Download Egyptian Geography

Egyptian Geography
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Today desert covers large areas
of Egypt
In ancient times, the landscape
was quite different
◦ Area was covered by swampland that
probably supported large populations
of animals
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One physical feature has
dominated the region: the Nile
River
◦ Without this important river, the land
could not have supported the great
civilization that appeared in Egypt
◦ This civilization developed in the fertile
valley provided by the Nile
The Nile River
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The Nile is the longest river
in the world
◦ Stretching about 4,160 miles
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The river flows from south
to north, eventually
branching into a fan-shaped
delta and emptying into the
southern Mediterranean
Sea
Along most of its course the
Nile’s smooth, steady flow
provided a natural route for
transportation, as well as a
seemingly endless supply of
life-giving water
The Nile River
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The Nile’s south-to-north flow
made it possible for early
people to move goods upland
At the same time, prevailing
winds blowing from north to
south enabled boats to sail
southward on the river
Heavy summer rains at the
Nile’s source cause the summer
floods
◦ Egyptian farmers planned their
work around the flood
◦ They harvested crops before
the flood came
◦ When the waters receded,
the fertile soil was left behind
Farmers in the Nile Valley
By digging short canals
to carry river water to
fields, farmers could
grow two or even three
crops a year
 Farmers could then feed
a large population
 Planning of irrigation
systems promoted
cooperation among
the people
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Other Natural Advantages
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The Nile Valley offered other
natural resources besides
its fertile soil
Its sunny frost-free climate
made it easy to grow many
kinds of crops
The north wind that blows
from the Mediterranean Sea
upstream allows boats to
either travel upstream with
the wind or downstream
with the current
Using it as a pathway of
travel and trade linking
all parts of the Nile Valley
Also helped in unifying the
region into one kingdom
Other Natural Advantages
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The Nile Valley contains granite,
sandstone, and limestone
◦ Egyptians used these minerals
as building materials
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The deserts and the seas that
surrounded the Nile Valley
provided natural protection
against invaders
◦ Only the Isthmus of Suez broke
these natural barriers
◦ Forms a land bridge between Africa
and Asia
◦ Provided a route for trade and for
the exchange of ideas between the
Egyptians and their neighbors to the
east
Early Steps Toward Civilization
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Archaeological finds suggest
that other ancient cultures
influenced early Nile Valley
civilization
Hunter-gatherer groups had
moved into the Nile River
valley by 12,000 BC
◦ These people began to form
farming settlements

By about 3800 BC they
began to mine copper,
perhaps for tools and
jewelry
Early Egyptian Writing
By about 3000 BC Nile River
Valley people had developed
hieroglyphics, a form of
writing
 Hieroglyphic writing used
more than 600 signs, pictures,
or symbols to represent
words and sounds
 At first Egyptians carved these
into stone or hard materials
 Carving was a long and
difficult process, soon the
Egyptians discovered a way
to make a kind of paper

Papyrus
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They used the papyrus
plant that grew near the
Nile River
They cut the plant into
long, thin slices
They then moistened the
strips and pressed them
together to make papyrus
◦ From which we get our word
paper

Egyptians wrote on papyrus
with ink made from soot,
water, and plant juice, using
a brush made from a rush
Decoding Hieroglyphs
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Thousands of years later, scholars
learned to read hieroglyphic
writing
◦ In AD 1798 a French army invaded
Egypt
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The next year a French officer
discovered an unusual stone
◦ It became known as the Rosetta
Stone
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Carved on this stone were passages
written in Greek, hieroglyphics, and
an Egyptian writing style called
demotic
23 years later a French language
expert used the stone to solve
the mystery of hieroglyphics
◦ Used the Greek text to decode the
hieroglyphics
The Egyptian Kingdoms
Over the centuries, two
distinct cultures developed
along the Nile
◦ They formed two kingdoms,
Lower Egypt and Upper
Egypt
◦ Lower Egypt lay to the
north in the Nile River delta
◦ Upper Egypt lay farther
south, away from the
Mediterranean Sea
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Menes, king of Upper Egypt
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Sometime after 3200 BC,
Menes, a king of Upper
Egypt, united all of Egypt
into one kingdom
Menes found a dynasty,
or family of rulers
The right to rule in a
dynasty passes on within
the family, usually from father
to son or daughter
The dynasty ends when the
family is driven from power
or no family member is left
to become ruler
Menes Dynasty
Menes and his successors
gained new territory
 They also improved irrigation
and trade, making Egypt
wealthier
 Egypt’s dynastic rulers were
religious and political leaders
 The people regarded them
as gods, and built temples
and tombs to honor them
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Later Dynasties
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In later years the rulers took the
title pharaoh, which means “great
house”
◦ Pharaohs held absolute, or unlimited
power
◦ They not only led the government, but
also served as judges, high priests,
and generals of the armies
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From the time of Menes until
almost 300 BC, some 30
dynasties ruled Egypt
◦ Historians divided this time span
into three kingdoms
◦ The Old Kingdom, the Middle
Kingdom, and the New Kingdom
The Old Kingdom
(2680 BC to about 2180 BC)
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Many important
developments in science
and the arts took place
during this time
They built the Great
Sphinx and the largest
pyramids
These structures still
stand as symbols of the
glory of Egyptian
civilizations
Old Kingdom Lower Class
 Egyptian
society in
the Old Kingdom was
split into two classes
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The lower class included
peasants and farmers
These people owed the
Pharaoh certain services
They served in the army
and worked on building
projects such as
irrigation canals and
pyramids
Old Kingdom Upper Class
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The upper class included
the pharaoh, the royal family,
priests, scribes, and
government officials
◦ They became a small but
powerful hereditary group
of nobles
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Pharaohs grew weaker and
nobles grew stronger toward
the end of the Old Kingdom
◦ Civil wars divided Egypt as
rivals battled for control of
the land
The Middle Kingdom
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In about 2050 BC a new line
of pharaohs reunited Egypt
and ushered in the Middle
Kingdom
This was the “golden age”
for the Egyptians, marked by
stability and prosperity
Nobles and priests again
began to weaken the
power of the pharaoh
By 1780 BC the Middle
Kingdom was becoming
unstable
The Middle Kingdom
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At this time of instability a
people called the Hyksos,
meaning “foreigner”, arrived
Egypt from Asia
They introduced new war
tools such as the chariot
and the compound bow
Historians disagree about
the history of the Hyksos
◦ Whether they invaded Egypt or
were allowed to occupy Egypt
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The Hyksos did become
very powerful with the
collapse of the Middle
Kingdom
◦ They ruled most of Lower
Egypt for more than 100 years
in
The New Kingdom
(1570 BC to about 1080 BC)
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Eventually the leaders in Upper
Egypt drove the Hyksos out of
the country
A line of strong pharaohs began
to rule a reunited Egypt
For a time, the pharaohs once
again had absolute power
They kept strict control over
government
They created a strong army
Gained land along the eastern
end of the Mediterranean Sea
and south into Nubia
The New Kingdoms Empire
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The New Kingdom
pharaohs built an empire,
a form of government in
which an individual or a
single people rules over
many other peoples and
their territories
Only the strongest
pharaohs could hold the
empire together
Some parts tried to break
away when a weak pharaoh
ruled
New Kingdom Rulers
One of the New Kingdoms
pharaohs was also one of the first
known female rulers
 After the death of her husband,
Hatshepsut reigned as pharaoh
(1505BC to 1482 BC)
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◦ Hatshepsut was a strong ruler who
kept Egypt’s borders secure and built
trade with other lands
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Her stepson Thutmose III
continued this trend, bringing
Egypt to the height of its power
through conquest and trade until
his death in 1450 BC
Other New Kingdom Rulers
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From about 1380 BC to 1362 BC
Egypt was ruled by the pharaoh
Amenhotep IV
He tried to bring about social
and religious change in Egypt
Before he was pharaoh, Egyptians
believed that many gods existed
◦ This belief is called polytheism
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Amenhotep believed in only one
god, a belief called monotheism
The Sun God
That one god was the sun,
symbolized by a disk called the
Aton
 The pharaoh changed his name
to Akhenaton to honor Aton
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◦ Which means “he who is pleasing
to Aton”
Akhenaton could not change
his people’s religious beliefs
 The pharaoh struggled with
Egyptian priests
 After his death the priests
regained power and Egyptians
returned to old polytheistic
religion
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Ramses the Great
After the death of
Akhenaton, a few strong
pharaohs ruled Egypt
 Ramses II was among
those leaders
(1279BC to 1213BC)
 He kept the Egyptian
empire together and
ordered the construction
of many temples and
monuments
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◦ He is sometimes called
Ramses the Great
Egypt’s Decline
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The pharaohs who followed
Ramses were not as
successful
Invasions from foreigners
weakened Egypt
Eventually foreign empires
such as the Assyrians, the
Nubians, and the Persians
attacked Egypt
By the 300s BC rule in
Egypt by Egyptians came
to an end