Download The Middle and New Kingdoms

The Middle and New Kingdoms
Preview
• Key Terms: Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom,
trade routes, Queen Hatshepsut, Ramses the
Great
• What you will learn:
1. The Middle Kingdom was a period of stabled
government between periods of disorder.
2. The New Kingdom was the peak of Egyptian
trade and military power, but their greatness did
not last.
3. Work and daily life were different among Egypt’s
social classes.
• The power of the pharaohs expanded during
the Old Kingdom. Society was orderly, based
on great differences between social classes.
But rulers and dynasties changed, and Egypt
changed with them. In time, these changes
led to new eras in Egyptian history, eras called
the Middle and New Kingdoms.
• At the end of the Old Kingdom, the wealth
and power of the pharaoh's declined. Building
and maintaining pyramids cost lots of money.
• By about 2200 BC the Old Kingdom had fallen.
• For the next 160 years, local nobles ruled
much of Egypt.
• Finally, around 2050 BC, a powerful pharaoh
defeated his rivals and Egypt was again united.
• His rule began the Middle Kingdom, a period
of order and stability which lasted to about
1750 BC.
• Around 1750 BC, a group from Southwest Asia
called the Hyksos invaded. The used horses,
chariots and advanced weapons to conquer
Lower Egypt, The Hyksos ruled the region as
pharaohs for 200 years.
• In the mid-1500s BC, Ahmos of Thebes
declared himself king and drove the Hyksos
out of Egypt.
• Ahmose’s rise to power marked the beginning
of Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty. Also, it was the
beginning of the New Kingdom, the period
during which Egypt reached the height of its
power and glory.
• During the New Kingdom, which lasted from
about 1550 to 1050 BC, conquests and trade
brought wealth to the pharaohs.
• Military conquests made Egypt rich. The
kingdoms it conquered regularly sent
treasures to their conquerors.
• Conquest also brought Egyptian traders into
contact with more distant lands. Profitable
trade routes, or paths followed by traders,
developed.
African products presented
to the pharaoh
Source:
http://factsanddetails.com/world.php?itemid=1926#220
• One ruler who
worked to increase
Egyptian trade was
Queen
Hatshepsut. She
sent traders south
to trade with the
kingdom of Punt
on the Red Sea and
north to trade with
people from Asia
Minor and Greece.
Source: Holt World History
Ancient Civilizations
• Hatshepsut and later pharaohs used the
money they gained from trade to support the
arts and architecture. Many impressive
temples and monuments were built.
Video tour of some Egyptian monuments
(more than one video just scroll down)
• Despite its great successes, Egypt's military
might did not go unchallenged.
• In the 1200s BC the pharaoh Ramses II, or
Ramses the Great, fought the Hittites, a group
from Asia Minor.
• The two sides fought for years, but neither
could defeat the other.
Source: Holt
World History
Ancient
Civilizations
• Soon after Ramses the Great died, invaders
called the Sea Peoples sailed into Southwest
Asia. Little is known about these people. All
we know is that they were strong warriors
who had crushed the Hittites and destroyed
cities in Southwest Asia. Only after 50 years of
fighting were the Egyptians able to turn them
back.
• Egypt survived, but its empire in Asia was
gone. Egypt fell into a period of violence and
disorder. The New Kingdom came to an end,
and Egypt never regained its power.
Activity
• Contact media center about appropriate sites
for studenst to research Egyptian culture and
life. At least one primary source or secondary
source must be cited. Assign students to a
topic and have them research the topic
through books and internet sources. Present
information to class.
Review
1. What was the Middle Kingdom?
2. What did Hatshepsut do as pharaoh of
Egypt?
3. What job employed the most people of
Egypt?
4. Who was Ramses the Great?
Egyptian Achievements
Preview
• Key Terms: hieroglyphics, papyrus, Rosetta
Stone, sphinxes, obelisk, King Tutankhamen
• What you will learn:
1. Egyptian writing used hieroglyphics.
2. Egypt’s great temples were lavishly
decorated.
3. Egyptian art filled tombs.
• Egyptian hieroglyphics were one of the
world’s first writing systems.
• The earliest know examples of Egyptian
writing are from around 3300 BC. These early
writings were carved in stone or some other
hard material.
• Later, Egyptians learned how to make
papyrus, a long-lasting, paper-like material
made from reeds.
• The Egyptians made papyrus by pressing
layers of reeds together and pounding them
into sheets. These sheets were tough and
durable, yet easy to roll into scrolls. Scribes
wrote on papyrus using brushes and ink.
Papyrus making 101
• The hieroglyphic writing system used more
than 600 symbols, mostly pictures of objects.
• Hieroglyphics could be written vertically or
horizontally.
• For a long time, historians did not know how
to read Egyptian hieroglyphics. But in 1799
there was a lucky discovery by a French
soldier.
• This discovery was the key needed to read
ancient Egyptian writing.
• The key was the Rosetta Stone, a huge, stone
slab inscribed with hieroglyphics.
• The Rosetta Stone also had text in Greek and a
later form of Egyptian. Because scholars could
read the Greek, they were able to translate
the ancient Egyptian writing.
More on the Rosetta Stone
• Because papyrus did not decay in Egypt's dry
climate, many Egyptian texts still survive.
• In addition to their writing system, the
Egyptians are famous today for their
magnificent architecture.
• Egyptians believed that temples were homes
of the gods. People visited temples to
worship, offer the gods gifts, and ask favors.
• Many Egyptian temples shared similar
features. Rows of stone sphinxes—imaginary
creatures with the bodies of lions and the
heads of other animals or humans—lined the
path leading to the entrance.
• The entrance itself was a huge, thick gate. On
either side of the gate might stand an obelisk,
a tall, four-sided pillar that is pointed at the
top. The temples were lavishly decorated.
• Over the years, treasure hunters emptied
many pharaoh’s tombs. In 1922 some
archeologists found the tomb of King
Tutankhamen, or King Tut. This tomb had not
been raided and was filled with treasures,
including jewelry, robes and ivory statues.
Review
1. What are hieroglyphics?
2. How was hieroglyphic writing different from
our writing today?
3. Why was finding the Rosetta Stone so
important?
4. Why were tombs filled with art, jewelry, and
other treasures?