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The Old kingdom
Chapter 4, Section 2
Mr. Schifano
World History
The Old Kingdom
• Egypt was made up of two kingdoms:
1. Upper Kingdom
2. Lower Kingdom
• Upper was in the Southern part of Egypt
• Lower was in the Northern part of Egypt
Why???
• Menes was the King of Upper Egypt
• In 3100 B.C. he conquered Lower Egypt and
united the two kingdoms
• He set up a capital at Memphis, a city on the
border of Upper and Lower Egypt
• In 2600 B.C. the Old Kingdom started in Egypt
• Lasted 500 Years
• Egyptian cities became centers of religion and
government
• Kings, priests, government officials, and
artisans lived there.
• Most Egyptians did not live in these cities
• They lived along the banks of the Nile
• Most were farmers
• There houses were made of sun-baked mud
bricks
• Only one room
• Roof was made out of palm leaves
• Built on high ground so they would be safe
from yearly floods
A. Pharaoh
• Strength and unity came from having a strong
leader.
• At 1st they were called kings
• Later they became known as pharaohs
• Pharaoh – Egyptian ruler; a ruler, priest, & god
• They ruled on Earth as other gods ruled in
heaven
• The Pharaoh owned all the land in Egypt
• He gave land to rich Egyptians and Priests
• He made sure there was irrigation and damn
built to keep the land in good shape
• He made sure granaries were built
• Granaries – buildings for storing grain
• They were built to store grain from good
harvests so people would not starve in times
of bad harvests.
• The pharaoh chose all government officials
• The word of the Pharaoh was law.
B. Pyramids
• People of the Old Kingdom showed how they
felt about the pharaohs by building them
pyramids
• Pyramid – large Egyptian tombs
• B/c the sun set in the west, they were built on
the west bank of the Nile
• They were designed to protect the Pharaoh’s
bodies from floods, animals, and robbers
• They believed the Pharaohs would be happy
after death if they had their belongings
• Their clothes, weapons, furniture, and jewelry
were placed in the pyramids
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Took years to build
Used copper tools
Built out of granite and limestone blocks
Blocks were pulled to the place where the
pyramids were built
• Mud and brick ramps were built
• The blocks were dragged up the ramps to each
layer
C. Religious Beliefs
• Egyptians believed in many gods
• Two important gods:
1. Hapi = river god
2. Re = sun god
Osiris = god of the harvest and eternal life
• The Egyptians used a process called
embalming
• Embalming – process used to keep dead
bodies from decaying
• They preserved the body of the pharaoh
because they believed the soul could not live
without the body
• It was believed by doing this a pharaoh would
take care of Egypt
• The body was then wrapped with long strips
of linen
• The wrapped body was then known as a
mummy
• The mummy of a poor person was buried
• The mummy of a rich person was placed
inside a special case or coffin
• The coffin was then placed in a tomb