1. Egypt
Lsn 3

2. ID & SIG
Amon-Re, hieroglyphs, Lower Egypt, Memphis, mummification, Nile River, pharaoh, pyramids, Queen Hatshepsut, Thebes, Upper Egypt

3. Upper and Lower Egypt
Ancient Egypt was divided into two regions: Upper and Lower Egypt.
Lower (northern) Egypt consisted of the Nile River’s delta made by the river as it empties into the Mediterranean.
Upper (southern) Egypt was the long, narrow strip of ancient Egypt located south of the Delta.

4. Nubia
Land to the south of Egypt between the Nile’s first and sixth cataracts
Cataracts are steep descents of the water of a river, usually making navigation difficult or impossible
Lacked Egypt’s broad floodplain and therefore was less able to agriculturally support a large population

5. Characteristics of a Civilization
Intensive agricultural techniques
Specialization of labor
Cities
A social hierarchy
Organized religion and education
Development of complex forms of economic exchange
Development of new technologies
Advanced development of the arts. (This can include writing.)
Intensive agricultural techniques, such as the use of animal power, crop rotation, and irrigation. This enables farmers to produce a surplus of food that will not be needed for their own subsistence.
A significant portion of the population that does not devote most of its time to producing food. They can go into other occupations and trade for the food they need. This is called "specialization of labor." It is possible because of the food surplus described above.
The gathering of these non-food producers into permanent settlements, called cities.
A social hierarchy. This can be a chiefdom, in which the chieftain of one noble family or clan rules the people; or a state society, in which the ruling class is supported by a government or bureaucracy. Political power is concentrated in the cities.
The establishment of complex, formal social institutions such as organized religion and education, as opposed to the less formal traditions of other societies.
Development of complex forms of economic exchange. This includes the expansion of trade and may lead to the creation of money and markets.
The accumulation of more material possessions than in simpler societies.
Development of new technologies by people who are not busy producing food. In many early civilizations, metallurgy was an important advancement.
Advanced development of the arts by those who don't have to farm for a living. This can include writing.

6. The Nile River Basin: A Ribbon of Green
Agriculture
The Nile River Basin: A Ribbon of Green

7. Agriculture Herodotus called Egypt the “Gift of the Nile”
Egyptians took advantage of the Nile’s annual floods to become an especially productive agricultural region
After the floods receded in late summer, cultivators could go into the floodplains and sow their seeds without extensive preparation of the soil
Nile River Delta

8. Agriculture
rivers
agriculture
populations
cities
specialization
hierarchy
Expanded agriculture led to expanded populations and demand for increased production
Cultivators moved beyond the Nile’s immediate floodplains building dikes to protect their fields from floods and catchment basins to store water for irrigation

9. Shaduf
To lift water from the canal Egyptians used a shaduf, a large pole balanced on a crossbeam with a rope and bucket on one end and a heavy counter weight at the other.
When the rope was pulled, the bucket would be lowered into the canal.
The counterweight would raise the bucket.
The farmer would then carry the bucket to the field and water it.

10. Specialization Brewing and Breadmaking Plowing and Sowing Sailing
Harvesting papyrus and Herding

11. Egyptian pottery makers
Specialization
Nile societies were much slower than their Mesopotamian counterparts to adopt metal tools and weapons
Did develop pottery, textile manufacture, woodworking, leather production, stonecutting, and masonry occupations
Egyptian pottery makers

12. Specialization Building a pyramid would require Laborers Architects
Engineers
Craftsmen
Artists

13. Cities

14. Cities Relatively few cities and high administrative centralization
Memphis
Founded by Menes around 3100 BC as capital of a united Upper and Lower Egypt
Located at the head of the Nile River Delta
Thebes
Administrative center of Upper Egypt
Seat of worship for Amon

15. Religion and Education

16. Religion and Education
Two main gods were Amon (Thebian deity associated with the sun, creation, fertility, and reproductive forces) and Re (the sun god worshipped at Heliopolis)
Eventually the two were combined in the cult of Amon-Re

17. Brief Period of Monotheism
For a brief period Akhentan challenged the Amon-Re cult by proclaiming Aten as the one and only true god
Once Akhenaten died, traditional priests restored the Amon-Re cult
The sun disc Aten shining on the names of the royal family

18. Mummification
In order to prepare a person for the long and hazardous journey before they could enjoy the pleasures of the afterlife, the body of a dead person was preserved by a process called mummification.

19. The Judgment
The Egyptians viewed the heart as the seat of intellect and emotion.
Before entering the pleasures of eternity, the dead person had to pass a test in which Anubis, the god of the dead, weighed the person’s heart against Ma’at, the goddess of justice and truth, who was represented by a feather.

20. The Judgment
If the deceased’s good deeds outweighed the bad, then his heart would be as light as the feather (heavy hearts bore the burden of guilt and evil), and Osiris would welcome the newcomer to the next world.
If the deceased fell short in his judgment, his body would be eaten by a monster that was part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus.

21. Osiris Patron of the underworld, the dead, and past pharaohs
Cult of Osiris demanded observance of high moral standards
As lord of the underworld, Osiris had the power to determine who deserved the blessing of immortality and who did not

22. Social Hierarchy

23. Social Hierarchy Pharaoh Egyptian kings of a centralized state
Claimed to be gods living on earth in human form
Bureaucrats
Because the pharaoh was an absolute ruler there was little room for a noble class as in Mesopotamia
Instead professional military forces and an elaborate bureaucracy of administrators and tax collectors served the central government
Patriarchal
Vested authority over public and private affairs in men
However, more opportunities for women than in Mesopotamia as evidenced by Queen Hatshepsut reigning as pharaoh
Peasants and slaves
Supplied the hard labor that made complex agricultural society possible
Among the slaves were the Hebrews

24. Tutankhamun (King Tut)
Pharaohs
Tutankhamun (King Tut)
1334 and 1325 BC
Ramesses II BC

25. Bureaucrats
Below the pharaoh, the most powerful officer in the hierarchy was the vizier, the executive head of the bureaucracy
All royal commands passed through the vizier before being transmitted to the scribes in his office.
The scribes dispatched orders to the heads of towns and villages, including rules related to the collection of taxes.

26. Economic Exchange

27. Economic Exchange
The Nile provided excellent transportation which facilitated trade.
Nile flows north so boats could ride the currents from Upper to Lower Egypt.
Prevailing winds blow almost year-round from the north so by using sails, boats could then make their way back upriver.

28. Economic Exchange
Egypt needed to trade because, beside the Nile, it had few natural resources
For example, Egypt had very few trees so all its wood came from abroad, especially cedar from Lebanon
Much trade between Egypt and Nubia
Importance of trade was reflected in the names of southern Egyptian cities
Aswan comes from the ancient Egyptian word swene which means “trade”
Elephantine owed its name to the elephant ivory trade

29. Ramps and stone-cutting required to build pyramids
New Technologies
Ramps and stone-cutting required to build pyramids

30. New Technologies Papyrus Shipbuilding
The raw material came from the plant Cyperus papyrus which grew along the banks of the Nile
Used not only in the production of paper but also used in the manufacture of boats, rope and baskets
Shipbuilding
Wooden boats
Multiple-oars
Sails
Rope trusses to strengthen hulls

31. Art and Writing

32. The Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza.
Art and Writing
Pyramids
Symbols of the pharaoh’s authority and divine stature; royal tombs
Pyramid of Khufu involved the precise cutting and fitting of 2,300,000 limestone blocks with an average weight of 2.5 tons
Estimated construction of the Khufu pyramid required 84,000 laborers working 80 days per year for 20 years
The Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. 

33. Art and Writing Hieroglyphs
Pictures that were used to write the ancient Egyptian language
Originally used to keep records of the king’s possessions. Scribes could easily make these records by drawing a picture of a cow or a boat followed by a number.
As the language became more complex, more pictures were needed. Eventually the language consisted of more than 750 individual signs.

34. Mesopotamia and Egypt Mesopotamia Egypt Agriculture
+“Land between the rivers” (Tigris and Euphrates forms Fertile Crescent
+Artificial irrigation
+”Gift of the Nile”
Specialization
+Pottery, textiles, woodworking, leather, brick making, stonecutting, masonry
+Pottery, textiles, woodworking, leather production, stonecutting, masonry
Cities
-Numerous, densely populated city-states (Ur and Babylon)
-Fewer cities with high centralization (Memphis and Thebes)
Social Hierarchy
-Noble class
-Patriarchal
+Slaves
-Absolute authority of the pharaoh made a noble class unnecessary (had bureaucrats instead)
-Patriarchal, but the presence of Queen Hatsheput may indicate greater opportunities for women

35. Mesopotamia and Egypt Mesopotamia Egypt Religion and Education
-Polytheism
-No afterlife
-Polytheism, but brief period of monotheism under Akhentan
-Afterlife and judgment (mummification)
New Technologies
-Superior in metallurgy
-Papyrus, shipbuilding, pyramids
Economic exchange
-Trade by land and water
-Trade principally by water along the Nile
-Trade more important because Egypt lacked natural resources beside the Nile
Art and Writing
-Cuneiform
-Hieroglyphs (more pictorial than cuneiform)

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Ancient (Shang and Zhou) China