Download World History A Ancient Egypt Booklet

World History A
Ancient Egypt Booklet
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THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE NILE
The Nile River is the lifeline of Egypt that is on the north east coast of Africa.
Without it, the land would be nothing but desert. The Nile, which is the longest
river in the world, travels more than four thousand miles from Lake Tana in the
Ethiopian high land to the Mediterranean Sea.
At six places along the Nile's twisting course, stone cliffs and boulders force it's
waters through narrow channels. The rushing of the water makes waterfalls and
rapid called cataracts. The very first cataract is on the Southern border of
ancient Egypt. From the first cataract, the Nile River flows for about six hundred
miles north. For most parts of this journey, it flows along as one river but, just
south of Cairo, it divides itself up into many small channels and streams. This
triangle of marshy and very wetland is called the Delta
ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE
Desert covers more than ninety percent of Egypt. The dessert called the Red
Land supported only small settlements in wadis and oases. The Egyptians
lived on the banks of the River Nile or beside canals leading from it. This was
Kemet or the Black Land, named after the rich silt on which the farmers
grew their crops. Without this fertility, there would have been no civilization
in Egypt. Until the modern days the pattern of life in Egypt for the majority
of people has depended on the exploitation of its agricultural resources.
Today the increase of population, growth of cities and building of large
industries is changing Egyptian lifestyles.
THE RIVER'S GIFTS
About two thousand five hundred years ago, Herdotus, who was a visitor from Greece, called Egypt "the gift of
the Nile".
To make the best use from the flooding of the Nile, the people built irrigation channels to carry water to their
fields. They even built dams to hold back the water to be used during droughts. Many things these people did
sound very similar to some people now. In some ways it was the same things the Sumerian people did. Since the
floods came at predictable times in Egypt farming was much easier. The Egyptian people needed less
cooperation than the Sumerians to get their work done. As a result they did not develop cities until a much later
time.
Besides water, another very important gift of the Nile was the thick black mud that gets left behind during the
flooding. This thick dark mud made the soil much richer and made the farmlands very productive.
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The Nile gave the people other gifts too. Fish, geese, ducks and many other water birds that could be eaten
made their homes in land of delta. A plant called papyrus, which is a long, thin reed, grew along the riverbanks.
The Egyptians harvested papyrus and made lots of different things with it like: baskets, sandals, boats, and
material to write on. The word paper that we use comes from the word papyrus.
The Egyptian people used the precious gifts of the Nile extremely wisely. Here in this land of fertile riverbanks
and barren deserts, floods and drought, Black Land Red Land these people somehow managed to build one of
the most amazing civilizations in history.
FLOODS AND DROUGHTS
From up in the air, most of the Nile looks like a brown snake wriggling along north across a desert
area. It's narrow banks are lined with fresh green crops and palms. Suddenly, sometimes it all turns
into desert - red-hot sands. The people who lived in Egypt four thousand years ago, called their
dark and gloomy valley, the black land. The desert was called the red land. Egypt rarely gets any
rain. The desert areas on the east and west are part of the famous Sahara desert, which is also the
desert that covers up much of North Africa. With the desert on two sides, mountains to the south
and the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt was very well protected from invaders.
Egyptians on the desert land depend on the Nile for water and for life. The amount of water that the Nile carried
on its journey to the sea changed from season to season. When it rained in Central Africa, and snow began to
melt in the East African mountains, the water level rose. When the river reached Egypt, it over flowed its banks.
All the farmers depended on this frequent flood to water their crops. The floods that Egypt had, was more
predictable than the floods that Mesopotamia had. The farmers knew each year when the river would rise, and
they planned ahead. The Egyptian people measured time by the river dividing the year into three seasons. This
cycle of flooding, planting and harvesting gave the Egyptian people a very important pattern to their life.
SAILING ON THE NILE
The Nile was Egypt's main road. The earliest boats were made of papyrus
but dockyards along the Nile soon started making boats out of timber. The
best evidence we have today for the skill of the shipbuilders is a boat more
than forty meters long built for King Khufu around four thousand five
hundred years ago and discovered in a pit next to the Great Pyramid. It was
a ceremonial barge with a cabin for the king and it was probably meant for
King Khufus's journey with the sun god in the after life. The Egyptians gave
ships names like we do today. For example, one commander started off in a
ship called "Northern" and got promoted to the ship "Rising in Memphis".
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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN HISTORY
EGYPT BEFORE THE PHARAOHS
The period of time we normally think of as ancient Egypt is the time when Egypt was ruled by the pharaohs,
after 3000 B.C. A question many people ask is who lived in Egypt before the pharaohs? In the early Stone Age
people in Egypt lived high up on the land above the Nile from the Delta to Aswan. From about 5000 B.C.,
settlers arrived from Palestine and Syria, from the Libyan tribes living to the west, and from Nubia in the south.
Sometime after 3000 B.C., traders from southern Iraq also sailed to Egypt. Soon these early settlers started to
grow crops such as barley. They also started to build small villages.
THE UNION OF THE TWO LANDS
Ancient Egypt had two parts called Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Upper which was in the south, stretched
for more than five hundred miles from the first cataract to the north to the beginning of the Nile delta. Lower
Egypt, which was in the north, was the Nile delta itself. Though it was only a hundred miles long Lower Egypt
is many times wider than Upper Egypt.
By about 3300 B.C., both Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt had kings. The
king of Lower Egypt wore a short, boxy looking, red crown with a tall spike
at the back and a curlicue at the front. The king of Upper Egypt wore
something quite different, he wore a tall, white, pear shaped crown.
Most of the things we know about prehistoric Egypt is all mixed up with
legends. One of the famous legends tells about King Menes who ruled
Upper Egypt. At around 3100 B.C., King Menes defeated the king of Lower
Egypt. After this he united both lands and called himself king of both Upper
Egypt and Lower Egypt.
The legend goes on to tell you how King Menes even designed a new crown
to celebrate his victory. This double crown was there for the union of the
two lands. King Menes and his family formed the first ever-Egyptian dynasty. A dynasty is when you have a
series of rulers who all come the same family. After King Menes died his son became king, when his son died
his grandson became king. It went on like that and throughout the history of ancient Egypt thirty different
dynasties had ruled. The Egyptians believed that the royal family descended from the gods and had royal blood,
because of this sometimes people had to marry their brother or sisters.
King Menes chose the city Memphis to be the capital of his country. Memphis is surrounded by desert and the
Mediterranean Sea.
Some people believe that "Menes" of this legend may have been a real king, possibly Narmer . They also
believe it wasn't King Menes who first wore the red and white crown, but a later one.
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THE THREE KINGDOMS
The amazing history of ancient Egypt began around 3000 B.C., with the
invention of the writing called hieroglyphics.
Within the history of ancient Egypt, people have identified three periods
of time when very important things happened.
In the Old Kingdom that was from about 2650 to 2140 B.C., the Egyptians
built the pyramids.
The Middle Kingdom lasted from 2040 to 1640 B.C. This was when Egypt
as a country became much stronger, and the Egyptians achieved a lot in
literature, art and architecture.
In the New Kingdom that was from 1570 to 1070 B.C., Egypt became
very powerful by conquering other nations and building an empire.
Between periods when Egypt was very strong and people discovered many
things, weak kings ruled or foreigners controlled Egypt. Egyptians were in
great confusion and the whole of Egyptian society was in disorder.
A thousand years before the Old Kingdom began, the Egyptians did many
amazing things. They began farming. They learnt to irrigate their fields. They invented the hieroglyphic writing. They
formed governments with kings for rulers. Finally, the made belief systems and customs that made the Egyptian life very
special. These amazing things that they accomplished in the early days formed the basis of ancient Egyptian society.
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DAILY LIFE
THE ARTS
Most of the best information we have today about the daily life of the Egyptian people comes from the paintings
on the walls of their tombs. These paintings were not decorations.
Unlike artists today, the painters of ancient Egypt did not make a name for themselves. Instead all their work
was done for the king and the gods.
A BETTER CALENDAR
The Babylonians created a lunar calendar that as based on the moon.
The Egyptian people also invented a calendar, but it was based on the moon and a star. The Egyptians had
observed the appearance of Sirius, which is the brightest star in the sky. They noticed that it was invisible for
several months, but then it appeared each just at the time of the flooding. Their calendar was much more
accurate than the one that the Babylonians had, corresponding almost exactly to the seasons.
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THE EGYPTIANS AT HOME
Houses in ancient Egypt were built from mud bricks; the mud was from the Nile. People collected
the mud in leather buckets and took it to the building site. The workers then added pebbles and straw to the mud
to make it stronger. Then they pour the mixture into wooden frames to make bricks. They would leave it out to
dry in the hot sun. When a house was built, its walls would be covered with plaster and the inside would often
be painted with just designs or scenes from nature. Inside, the houses were cool because the small windows let
in only a little light. Rich families had large houses. Beyond the hall would be bedrooms, private apartments
and stairs to the roof. The kitchen was a little distance away from the living rooms to keep the smell away. The
Egyptians held parties in their houses, which the children enjoyed as much as their parents.
THE EGYPTIAN
WRITING SYSTEM
The earliest Egyptian writing system was called hieroglyphics. This writing system used pictures to stand for ideas,
objects, and sounds. The early Egyptian writing was not very easy to decode. Archeologists and language specialists spent
years and years studying these symbols without any success.
Then, in 1799 French soldiers near the village Rosetta, which was in the Nile Delta, found a black stone slab. They found
that on it the same words were written in three ways: in Greek, in hieroglyphics and in a cursive form of hieroglyphics.
For twenty long years, people tried hard to decode the hieroglyphics writing on what is called The Rosetta Stone. Then
an amazing French man who was called Jean Champollion found the key. Champollion knew that part of the message was
the same in all three cases. It praised the pharaoh Ptolemy for gifts he had given the temples. One day in 1822,
Champollion was comparing the hieroglyphs with the Greek words. He compared and identified the correct names
Ptolemy and Cleopatra.
Now Champollion was able to decode the famous Rosetta Stone Later, he published a dictionary of ancient Egyptian
hieroglyphs. Fortunately, the Egyptians left us many written texts. Once people were able to decode hieroglyph writing,
they could read laws, stories, jokes and magic spells. From these texts and others we have been able to learn a lot about
Egypt's past.
The hieroglyphic system was a bit complicated. It was made up of over seven hundred different signs that a person had to
memorize if they wanted to master it. Young people who wanted to be scribes spent years going to special schools. Their
school day was very long, sometimes from early in the morning when the sun rose till late in the night. Teachers expected
their students to pay great attention; if they did not listen they would be punished. One father said the following words to
his son who was learning to become a scribe: " Learn to write, for this will be of greater advantage to you than all the
trades. One day at school is useful to you and the work done there will last forever, like mountains."
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