1. Section 2
The Old Kingdom

2. Main Ideas
*Pharaohs ruled as gods and were at the top of the social structure *Religion shaped Egyptian life *The pyramids were built as tombs for the pharaohs *Egyptian government and religion were connected during the Old Kingdom

3. Key Terms and People
*Old Kingdom *Khufu *nobles *afterlife *mummies *elite *pyramids *engineering Academic vocabulary: acquire method

4. How do you feel about working for the pharaoh?
Stop and Think
If you were there….
You are a peasant farmer in Ancient Egypt. To you, the pharaoh is a god, a descendant of the sun god, Re. You depend on his strength and wisdom. For part of the year, you are busy planting crops in your fields. But at other times, you work for the pharaoh. You are currently helping to build a great tomb in which the pharaoh and many of his belongings will be buried when he dies.
How do you feel about working for the pharaoh?

5. Early Egyptian Society
Old Kingdom – 2700 BC to 2200 BC – ruled by the Third Dynasty
Belief that the pharaoh was both a king and a god
The pharaoh had absolute power over all the land and people
The pharaoh was blamed for disease and poor crops
Pharaohs hired government officials (usually from family)

6. Khufu Ruled in the 2500s BC Most famous pharaoh of the Old Kingdom
Legend says he was cruel
Workers were well fed
Many monuments built to him

7. Egyptian Society

8. The Social Structure
*Egypt had about 2 million people Upper Class: pharaoh and nobles Middle Class: scribes and craftspeople Lower Class: (80% of population) farmers, servants, and slaves

9. Egypt and its Neighbors
. Egypt traded these items with its surrounding neighbors:
*gold *ivory *stone *slaves
*incense *myrrh *wood

10. Religion and Egyptian Life
Polytheistic
Very religious
Afterlife was the focus

11. The Gods of Egypt Egyptians built temples to the gods
Ptah – creator of the world
Re (Amon-Re) – the sun god
Osiris – the god of the underworld
Isis – the goddess of magic
Horus – a sky god / god of the pharaohs

12. Afterlife “a happy place”
Ideal world where all people are young and happy Ka
-a person’s life force
-The person’s ka left the body and became a spirit
-It has all the same needs as the person when he/she was living
-to fulfill the ka’s needs, people filled tombs with objects for the afterlife (food, drinks, furniture, clothing, tools, jewels, weapons)

13. Burial Practices
*The body had to be preserved for the afterlife *The body could not decay because the ka would not recognize it *Egyptians embalmed and wrapped the body – mummification *For royalty and other elite members

14. The Pyramids
The pyramids of Egypt were built as tombs for the pharaohs. *began building during the Old Kingdom *largest pyramid – The Great Pyramid of Khufu *the size was a symbol of the pharaoh’s greatness *Pyramids were important to the people of Ancient Egypt because they believed their own afterlife was linked to the eternal life of the pharaoh. pyramids/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-building-the- pyramids