1. Chapter 2 Section 2 Notes

2. I.The Geography of Egypt

3. A.The Gift of the Nile

4. 1.Nile River is 4,100 mile long (Mississippi River 2,340 miles long)

5. 2. Every July rains, and melting snows cause the river to overrun it’s banks

6. 3. In October the river recedes and a rich layer of silt covers the Nile valley

7. B. Upper Egypt (south) and Lower Egypt (North)

8. 1. Lower Egypt is the last 750 miles separated by a cataract or waterfall

9. 2. In the North or Lower Egypt was a delta where the water fanned out and flowed into the Mediterranean Sea (about 100 miles long)

10. a. The Delta is a broad marshy, triangular, silt rich area of land

11. Nile Delta

12. Nile Delta from Space

13. 3. The Nile was a reliable system for transportation

14. Feluccas

15. a. Boats traveled northward by current

16. b. Boats traveled southward by Eustachian winds off the Mediterranean Sea

17. C. Environmental Challenges

18. 1. Even though the Nile did flood on predictable bases if it was just a few feet below normal it could have devastating affect on crop production

19. 2. If the Nile was just a few feet over normal mud brick villages could be destroyed along with granaries

20. 3. The vast deserts on the sides did provide protection from invaders but also kept them from interaction with other peoples

21. a. Thus Egypt was spared constant warfare that plagued the Fertile Crescent

22. D. Movement of Goods and Ideas

23. 1. By 3200 B.C. Egypt was trading with Sumer

24. 2. By 2000 B.C. Egypt was trading with lands to the south

25. a. Nubia b. Kush

26. II. Egypt Unites into a Kingdom

27. A. By 3200 B.C. Upper and Lower Egypt were two separate kingdoms

28. B. By 3100 B.C. King Menes unites both

29. 1. Capitol at Memphis

30. C. Old Kingdom lasted from 2660 B.C. to 2180 B.C.

31. D. Pharaohs Rule as gods

32. 1. In Egypt kings were seen as gods

33. 2. Egyptian god kings became known as Pharaohs

34. 3. Ruled their kingdoms as a Theocracy

35. a. Pharaoh duty to promote truth and justice

36. E. Builders of the Pyramids

37. Sphinx and Pyramid at Giza

38. Sphinx

39. 3 D Pyramid

40. 1. Pharaoh’s (ka) or eternal spirit lived after their death and would control the government from a resting place

41. 2. So kings were buried in an immense structure called a pyramid

42. 3. The great pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom

43. a. The limestone was quarried 400 miles upriver

44. b. Each stone weighed 2.5 tons

45. Pyramid Stone

46. c. 2 million blocks stacked some 481 feet tall

47. III. Egyptian Culture

48. A. Egyptians were polytheists

49. 1. Most important god was Ra, the sun god and Horus, the god of light

50. 2. The most important goddess was Isis, the ideal mother

51. 3. More than 2000 gods and goddesses

52. Egyptians believed strongly in a good after life

53. 1.The god Osiris would weigh each persons heart, no heavier than a feather or the Devourer of Souls would eat your heart

54. C. Mummification or embalming and drying the corpse became important

55. 1. The process took 70 days

56. 2. All types of goods were placed with the dead

57. D. Life in Egyptian Society

58. 1. Society formed a pyramid

59. a. King and Queen at the top

60. b. Next Upper Class

61. 1. Land owners

62. 2. Government officials

63. 3. Priests

64. 4. Army commanders

65. c. Middle Class

66. 1. Merchants

67. 2. Artisans

68. d. Lower Class (largest class)

69. 1. Peasants

70. 2. Unskilled laborers

71. 2. Were not locked into their class

72. a. Hard work, loyalty, read and write could advance one

73. E. Egyptian writing

74. 1. Hieroglyphics ( sacred carvings)

75. Hieroglyphics

77. July 19, 1799: Discovery of the Rosetta Stone Description: On this day in 1799, a French expedition to Egypt discovered a large piece of basalt with inscriptions in Greek and in two Egyptian scripts: hieroglyphics and demotic. This discovery opened the door for the translation of hieroglyphics, previously an unsolvable mystery.

78. 2. Papyrus was a reed plant they made paper from

79. F. Egyptian Science and Technology

80. 1. Collection of taxes led to numbering system, adding and subtracting

81. 2. Geometry to survey land for property during the floods

82. 3. Geometry for the construction of the Pyramids

83. 4. Developed a calendar based on the star Sirius 365 days

84. 5. Medicine

85. a. Heart rate

86. b. Splint broken bones

87. c. Some surgery

88. IV. Chariot Riders Invade Egypt

89. A. During the Middle Kingdom from 2080 B.C. to 1640 B.C. there were more advances

90. 1. Public projects

91. 2. New Dikes and irrigation projects

92. B. Asian invaders called Hyksos ( the rulers of the uplands) invade in 1640 B.C.