Download Ancient Egyptian Civilization

Ancient Egyptian Civilization
Kemet- the Black Land
Egypt: “Gift of the Nile”…
stretched 600 miles long by 14 miles wide
No rain but agricultural prosperity was unmatched.
July Inundation receded in October leaving rich, fertile soil.
Isolation impacted on psycheharmony, everything was in balance: “ma’at”
Egyptian motto: “Eat, Drink and be Merry”
Women in ancient Egypt:
• Kept anything inherited from their
parents
• Entitled to one-half the wealth
both partners acquired within
their marriage
• Work at jobs other than a
housewife
• Own and sell property
• Be a witness in a court case or
represent themselves in court
• Make a will giving their wealth to
whomever they wished
• Go out in public and be in mixed
company with men
• Keep their own name
• Be supported by their exhusband after divorce
Like Mesopotamia, religion was the center of Egyptian life.
Religious beliefs reflected the importance of nature as a benevolent force
The Hall of Justice: key to an immortal afterlife
The Palette of Narmer, (King Menes) 3100 BC: The Archaic Period
The Old Kingdom, or Age of the Pyramids, 2686-2181 BC
The Rosetta Stone
196 BC Ptolemy V
Discovered in
1799
3½ x 2 ½
Jean Francois
Champollion
• took 13 years to
decipher the Rosetta
Stone, 1822.
•
At 5-read French and Latin
•
At 11-translated Virgil & Horace into
french
•
At 15-mastered Hebrew, Arabic,
Aramaic, Syrian, Ethiopian
•
At 19-learned Persian, Sanskrit,
Chinese
•
At 32, began Rosetta Stone
• “Father of Egyptology”
Civil War between Noble families ended the Old Kingdom
(Flood pattern of Nile changed- floodwaters fell 12 feet reducing arable land by 40%)
Mentuhotep II
>re-established the central
government and built a new capital
at Thebes
>major rebuilding program
>drained swamps
>restored irrigation systems
>built canal to the Red Sea
>Repelled the Nubians
>trade flourished with the
Kush, Syria, Mesopotamia
and Crete
The Middle Kingdom, 2090-1650 BCE
Thy Hyksos invasions, 1720 BC – led to the 2nd intermediate period
•
Hyksos invaders introduce the
chariot
• Ahmose I - founder of the
New Kingdom
(1570-1070 BC
Queen Hatshepsut,
“Restorer of Egypt”
(1479 - 1458 BC)
Deir el-Bahri
Thutmose III
“The Napoleon
of Egypt”
(1479-1426 BC)
>17 military campaigns
during 32 year reignnever lost a battle!
>captured 350 cities in
Palestine & Syria
Akhenaton
1379-1362 BC
Nefertiti
Tutankhamen
King Tut’s burial mask.
Howard Carter, 1922
Anubis, God of the Dead
Abu Simbel- temple of Ramesses II
(Ramesses the Great)
The Battle of Kadesh, 1275 BCE
Temple of Horus, Ramses III
• Hekla volcano in
Iceland???
• Labor strikes
• Civil unrest
• Series of droughts
• Below-normal
flooding
• Famine
• Official corruption
• Power grabs by
High Priests at
Thebes
• Invasions by Sea
Peoples and
Libyan tribesmen
Ptolemy I
Cleopatra VII
Any questions?