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Chapter 2
First Civilizations:
Africa and Asia
3200 – 500 B.C.
2.1: Ancient Kingdoms of de Nile
 The Nile
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The Nile river flooded yearly, providing a 10
mile strip of fertile land on either side of its
banks
The “Black Land” was used by farmers to grow
flax and wheat
The rest of Egypt, the “Red Land,” was
primarily desert and sparsely inhabited
North vs. South
 Egypt was actually two regions at the time,
north and south
 Upper Egypt was closer to the mouth of the
river, while Lower Egypt contained the delta
and Mediterranean coast
 King Menes (3100BC) united Upper and
Lower Egypt and used the Nile for
transportation and communication,
The Kingdoms of Egypt
 Egypt’s History is divided into three
kingdoms:
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Old Kingdom (2700- 2200BC)
Middle Kingdom (2050- 1800BC)
New Kingdom (1550- 110BC)
Old Kingdom
 Old Egypt was ruled by
pharaohs, who claimed
divine inspiration and were
worshipped as gods
 The pharaoh kept a vizier,
who supervised the
government, collected
taxes, regulated farming,
and maintained the
irrigation systems
The Pyramids
 The pyramids were built during the Old
Kingdom as temples to the gods and tombs
for the dead
 The Egyptians believed in an afterlife and
embalmed the bodies (mummies) to preserve
them
 Workers hand-chiseled and hauled massive
limestone blocks up earthen ramps to build
the pyramids
The Pyramids at Giza
The Pyramids at Giza
The Middle Kingdom
 Power struggles, crop failures, and the heavy
cost of building pyramids signaled the end of
the Old Kingdom
 More than a century passed before Egypt
would be united again under the pharaohs in
the Middle Kingdom
 The Middle Kingdom saw the creation of a
large drainage project which allowed for more
usable farm land
The Middle Kingdom
 The Middle Kingdom was very turbulent with
corruption and rebellion the norm
 Egypt occupied gold-rich Nubia to the south
 Egypt was conquered by the Hyksos for a
century
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The Hyksos used horse-drawn war chariots,
which the Egyptians adopted
The Hyksos were run out of Egypt after a century
of occupation
The New Kingdom
 The New Kingdom saw the expansion of the
Egyptian empire to the Euphrates River
 This allowed for Egyptian culture to mix with
those of Africa, Asia, and southern Europe
New Kingdom Rulers
 Hatshepsut
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Powerful female ruler
She encouraged trade
with eastern
Mediterranean islands
and the Red Coast of
Africa
New Kingdom Rulers
 Ramses II
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Extended Egyptian
rule to Syria
Lead his soldiers to
victory against the
Hittites
Produced a document,
the first known to
exist, proclaiming
peace between the
two peoples
Egyptian Decline
 Following Ramses II, Egyptian power
severely declined
 New invaders such as the Assyrians,
Persians, Greeks, and Romans were eager to
get their hands on the gold and fertile land of
the Nile River Valley
Egypt and Nubia
 Nubia, the kingdom to the south of Egypt,
experienced a back and forth relationship
 Nubians provided cattle, ivory, slaves, gold,
and warriors to Egypt after their conquest
 As Egypt declined, Nubia regained its
independence and later took control of Egypt
in 750 BC
 The Nubians ruled Egypt as the pharaohs
had once and treated the culture with great
respect
Egypt and Nubia
 The Nubians would later be driven out around
650 BC by the Assyrians, but would rule on
for nearly 1000 years in their home lands
Ch2.2 Egyptian Civilization
 Egyptian culture was based heavily on the
gods and goddesses and the afterlife
 The Tale of Osiris and Isis
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God of the Underworld
Brother, Set
Ankh – symbol of life
Osiris
Egyptian Religion
 Each major phenomenon was ruled by a god
 The principle god in the Egyptian religion was
the sun-god, Amon-Re
 The pharaoh was also considered a god and
was the only one to hold ceremony with
Amon-Re
 Osiris and Isis were also very important
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Osiris was also god of the Nile and controlled
the annual flood
Isis served as a role for women
The Afterlife
 The gods Osiris and Isis promised life after
death for all Egyptians
 Each soul had to pass a test to enter the after
life
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The dead soul would be ferried across a lake
of fire to the temple of Osiris
Osiris would then weigh your heart against the
feather of truth
Those found worthy would enter the Happy
Field of Food, guilty would be surrendered to
the Eater of the Dead
The Afterlife
 The Egyptians used the Book of the Dead to
guide them to a successful afterlife
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The Book of the Dead contained spells,
charms, and formulas to reach the afterlife
The Book of the Dead contains the Negative
Confession:
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“I have made no man suffer hunger. I have made
no one to weep. I have done no murder… I have
not encroached upon the fields of another. I have
not added to the weights of the scales to cheat
the seller… I have not turned back water when it
should flow… I am pure. I am pure. I am pure.”
The Afterlife
 Mummification
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Egyptians believed the afterlife would be much
like life on earth and preserved the bodies of
the dead for use in the afterlife
Bodies of the rich and powerful would be
drained of blood, removed of their organs,
stuffed with spices and preservatives, and
carefully dried and wrapped in linen
The process was very costly and time
consuming
Mummification
The Afterlife
 Many pharaohs were buried in the pyramids
at Giza, but others were buried in the Valley
of the Kings
 One such pharaoh included Tutankhamen, or
King Tut
 Tut died at the age of 18 and was a minor
king
 The tombs of many of the pharaohs were
raided by looters because of their vast
treasures of gold
The Afterlife
Egyptian Society
 Early Egyptian society followed the usual
class system described earlier
 In the off-season, farmers helped build
pyramids, temples, and serve the pharaoh
 During the New Kingdom, trade and warfare
increased, which allowed for increased social
mobility
Egyptian Women
 Egyptian women enjoyed more rights and
freedoms than women elsewhere in the
ancient world
 Women could own property, enter business
deals, buy and sell goods, go to court, and
get a divorce
 Women could also make textiles, perfumes,
serve as priests to the goddesses, and
doctors
Egyptian Woman
Egyptian Learning
 Scribes were used to record everything from
pharaoh’s orders, to ceremonies, taxes, gifts,
to how to do math, medicine, and engineering
 Scribes were one of the few professions that
could easily elevate a peasant to a wealthy
learned man
 Hieroglyphics, an elaborate system of writing,
was developed
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Earliest forms were carved into the stone walls
of temples and pyramids
Hieroglyphics
 Scribes went from early
ideograms to demotic, a
simpler form of writing
for everyday use
 Scribes also invented a
paper-like substance
called papyrus, made
from reeds that grew
along the Nile
 Major writings were still
done on stone because
it was more durable
Rosetta Stone
 After the fall of the Egyptian civilization, the
meanings of the hieroglyphics was lost
 Not until the 1800’s, when Jean Champollion
discovered the Rosetta Stone, could Egyptian
writing be deciphered
 The Rosetta Stone contained the same
message written in hieroglyphics, demotic,
and Greek
 This allowed scholars to translate ancient
Egyptian writing for the first time
Rosetta Stone
Medicine and Science
 Believed in magic
 Learned a great deal about the human body
through mummification
 Used herbal medicines and performed
complex surgeries
 Created the basis for our modern calendar
with 12 months of 30 days
 Used geometry and engineering to build
temples and pyramids
Arts and Literature
Arts and Literature
Ch2.3 City-States of Ancient Sumer
 Need to Finish