Download Chapter 2 Section 2 Notes

Chapter 2 Section 2
Notes
I. The Geography
of Egypt
A. The Gift of the
Nile
1. Nile River is
4,100 mile long
(Mississippi River
2,340 miles long)
2. Every July rains,
and melting
snows cause the
river to overrun
it’s banks
3. In October the
river recedes and a
rich layer of silt
covers the Nile
valley
B. Upper Egypt
(south) and Lower
Egypt (North)
1. Lower Egypt is
the last 750 miles
separated by a
cataract or waterfall
2. In the North or Lower
Egypt was a delta where
the water fanned out and
flowed into the
Mediterranean Sea
(about 100 miles long)
a. The Delta is a
broad marshy,
triangular, silt rich
area of land
Nile Delta
Nile Delta from Space
3. The Nile was a
reliable system for
transportation
Feluccas
a. Boats traveled
northward by
current
b. Boats traveled
southward by
Eustachian winds
off the
Mediterranean
Sea
C. Environmental
Challenges
1. Even though the Nile
did flood on predictable
bases if it was just a few
feet below normal it
could have devastating
affect on crop
production
2. If the Nile was
just a few feet over
normal mud brick
villages could be
destroyed along
with granaries
3. The vast deserts on
the sides did provide
protection from
invaders but also
kept them from
interaction with other
peoples
a. Thus Egypt was
spared constant
warfare that plagued
the Fertile Crescent
D. Movement of
Goods and Ideas
1. By 3200 B.C.
Egypt was trading
with Sumer
2. By 2000 B.C.
Egypt was trading
with lands to the
south
a. Nubia
b. Kush
II. Egypt Unites into
a Kingdom
A. By 3200 B.C.
Upper and Lower
Egypt were two
separate kingdoms
B. By 3100 B.C.
King Menes unites
both
1. Capitol at
Memphis
C. Old Kingdom
lasted from 2660
B.C. to 2180 B.C.
D. Pharaohs Rule as
gods
1. In Egypt kings
were seen as gods
2. Egyptian god
kings became
known as Pharaohs
3. Ruled their
kingdoms as a
Theocracy
a. Pharaoh duty to
promote truth and
justice
E. Builders of the
Pyramids
Sphinx and Pyramid at Giza
Sphinx
3 D Pyramid
1. Pharaoh’s (ka) or
eternal spirit lived
after their death and
would control the
government from a
resting place
2. So kings were
buried in an
immense structure
called a pyramid
3. The great
pyramids were built
during the Old
Kingdom
a. The limestone
was quarried 400
miles upriver
b. Each stone
weighed 2.5 tons
Pyramid Stone
c. 2 million blocks
stacked some 481
feet tall
III. Egyptian
Culture
A. Egyptians were
polytheists
1. Most important
god was Ra, the sun
god and Horus, the
god of light
2. The most
important goddess
was Isis, the ideal
mother
3. More than 2000
gods and goddesses
Egyptians believed strongly in a
good after life
1. The god Osiris would
weigh each persons
heart, no heavier than
a feather or the
Devourer of Souls
would eat your heart
C. Mummification
or embalming and
drying the corpse
became important
1. The process took
70 days
2. All types of
goods were placed
with the dead
D. Life in Egyptian
Society
1. Society formed a
pyramid
a. King and Queen
at the top
b. Next Upper Class
1. Land owners
2. Government
officials
3. Priests
4. Army
commanders
c. Middle Class
1. Merchants
2. Artisans
d. Lower Class
(largest class)
1. Peasants
2. Unskilled
laborers
2. Were not locked
into their class
a. Hard work,
loyalty, read and
write could advance
one
E. Egyptian writing
1. Hieroglyphics (
sacred carvings)
Hieroglyphics
• July 19, 1799: Discovery of the Rosetta Stone
• Description:
On this day in 1799, a French expedition to Egypt
discovered a large piece of basalt with inscriptions
in Greek and in two Egyptian scripts:
hieroglyphics and demotic. This discovery opened
the door for the translation of hieroglyphics,
previously an unsolvable mystery.
2. Papyrus was a
reed plant they
made paper from
F. Egyptian Science
and Technology
1. Collection of
taxes led to
numbering system,
adding and
subtracting
2. Geometry to
survey land for
property during the
floods
3. Geometry for the
construction of the
Pyramids
4. Developed a
calendar based on
the star Sirius 365
days
5. Medicine
a. Heart rate
b. Splint broken
bones
c. Some surgery
IV. Chariot Riders
Invade Egypt
A. During the
Middle Kingdom
from 2080 B.C. to
1640 B.C. there
were more
advances
1. Public projects
2. New Dikes and
irrigation projects
B. Asian invaders
called Hyksos ( the
rulers of the
uplands) invade in
1640 B.C.