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Ancient Egypt
“Gift of the Nile”
The Ancient Egyptian Civilization was located along the Nile River
in northern Africa. Egypt was known as the “Gift of the Nile.” The Nile
River is the main reason that a civilization started here. Without the Nile
Egypt would be an empty desert. The Nile River Valley is the only place in
the Sahara Desert where people can live because: a) people can drink the
water, b) water crops, c) eat fish in the river and animals near it, and d) use
it for transportation. The fertile land where the Nile River empties into the
Mediterranean Sea is called the delta.
Farming
Most Egyptians were farmers who lived along Nile River Valley.
The Nile floods every summer. These floods brought in fertile soil called
silt from hills. The Egyptians planted their crops in the fall, when the soil
was still fertile from the flood. They picked their crops before the next flood.
They created a calendar based on the flooding of the Nile. They invented a
simple machine called a shadoof to get the water out of the river to irrigate
their crops.
Society
Egyptian kings were called Pharaohs. Pharaohs were also priests and
were considered Gods on Earth. The Pharaoh owned everything and
everyone. The peasant farmers and slaves worked the fields. They grew
wheat, grains, and barley. They brewed beer and made bread. They kept
what they needed to survive and gave all of their surplus (extra) crops to
artisans, scribes, priests, government officials and the Pharaoh. Most
Egyptians were lower class peasants who lived on farms. The upper class
priests and government officials lived in cities. The cities are where people
worshipped many gods and goddesses.
Religion
Ancient Egyptians believed in many gods and goddesses that
represented many different things like the sun, river, land, etc. They
worshipped these gods at temples in cities and at shines in their homes.
The Afterlife
They believed in life after death. They believed that a body had to
be preserved to make it to the afterlife. They turned the body of a dead
person into a mummy to keep it from rotting. The spirit of a person was
called the ka. This spirit went on to the afterlife. Peasants were buried in
pits in the deserts. Wealthy people were placed in tombs cut into cliffs along
with personal items for the afterlife. Pharaohs were put inside of carved
cliff walls or Pyramids.
Pyramids
Pharaohs were buried inside tombs called pyramids during Egypt’s
Old Kingdom. Viziers began building the pyramid for a pharaoh at the
beginning of his or her reign. Pyramids took 20-30 years to build and were a
status symbol that represented the pharaoh’s power (the bigger the
pyramid, the greater the pharaoh). The pyramids were built on flat land to
the west of the Nile River. Pyramids were built out of huge limestone bricks
at a 52 degree angle. They were built high to get the Pharaohs ka as close
to the heavens as possible. The top of the pyramid was often covered in
gold.
History
3 Kingdoms: Old, Middle, and New
Historians divided Egypt into three separate kingdoms: The Old
Kingdom (3100-2300 BC), The Middle Kingdom (2300-1550 BC), and The
New Kingdom (1550-1150 BC).
The Old Kingdom was the oldest and was the start of it all. This is when
Pharaohs had unlimited power and when pyramids were built.
The Middle Kingdom was a time of great art, architecture, and writing.
Pharaohs had a lot less power during this time.
The New Kingdom was the time when Egypt grew larger and pharaohs
gained their power back.
Decline of Egypt
There were three reasons that the Egyptian Empire died out:
1. Too much money and energy spent on wars
2. Priests and Pharaohs struggled for power
3. Weak weapons because they didn’t have iron
Contributions of Ancient Egypt
Papyrus – a type of paper made from papyrus reeds
Hieroglyphics – type of writing using symbols
Math – developed a base ten number system, factions, and geometry
Calendar – developed a yearly calendar based on flood season