Sphinx and pyramidin Giza, Egypt

Ancient Egyptand Kush

c. 3100 B.C.NarmerunitesEgypt

c. 2540 B.C.GreatPyramid atGiza built

c. 1500 B.C.QueenHatshepsutreigns

728 B.C.Piye of KushdefeatsEgyptians

3500 B.C. 2500 B.C. 1500 B.C. 500 B.C.3500 B.C. 2500 B.C. 1500 B.C. 500 B.C.

343

5 B

rian

Law

renc

e/Im

age

Sta

te

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The Nile ValleyPhysical geography plays a role in how civilizations develop and

decline. The fertile land along the great Nile River supported theEgyptian civilization.

Egypts Old KingdomReligion shapes how culture develops, just as culture shapes how

religion develops. During the Old Kingdom period, Egypt built astrong kingdom in which religion was deeply woven into Egyptianculture.

The Egyptian EmpireAll civilizations depend upon leadership for survival. Many changes

occurred during Egypts Middle and New Kingdoms. When strongleaders ruled the country, it expanded into a great empire as arts,literature, and architecture blossomed.

The Civilization of KushAs different societies interact, they often bring about change in each

other. South of Egypt a new civilization arose called Kush. Kushitesadopted Egyptian ways and eventually conquered Egypt itself.

View the Chapter 2 video in the Glencoe Video Program.

Chapter Overview Visitca.hss.glencoe.com for a preview of Chapter 2.

CHAPTER 2 Ancient Egypt and Kush 153

Summarizing Information Make this foldable to help you summarize the keyevents and ideas from ancient Egypt and Kush.

Reading and WritingAs you read the chapter,take notes under theappropriate tabs. Writemain ideas and key termsunder the what tab.

Step 1 Stacktwo sheets ofpaper so thatthe front sheetis one inchhigher than theback sheet.

Step 2 Fold down the top edges of the paper toform four tabs. Align the edges so that all of thelayers or tabs are the same distance apart.

Step 3 Crease the paper to hold the tabs inplace, then staple them together. Cut the topthree thicknesses to create a layered book.

Step 4 Label the booklet as shown and take notes on the inside.

This makes allthe tabs thesame size.

Kushwhere?when?what?

Egyptwhere?when?what?

Stapletogether along

the fold.

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Summarizing

154

As you read and su

mma-

rize in your own w

ords,

try not to change th

e

author's original me

an-

ings or ideas.

Good readers naturally summarize while they read to makesure they understand the text. Summarizing helps you organ-ize information and focus on main ideas. By restating theimportant facts in a short summary, you can reduce theamount of information to remember.

A summary of a longer selection may be a short sentenceor paragraph, which includes the main ideas. When summariz-ing, be brief and do not include many supporting details. Tryto restate the text in a way that makes sense to you and willhelp you remember. Read the passage in Section 1 labeledEgypt's Social Classes on pages 163164. Then look at themain ideas below from that passage and read the summary.

Summary: Egyptiansociety was divided intosocial groups based onwealth and power.

Main Idea: Farmers were thelargest group of early Egyptians,while many of Egypts citydwellers were unskilled laborers.

Main Idea: Egypts middle classincluded traders, merchants, arti-sans, and makers of goods.

Main Idea: Egypts upper classwas made up of nobles, priests,and other rich Egyptians whoworked as the government officials.

152-155 Ch2 CO-868874 12/30/04 12:40 PM Page 154

155

Read about The Middle Kingdom on pages 179180. With apartner, summarize the main points. One person should summarizewhat he or she read while the other listens. Then the second personshould summarize again, adding details that the partner may haveleft out.

After reading Section2, write a paragraphthat summarizes whatyou remember aboutEgyptian leaders,religion, and way oflife in the OldKingdom.

Read to Write

As you read this chapter, practicesummarizing. Stop after each sectionand write a brief summary.

When you are finished read-ing, look at the following listto see if you included all theimportant ideas.

The Middle Kingdomwas a golden age of peaceand prosperity in Egypt.

During the MiddleKingdom, Egyptexpanded its territorywith new lands.

During the MiddleKingdom, the arts, litera-ture, and architecturethrived.

The Hyksos took controlof Egypt for 150 years,ending the MiddleKingdom, until Ahmoseled an uprising that drovethem out.

Tutankhamensgold mask

152-155 Ch2 CO-868874 12/30/04 12:41 PM Page 155

TheNile Valley

Looking Back, Looking AheadIn Chapter 1, you learned about

early civilizations in Mesopotamia. Atabout the same time, anothercivilization was forming near the NileRiver. We call this civilization ancientEgypt.

Focusing on the The Egyptian civilization began in

the fertile Nile River valley, wherenatural barriers discouragedinvasions. (page 157)

The Egyptians depended on the Nilesfloods to grow their crops. (page 159)

Around 3100 B.C., Egypts two majorkingdoms, Upper Egypt and LowerEgypt, were combined into one.(page 161)

Egyptian society was divided intosocial groups based on wealth andpower. (page 163)

Locating PlacesEgypt (EE jihpt)Nile River (NYL)Sahara (suhHARuh)

Content Vocabularycataract (KAtuhRAKT)delta (DEHLtuh)papyrus (puhPYruhs)hieroglyphics (HYruhGLIH fihks)dynasty (DYnuhstee)

Academic Vocabularyfeature (FEEchuhr)technology (tehkNAH luh jee)labor (LAYbuhr)

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information Create a diagram to describe Egyptianirrigation systems.

c. 5000 B.C.Agriculturebegins alongNile River

c. 4000 B.C.Egypt is made up of twokingdoms

c. 3100 B.C.NarmerunitesEgypt

Nile

R.

Memphis

5000 B.C. 4000 B.C. 3000 B.C.5000 B.C. 4000 B.C. 3000 B.C.

156 CHAPTER 2 Ancient Egypt and Kush

Irrigation

HistorySocial ScienceStandardsWH6.2 Studentsanalyze the geographic,political, economic,religious, and socialstructures of the earlycivilizations ofMesopotamia, Egypt, andKush.

156-164 Ch2 S1-868874 7/8/05 7:20 PM Page 156

WH6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia,Egypt, and Kush.

WH6.2.1 Locate and describe the major river systems and discuss the physical settings that supported permanent settlement andearly civilizations.

Settling the NileThe Egyptian civilization began in the

fertile Nile River valley, where natural barriers dis-couraged invasions.Reading Connection Did you know that the NileRiver is longer than the Amazon, the Mississippi, andevery other river in the world? Read on to learn whenancient peoples first moved to its fertile banks.

Between 6000 B.C. and 5000 B.C., huntersand food gatherers moved into the greenNile River valley from less fertile areas ofAfrica and southwest Asia. They settleddown, farmed the land, and created severaldozen villages along the riverbanks. Thesepeople became the earliest Egyptians.

A Mighty River Although Egypt (EE jihpt)was warm and sunny, the land received littlerainfall. For water, the Egyptians had to relyon the Nile River (NYL). They drank from it,bathed in it, and used it for farming, cook-ing, and cleaning. The river provided fishand supported plants and animals. To theEgyptians, the Nile was a precious gift. Theypraised it in a song: Hail O Nile, who comesfrom the earth, who comes to give life to thepeople of Egypt.

Even today, the Nile inspires awe. It isthe worlds longest river, flowing north frommountains in the heart of Africa to theMediterranean Sea. This is a distance ofsome 4,000 miles (6,437 km). Traveling thelength of the Nile would be like going fromGeorgia to California, and then back again.

The Nile begins as two separaterivers. One river, the Blue Nile, has itssource in the mountains of easternAfrica. The other, the White Nile,starts in marshes in central Africa.The two rivers meet and form theNile just south of Egypt. There, nar-row cliffs and boulders in the Nile

form wild rapids called cataracts (KA tuh RAKTS). Because of the cataracts, large shipscan use the Nile only for its last 650 miles(1,046 km), where it flows through Egypt.

A Sheltered Land In Egypt, the Nile runsthrough a narrow, green valley. Look at themap below. You can see that the Nile lookslike the long stem of a flower. Shortly beforethe Nile reaches the Mediterranean Sea, itdivides into different branches that looklike the flowers blossom. These branchesfan out over an area of fertile soil called adelta (DEHL tuh).

100 km0Azimuthal Equidistant projection

100 mi.0

N

S

W E

30E

30N

20N

40E

Mediterranean Sea

Red Sea

Nile

River

Great Pyramidand Sphinx

First Cataract

Second Cataract

ARABIANDESERT

WESTERNDESERT

EASTERNDESERT

NILE DELTALOWER EGYPT

UPPER EGYPT

NUBIA

Giza

Memphis

Thebes

Ancient Egypt c. 3100 B.C.

1. Place What physical features border the NileRiver to the east and west?

2. Human/Environment Interaction How mightthese features have influenced how ancientEgyptians viewed the Nile?

Find NGS online map resources @ www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

157

Nile ValleyKEY

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