Download Its natural barriers, which made it difficult to invade Egypt.

Egypt
Learning Targets
• I can describe the relationship between the
Nile and the growth of Egypt.
• I can describe the reasons for the unification
of Egypt.
• I can explain the religious beliefs of the
Egyptian people, and the importance of the
afterlife.
• I can locate key physical features of Africa on
a map.
Civilization Develops in Egypt
• Hunter-Gatherers moved into the Nile Valley
more than 12,000 years ago.
• By 4500 BCE, Farmers living in small villages
grew wheat and Barley.
• Over time farmers developed an irrigation
system, which consisted of canals that
directed the Nile’s flow and carried water to
the fields.
Two Kingdoms
-Along with its stable food supply Egypt’s location
offered another advantage:
-Its natural barriers, which made it difficult to
invade Egypt.
-The Desert to the west was too big and harsh to
cross,
-To the north was the Mediterranean sea,
-To the east was more desert and the Red Sea,
-To the south the Niles cataracts made it difficult
for invaders to sail into Egypt.
Two Kingdoms
• With the natural barriers protecting Egypt,
the villages grew and by 3200 BCE villages
had grown and banded together to create
two separate kingdoms.
• Each Kingdom had its own capital city.
– The capital city of Lower Egypt was Pe,
– The capital city of Upper Egypt was Nekhan
Kings Unify Egypt
• According to tradition, around 3100 BCE
Menes, rose to power in Upper Egypt.
• He had his armies invade Lower Egypt and
take control of it.
• Menes then married a princess from Lower
Egypt.
Egypt Unites
• Menes Combined the
Crowns:
– The White Crown of
Upper Egypt.
– Red crown of Lower
Egypt.
Why would Menes do
this?
-To symbolize his
leadership over the two
kingdoms.
Unification
• Menes is considered to be the first Pharaoh
of Egypt.
• He also founded the first Dynasty.
• Menes built a new capital city named
Memphis at the southern tip of the Nile
Delta.
• It was near wear Lower Egypt met Upper
Egypt, close to modern Cairo.
Unification
• The First Dynasty was a theocracy, that lasted
about 200 years.
• During the time of the first dynasty Egyptian
territory expanded southward along the Nile
River and into Southwest Asia.
• They also improved irrigation and trade,
making Egypt wealthier