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Egypt
Early Egypt
• To the west of Mesopotamia, there was another civilization
that established their city-states along another river.
• As early as 6000 BC people began to farm near the Nile River
in northeastern Africa
• Climate was much wetter in those days, desert was grassland
• As the climate dried out people were forced to move closer to
the river, cities begin to emerge
The Nile River
• The Nile River flows over 4,100 miles long.
• It is the longest river in the world
• Begins at Lake Victoria in the East African highlands
• Flowed north, ending in the Nile Delta, 100 miles before
the river meets the Mediterranean Sea.
• It’s broad marshy, triangular, area of land formed by
deposits of silt at the mouth of the river.
• Has 6 shallow areas
called cataracts that are
difficult to navigate for
boats
Delta
First Cataract:
Border between Upper and Lower kingdoms
Farmers of the Nile
• Egyptians settled directly next to the river.
• Black Land and Red Land
• Late in the summer, rains and melting snow
from the African mountains caused the Nile to
rise and spill over the banks.
• When the river receded, it left behind silt
The Nile River, lush green in the foreground
and desert in the background
• Farmers would use this nutrient-rich soil to
plant their crops
• All fall and winter they watered their crops
from a network of irrigation ditches.
Irrigation ditch
The Unification of Egypt
• Prior to 3000 BC, two separate Egyptian Kingdoms lived
along the Nile.
• Lower Egypt to the north
• Upper Egypt to the south
• The King of Lower Egypt wore a red crown
• The King of Upper Egypt wore a tall white crown
• Around 3000 BC evidence shows that a king named
Narmer unified the two kingdoms through conquest.
• Moved the capitol to more central location in Memphis
• The first Egyptian dynasty and empire was under
Narmer.
The Narmer Palette
• A carved piece of slate celebrates
Narmer’s victory
• Narmer created a double crown from
the red and white crowns
• This symbolized a united kingdom
• This first unification created the first
of many dynasties
Egyptian Kings
• In Egypt, kings were gods or god-kings called
Pharaohs.
• Pharaohs were thought to be almost splendid
and powerful as the gods of the heavens.
• Theocracy is a government in which rule is
based on religious authority.
• It was the pharaoh who caused the sun to rise,
the Nile to flood, and the crops to grow.
Rameses II
Statue of the
god Horus
Egyptian Queen Nefertiti
Pyramids
• Egyptians believed that their
king ruled even after his death.
• Pyramids were used as
“resurrection machines” to
usher them into the afterlife.
• Kings would be buried with vast
amounts of treasure to aid them
on their journey to the afterlife.
• Egypt’s enduring symbol of
wealth and power
Were cased in white limestone to reflect sunlight
Some pyramids contain over 2 million blocks
Over 130 pyramids have been discovered in
Egypt.
Would be capped with a golden summit to
reflect the sunlight
Great Pyramid of Giza: Only one of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.
An early version of the pyramid is know as a “step pyramid”
Hieroglyphics
• Hieros Gluph: “Sacred Writing”  In
Greek
• Ancient form of writing using pictograms
to convey meaning.
• Used in Egypt, other forms have been
found elsewhere around the world.
• Predecessor to the alphabet where each
letter makes a particular sound.
Finished Project
Write your name
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Papyrus
• Marshy grass found in the Nile delta.
• Transformed into paper.
The Rosetta Stone
• A slab of rock on which is
written a decree from 196 B.C.
• Three different scripts appear
on its face:
• Egyptian hieroglyphics
• Demotic script
• Ancient Greek
• Found in 1799
• Provided the key to modern
understanding of ancient Egypt
Mind-Bending Pyramid Fact…
The centers of the four sides are indented
with an extraordinary degree of precision
forming the only 8 sided pyramid; this effect
is not visible from the ground or from a
distance but only from the air, and then only
under the proper lighting conditions. This
phenomenon is only detectable from the air
at dawn and sunset on the spring and
autumn equinoxes, when the sun casts
shadows on the pyramid.