Transcript Chapter 2-Section 2

Chapter 2-Section 2
Egypt’s Old Kingdom
Key Words
• Pharaoh- all powerful ruler in Ancient Egypt
• Deity- a god or goddess
• Embalming- process of preserving a persons
body after death; developed by ancient
Egyptians
• Mummy body that has been embalmed and
wrapped in linen
• Pyramid- a huge stone structure built by the
ancient Egyptians to serve as a tomb
Key Words
• Period- a portion of time in history
• Welfare- doing well; having what is needed to
live well
• Structure- materials arranged to form a
building or statue
• Principle- law or fact of nature
Old Kingdom Rulers
• Old Kingdom began about 2600 BC. This
period lasted about 300 years.
• Egyptian kings or PHARAOHS:
– Lived with families in palaces; pharaoh=great
house
– All-powerful ruler; word was law; must be obeyed
without question
Rulers
• Pharaoh appointed officials who’s job it was
to:
– build and repair irrigation canals and grain
storehouses
– Make sure crops were planted
– Controlled trade
– Collected taxes (grain from farmers)
Rulers
• Egyptians willingly served pharaoh because:
– They believed the unity of the kingdom depended
on a strong leader
– They considered pharaoh to be the son of Re (sun
god)
– Thought pharaoh was god on earth who
controlled Egypt’s welfare.
Egypt’s Religion
• Deeply woven into culture
• Believed deities controlled the forces of nature
and human activities
• Worshiped many deities
– Re/Ra: sun god (main god) because of the sunny
climate and importance of sun for harvests
– Hapi: ruled the Nile
– Isis/Osiris: most important goddess because she
represented the loyal wife and mother and ruled over
the dead with her husband Osiris
Osiris
Hapi
Re/Ra
Isis
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This is a list of Egyptian gods and goddesses from Egyptian mythology. The
ancient Egyptians worshipped many gods at different times and in different
places.[1] Some gods changed in importance over time.
Ammut, or Ammit or Ahemait, is the crocodile goddess known as the
"Devourer of the Dead". Also known as Ammit the Devourer. Ammut also
assists Anubis with carrying out the judgments
Anput is the wife of Anubis Anput is the goddess of the seventeenth Nome of
Upper Egypt. Other sources say she is the desert goddess. Anput the mother
of Kebechet.
Anubis is god of judgment of life and death
Anuket is the goddess of river Nile.
Apophis is the god of chaos and war.
Aten
Babi is the god of baboons.
Bast is the cat goddess.
Bastet Goddess of Cats, later version of Bast
Bes is the dwarf god.
Geb is the god of the earth.
Gengen-Wer is the goose god.
Hapi is the god of the Nile.
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Hathor is the goddess of love.
Heket is the goddess of frogs.
Horus is the god of war,sky, and falcons and son of Osiris.
Isis is the goddess of magic, marriage, healing, and
motherhood. She is the wife and sister of Osiris and the
mother of Horus.
Kebechet the goddess of purification, also is known as the
wandering goddess, or the lost child.
Khepri is the god of scarab beetles. (Ra's aspect in the
morning).
Khmun is the ram-headed god. (Ra's aspect in the evening).
Khonsu is the god of the Moon.
Ma'at is the goddess of justice and of order.
Mafdet is the god of justice.
Mekhit is the minor loin goddess; married to Onuris.
Nephthys is the river goddess.
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Nekhbet is the vulture goddess.
Nut is the goddess of sky and stars.
Osiris is the god of the underworld and the afterlife. Husband and brother of
Isis.
Ptah is the god of creation.
Ra is the god of the Sun and king of the gods until Osiris took over his throne.
Also known as Amun-Ra and Akmun-Rah.
Sehkmet is the goddess of lions and fire also goddess of vengeance, alter form
of Isis.
Serqet is the goddess of scorpions.
Seshat is the goddess of writing and measurement.
Seth is the god of deserts, storms, evil, and chaos also later version ruler of the
underworld.
Shu is the god of wind and air.
Sobek is the god of crocodiles and alligators.
Tawaret is the hippopotamus goddess, and the goddess of childbirth and
fertility.
Thoth is the scribe god and the god of wisdom, also known as Djehuti.
Wadjet is a goddess of protection.
Question?
• How did Egyptians’ religious beliefs compare
to those of Mesopotamia?
Life After Death
• Unlike the Mesopotamians who imagined a
gloomy life after death, Egyptians had a hope that
life in the next world would be better than life on
Earth
• Book of the Dead – one of the most important
Egyptian manuscripts-collection of spells and
prayers studied to obtain life after death
• They believed that Osiris would meet them after
death and they had led a good life and knew the
spells he would grant them life after death.
Life After Death
• For centuries Egyptians believed that pharaoh
and a special few could enjoy afterlife
• Believed that pharaoh’s spirit needed a body
that didn’t decay after death-if it did he would
be forced to wander forever
• Vital that pharaoh’s spirit reach the next world
so he could continue to care for Egypt
Life After Death
• To protect pharaoh’s body he was embalmed
– Priests removed body’s organs
– Special salt applied to body (natron) for several
days to dry
– Body was filled with spices and pefumes and
stitched closed
– Body cleaned with oils and tightly wrapped with
long strips of lined creating a mummy
– Encased in several wooden coffins, fitting one
inside another
Mummification
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/mummy-pictures.htm
Question?
• If Egyptians believed that life in the next world
would be even better than life on Earth, how
do you think this might have affected their
attitudes toward everyday life?
Egyptian Medicine
• Egyptians learned a lot about the body from
embalming
• Doctors used herbs and drugs to treat illness
• Became skilled at sewing cuts and setting
broken bones
• Some doctors only treated particular parts of
the body becoming the first specialists
• Wrote the world’s first medical books on
papyrus scrolls
The Pyramids
• Gigantic structures the size of several city
blocks made of stone
• Designed to protect the bodies of pharaohs
• Held supplies needed for the spirit world
including clothing, furniture, jewelry and food
How Was a Pyramid Built?
• Thousands of workers through years of labor
• Most work done by farmers during the Nile
flood season
• Each pyramid sat on a square base with the
entrance facing north
• Principles of astronomy were developed to
determine true north
– Also invented 365 day calendar with 12 months
grouped into 3 seasons from these principles
• Advanced mathematics used to determine
how much stone was necessary
• Invented written number based on 10
• Created fractions, addition, subtraction and
multiplication
• Stone sometimes came from hundreds of
miles away
• Copper tools used to cut stone into huge
blocks
• Blocks tied to wooden sleds and pulled over a
path of logs
• Loaded onto barges and transported by river
to building site
• Workers unloaded and dragged or pushed
them up ramps to be set in place
The Great Pyramid
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Largest and grandest of about 80 pyramids
Located 10 miles from Cairo
Built for King Kafu
Stands at Giza on west bank of Nile
500 feet tall(48 stories), covers an area about
9 football fields
More than 2 million stone blocks
Each block weighs about 2.5 tons
Tallest structure in the world for 4000 years
Built without beasts of burden, special tools or
the wheel
Review
• The all- powerful rulers of Egypt called
pharaohs, were believed to be related to
Egypt’s main god
• The Egyptians believed in many gods and
goddesses. They also believed in life after
death for the pharaoh, whose body would be
mummified before burial
• The pyramids, built as huge stone tombs for
the pharaohs, required many years and
thousands of workers to construct
Quiz
• What was the role of pharaoh in Egypt
• Explain the religious beliefs of the Egyptians
• Describe what happened to a pharaoh when
they died (process)
• Describe the Egyptian pyramids and tombs