1. Egyptian Civilization
Chapter 2 Section 4
Egyptian Civilization

2. Religion Shapes Life Early on > Chief God > Sun God > Re
Later on >Lord of the Gods > Amon-Re
Osiris > God of the Dead & the Nile
Wife > Isis > Goddess
Egyptians related more to these two gods
Promised faithful > life after death
Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) tried to change religion
Wanted worship of Aton (minor god)

3. View of Afterlife Had to pass a test to win eternal life Mummification
Osiris the judge
Book of the Dead
Mummification
Preservation of dead bodies
First rulers & nobles > later ordinary Egyptians
Howard Carter discovers Tutankhamen “King Tut”
Only minor king
Chamber was filled with treasures

4. Egyptian Society Peasants Worked the land
Pharaoh
Govt. Officials & High Priests
Merchants, Scribes, Artisans
Peasants (farmers)
Peasants
Worked the land
In the off season they worked for the pharaoh
Egyptian women
High status
Inherit property, divorce, etc.
Not just confined to the house

5. Advances in Learning Developed writing > hieroglyphics
Used as records
Created cursive writing > hieratic
Also learned to make paper like material from papyrus
Deciphered writings from the Rosetta Stone
Learned anatomy > mummification
Egyptian calendar is basis for ours
Developed geometry to survey the land

6. Egyptian Art & Literature
Statues
Wall paintings
Carvings on temples
Literature
Emergence of folk tales
The Tale of Sinuhe