Pyramids on the Nile
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Transcript Pyramids on the Nile
Chapter 2
Section 2
Do Now: Take out HW and switch with a partner;
discuss your answers in a group
Obj: Discuss environmental challenges surrounding
the civilizations along the Nile
Egyptian Life & Religion
Compare/Contrast hieroglyphics and cuneiform
HW: Active Reading pgs. #44- 49
Crit. Thinking #3-5
Delta
Narmer
Pharaoh
Theocrasy
Pyramid
Mumification
Hieroglyphics
papyrus
The Nile River supported
early life in Egypt
Yearly flooding left
behind rich silt
(farming)
Egyptians viewed the
Nile as a god
Greek historian called
Egypt, “the gift of the
Nile”
If water level was a few
feet low; people starved
Too high destroy homes
and flood crops
Forced people to live on
very small area of Egypt
Desert protected the
people from constant
warfare
Upper Egypt:
Southern part of Egypt
above the first cataract
Elevation is higher
Boats can flow up river
with the rivers current
Lower Egypt:
Northern Egypt where
elevation is lower
Leads to the Nile delta
region
Strong winds can bring
boats down the river
against the current
Makes contact and trade
very possible
Upper and lower Egypt ruled by two kingdoms
(3200 BC)
United by King Narmer (King of Upper Egypt)
King of Upper Egypt wore a white crown
Lower Egypt wore a red crown
Narmer Palette: both crowns as one
Symbol of unification around 3000 BC
Narmer settled his capital in Memphis, near where
Upper and Lower Egypt met.
Egyptian kings known as pharaohs ruled as gods
Government ruled by religious authority is called
theocracy
Pharaohs had full responsibility for kingdoms well
being
Pharaohs reign was expected to last forever; so their
tombs had to be as important as their palaces.
Egyptians built massive structures called pyramids to
honor their dead kings
Religion:
Polytheistic
Over 2,000 gods
Belief in after life
Judged for their deeds
If passed lived in Other World forever\
People of all classes planned their burials to ensure
their passage to the Other World
Royal Egyptians would be mummified, so that the
body would not decay over time.
Body would be placed in a tomb filled with material
belongings to be used in the after life
Social Pyramid
Pharaohs
Merchants
and artisans
Peasant Farmers
and laborers
Hieroglyphics: Greek- sacred carving
Early writing; picture represented ideas
Then pictures represented sounds
Developed papyrus:
Reeds from the Nile dried together to make paper like
material
Developed a calendar
Using astronomy to predict time between flooding of
the Nile.
Solar Year:
365 days divided into 12 months of 30 days.
Was accurate to a true solar year within 6 hours!
Mathematics:
Number system to help asses collecting taxes
Geometry helped to reset boundary lines after floods
and make accurate measurements for building pyramids