Ancient Egypt

Geography

• “Gift of the Nile”• Offered protection

from invasion• limited where

people could settle

• “Black Land”- fertile

• “Red Land”- desert

What was it about Egypt’s topography that promoted peace and prosperity?

•Nile Valley was protected on 3 sides by desert

•natural barriers to invaders

•didn’t have to use as much of their wealth for defense

•Irrigation=cooperation

Why is Egypt referred to as “Gift of the Nile”?

• Animals– Fish, ducks, geese,

edible fowl• Papyrus-baskets,

paper, sandals• Food-grains• Influenced art, religion

etc.• Provided for basic

survival• inspired civilization

What is a “Shaduf”?

•Raised water from Nile to irrigate

•Prevented salt from building up & destroying fertility of soil

How did flood patterns effect Egypt?

• Emerged from south

• Spring rains sent water downstream into Nile

• Rich silt deposited

• Cooperation was essential

• Dikes, reservoirs, irrigation ditches channeled river & stored water for dry season

• Lower

• Upper

What were the environmental challenges?

• Small changes in amount of water led could lead to starvation or destruction

• Deserts reduced interaction with other cultures

• Led to self-sufficiency

How was Upper and Lower Egypt Unified?

Who was Narmer?

• 3100 BCE, King of Upper Egypt united the two regions

• Linked north & south• First united state• Significant trade with

rest of Africa, Middle East & Mediterranean world

• Sailboats, barges

What is a dynasty?

• A ruling family• Power passed from

family member• If no family member,

then another was chosen

• Pharaoh-”great house”

Who/What was Pharaoh?

• Claimed divine support

• Living God• Absolute power• Owned & ruled over

all the land

What was Pharaoh’s job?

• Preserve justice & social order- Ma’at

• Depended on vizier or chief minister to supervise government

What did the Vizier do?

• Managed the bureaucracy

• Tax collection• Farming• Irrigation system• Thousands of scribes

carried out his instructions.

Who was Ptah-hotep?

• Trained many young officials

• Wrote Instruction of Ptah-hotep

• Advised his son how to avoid errors.

Timeline of Three Kingdoms

Old Kingdom (2700 BCE - 2200 BCE)

• Pharaohs organize strong government– Khufu – harsh ruler,

built Great Pyramid • Pyramid Age

– giant pyramids at Giza• New developments in

agriculture• Increased trade• Development of cities• Power struggles, crop

failures, cost of pyramids caused collapse

Djoser2630 – 2611 BCE

– fought off invaders and expanded territory

– New developments in agriculture, increased trade, development of cities

– constructed Step Pyramid at Saqqara

– Ended a famine

Khufu2551-2528 BCE

• Ruled a united Egypt

• Used his relatives to help him

• Harsh ruler who treated his subjects cruelly

• Built the Great Pyramid at Giza

Middle Kingdom (2050 BCE – 1800 BCE)

• Corrupt government

• Frequent rebellions

• Food shortages– People rebel

• land drained for farming

• Hyksos conquer Egypt

Senusret I(1971 – 1926 BCE)

• fought against Nubia & Libya

• built fortresses• Protected gold, copper,

granite resources in Sinai• Encouraged cultural

development• Supervised construction of

buildings• created elaborate

improvements to existing shrines & temples

• Jubilee Chapel at Karnak• Craftwork & literature

Ramses II“The Great”(1290 -1224 BCE)

• Most powerful ruler of the period

• Battle of Kadesh- fought to standoff against much larger Hittite force

• Signed 1st known peace treaty

New Kingdom Period

• Time of Reunification

• Hyksos expelled• Pharaohs created

large empire• Traded w/ lands

along eastern Mediterranean & Red Sea

• Great temples built• Nubians, then

others invaded

Queen Hatshepsut(1540-1482 BCE)

• Daughter of one Pharaoh/ widow of another

• Ruled in stepson’s name but then declared herself Pharaoh

• Encouraged trade

• Brought back ivory, spices, incense

Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple at Deir el-Bahri-

Akhenaten (Amenhotep)1353 – 1335 BCE

– Created new religion of one god-Aten

– Controversy, disputes over his religious beliefs

– Abandon Thebes & built new city

– New spectacular, buildings, elaborate ceremonies, works of art

– Married to Nefertiti– After death he was

so unpopular that his city was abandoned- destroyed

El Amarna

Akhenaten: Rebel

Nile Tour of the Pharaohs Tombs

Nubia• Also known as Kush• Egyptians traded/ fought w/them• Gold, Ivory, cattle, slaves• Nubians served in Egyptian

armies• Egyptian art shows Nubians as

soldiers, musicians, prisoners• As Egypt declined, Nubia

regained its independence• 750 BCE Nubian kings took

control• Saw themselves as restorers of

Egyptian glory• Ruled like earlier pharaohs-

respected traditions• 650 BCE Assyrians w/ iron

weapons conquered Egypt & pushed Nubians south

Religion

How did religious beliefs shape the lives of Egyptians?

• Each soul had to pass test to win eternal life

• Dead soul would be ferried across a lake of fire to the hall of Osiris

• Osiris would weight the soul against feather of truth

• Sinners would be fed to the crocodile-shaped Eater of the Dead

• Worthy souls would enter the Happy Field of Food

Book of the Dead

• “I have made no man to suffer hunger. I have made no one to week. I have done no murder…I have not encroached upon the fields of another. I have not added to the wrights of the scales to cheat the seller…I have not turned back water when it should flow… I am pure. I am pure. I am pure.”

•Spells, charms, formulas for the dead to use in the afterlife

Mummification

• Afterlife was same as life

• Body must be preserved

• Originally a privilege for rulers and nobles

• Eventually ordinary people won the right to mummify their dead

• Led to knowledge of human anatomy

Egyptian Society

Egyptian Writing

• Hieroglyphics a form of picture writing used for important records

• Ideograms symbolized an idea or action

• Demotic-simpler form of script for everyday

• Papyrus

What was the Rosetta Stone?

• Black basalt slab bearing an inscription dating from the year 196 BCE

• Crucial key to the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the foundation of modern Egyptology.

• discovered in 1799 by the French troops in Napoleon's military expedition

• Deciphered by Jean Champollion

• Hieroglyphics, demotic and Greek

Medicine• Belief in magic• Knew human

body• Observed

symptoms, diagnosed illness

• Surgery, medicines

Science

• Priest astronomers studied heavens, mapped constellations

• Charted movement of planets

• Practical geometry to survey land

• Engineers for the pyramids and irrigation systems

Egyptian Painting and Sculpture

• Statues, wall paintings• Everyday scenes of

trade, farming, family life, religious ceremonies

• Military victories• Unchanged style for

thousands of years• Pharaohs & gods larger• Heads & limbs in profile• Eyes & shoulders

facing viewer• Some humans have

animal heads showing special qualities

Story of Sinuhe: Popular Egyptian Folk Tale

• “His majesty said, “Behold thou art come. Thou has trodden the foreign countries and made a flight. But now elderliness has attach thee; thou has reached old age… Do not live in exile any loneg…I answer: What is it that my lord says to me? Behold, I am before thee… may thy majesty do as he pleases…

• Tells us how Egyptians viewed both themselves and the people of the surrounding desert