book of the Dead, inscriptions on temples/buildings

 On Nile River in North Africa  River flows north, wind blows south; travel possible both ways  Nile floods predictably, fertilizing land; “Gift of the Nile” (it’s a good thing)  Surrounding desert protects from most invasions  Trade (or war/conquest) possible w/neighbors in Middle East, Nubia, others