Download Pharaoh

Ancient Egypt
Ms. Morris
What do you know about Ancient Egypt?
Egypt was different from Sumer
Egypt was a land of cultural, ethnic, and
racial diversity throughout its 3,000 year
history.
Review: What are the 5 requirements of a
civilization? Will Egypt have these?
What was the most important geographic feature for
Ancient Egypt?
Nile River
Egyptian Vocabulary
Delta: an area at the
mouth of a river, often
triangle-shaped, made
up of silt deposits
Silt gives the Nile its
dark color
Cataracts: rocky
stretches along the
Nile marked by swift
currents and rapids
Natural protection
Egyptian Vocabulary
Pharaoh: King of the
Egyptians. The Pharaoh has
absolute power.
Pharaoh means “Great
House”; he was not only a
king, but also a god!
Theocracy: A state ruled by
religious figures.
Since the Pharaoh is also
looked at as a god, Egypt was
a Theocracy.
Egyptian Vocabulary
Bureaucracy: a
highly structured
organization managed
by officials loyal to
the Pharaoh
The Pharaoh could not
rule Egypt alone;
therefore he hired
people (usually family)
to help rule his
kingdom.
The Beginnings of Ancient Egypt
6,000 B.C.--The first
inhabitants begin to
settle around the Nile
River.
3,100 B.C.--The King
of Upper Egypt named
Menes, united Upper
and Lower Egypt.
Menes makes the city
of Memphis his capital
city.
Menes & The Old Kingdom
Members of Menes’s
family passed the double
crown of upper and lower
Egypt from father to son
to grandson.
A series of rulers from a
single family is called a
dynasty; Menes starts the 1st
dynasty of Egypt.
Ancient Egypt would
consist of 31 dynasties,
spanning 2,800 years.
The Old Kingdom (2650-2100 B.C.)
The Old Kingdom began with the 3rd Dynasty.
It was the great age of pyramid building in
ancient Egypt.
How were these pyramids built?
The pharaohs expected to reign forever. Their
tombs (pyramids) were more important than
their palaces.
Pyramids at Giza
Immortality of the Pharaoh
Egyptians believed that their pharaoh ruled even after his
death. He had an eternal spirit, or ka, that continued to take
part in the governing of Egypt. The ka was a living spirit.
Pharaoh’s Tomb needed the following:
Eternal comforts: Artists decorated the walls of the burial
chamber with pictures of whatever he might need or like.
(Endless meals, loved ones, devoted servants, etc.)
Luxuries: Fine jewelry, game boards with precious stones, rich
clothing.
Inscriptions: Writings of what the pharaoh achieved in life were
also found on the tomb walls.
Hieroglyphics
A form of Egyptian writing based on pictorial
characters for words and sounds. Hieroglyphs were
found on the walls of a Pharaoh’s tombs.
Old Kingdom Ends
Power of the pharaohs declined.
More and more power fell to the nobles and
officials; Local rulers struggled among
themselves for power.
Disease, famine and Civil War tore Egypt
apart!
Old Kingdom collapses around 2100 BC.
Royal Power Returns in the
Middle Kingdom (2055-1640 B.C.)
Law & Order returned to Egypt under some strong
kings.
Farming revived, trade grew, and the arts
flourished.
Relations with Phoenicians, Nubians, and Minoans
The capital moved from Memphis to Thebes (Two
massive Temples Built were there).
Public projects were created by the great trade
brought in.
Second Illness Brings Ruin Again
Civil War breaks out again.
Trade routes not always safe; Egypt became
prey to outside invaders.
Egyptians were ruled by Asian Nomads called
Hyksos from 1650-1570 B.C.
Egyptians despised the less civilized nomads
and vowed to get them out.
The New Kingdom:
An Age of Empires (1570-1075 B.C.)
This kingdom was more
powerful and wealthier than
ever before.
The famous King Tut, Queen
Hatshepsut, and Ramses the
Great ruled during this time
period.
Egyptians became conquerors.
Professional Army assembled
which included: Bowmen,
Charioteers, & Infantry.
Used outside lands as protectionbuffer lands
Above: Nov. 4, 2007: King Tut's
mummy, unmasked and on public
display in Egypt for the first time since
being discovered 85 years ago.
Right: A facial-reconstruction model
of King Tutankhamun made by a
French team based on CT scans of
the boy king's mummy.
Right: One of the two
mummified fetuses
found in the tomb of
King Tutankhamun in
1922 during modern
preparations for a DNA
test in Cairo, Egypt.
Tutankhamen's tomb (lower left) in the Valley of the
Kings in western Thebes, Egypt.
Queen Hatshepsut
Above: Queen Hatshepsut
In 1500BC; Hatshepsut’s husband died. She proclaimed
herself Queen and ruled for 22 years!
Accomplished a huge trading network through the Red
Sea. When she died, her nephew tried to destroy all the
records of her reign!
Ramses II ("the Great") may be the most famous of all
Egyptian kings. He reigned for 67 years and lived well into his
80s. He took the throne at age 17, had 99 children, and married
a Hittite princess to end a feud between the 2 warring empires.
Egypt’s Power Declined
1200 B.C.– Invasions destroyed many kingdoms.
Egyptian records speak of attacks by “The People of the
Sea.” Little is known of these invaders, but the
destruction they left behind was vast.
Both the Egyptian and Hittite kingdoms fell to
these mysterious enemies.
In 671 B.C. Assyrians took over Egypt. A century
and a half later it was the Persians turn to conquer
Egypt.