Download Notes from sept 3 B

Egypt
September 6, 2012
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The Gift of the Nile
• July- rains and melting snow
from mountains of eastcentral Africa
– Nile River rose and spilled over
its banks
– Egyptians worshiped Nile
River like a god
Menes
• Lower Egypt- red crown
• Upper Egypt- tall white
crown
Menes
• 3100 BC(E)- Menes
– King of Upper Egypt
– United Upper and Lower
Egypt
– Established capital city
of Memphis
– First Egyptian dynasty
Pharaohs
• Egyptian god-kings
• Mesopotamia- kings =
representatives for
the gods
• Egypt- kings = gods
Pharaohs
• Center of religion,
government, and army
• Kingdom’s success
depended on the
pharaoh
Theocracy
• The type of government
where the ruler is a divine
figure (religious figure)
Pyramids
• Kings expected to rule forever
• Tombs = more important than palaces
• Old Kingdom (part of 3rd dynasty) = great
age of pyramid building
Pyramids
• Reflect the strength of Egyptian
civilization
– Economic strength- support massive
public works projects
– Leadership strength- organized
Mummification
• People of all classes planned their burials
• Kings & queens- tombs (pyramids)
• Mummification- embalming and drying the
corpse to prevent it from decaying
Mummification
• “First, they draw out the brains through the
nostrils with an iron hook…Then with a sharp
stone they make an incision on the side, and
take out all the bowels..Then, having filled the
belly with pure myrrh cassia, and other
perfumes, they sew it up again; and they have
done this they bury it in a mineral salt for 70
days…At the end of 70 days, they wash the
corpse and wrap the whole body in bandages of
waxen cloth.” -History of Herodotus
Mummification
• Mummy placed in a coffin inside a tomb
• Filled the tomb with items the dead person could
use in the afterlife, such as clothing, food,
cosmetics, and jewelry
• Scrolls of hymns, prayers, and magic spells
(buried with body) to guide the body through
afterlife