2. I.Old Kingdom Rulers A.Egyptian kings were called pharaohs (meaning “great house”) lived in grand palaces B.The pharaoh’s word was law and was obeyed without question C.The pharaoh was believed to be the son of Re, who is the Egyptian sun god

3. II.Egyptian Religion A.Believed in afterlife B.Preparations for afterlife were: 1.Pyramid building 2.Preparation of the body-If body decayed, spirit would too, so they wouldn’t be able to enjoy the afterlife Body was embalmed- dried out and then covered in tree sap The Body was then wrapped in 400 yards of linen The mummy was put into a protective sarcophagus (coffin)

4. 3. Favorite possessions were placed in the tomb 4. Paintings were drawn on the walls showing scenes from their everyday life 5. Priests prayed, chanted hymns, to make sure they had a successful journey to the afterlife Journey to the Afterlife

5. Mummies

6. Pharaohs were buried in Pyramids  Normal people were not buried in pyramids but still were buried with some possessions The Great Pyramid  2540 BC- Egyptians built the largest pyramid for King Khufu  500 feet tall  Covers the area the size of NINE football fields  Equal to the size of a 48 story building  Amazing- because it was built without special tools or even the wheel Great Pyramid at Giza Sphinx III. Pyramids

7. Pyramids

8. IV. Gods A.Polytheism –Osiris: God of the dead/god-king of the afterlife –Re: Sun god –Anubis- Prepared bodies for the afterlife B.Some gods had bodies of human and head of an animal C.Each city had own god D.Popular god- “Bes”- god of family E.Creation Story http://www.ancientegypt.c o.uk/gods/story/main.html Anubis Osiris

9. Osiris and Isis

10. The Sacred Cat The Goddess Bastet, represented the moon and beauty and was depicted with a cat's head. Legend says that Bastet sometimes transferred herself into a cat. Because of this, the cat was viewed as sacred. People who killed a cat, even unintentionally, were punished by death. Killing a cat was more serious than killing a man. If a house caught on fire, the cats were rescued out of the burning house before the people in it.

11. The Sacred Cat Cats brought happiness and fortune into people’s homes. When a cat died, the family went into great mourning. Members of the family shaved their eyebrows as a part of the mourning ritual. The cat was mummified and put in a cat coffin with a bowl of milk and mummified mice