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ANCIENT EGYPT
The Nile
Longest river in the world
4100 miles from central Africa to the
Mediterranean
Regular flooding from July-October
Created fertile land on either side
Nile delta especially fertile
Delta = area where river fans out near the
sea
The Kingdom of Egypt
Upper & Lower Egypt united c. 3000 BC
Narmer the first pharaoh
Pharaohs were god-kings
Descended from the god Horus
Pharaoh’s duty to promote maat –
peace, justice, stability
The Kingdom of Egypt
Egypt isolated by geography
Desert
Sinai peninsula
Not threatened by war
Leadership stayed in the hands of
priests
Theocracy
A state in which government power is in
the hands of religious authorities
Summary of Egyptian History
31 dynasties 3100-332 BC
Old Kingdom 2660-2180
Middle Kingdom, 2040-1640
Hyksos conquest and rule, 1650-1550
Jews enter Egypt
New Kingdom, 1550-1075
Peak of Egyptian power
The Pyramids
Built during the Old Kingdom
Khufu (Cheops) pharaoh 2589-2566 BC
Tombs for the pharaohs
Great works of engineering skill
Equipped with everything needed in the
after-life
Mummification
Embalming and drying the corpse
Preserving vital organs
Would need the body and its organs in the
next life
Required great knowledge of anatomy
and skill in surgery
Egyptian Medicine
Famous in the ancient world. Egyptians
could
Check the pulse
Set broken bones
Cure fevers
Use surgery
Hieroglyphics
Name = priestly markings
Used to record historical events, the
lives of pharaohs
Papyrus
Reeds from the Nile delta
Woven, dampened, pressed to form
surface like paper
The Egyptian Calendar
365 days in a solar year
Accurate within 6 hours
12 months of 30 days
Five holidays – days on which important
gods were born
The Hyksos
Invaders from Asia
Ruled c. 1640-1570
Same time that the Bible has the Jewish
people moving into Egypt
Story of Joseph
Hyksos & Jews may have been related
The New Kingdom
Pharaohs of the 18th. & 19th. dynasties
marked the peak of Egypt’s military
power and glory
1550-1186 BC
The New Kingdom
Kamose (1555-1550 BC) defeated the
Hyksos
Hatshepsut (1473-1458)
Woman pharaoh
Built up trade with Africa in luxury goods
Thutmose III (1479-1425)
Conquered a huge empire in Africa & Asia
Egyptian empire at its largest extent
The New Kingdom
Akhenaten (1352-1336 BC)
Introduced monotheism
Worship of the sun-disk as the only god
Tutankhamen (1336-1327)
Restored old Egyptian religion
Died young
The New Kingdom
Ramses II (1290-1224)
Built massive monuments in the Valley of
the Kings
May have been the pharaoh who dealt with
Moses in the Exodus
Decline of Egypt
Libyans begin invasions, c. 950 BC
Libyan dynasties, 818-751
Kushite dynasty, 751-656
Assyrian conquest, 671-627
Persian domination, 525-332
Ptolemy dynasty (Greek), 332-30