Download Egypt Ch.3 PPT

Ancient Egypt
3100-1069 B.C.E.
Geography of Ancient Egypt
 Egypt is located in the
northeastern corner of Africa.
 This region is mostly desert (hot
and dry).
 It receives little rainfall.
 Egypt relied on predictable yearly
floods which left water and fertile
soil behind.
Geography of Ancient Egypt
The Nile is the longest river in the world
(4,150 miles).
It’s a unique river because it flows
north.
The Egyptians learned to use the water
from the Nile River to grow crops. The
process is called irrigation.
 Irrigation allowed the people to grow
many crops and to survive.
The Nile River Valley is divided
into Lower and Upper Egypt
 Around 3000 B.C.E. King
Narmur of Upper Egypt
invaded and conquered
Lower Egypt.
 Historians have organized
dynasties to describe Ancient
Egypt.
 Old/Middle/New Kingdoms
Timeline of
Kingdoms
Dates
Significant Events
3411 - 3100
Unification of all Egypt
Old Kingdom
3100 2181
Construction of the
pyramids begins
First Intermediate
2181 - 2125
Political chaos
Middle
Kingdom
2125 1650
Recovery and political
stability
Second Intermediate
1650 - 1550
Hyksos "invasion"
New Kingdom
1550 1069
Creation of the Egyptian
Empire
Archaic
The Old Kingdom (31002181B.C.E.)
 Upper & Lower Egypt became a strong national
government.
 Egyptian Government was a Theocracy which
is a government ruled by a religious authority,
where religious beliefs are the basis of
government.
 Power flowed from the king to a system of
government which controlled:
trade/taxes/infrastructure.
The Middle Kingdom (2125-1650 B.C.E.)
 This kingdom came about due to
a period of upheaval and
violence in the city of Thebes.
 During the 1700’s, Theban kings
faced problems of their own.
 These problems opened the door
for an overthrow.
The Middle Kingdom (continued)
 The Middle Kingdom ended when
people named the Hyksos from
Western Asia invaded.
 The Hyksos were successful
because they had advanced
weapons.
 They ruled for a period of about 110
years.
The New Kingdom (1550-1069 B.C.E.)
 Egyptian prince Ahmose
overthrew the Hyksos in about
1600 B.C.E.
 Around 1480 B.C.E. Queen
Hatshepsut carried out an
extensive building program
 Thutomose III expanded empire
The New Kingdom (continued)
 The empire now reached as far as
Syria and the Northern Euphrates
 Empire grew rich from commerce,
tribute, and cultural diffusion
 King Tutankhamen ruled a short
time from 1333 B.C.E.-1323 B.C.E.
 Ramses II reigned by expressing
power through statues of himself
and building towers and tombs
Pyramids
Pyramids were built to honor their
god-kings or pharaohs and to provide
them with an eternal resting place.
They were burial tombs.
The Egyptians believed people lived
again after they died, and so they
needed a good place to spend their
next life.
Pyramids
They left food, water, clothing, and
treasures inside for the pharaoh to
enjoy.
The walls were decorated with pictures
of people who could be friends with the
pharaoh in their next life.
Pets and plants were mummified and
put in the pyramids.
Pyramids
It took 100,000 men twenty years to
build the great pyramid for the
Pharaoh Khufu.
There were different rooms or
chambers.
The pyramids were set up in a
maze to throw off robbers.
The
Sphinx
It had the head
of a human and
the body of a
lion. It was built
by Pharaoh
Khafre to guard
his pyramid from
robbers. It is
about 4,636
years old.
Mummification Process:
 70 day process
 Brain was taken out through the nose
 Important organs were removed and
stored in canopic jars
•
liver, lungs, stomach,
and intestines
Heart was not removed
Natron salt was used to dry
the body
 Body was anointed with oil
 Body was wrapped with
linen
Materials used in mummification:
• linen
• sawdust
• lichen
• beeswax
• resin
• natron
• onion
• Nile mud
• linen pads
• frankincense
•
•
•
•
Mummification tools:
Brain hooks (replicas )
Oil jar
Funnel (replica)
Embalmer's knife
Hieroglyphics
• There were over 800 different hieroglyphs.
Some stood for words and others for sounds.
Hieroglyphics or Picture Writing
They used a reed
pen to write.
They wrote on papyrus,
which is a kind of paper.
Hieroglyphics
• The Rosetta Stone
was found in 1799
A.D. and it cracked
the code of
Egyptian
hieroglyphics. This
stone has allowed
people to learn a lot
about ancient
Egypt.
Life In Ancient Egypt
Religious Beliefs:
 Religion guided every aspect of
Egyptian life. Egyptian religion
was based on polytheism. The
Egyptians had as many as 2000
gods and goddesses. Often, gods
and goddesses were represented
as part human and part animal.
Life In Ancient Egypt
Status of Women:
 Egyptian women enjoyed
more freedom than any of
their counterparts from
other places in ancient
times.