Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Thebes, Egypt wikipedia , lookup
Index of Egypt-related articles wikipedia , lookup
Art of ancient Egypt wikipedia , lookup
Prehistoric Egypt wikipedia , lookup
Ancient Egyptian medicine wikipedia , lookup
Women in ancient Egypt wikipedia , lookup
Ancient Egyptian race controversy wikipedia , lookup
Ancient Egyptian funerary practices wikipedia , lookup
Ancient Egyptian technology wikipedia , lookup
Social Studies – Ancient Egypt: The Middle Kingdom For about 500 years, during the period of the Old Kingdom, the Ancient Egyptians lived peacefully, but eventually there were signs that the peace would not last. Around 2200 B.C. changes in the environment created hardship for the people of Egypt. Some years the Nile didn't flood, while other years brought heavy rains that caused extreme flooding, destroying dikes and canals. Egypt began to face starvation. People began to lose faith in their pharaohs (kings) and looked toward the priests to be their voice to the gods. The pharaohs started to lose power and people began to argue over who should rule. From 2200 to 2050 B.C. the kingdom split apart into separate provinces, each under the leadership of a prince. With no Clipartbest.com strong central government Egypt was open to raids and attacks from neighbouring tribes. All of these factors combined doomed the Old Kingdom. A translated hieroglyphic tablet discovered from this period reads: The wrongdoer is everywhere. A man takes his shield when he goes to plow. A man smites his brother. The robber has riches. He who possessed no property is now a man of wealth. He who had no yoke of oxen is now in possession of a herd. The owners of robes are now in rags. The children of princes are dashed against the walls. Some of the princes wanted Egypt to return to the way things had been during the Old Kingdom. One of these princes, Akhtoy III began to re-conquer the south and push out the invaders who had taken over. His successor, Menthuhotep, finished the task of reconquering Lower Egypt, and by 2050 Egypt was once again under the rule of one king. This new era of rule is referred to as the Middle Kingdom, and lasted from approximately 2050 to 1800 BCE. The pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom had less power than those of the Old Kingdom. They still controlled mining and trade, but the priests refused to give up the power they had gained during the decline of the Old Kingdom and the new pharaohs didn't have a large enough army to force the issue. The priests still recognized the pharaoh as their leader, though, because a leading figurehead offered stability and they needed peace in the land in order to prosper and live a good life. Much of Egypt's economic growth during the Old Kingdom was owed to people coming from other areas, such as Mesopotamia, and bringing their ideas with them. During the Middle Kingdom, however, few newcomers enter Egypt so there is not much economic growth or change because there are no new ideas coming in. Farming was still the most important industry during the Middle Kingdom. Socially and economically very little changed during the period of the Middle Kingdom, but trade routes were extended and expeditions were sent south along the Nile as far as Punt on the east coast of Africa. These trips meant leaving the Nile and travelling overland for several days by donkey caravans to the shores of the Red Sea © Keith Wheatley - Fotolia.com where ships would be loaded to transport goods down to Punt. The gold that came from the deserts continued to make Egypt a rich country, and to protect the mines forts were built south of the first cataract and troops sent in to keep order. With the decline of the power of the pharaohs some Egyptians started to believe that people other than the pharaoh had an afterlife. During the Old Kingdom it was believed that after death the king’s soul would continue to live in the afterlife, but that the body had to be preserved to protect the soul. To preserve the body the Ancient Egyptians developed a complex and expensive mummification ritual that was only available to pharaohs. The Princes and priests of the Middle Kingdom began to have their own tombs built and filled with food and riches to carry them to the afterlife, believing that they too could live with the gods after death. In order to fool grave robbers many of these people began to make intricate underground tombs with ornate gardens and temples on top. Even commoners started to believe they could continue to live after death and began burying their dead in the desert where the desert sands would naturally preserve their bodies for the afterlife by dehydrating them. Ancient Egyptians believed that the west was the land of the dead because the sun set in the west, so all of the tombs and cemeteries were on the west side of the Nile River. Many people were afraid to wander there after dark because they thought the dark belonged to the dead. Wikimediacommons.org Ancient Egypt: The Middle Kingdom Activity - /7 Marks Name: _______________________ Answer the following. 1) What caused the decline of the Old Kingdom? 2) Why was the king of Egypt not able to retake the power he had lost to the priests? 3) If the priests were so powerful, during the Middle Kingdom, why did they continue to recognize the king as a leader? 4) What was the basis of the economy during the Middle Kingdom? 5) Why did the Ancient Egyptians try to preserve the body after death? 6) What did the Ancient Egyptians do too try and protect their tombs from grave robbers? 7) Where did the Ancient Egyptians place their dead? Why?