Download Unit #3: Cradles of Civilization

Unit #3: Cradles of Civilization
• The geography of
the Nile River Valley
greatly contributed
to political
development.
• The Nile River has 6
cataracts – massive
waterfalls.
• Ancient Egypt is divided
into 2 different physical
regions:
1. Upper Egypt – so
named because of
the higher elevation
2. Lower Egypt – Nile
delta region where
the river meets the
Mediterranean Sea
• Around 5000 BCE, ancient Egyptians lived in
small, independent villages with each village
having its own rituals, worshipping its own
deity, and being ruled by its own leader.
• By 3200 BCE, the villages came under the
rule of either Upper or Lower Egypt,
depending on its location on the Nile.
• Upper and Lower Egypt
are united in 3200 BCE
by Narmer, who settles
the capital in Memphis
near the 1st cataract
and establishes the 1st
dynasty (sequence of
rulers from the same
family)
• Ancient Egypt would go
on to have nearly 30
different dynasties,
spanning a period of
over 2600 years.
• Egyptian monarchs are referred to as pharaohs,
who were thought to be deities in their own right
and were responsible with the kingdom’s
wellbeing. Pharaoh’s were thought to continue
ruling in the afterlife.
• Ancient Egyptians were polytheistic and
running totals of their deities amount to about
2000.
• Some of the most important and popular
deities included:
 Re – sun deity
 Osiris – deity of the dead
 Isis – deities of mothers and wives
 Anubis – deity and guide of the underworld
In order to pass into the afterlife, Anubis
was said to weigh your heart. If it was
light as a feather, you were granted
eternal life; however, if it was heavy it was
said to be full of sin. The Devourers of
Souls would then eat your impure heart
and no eternal life for you. Sorry, not
sorry.
• Social mobility was possible via marriage and
literacy.
• Women had many of the same rights as men,
such as owning and trading property,
proposing marriage, and/or seeking divorce.
• social hierarchy:
• Ancient Egypt divided into 3 time
periods:
1. Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BCE)
2. Middle Kingdom (2200-1650
BCE)
3. New Kingdom (1550-1100
BCE)
• The distinction between periods marks a time when
the divinity and power of the pharaoh is questioned.
• During the century between the Middle and New
Kingdoms, Egypt is occupied by the Hyksos, horseriders from the Levant.