1. Ancient Civilizations: Egypt

2. Geography & Environment

3. The Geography On which continent is Egypt located?
Africa; in the northeastern region
Longest river in the world
4100 miles long

4. The Geography On which river did the ancient Egyptians settle?
Nile River
WHY??

5. The Geography
The Nile provided a small strip of fertile land in the middle of a desert
Annual flood; The “Gift of the Nile”

6. Gifts of the Nile Papyrus Mud Silt Travel Water Calendar Food
Hunting in the marshes (Birds, Reptiles, Crocodiles, and Hippos)
Fish (catfish and perch)
· Accurate (Nile flooded around July 15-19th)
· 365 days divided into 12 months of 30 days each
· 5 extra days fell at the end of the year
· Trade
· War
· Transportation of stones for pyramids
Drinking
· Bathe/Swim
· Entertainment (Swimming,
boating, and fishing)
· Water crops
-Boats
· Sandals
· Paper
· Baskets
· Made soil good for growing crops
· Make bricks for building
Gifts of the Nile

7. Religion & Government

8. Egyptian Religion Polytheism: The worship of many gods
Worshipped gods and goddesses
Cartoon depiction of Re and Isis

9. Egyptian Religion Primary Egyptian Gods: Re – the Sun god
Osiris – the god of the Dead
Isis – the goddess of women
Anubis – god of the underworld

10. Who is this?
Osiris

11. Egyptian Government
Villages of Egypt ruled by 2 kingdoms; King Narmer unites them around 3000BC
Government is a theocracy – gov’t based on religious authority

12. Egyptian Government
Egyptians believed that their kings, called pharaohs, WERE gods
Pharaohs were VERY POWERFUL!
Ruled religion, government & military

13. What is Ka?
Egyptians believed that the Pharaohs possessed an eternal life force, also known as ka

14. What is Ka?
Ka allowed pharaohs to rule for all of eternity; therefore, their tombs were even more important than their palaces on earth

15. Pyramids Pyramids: Tombs for the Pharaohs
Built out of limestone, granite & stone
Great Pyramid of Giza
Stone blocks weighed anywhere from 2.5 tons to 15 tons
More than 2 million blocks, 481 feet high

16. The Great Pyramid at Giza
One of the 7 Wonders of the World
20 years to construct – probably concluded in 2560 BC
Built during Egypt’s 4th Dynasty – for King Khufu
Blocks used to build the pyramid weigh up to 80 tons
2,400,000 stones used; 455 feet tall

17. The only surviving wonder of the ancient world, Egypt's pyramid of Cheops takes up 13 acres of land, and overlooks the neighboring pyramids belonging to this pharaoh's son and grandson. Experts speculate it took one hundred thousand laborers roughly 20 years to build the pyramid of Cheops alone

18. Northern Entrance

22. The Sphinx Also located in Giza
Bottom Picture – The Sphinx in 1867 before its restoration (notice body is buried; also man stands beneath ear)
65 feet tall; 200 ton blocks
Different explanations for missing nose

25. Culture

26. Weighing of the Heart Strong belief in the afterlife
Believed that the final judgment occurred at death
Does your heart weigh more than a feather?

27. Weighing of the Heart
If the soul “passed” test for purity, it would live forever in the beautiful other world

28. Mummification Reserved for royals & elites What is mummification?
A technique that involved embalming & drying the corpse to prevent it from decaying

29. Mummification
“First, they draw out the brains through the nostrils with an iron hook…Then with a sharp stone they make an incision in the side, and take out all the bowels…Then, having filled the belly with pure myrrh, cassia, and other perfumes, they sew it up again; and when they have done this they steep it in natron (mineral salt), leaving it under for 70 days…At the end of 70 days, they wash the corpse, and wrap the whole body in bandages of waxen cloth.” - Herodotus

30. Mummification
Coffins were filled with items that could be used in the afterlife such as clothing, food, cosmetics & jewelry

31. Book of the Dead
Book of hymns, prayers & magic spells that were intended to guide the soul in the afterlife
Placed in the coffin

33. Mummification

34. Society

35. Merchants and Artisans
Royal
Family
Upper Class:
Priests, Army, Gov’t
Middle Class:
Merchants and Artisans
Lower Class:
Peasant Farmers and Laborers
Slaves (in later periods)

36. Great to be an Egyptian?
A social hierarchy did exist in Egypt; however, one was not locked into his or her social class
Possible to change status via marriage, personal success, etc.
Women had many of the same rights as men

37. Knowledge

38. Egyptian Writing Hieroglyphic writing system
Pictures represent ideas as well as sounds
Paper-like sheets made from papyrus reeds used for writing
Image of ancient pictographs

40. Egyptian Writing
Hieroglyphics decoded after discovery of Rosetta Stone
Image of ancient pictographs

41. Egyptian Science & Technology
Invent calendar of 365 days & 12 months
Develop system of written numbers & a form of geometry
Skilled engineers & architects construct palaces, pyramids
Egyptian medicine famous in ancient world
Image of ancient pictographs