Transcript Ancient Egypt

BELLRINGER
Read the following excerpt from the Book of the
Dead. Turn to your bellringer page and answer
the following questions:
 After reading this passage, what can you
deduce about the afterlife and its importance
in Egyptian daily life?
 Why would someone be listing everything they
did not do?

BELLRINGER – PRE-AP
Read the following excerpt from the Book of the
Dead and Song of the Nile.
 After reading this passage, what can you
deduce about the afterlife and its importance
in Egyptian daily life?
 Why would someone be listing everything they
did not do?

ANCIENT EGYPT
OLD KINGDOM: THE “AGE OF PYRAMIDS”
THE NILE RIVER
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Flooded once/ year (July) and receded in October
leaving fertile soil
Lived along lower part of Nile early on…
Ended along the cataracts: churning rapids with
jagged cliffs and boulders
LOWER EGYPT AND UPPER EGYPT
3200 BCE Egypt under rule of 2 different kings
 3100 BCE Menes united Egypt
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 1st
dynasty of 31 that will last 2600 years
OLD KINGDOM EGYPT
Begins with 3rd dynasty around 2660 BCE
 Pharaohs were god-kings
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 Center
of religion (theocracy)
 Government
 Military
“AGE OF PYRAMIDS”
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Pharaoh had an eternal spirit or ka
Resting place after death was a pyramid
More stone than Fertile Crescent
RELIGION
More optimistic than Mesopotamia
 Ra (god of sun) and Horus (god of light) most
important
 Over 2000 gods and goddesses
 Afterlife- heart weighed
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DEATH IN EGYPT
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All classes planned burials to safely reach Other World
Built tombs
Preserved the body through mummification
Put in coffin in tomb with scrolls, clothes, cosmetics, food, and
jewelry
CLASS SYSTEM IN EGYPT
CLASSES AND WOMEN IN EGYPT
Social classes were not set in stone
 Could gain status through marriage
 Slaves could gain freedom
 Education could lead to high positions
 Women had many similar rights as men
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 Own
or trade property
 Propose marriage or seek divorce
 Entitlement to 1/3 of family property in divorce
EGYPTIAN WRITING
Pictographs quickly developed into
hieroglyphics which means “sacred carving”
 1srt written on stone and clay, but later on
papyrus- reeds that grew in the marsh
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ACTIVITY: WRITE YOUR OWN HIEROGLYPHICS
Look at the worksheet. Using the information
provided, try to decipher the code.
 Once you are finished, try creating your own
hieroglyphics on a separate sheet of paper.
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN ANCIENT EGYPT
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Many inventions served a practical purpose
 Numbers,
addition, and subtraction for taxes
 Geometry for boundaries of farms
 Builders used mathematical calculations for
constructing pyramids and monuments
 Architects used columns in homes, palaces,
temples
 Calendar to help planting season
 Medicine, pulse rate, splints, and surgery
THE DECLINE OF OLD KINGDOM
2180 BCE, power started to decline
 First Intermediate Period (100 years)
 Middle Kingdom 2080-1640 BCE improved
trade, transportation, and irrigation
 1640 BCE Hyksos “chariot riders” took over for
70 years (Second Intermediate Period)
 After that, the New Kingdom rises…
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NEW KINGDOM EGYPT: EGYPT’S GOLDEN
AGE (1570 BCE- 1075 BCE)
THE NEW FACE OF THE NEW KINGDOM
Now had bronze weapons and
2 wheeled chariots
 Army included archers,
charioteers, and infantry
 New crown- a battle helmet
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HATSHEPSUT
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Declared self Pharaoh in
1472 BCE
Encouraged trade over
warfare
THUTMOSE III
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Stepson of Hatsheput
Invaded Palestine, Syria, and
Nubia
NEW RULERS OF NEW KINGDOM
RAMESSES II
1290- 1224 BCE
 Lived to 99 years old
 Considered one of the greatest
pharaohs
 “The Great Ancestor”
 Father of 150 children
 Discovered in 1881, on display at
Cairo Museum
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EGYPT AND THE HITTITES
Taking Syria and Palestine led
the Egyptians into conflicts with
the Hittites
 Met at Battle of Kadesh 1285
BCE– ended in standstill
 Ramses II and Hittite king made
a treaty that lasted the rest of
the century
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AGE OF BUILDERS
Beautiful palaces, tombs, and temples were
built but hidden from grave robbers
 Chose Valley of Kings, near Thebes
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VALLEY OF KINGS
DECLINE OF THE NEW KINGDOM
Attacked by “people of the sea”
 Egypt never recovered
 Broke apart regionally
 Libyan pharaohs ruled Egypt and adopted
culture
 After that, the Nubians took over and also
embraced Egyptian culture.
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KUSHITES (NUBIANS) CONQUER THE NILE
Egypt ruled Kush for 1000
years
 As Egypt declined, took
over as power
 Nubia was between first
cataract and division of
Blue and White Nile
 Served as link between
Africa and the
Mediterranean
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KERMA
Started a little after 2000 BCE
 1st Nubian kingdom
 Buried in chambers larger than
Egyptian princes
 Prospered during Egypt’s Hyksos
period
 Done by Piankhi in 751 BCE
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KUSH
Studied under Egyptians while ruled by Egypt
 Adopted architecture, clothing, and customs
from Egypt
 Attempted to take over Libyans to help preserve
culture
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MEROE
Royal family moved here for better protection
 More rich in resources, better weather
 Traded along the Red Sea
 Prospered 250 BCE – 150 CE
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