Pyramids on the Nile

Chapter 2 Section 2

While the Sumerian civilization was growing a similar process was developing along the banks of the Nile river. Egyptian Civilization would turn out to be different than the Sumerian city states.

Geography of Egypt

• Nile = 4184 miles• Nile is the longest

river in the world.• it winds from Uganda

to Ethiopia, flowing through a total of nine countries. While the Nile River is often associated with Egypt, it actually touches Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan, as well as Egypt.

• Gift of the Nile - Just like in Mesopotamia, yearly flooding brought rich soil which allowed settlements to grow. The flood left behind a fertile black mud.

• The people would use the soil to prepare fields for growing wheat and barley. They also used irrigation ditches. Some Egyptians worshiped the Nile as a god who gave them life and seldom turned against them.

• The Greek Historian Herodotus would remark Egypt was the gift of the Nile.

• The Egyptians mostly used the lower part of the Nile, the 750 miles before the river empties north into the Mediterranean.

• Beyond those 750 miles jagged granite cliffs and boulders turn the river into churning rapids called a cataract.

• River boats could not pass this First Cataract. Between the First Cataract were Upper and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt went from the First Cataract to the point at which the Nile fans out.

• Lower Egypt consisted of the Nile delta region, which begins about 100 miles before the Nile enters the Mediterranean Sea.

• The delta region is rich land because of the soil deposits.

• Boat travel was easy because the Nile flowed north, and the winds went from north to south. This made it easy for people to trade with one another.

Egypt vs Mesopotami

a

• Farmers had an easier time in Egypt than they did in the Mesopotamia region. The Nile flooded on a yearly cycle like clockwork rather than following an unpredictable pattern.

• The deserts separated Egyptians from other lands. The people were forced to live by the Nile, but they did not have to worry about the threat from invaders and avoided constant warfare.

• (A) THE DELTA North of Memphis, the Nile divided into channels, to form a delta. Much of this land was swampy, but the rest was good for farming.

• (B) OASIS The Western Desert had a few places where enough water was available for crops to be grown. These were called oases.

• (C) THE EASTERN DESERT The Eastern Desert had no oases but it contained valuable minerals, including gold.

• (D) THE VALLEY The valley was only 19 km wide but over 5,960 km long.

• (E) CATARACTS Ships sailing south were stopped by cataracts (rapids).

• Around 3200 B.C., the Egyptians started making contact and trading with the people from Mesopotamia. Around 2000 B.C. the Egyptians were using barges to travel south to Nubia and Kush. They traveled to those places in search of gold, ivory, cattle, and granite blocks for their temples and tombs.

• The Egyptians blended the cultures of the Nile Valley peoples with the cultures of people who migrated into the valley from other parts of Africa and the Fertile Crescent.

• Egypt became a land of cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity throughout its 3000 year history.

Egypt Unites into a Kingdom • Farming

villages in Egypt dated back to 5000 B.C.

• The villages had their own rituals, gods, and chieftains.

• The villages were under the rule of two separate kingdoms, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt.

• According to legend the king of Lower Egypt wore a red crown and the king of Upper Egypt wore a white crown shaped like a bowling ball pin.

• Around 3100 B.C., an Upper Egypt king named Menes united all of Egypt.

• As a symbol of this union he created a double crown that mixed the red and white crowns.

• Menes established the capital at Memphis, near the spot where Lower and Upper Egypt met.

• Legend has it that Menes had a long and successful reign until he was carried off and killed by a hippopotamus

The Old Kingdom

• Little is know about the first two dynasties, but records were kept for the Third Dynasty.

• This dynasty has become known as the Old Kingdom.

• In the Mesopotamia region the kings were representatives of the gods, in Egypt, the kings were gods. The Egyptian god-kings were called pharaohs.

Ra - The Sun god

Horus - god of light

Isis - goddess who represented the ideal mother

and wife

Osiris - god of the dead

(A) HOME OF THE GODA temple was the palace or home of the god. Beyond the large hall was the sanctuary,

containing the shrine of the god.(B) THE SHRINE

The gods statue stood in the sanctuary, which only the priests were allowed to enter.(C) PRIESTS

The priests had to be pure and clean. They shaved their heads and bodies and washed four times a day. They wore robes of fine, white linen.

(D) OFFERINGSThe chief priest brought daily offerings of food, and carried out other holy duties, such as

washing and clothing the god.(E) STATUE

At religious festivals, priests carried the statue outside, where the people could pray to the god or ask him questions.

(A) TRIBUTERulers of smaller countries recognised the king of Egypt as their overlord. They sent him tributes -

expensive gifts - as a sign of loyalty.(B) ATTENDANTS

The king was attended by scribes, courtiers, his family, priests, and sometimes the governors of the provinces.(C) VIZIER

The most powerful man after the king was the vizier, or chief minister.(D) PHARAOH

The power of the pharaoh had no limit. He owned the whole country. He decided what was right and wrong, and his word was law.

• The Pharaoh was the center of religion, government, and army.

• A government in which the ruler is a divine figure is known as a theocracy.

Pharaohs• Egyptians believed the

Pharaoh was in charge of the country’s well being.

• He caused the sun to rise, the Nile to flood, and the crops to grow.

• The Egyptians believed the Pharaoh ruled even after he died. They believed he had an eternal spirit, or ka. In his afterlife the Pharaoh retained his needs and pleasures.

• Tombs were made to be even more important than the palaces. For the kings of the Old Kingdom, the resting place after death was an immense structure called a pyramid.

(A) RAISING STONE BLOCKS One of the hardest jobs was moving the heavy stone blocks into place. The builders made huge ramps of earth and dragged the stones up

the ramps with ropes. (B) SUPERVISORS Officials, who were probably priests, directed the gangs of workmen. (C) SHAPING THE STONE Each stone was carefully measured and shaped to fit into place. (D) ACCIDENTS Many workmen were killed or injured,

crushed by the heavy stone blocks.

• The builders of the pyramids had not even begun to use the wheel.

http://www.gridclub.com/info/fact_gadget/the_egyptians/ancient_egypt/building_the_pyramids/1859.html

• For the Great Pyramid in Giza, the limestone used for the pyramid was quarried 400 miles up river.

• Each stone weighed 2.5 tons.

• 2 million blocks were stacked to a precision height of 481 feet.

(A) ANUBIS The priest in charge of the mummification wore the mask of Anubis (the god of the dead).

(B) INCENSE A priest stands by, holding sweet-smelling incense. (C) WRAPPING THE BODY The body, or mummy, was wrapped in layers of linen before

being placed in the coffin. (D) NATRON Natron, a kind of soda, was placed in the body to dry it out before it was

wrapped in linen. (E) SOAKING THE BANDAGES Sometimes, linen strips were soaked in plaster so they

would harden when drying

Canopic jars

Book of the DeadContained declarations intended to prove

the ka was worthy of eternal life.

• Lower and middle classes could move up in society through marriage or success in jobs.

• For the best jobs (treasury, priesthood, kings court, military leadership) people had to read and write.

Women• Women had many of

the same rights as men.

• They could buy and sell property, propose marriage, seek a divorce.

• If a woman was granted a divorce she could receive 1/3 of the couple’s property.

Hieroglyphics

• Hieros = sacred• Gluphe = carving• Pictures stood for

ideas and sounds• Written on clay

then papyrus

Science and technology

• Written numbers for adding and subtracting.• 365 day calendar based on the rise of the star Sirius, which

appeared above the Eastern horizon just before the floods came.• The calendar had 12 months of 30 days each.

Science and Technology• Egyptians also knew

to check the heart rate by looking for the pulse.

• Made splints for bones.

• Performed surgery.

Hesyre, the oldest known physician

• The power of the Pharaohs declined around 2180 B.C.

• This ended the Old Kingdom

• 1st intermediate period

• 100 years later they regained control.

• This began the Middle Kingdom (2080-1640 B.C.)

• During the Middle Kingdom years a canal was dug from the Nile to the Red Sea.

• This allowed more irrigation to create more farms.

• Around 1640 B.C., Asian Nomads, known as the Hyksos, swept across the Isthmus of the Suez on horse drawn carriages and took over Egypt for 70 years.

• This was the 2nd Intermediate Period.