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Ancient Egypt
Chris Anderson
Randolph-Henry High School
Ancient Egyptians
• What do you think of when you hear Egypt?
River Valley and Its People
• The Nile River runs through the middle of
Egypt like a green carpet in a sea of brown
desert
• the river is 4,160 miles long--the longest river
in the world
• the river has predictable floods which bring
needed water and fertile soil (silt)
• the river flows to the North from the
mountains of east Africa into the
Mediterranean Sea
• at the mouth of the river is a fan shaped delta
with very rich soil
Delta
Flows South
to North
• A 10 mile band of rich soil extends
from the river out into the desert
– this soil is very rich and good for
growing crops
– the river floods every year in the late
spring and early summer
– melting snows in the mountains and
spring rains cause these floods
– when the flood waters recede in late
fall, a rich layer of silt is left behind
• 5000 BC: hunter-gatherers began
settling in the Nile Valley
• these peoples eventually learned to farm
and learned the river’s flooding pattern
• 1st crops: wheat and barley
• the Nile also allowed the people to hunt
water fowl--geese and duck--and to fish
• the river also gave the people papyrus
– papyrus reeds were used to make baskets,
rope, sandals, and paper
Uniting Egypt
• Egypt was protected from invasion because
it was surrounded by a desert in the south
• this protection allowed the early small
farms to become large kingdoms
• these different kingdoms would eventually
become united into a single Egypt
• The two major kingdoms that would
eventually unite were:
– 1.) Upper Egypt
– 2.) Lower Egypt
Upper Egypt
• Symbolized by a white
crown
• located in Southern Egypt
Lower Egypt
• Symbolized by a red crown
• located in Northern Egypt
• Eventually Upper and Lower Egypt were
brought together
• the story of the unification is somewhat of a
myth
• the king responsible for unification is believed
to be Narmer (Menes)
– legend says that around 3000 BC, Narmer was the
king of Upper Egypt
– Narmer led his forces into Lower Egypt, taking over
Lower Egypt, and, thus, creating a united Egypt
– he built a capital city at Memphis--located between
both kingdoms
• the new unified kingdom was symbolized by a
white and red crown--a double crown
• Narmer (Menes) has been given credit as
the creator of the 1st Egyptian dynasty
– a dynasty is a family that rules
• 3000 BC--332 BC: Egypt had series of 30
dynasties
• these 30 dynasties have been divided into
three periods
– 1.) Old Kingdom
– 2.) Middle Kingdom
– 3.) New Kingdom
Old Kingdom
• Lasted from 2700 to 2200
BC
• both Upper and Lower
Egypt held onto their
identities
• slowly, a strong Egyptian
government was being
created
• the Egyptians felt they
belong to a unified Egypt
• people saw their ruler as a
god who ruled over the
people
• A theocracy was created
– when a leader is seen as a
political leader and
religious leader
• the kings performed
rituals that were believed
to help the kingdom
• kings had absolute
political power
• however, they were still
not able to do all tasks by
themselves
• bureaucracy-government officials
• The pyramids were built during the Old
Kingdom
• pyramids were built to pay homage to the
god/kings and as a tomb for the dead king
• Egyptians still believed their king ruled over
them after his death
• not all pyramids look like those in this slide
• 1st pyramids were step pyramids
– one of the 1st step pyramids built was for King
Djoser
– built in Memphis
– was the 1st all stone building in the world
• Eventually, the architects wanted to create
smoother pyramids
– The first attempts were not perfect—Bent
Pyramid
• The three pyramids at Giza are probably the
most famous
• the pyramids are engineering wonders--the
last remaining structures of the 7 wonders
of the world
• Great Pyramid: built for King Khufu in
2500 BC
– 481 feet tall
– largest of the three pyramids at Giza
• Dead kings were mummified before they
were entombed in the pyramids
– process involved the drying and preservation of
the body using spices and oil
– internal organs were removed
– body was wrapped in strips of linen and placed in
a sarcophagus
– body was then placed in the burial chamber with
all of the king’s earthly possessions
• The interior of the pyramid contained
elaborate wall paintings
– Egyptians believed these wall paintings would
come to life in the after life
Middle Kingdom
• 2200 BC: Egyptian kings
began to loose some
power
– -nobles were fighting w/
each other over power
– Old Kingdom was falling
apart
• 2050 BC: a new ruling
family takes over Egypt
– this new dynasty moves the
capital to Thebes
• the new dynasty marks the
beginning of the Middle
Kingdom
• Middle Kingdom
lasted until 1800 BC
• new kings regained
power
– built irrigation systems
– cleared more land for
agriculture
– gained land for Egypt
by attacking Syria
– constructed a canal
between the Nile and
the Red Sea to allow
for better trade
• 1700 BC: Egyptian nobles again began
to challenge the king’s power
• Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos-people from Western Asia
• Hyksos had very good weapons
– bronze weapons
– horse drawn chariots
• Hyksos conquered the Egyptians who
had inferior weapons
• Hyksos ruled over Egypt for 110 years
New Kingdom
• Eventually, the
Egyptians learned how
to make and use the
Hyksos’ weapons
• Egyptians also copied
the Hyksos’ style of
fighting
• 1600 BC: Ahmose--an
Egyptian prince--led an
army against the Hyksos
• he was able to drive the
Hyksos from Egypt
• Ahmose created a new
dynasty in Egypt-ushering in the New
Kingdom
• Ahmose and his
successor were called
pharaohs
• Ahmose tried to rebuild
Egypt
– rebuilt temples
– reopened trade
• 1480 BC: Egypt had its 1st female ruler-Hatshepsut
• she first ruled along with her husband
• after her husband’s death, the throne was left to
her young stepson--Thutmose III
• Thutmose was too young to rule, so Hatshepsut
ruled in place of her stepson
• she eventually made herself pharaoh of Egypt,
even wearing the false beard
• she did a lot of constructing in her reign
– large funeral temples
– large tombs
• After Hatshepsut’s death,
Thutmose III became
pharaoh
• Thutmose conquered the
Syrians
• he captured land as far east
as the Euphrates River
• Thutmose created the 1st
Egyptian Empire
• 1320 BC: Amenhotep IV
became pharaoh
• he and his wife--Nefertiti-broke from the Egyptian
tradition of worshiping
many gods
• Ahmenhotep wanted the
people to worship only 1
god--the god Aton (the
sun disk god)
• he believed he was equal
to the god Aton
• Amenhotep changed his
name to Akhenaton-spirit of Aton
• He moved the Egyptian
capital from Thebes to a
new city devoted to Aton
• he destroyed all temples
devoted to other gods
• the people of Egypt did
not like Akhenaton and his
new religion
• Akhenaton was a weak
ruler--he cared more for
religion than his empire
• after his death, the priests
put the old religion back
into place
• Tutankhamen moved the
capital back to Memphis
Recovery and Decline
• From 1200 BC, pharaohs were
mostly military leaders
• Ramses II: one of the New Dynasty
pharaohs
– he ruled for 67 years
– built many temples and statues
• Eventually Egypt became
weak and split back into 2
separate kingdoms
• by 945 BC, Egypt was ruled
by foreigners--the Libyans
and Kushites
Levels of Egyptian Society
• There were different levels to Egyptian
society
– 1.) Upper Class
– 2.) Middle Class
– 3.) Lower Class
Upper Class
•
•
•
•
•
Royalty, nobles, and priests
top of the social classes
had control over religion and politics
live in cities or estates along the Nile
had large decorated houses with pools,
orchards, and gardens
• family composed of husband, wife, and
children
Middle Class
• Artisans, scribes, merchants, and tax
collectors
• business people of Egypt
• comfortable homes--not as elegant as
upper class
• some were very wealthy
• many were able to move into upper class
Lower Class
• Farmers, servants, and others
• farmers had to pay rent to the king in
order to use the land
• farmers also had to work on the building
projects
• lived in small villages and huts
• families included husband, wife, children,
grandparents, and other relatives
Egyptian Religion
• They were polytheists--worshipping many
gods
• many gods were represented as half animal and
half human
– Horus (sky god): had the head of a hawk
• major gods:
– Ra: sun god
– Osiris: god of the Nile, life, death, and rebirth
– Isis: wife of Osiris, ruled the underworld
• believed in an afterlife
– spent much of their lives preparing for death
Writing
• Egyptian writing is called hieroglyphics
• earliest forms were carved on stone tablets
• picture symbols that stood for objects, ideas,
and sounds
• only a few people could read and write
– scribes: Egyptians who were trained to read and
write
• after the fall of the Egyptians, hieroglyphics
were no longer used
– for 2000 years, no one could understand the symbols
– 1799 AD: a French soldier found the Rosetta Stone
• The Rosetta Stone was a piece of
tablet that had Greek writing and two
forms of Egyptian writing
• 1822: a French archaeologist was
able to decode the hieroglyphics by
comparing the Greek text with the
hieroglyhpics
Rosetta Stone
Scientific Achievements
•
•
•
•
Skilled in math and geometry--pyramids
created a number system
created a 365 day calendar
developed advancements in medicine
– treating broken bones
– treating some diseases