Download Egyptian Civilization Fact Sheet

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Egyptian Civilization 3100 BCE – 30 BCE
1. Introduction
a. Egypt – from Greek “Aigyptos”, from the Egyptian “Ha(t)-ka-ptah”, meaning “temple of
the soul of Ptah.” (Ptah was an early Egyptian god).
b. Egyptians called their land Kemet – “Black land”, or “Fertile land.” They called the land
outside the Nile Deshret , the “Red land.”
c. Series of kingdoms that developed along the Nile River Valley in present-day Egypt.
d. Egypt flourished by managing the waters of the Nile through flooding and irrigation.
2. Important People
a. Khufu (2589–2566 BCE)
i. Early Egyptian pharaoh (king)
ii. Mostly known for construction of the Great Pyramid and the Great Sphinx at
Giza
b. Hatshepsut (1508–1458 BCE)
i. One of the few women to become pharaoh of Egypt
ii. She is usually depicted in men’s clothes.
iii. Her 22-year reign was marked by growth in trade and massive building projects.
c. Thutmose III (1481–1425 BCE)
i. Became pharaoh on the death of his stepmother Hatshepsut.
ii. He was ancient Egypt’s greatest military leader
iii. Egypt’s empire stretched from Syria to present-day Sudan.
iv. Fought and won the famous Battle of Megiddo (about 1457 BCE), the first battle
to be recorded through reliable sources.
d. Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BCE)
i. Became pharaoh at nine and died at eighteen.
ii. The discovery of his tomb in 1922 made ancient Egyptian culture extremely
popular.
iii. Probably the most famous pharaoh in the world.
e. Rameses II (1303 – 1203 BCE)
i. Also known as Rameses the Great.
ii. Most powerful and successful pharaoh in Egyptian history.
iii. Mentioned in the Biblical story of the Exodus.
3. Important Contributions
a. Hieroglyphics
i. Hieroglyphs – Greek for “Sacred Carvings.”
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
ii. They were a form of picture writing developed, in part, from earlier
Mesopotamian script.
iii. Contained over 700 symbols for sounds, letters and words.
Papyrus
i. Papyrus was a reed that grew along the banks of the Nile.
ii. Egyptians wove strands of papyrus to make a writing material similar to paper.
iii. The word “paper” comes from papyrus.
Calendars
i. The Egyptians developed a 365-day year divided into 12 months.
ii. Such calendars enabled Egyptians to date their own written history.
Large-Scale Irrigation
i. Egyptians depended on the floodwaters of the Nile to provide enough water for
their crops.
ii. They developed huge irrigation projects to deposit water and silt from the Nile
into Egyptian farms and fields.
Mathematics
i. Egyptians developed geometry to determine land boundaries and build
pyramids.
ii. They developed ways to measure area, volume, weight, and length.
Architecture
i. Starting in the 26th century BCE, temples and pyramids towered over Egypt.
ii. They were designed as tombs and storehouses for the gods.
iii. They are great feats of engineering, even by today’s standards.
Shipbuilding
i. Egyptians first built canoes and barges made of papyrus reeds.
ii. By 3000 BCE, they had invented sails and begun to build ships out of wooden
planks.
Public Administration
i. Egyptian government ran smoothly thanks to the work of hundreds of clerks and
civil servants known as scribes.
ii. They assisted tax collectors in keeping records of what everyone owed.
iii. The scribes would then distribute the money to various government projects,
keeping accurate records of how the funds were spent.
Religion and the Afterlife
i. Egyptian religion emphasized life after death.
ii. They developed the process of mummification to preserve the body for the
afterlife.
iii. Organs were kept in special jars, which Egyptians believed protected them for
eternity.
4. Decline and Fall of Ancient Egypt
a. In 1204 BCE, and again in 1180 BCE, the Sea People, a group of raiders from the
Mediterranean, attacked Egypt and terrorized the Egyptian people.
b. The Egyptian government was growing weaker. Egypt’s pharaohs and religious leaders
fought constantly over control of the government.
c. By 1000 BCE, iron replaced bronze as the chief metal for weapons and tools (the Iron
Age). Egypt fell behind other kingdoms in the production of iron.
d. Weak and divided, Egypt would be conquered by numerous peoples for the next 1000
years (Libyans, Nubians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians).
e. The last pharaohs of Egypt were the Ptolemies (305 BCE-30 BCE), named after Ptolemy I,
a Macedonian Greek general who was the chief strategist of Alexander the Great.
f. Ptolemy’s descendants would rule Egypt until 30 BCE, when the death of Cleopatra VII
allowed Egypt to be conquered by the Roman Empire.