1. Egyptians

2. Egypt: Role of the Nile Nile flows north, floods yearly
Originates at Lake Victoria

3. Hieroglyphics 3000 B.C. – Hieroglyphics developed (Pictorial language)
Translated the Hieroglyphics with Rosetta Stone

4. Menes members.tripodnet.nl/ ancientegypt/history.html
3000B.C., King Menes united the Nile River kingdoms into one
ruled by God-kings  pharaohs
history divided into Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms

5. The Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom (2700–2200B.C.) – Egypt ruled by god-like pharaohs with absolute power!
Great Pyramids of Giza buried Pharaohs, showed absolute power of royal families (started by Pharaoh Khufu)
mummification – preserving the body through drying methods and removing internal organs

6. Middle Kingdom
Middle Kingdom (2050–1650B.C.) – after over-coming drought, Pharaohs lose their god-king status
Expanded empire to Mesopotamia
ended with invading Hyksos invasion who had technology  horse-drawn chariots, compound bow, and bronze weapons

7. New Kingdom Kingdom centered around their capital, Thebes
Drove the Hyksos out of Egypt with use of a strong army
Begin to build an empire

8. Pharaohs Major Pharaohs Hatshepsut: First female Pharaoh
Akhenaton- Monotheistic Pharaoh – son was King Tut, returned to Polytheism
Ramses II- ruled 64 years, Pharaoh during Jewish exodus

9. Other Early Civilizations in Mesopotamia
Hittites – first recorded use of iron
Phoenicians – ancestor of nearly all Western alphabets
Israelites – founded Judaism and influenced Christianity and Islam

10. Persians
Persians – empire that stretched from Asia Minor to India and Egypt
one of the largest empires in the ancient world
formed under Cyrus the Great
his grandson Darius goes to war with the Greek city-states in an attempt to expand the empire