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Bellwork
• What do you know about Egypt? Please
write at least 4 things you know about
Egypt.
Be prepared to discuss this at the beginning of
class.
World History
Section 3, Unit 2
Ancient Egypt
Beginnings to the New Kingdom
Objectives
• Describe the geography of Egypt and be able to
name the major river of the region.
• Explain how Egypt formed into a united kingdom
after the existence of the Upper and Lower Egyptian
kingdoms.
• Describe the Egyptian preparation for the afterlife
and explain why they prepared for it.
• Identify the reasons why the pyramids were built.
• Be able to identify characteristics of Egyptian
culture.
• Explain why the Kushites removed Libyan presence
in Egypt.
Differences from Mesopotamia
• As Mesopotamian civilization began to
grow, Egypt was experiencing a similar
growth to the West.
• Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt was not a
collection of separate city-states, but rather
a unified kingdom that existed for almost
3000 years.
Geography of Egypt
• Egypt is found in the
North Eastern part of the
African Continent.
• The Nile river, which is
the longest river in the
world at 4,100 miles,
makes the area near it
fertile, in sharp contrast
to the arid desert nearby.
• The Nile also experienced
an annual flood in July.
Question:
What do you see in this picture?
What do you think of what you see?
Gift of the Nile
• As you can see in the picture
to the left, the Nile’s annual
flood provide the parch
landscape fertile soil in which
the Ancient Egyptians would
utilize to grow crops.
• The annual flooding cycle
provided the Ancient
Egyptians an opportunity to
grow throughout the year,
provided they properly
manage the resources.
Environmental Challenges (cont)
• Nile Valley flooding was consistent.
• There were benefits and drawbacks to a
consistent annual flood:
– Farmers could better predict when to harvest.
– Droughts were far less likely to occur.
– However, if the farmers under-predicted how
much water the flood would bring, it could
destroy crops, seeds, and homes.
Environmental Challenges (cont.)
• The environment away from the river was
parched and mostly unusable.
• However, in part due to the large deserts
(and cliffs), Egyptians were spared of
constant warfare.
Before we continue
• Please write in your
notes the following:
– Lower Nile is North
and Upper Nile is
South
Upper and Lower Egypt
For most of Egyptian History, ancient
Egyptians lived in what is referred to as
“lower part of the Nile”- the last 750 miles
of river that empties into the
Mediterranean Sea.
First
Cataract
The Egyptian domain extended as far as
the “First Cataract”- an area in which
their river boats could not pass due to
jagged rocks and churning rapids.
In this area of the “lower Nile” existed
two different regions: Lower Egypt and
Upper Egypt.
Lower Egypt consisted of the Nile Delta:
a fan-shaped marshy area of Egypt.
Upper Egypt consisted of the thin Nile,
which provided enough fertile soil for
growth.
Contact
• Thanks to the Nile River, Upper and Lower
Egypt were able to keep in close contact
with one another and slowly they became
unified.
• By 3200 B.C., the Egyptians were coming in
contact with the Mesopotamians.
– In part due to this contact, the Egyptians may
have borrowed concepts from the
Mesopotamians, such as a writing system and
city planning designs(irrigation).
Egypt Unites
• As discussed previously, by
3200 B.C., Egypt was still
separate into Lower and
Upper Egypt. Each region
had its own rulers,
religions, and other cultural
features.
• According to some
Egyptian early texts, the
leaders of each region wore
two different types of
crowns:
– Lower Egypt wore a red
crown
– Upper Egypt wore a white
crown
Egypt Unites
• Around 3100 B.C., a
Upper Egyptian king
named Menes united
all of Egypt.
• As a symbol of his
United Kingdom,
Menes supposedly
created a double
crown that was both
white and red.
Egypt Unites
• As a sign of good faith- and
a show of brilliance- Menes
also established the
Egyptian capital, Memphis,
at the center of the Nile
between both Upper and
Lower Egypt.
• However, we know very
little of Menes and whether
or not he existed is up to
debate.
The Old Kingdom
• The Old Kingdom appeared two dynasties
after Menes and lasted between 2660 B.C.
to 2150 B.C.
• It was one of the most dynamic periods of
development in Egyptian history, in which
Egyptian art and architecture took form.
Pharaohs
• In Egypt, the pharaoh was
a god, and was just as
powerful as the gods.
• The pharaoh was the
center of the religious,
government, and society
of Egypt. The Egyptian
government was a
theocracy (a ruler who was
considered divine or godlike).
• The people believed that
the Pharaoh caused the
sun to rise, the Nile to
flood, and the crops to
grow.
Culture
• Much like many other societies, Egypt was
broken down into different classes.
• Unlike many other societies, Egyptians were
able to gain higher status through marriage
and success in their jobs.
• Women often had same rights as men, much
like in Mesopotamia. Women could own
property, get a divorce, and- if the divorce was
successful- gain 1/3 of the property.
Achievements
• Development of writing
was one of the key growths
in Egyptian society.
• Early forms of the writing
was very crude, but the
system became more
advanced over time,
becoming the well known
writing system called
“hieroglyphs”.
• In this system, pictures
represented an idea or
sound. For example, a
picture of a bird meant
“bird”.
Achievements
• As well as developing a
writing system, the
Egyptians also
developed writing on
papyrus or paper made
of reed stalks that grew
near the Nile.
• Prior to this invention,
Egyptians had written
on stone or clay surfaces,
similarly to the
Mesopotamians before
them.
Achievements
• Because of practical needs, Egyptians developed many
new inventions including:
• A number system to collect taxes.
• An early form of geometry to survey and reset property
boundaries after a flood.
• Math allowed the Egyptians to have skillful engineers and
architects, who would go on to build some of the largest
buildings in the ancient world (we will discuss more later).
• Egyptians created an early calendar to keep track of the
floods, which was extremely accurate for the time, only being
off by 6 hours to the modern calendar.
• Finally, Egyptian medicine was very advanced. Egyptians had
a strong understanding of the human body, and were able to
treat broken bones, had medicines for wounds and fevers,
and were able to effectively use surgical procedures.
Mid-Lesson Review
1. What direction does the Nile river flow?
2. How did the Nile river affect the geography
of Egypt?
3. Describe the geography of Egypt.
4. Who united Egypt?
5. What technologies did the ancient
Egyptians create?
Religion
• Egyptians, much like the Mesopotamians,
were polytheistic.
Question: What is Polytheism?
Religion
• Egyptians believed in almost
2,000 different gods and
goddesses
• Egyptians believed in a
afterlife in which they would
be judged based on their
deeds in life.
• Osirus, the god the dead, was
believed to weigh a persons
heart. If it was light as a
feather, they would
experience eternal life. If it
was not, their heart would be
eaten.
Religion
• Egyptians mummified a
body because they believed
that the body was necessary
in the after life.
• The process of
mummification was quite
straightforward: (1) the brain
was removed through the
nose, (2) the bowels were
removed, (3) the belly was
filled with several perfumes
and then sewn up, (4) the
body was then steeped in a
mineral salt that would dry
the body, and then (5) the
body was washed and then
covered in bandages.
Afterlife
• They would also entomb the
body with items the dead
person would use, such as
food, jewelry, clothing, etc.
• Aside from the above,
Egyptians buried their dead
with scrolls referred to as
the Book of the Dead. These
scrolls contained prayers
and spells that were meant
to guide the dead through
the afterlife– and were very
expensive.
The Pyramids
The Old Kingdom was the great age of pyramid building.
The Pyramids
• Between their religiosity and engineering
capabilities, the Egyptians of the Old
Kingdom became infamous for building
large pyramids for their royal dead.
• The Pyramids served two purposes:
– To ensure ordered existence (i.e. life and death).
– Defeat death by preserving life into the next
world.
Building the Pyramids
• Question: Who built the pyramids?
The Pyramids
• Unlike Biblical texts,
most historians agree
that slaves did not
build the pyramids.
• Most (if not all)
pyramid builders
would have been paid
laborers, artisans,
craftsmen, and
engineers.
The Pyramids
• There are a wide array of beliefs on how the
Pyramids were built, considering the
Egyptians had yet to discover or use the
wheel.
• Many scholars believe in different
techniques, and no one technique is fully
agreed upon.
The Pyramids
• Egypt was rich in stone,
granite, and limestone
so the original pyramids
would have been white
and made of the above
materials.
• The Egyptians used
thousands of these
blocks, some of which
weighed almost 15 tons,
to build each pyramid in
Giza.
Fall of the Old Kingdom
• At around 2180 B.C., the Old Kingdom
began to decline as weak pharaohs took the
throne.
• Nearly 100 years later, the Middle Kingdom
(2080-1640 B.C.) appeared and was a shortlived period of control that was marked
with restoration of law and order and a new
regained sense of a control in Egypt.
Fall of the Middle Kingdom
• . At around 1640, Asian nomads named
“Hyksos” (hike-sas) invaded Egypt on chariots.
• During the time the Hyksos ruled, war-like
Egyptian rulers would come to power and
regain control over their kingdom.
• When Egypt rose again, the powerful “New
Kingdom” would rise and become more
prosperous and mighty than any Egyptian
kingdom that came before it.
Mid-Lesson Review
• Write down 3 things you learned about the
Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom or
about Egyptians in the last lesson.
Driving out the Hyksos
• Several of the rulers who would have a role
in driving out the Hyksos includes:
– Queen Ahhotep (ah-hoh-tep)
– Kamose
• Kamose and his descendents would eventually drive
out the Hyksos out of Egypt into Palenstine.
New Kingdom
• After overthrowing the Hyksos, Egypt
entered a new era of power- The New
Kingdom.
• The New Kingdom would bring a new era of
wealth and power to Egypt that it has never
experienced before.
• The pharaohs of this period would prove to
be fully committed to strengthen Egypt by
creating a vast empire.
Weapons & Symbols of Power
• New pharaohs created
a war-like kingdom:
– Chariots and bronze
weapons
– Forming new army.
– The Pharaohs began to
don a blue crown
designed like a battle
helmet.
Hatshepsut
• Among the rulers of
the New Kingdom was
Hatshepsut.
• Hatshepsut focused
much of her energy
towards trading, rather
than waging war.
Hatshepsut is generally regarded as one
of the greatest pharaohs to ever live.
Hatshepsut
• During her time, she would
send traders across the Red
Sea to trade for valuables
such as gold, ebony,
baboons, and myrrh trees
(which was the first time in
recorded history that live
trees were transplanted
whole).
• She vastly increased the
wealth and power of Egypt.
Hatshepsut (cont.)
• Other than creating new
wealth, Hatshepsut was
also a prolific builder in
Ancient Egypt and
created the complex at
Deir el-Bahri that would
later become part of the
Valley of the Kings
(which we will discuss
more later).
Thutmose III
• Unlike Hatshepsut,
her stepson Thutmose
proved to be far more
war-like than his
predecessor. In fact, in
part due to his
aggressiveness and
eagerness to rule, it’s
believed he may have
murdered Hatshepsut.
Thutmose III (cont.)
• During his reign (which
began around 1425 B.C.),
Thutmose lead several
successful invasions in
Palestine and Syria.
• He also lead his armies
south to Nubia, which
would be ruled by Egypt
for several hundred
years.
• Never before had Egypt
have such a large empire
with so much wealth.
Question
• Who is Ramses II?
Have you ever heard of
Ramses before? If so,
what have you heard?
Ramses II
• 100 years following
Thutmose, Ramses II
came to power.
• Ramses is often
regarded as the
greatest pharaoh of
the Egyptian empire
and one of the last
great pharaohs to rule.
Ramses reign lasted from 1290-1224 B.C.,
making him 99 years old when he died. He
is also reported to have had 100 children.
Ramses II (cont.)
• Ramses is well known to have reasserted
Egyptian control in various regions.
• Ramses is also one of the greatest builders
of the New Kingdom. During his reign, he
commissioned a temple to be carved into
the red sandstone cliffs near the Nile River
at Abu Simbel.
Abu Simbel
Ramses also ordered the various temples he had built to have enormous
Statues of himself. Although the buildings he created are magnificent, they
are often considered to be of less quality than those of the Old Kingdom.
New Kingdom Builders
• New Kingdom rulers
sought more security in
the afterlife and began to
build their tombs within
the cliffs that defended
Egypt from invasion.
• The Valley of the Kings is a
network of Tombs built
West of the Nile that
housed the tombs of the
pharaohs and powerful
nobles of the New
Kingdom.
Declining Empire
• After around 1200 B.C. (not long after
Ramses death), the empire slowly began to
fall apart in response to civilizations that
had grown to challenge Egypt, who had
greatly expanded into their territories.
• The entire eastern Mediterranean, would
suffer invasions from people known as “the
People of the Sea” (who we have yet to
identify).
Fading Empire
• With these invasions, Egypt would never be
able to recover.
• The invasions segmented Egypt, creating
smaller territories out of the once large
empire. Each territory would go and
eventually create it’s own defenses.
– Question: how effective would smaller defenses
be against a larger invasion?
Libyans
• As Egypt began to fall, the Libyans would
come and establish independent dynasties
in Egypt.
– The Libyans were neighbors to Egypt, who lived
Westward of their kingdom.
– The Libyans, who ruled from 950-730 B.C.,
erected cities and embraced Egyptian culture.
Nubia
• As previously
discussed, Nubia was
once controlled by the
Egyptians for about
1000 years, between
2000 B.C. to 1000 B.C.
• The Kingdom of Kush,
which was the Nubian
kingdom centered at
Napata, would emerge
as a regional power in
the wake of Egypt's’
fall.
Question
Sphinx of King Taharqa of Nubia
Sculpture of Amenemhat III of Egypt
Do these two sculptures look similar? If so, why would that be?
Nubia
• When Egypt began to fall, the Nubians
(despite having been ruled by Egyptians)
viewed themselves as guardians of Egyptian
culture. They felt it was their duty to protect
Egyptian values and restore the Egyptian
way of life.
• To do this, the Nubians would have to
conquer Egypt.
Nubia
• In 751 B.C., a Kushite
King named Pianki led
an army down (towards
the Lower Egypt) the
Nile and overthrew the
Libyan Dynasty that had
ruled in Egypt for over
200 years.
• In his victory against the
Libyans, Piankhi felt he
had restored Egypt’s
glory.
Nubia
• However, despite Piankhi’s reign and power,
Egypt was lost again in 671 B.C.
• Over the course of the hundreds of years
following the fall of Egypt, they would be
ruled by the Greeks, Romans, and Arabic
peoples, which we will discuss in a later
lesson.
Legacy of Egypt
• Ancient Egypt will always
be remembered as a once
powerful empire that
dominated the Middle
East/Upper Africa.
• Their architectural
abilities would prove to be
inspiration for many
cultures to follow,
including the Romans.
– The Romans are well known
to have copied the concept
of obelisks or large vertical
spires.
Legacy of Egypt
• It has also inspired
many cultures that
would follow, through
it’s use of myths and
legends and
unanswered questions
about the whole of
Egyptian culture.
Closure
• On a sticky note, write two questions that
you are curious about when it comes to
Ancient Egypt.
• Post that sticky note to the white board and
we as a class will discuss each.
Video
• Before we continue, lets watch the following
video– “Ancient Egypt”.
Review the Objectives
• Describe the geography of Egypt and be able to
name the major river of the region.
• Explain how Egypt formed into a united kingdom
after the existence of the Upper and Lower Egyptian
kingdoms.
• Describe the Egyptian preparation for the afterlife
and explain why they prepared for it.
• Identify the reasons why the pyramids were built.
• Be able to identify characteristics of Egyptian
culture.
• Explain why the Kushites removed Libyan presence
in Egypt.
Next lesson
• In the next lesson, we will be discussing
Ancient India.
Review
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Who built the Pyramids and what was the purpose of
the Pyramids?
What effect did the Nile have on the area around it?
What was the Egyptian afterlife and how did Egyptians
prepare their dead for it? Describe your answer.
Who was Menes and what did he do?
Why did the Nubians want to conquer Egypt?
If Egypt had never become war-like, do you think they
would have been targeted by outside groups and
conquered? Why or why not? Explain your answer.
How did Hatshepsut increase the power of Ancient
Egypt?
In what ways is Egypt similar to or different from
Mesopotamia? Come up with at least two answers.