Download The Cultures of Egypt

The Cultures of Egypt
I. Egypt’s Economy
 An economy is the way a country’s goods and services are
produced and distributed.
 Egypt’s economy was based on agriculture.
 Major products include:
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barley
Emmer, type of wheat
Experts in glassmaking, metalwork, and pottery
Egyptians bartered, so they had a barter economy.
Traded crops for luxury goods or stored surplus in warehouses
Pharaohs ordered tax on everything which included goods,
products, or even days of work.
 Almost all Egyptians worked on government building projects
during flood season.
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Quick Check:
Cause and Effect: What caused people to
barter in ancient Egypt?
 Egyptians did not use money.
II. Life After Death
 Believed they would have a new life after death
 Preserved the dead with minerals or special spices
called resin
 Wrapped body in long strips of linens
 The dry air of the Egyptian desert has preserved the
mummies.
 The mummy case contained pictures of gods and
secret prayers.
 Tombs contained everything for a new life
including
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Clothing
Food
weapons
Games (ex. Senet )
 Amulets or charms protect mummies.
 Canopic jars preserved the liver, lungs, stomach,
and intestines. These would be needed in their
new life.
 Anubis - god of the dead
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Chief priest wore a mask of this god
Quick Check:
Cause and Effect: Why did Egyptians work so
hard to prepare the dead?
 They believed that they would have a new life after
they died.
Data Graphic: Answer the Think About
Hieroglyphics question.
 100 loaves in each basket
III. Life in Egypt
 The most important god was , the sun god and
source of life
 The pharaoh was considered the child of Ra, and in
turn became a god.
 Isis – protected people from harm and sickness
A. A Pharaoh’s Tomb
 Built large temples, palaces, and stone tombs called
pyramids
 Best known pyramids are at Giza, near modern Cairo
 The Great Pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu is the largest.
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Contains more than 2 million stone blocks
Largest in the world
Area = 10 football fields
Took about 20 years to complete
Worked on it 3 to 4 months each year, while the Nile
floodwaters covered their fields
B. Egyptian Advances
 Great engineers and builders
 Built canals and dams for irrigation - increased the
amount of land they could farm
 Canal for trade between Red Sea and the Nile River
 Egyptians were leaders in Math.
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Used geometry
Developed methods for measuring weights, lengths, and
distances
Worked with a base 10 system
Created fractions that they used with whole numbers to add,
subtract, and divide
 Astronomers identified 5 planets in our solar
system without the use of a telescope
 Developed a 12 month calendar and 365 days
 Doctors learned about the human body
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Check patient’s pulse and hearbeat for signs of illness
Could set broken bones and sew wounds closed
Performed brain surgery
 Scribes wrote medical papers to train doctors.
 Described antibiotics
 Doctors used moldy bread or honey to cover
infections.
 Dentists filled cavities.
Quick Check:
Cause and Effect: How did the Egyptians
increase the amount of land they could farm?
 They built canals and dams for irrigation.