Download Chapter 2 Ancient Egypt

Chapter 2
Ancient Egypt
Section 1
The Nile Valley
Bell Ringer
Settling the Nile
The earliest Egyptians moved into the Nile River valley
from less fertile areas.
They farmed and built villages
along the riverbanks.
The Nile River is the longest
river in the world, about 4,000
miles long.
Egyptians used the Nile River
for many things.
Settling the Nile
• They used river water to drink, clean, farm, and
cook.
• They ate fish from the river.
• The Nile valley is a narrow, green
valley in Egypt.
• The northern end of the valley
is a fertile area of land called a delta.
Ginger (3200 B.C.):
A pre-dynastic (Egyptian Dynasties) man. He is
a natural mummy; dried by desert elements.
Settling the Nile
• The Sahara, the largest desert in the world, lies west
of the Nile Valley.
• The Eastern Desert lies to the east of the valley.
• Egypt has several natural borders to protect
it.
• The deserts, the dangerous rapids of the
Nile, and marshes in the delta kept enemies
from entering Egypt.
Settling the Nile
The Mediterranean Sea to the north and the
Red Sea to the east allowed trade with
other peoples.
Within Egypt, people
traveled on the Nile
to trade with each
other.
Hymn of the Nile
Review Questions
How did natural protection help Egypt?
Enemies had difficulty attacking the country.
Keeping people safe helped the Egyptian
population grow.
The River People
• Floods along the Nile were predictable and were not
devastating.
• Each spring the Nile would flood and leave a
dark, fertile mud along its banks.
• Farmers learned about the waters of the Nile.
• They used the soil left behind by the floods to
grow wheat, barley, and flax seeds.
The River People
• Farmers learned about irrigation.
• They dug basins to trap floodwaters, dug canals to
channel water to the fields, and built dikes to
strengthen the basin walls.
Papyrus, a reed plant that grew along the Nile,
was used to make baskets, sandals, and river
rafts.
• Later, it was used to make paper.
The River People
• The Egyptian system of writing was called
hieroglyphics.
• This system consisted of thousands of picture
symbols.
• Some Egyptian men learned to read and
write.
• They attended schools to learn to be
scribes.
Review Questions
Why might scribes be important to Egyptian
civilization?
Rulers and other people in power, such as priests
and priestesses, needed scribes for record keeping.
Few people could go to school to be scribes, so
there were not many people the rulers could hire to
work as scribes.
A United People
Because the people in Egypt had surplus food,
some people became artisans instead of farmers.
Artisans wove cloth, made pottery, carved
statues, and crafted weapons and tools.
Egyptians traded with each other and with
others in Mesopotamia.
A few strong chiefs united groups of villages into
kingdoms.
A United People
Eventually, the strongest kingdoms overpowered the
weaker ones.
In this way, two large kingdoms emerged—Lower Egypt
and Upper Egypt.
King Narmer united the two kingdoms.
He ruled from the city of Memphis, and his kingdom
lasted long after his death.
A United People
Narmer’s descendants passed the ruling power on from
father to son to grandson, forming a dynasty.
Ancient Egypt was ruled by 31 dynasties that
historians have grouped into three time periods—
Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom.
Review Questions
In what ways was ancient Egypt like
Mesopotamia?
Both had access to powerful rivers,
economies based on farming and trade,
government to help the people, artisans to
create products, and technological advances.
Early Egyptian Life
Ancient Egypt had social classes.
The pharaoh was the highest power.
The upper class consisted of nobles,
priests, and government officials.
The middle class included merchants, artisans,
shopkeepers, and scribes.
Farmers were the largest group of people
and were in a lower class than the middle
class.
Note: write the above info on triangle shaped chart. Like the
one that follows on the next slide.
Early Egyptian Life
Unskilled workers were the lowest class of people in
ancient Egypt.
Early Egyptian Life
Although men were the heads of households,
women had more rights in Egypt than in other
ancient civilizations.
They could own and pass on property, buy
and sell goods, make wills, and obtain
divorces.
Early Egyptian Life
Few children went to school in ancient
Egypt.
Children had time to play games and had
toys.
Egyptian girls learned to sew, cook, and run
a household.
Boys learned farming or a skilled trade.
Review Questions
What is papyrus and how did the
Egyptians use it?
It is a reed plant that was used to make
baskets, sandals, river rafts, and paper.
Review Questions
What rights did women have in ancient
Egypt?
Women could own and pass on property,
buy and sell goods, make wills, obtain
divorces, and take part in religious
ceremonies.
Review Questions
Geography Skills How did the
geography of the Nile River valley lead to
the growth of a civilization there?
The Nile River valley had natural
barriers for protection, enriched soil
for farming, and the river and seas for
trade.
Review Questions
Analyze What was the significance
of Narmer’s double crown?
It symbolized the unity of Upper and
Lower Egypt.
Review Questions
Explain what the “gift of the Nile” means.
Video Clip