Download Kingdom of the NIle - Pleasantville High School

Kingdom of the Nile
Aim: To discuss the history of ancient Egypt and
explain why it thrived
Geography
 Nile River gives annual
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floods
2 Regions  Upper and
Lower Egypt
Cataract – waterfall
Nile Delta
3100BC Menes united both
regions, founded capital at
Memphis
Made Egypt first unified
state
Geography
 “Egypt is wholly the gift of the Nile” – Herodotus
 Why is the river so important????
1) Deposited rich layer of silt (soil) used for farming
2) Used for transportation
3) Trade routes
“If the Nile smiles, the Earth is joyous!”
Old Kingdom 2700 -2200 BC
 Pharaohs organized strong central government
 King Menes unites Upper and Lower Egypt
 Created (dynasty) ruling family
 Built capital at Memphis
 Human and divine
 Bureaucracy
 Vizier chief minister
 Instructions of theVizier Ptah-hotep
 Great Pyramids of Giza
King
Menes
Middle Kingdom 2050- 1800 BC
 What happened to the Old Kingdom!???!!
 Power struggles, bad crops and $$$ of pyramids led to decline
 Middle Kingdom formed!
 Draining projects formed new farm land
 Hyksos  horse drawn chariots for customs and beliefs
 (CULTURAL DIFFUSION)
Invasion of the Hyksos
New Kingdom 1550- 1100 BC
 Drove out Hyksos, New
Kingdom formed
 Reached from Syria to
Euphrates
 Hatshepsut (female ruler)

 Encouraged trade
 Rames II  built statues in
his honor
 Fought Hittites and signed
first peace treaty
Old Kingdom ------------- New Kingdom
What is the difference between the two maps???
Egyptian Civilization
Religions Shapes Egypt
 Lord of the Gods AMON- RE
 Pharaohs believed their rule
stretched from this great god
 Osiris,Isis and Set
 god of the underworld
 God of the Nile
 Isis goddess, taught how to
spin cloth, weave and care
 Akhenaton tried to worship
god Aton
 Nobles and people refused to
switch
View of Afterlife
Proof to Osiris
Mummification
 Across lake of fire to Osiris
 Embalming
 Weighed heart against
 Preservation of dead
feather of truth
 Happy Field of Food
 Book of the Dead: spells
charms and formulas
bodies
 Buried everything one
would need
 Valley of the Kings
 King Tut (son in law of
Akheton)
 Discovered in 1922
 He was a minor king
Society
pharaoh
Government
officials and
high priests
• served gods and goddesses
Merchants, scribes,
artisans
Peasants who worked the
land
• Trade offered chance to move up,
more business for artisans
• Women held higher positions
legally than others
• Most were farmers,
irrigates field, prepares
equipment, built palaces
Advances in Learning
 Written hieroglyphics
 Papyrus
 Rosetta Stone
 Greek/ Hieroglyphics
 Medical advances
 Astronomy
 Accurate calendar
Arts and Literature
 Paintings in tombs and
temples
 Gods and pharaohs larger
than other figures
 Sphinx (early pharaoh as lionman)
 Tale of Sinuhe