Download Egypt GRAPES - LaVergne Middle School

Egypt
G.R.A.P.E.S. TCAP Review
GEOGRAPHY OF EGYPT
• Northern Africa
• Nile River flows south to north into a
delta (fertile soil) and then to the
Mediterranean Sea
• Lower and Upper Egypt
• Red Sea to the East of the Nile
• Africa is mostly deserts keeping
Egypt isolated
• Nile has predictable flooding,
cataracts (cliffs and boulders)
RELIGION OF EGYPT
• Polytheistic=many gods and goddesses
• pharaoh (king) are gods in human
form, gods can also take animal form
• Believed in an afterlife- needed to
preserve body for the afterlife=
mummies
• Gods/Goddesses: Re- sun god; Hapiriver god; Osiris- god of
farming/laws/dead; Isis-goddess (wife
and mother)- world of dead; Thoth-god
of learning
• Book of the Dead- prepares Egyptians
for the challenges of the afterlife
ACHIEVEMENTS OF EGYPT
• Built pyramids-burial place
• sphinx, mummies
• irrigation- shadoof, basins
• papyrus- used to make boats, sandals,
paper
• hieroglyphics- written language
(pictures/ sound symbols)
• granaries- store grain
• embalming- to preserve bodies for
afterlife
• 1st medical books
• Math- fractions
POLITICS OF EGYPT
• Monarchy/Theocracy- king
(pharaoh); political and religious
leader
• Dynasty- same family rules for many
generations
• Upper and Lower Egypt were once
divided until Pharaoh Narmer
(Menes) conquered lower Egypt,
married a princess, and united them
into 1 empire. Wore the double
crown (red/white). Starts 1st Dynasty
in Egypt; capital is Memphis.
POLITICS OF EGYPT
• Time Periods
• Old Kingdom: Menes; King Khufu builds
great pyramids of Giza; mummies
• Middle Kingdom: Capital-Thebes; added
Nubia as territory; Valley of the Kings= tombs
cut into limestone cliffs; Hyksos invade and
conquer Egypt
• New Kingdom: Ahmose overthrows Hyksos;
Queen Hatshepsut- dressed as a man,
temples, monuments, built trade); Thutmose
III conquers Nubia (again) and up to
Mesopotamia; Amenhotep IV- monotheistic
(1 god), people disliked this!!; His son King
Tutankhamen- polytheistic, died young,
tomb undisturbed; Ramses IItemple of Karnak
POLITICS OF EGYPT
• Nubia= Kush Empire
• South of the Egyptian Empire in the
savannah (grasslands)
• Kingdom of Kerma- agriculture and gold
• Trade with Egypt and S. Africa (cattle, gold,
ivory, giraffes, leopards, slaves); as far as
Arabia, India, China
• Built tombs for kings- not as big as pyramids
in Egypt
• Conquered by Egypt a few times, then
overthrew Egypt
• Capital Napata; shared many gods and
culture with Egypt
• Capital move to Meroe after Assyrians
invade
ECONOMICS OF EGYPT
• Trade Routes: Nile River,
Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea
• Trade with: Arabia, E. Africa; beads,
ivory, gold, ebony wood, incense;
needed wood-traded with
Phoenicians (1st sound symbol
relationship alphabet!)- had purple
dye, furniture.
• Barter= trade
• Slaves could earn freedom
SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF EGYPT
• Kids did not go to school much; learned
parents jobs
• Women could own property
• Social hierarchy:
• Pharaoh (king)
• Priests (gov't officials), nobles
• Traders, artisans, scribes
• Farmers/ herders
• Unskilled workers/slaves
• *Ambitious people could improve their
social class status with hard work