Transcript Chapter 4 Section 2 The Old Kingdom

Chapter 4 Section 2
The Old Kingdom
• Around 2700 BC,
after Dynasty One
and Two ended
(about 400 years), the
Third Dynasty began.
This was the
beginning of what
was known as the Old
Kingdom.
Life in the Old Kingdom
• What was the Old
Kingdom? The Old
Kingdom was a
period in Egyptian
history that lasted
for about 500
years, from about
2700 - 2200 BC.
God and King
• The Egyptians
developed a political
system that was
based on the belief
that the pharaoh was
both king and god.
They believed that the
pharaoh came to
Earth to manage
Egypt for the rest of
the gods.
Many Responsibilities
• Being pharaoh came
with many
responsibilities and
expectations. If
something good or
bad happened, the
people blamed it on
the pharaoh.
• Who was Khufu? He
was a pharaoh who
ruled around 2500
BC.
• He was best known
for building
monuments known as
the first pyramids.
• He ruled for about 25
years.
Egyptian Social Pyramid
80% of
Egypt’s
population of
2 million were
farmers.
Trade in Egypt
• Merchants traveled
Perfume
south along the
jar
Nile to Nubia,
where they
acquired gold,
copper, ivory,
slaves, and stone
for building. They
also traded with
Syria for wood
needed for fire.
Trading
for
Slaves
Religion and Egyptian Life
• The Egyptians
practiced polytheism.
• The Egyptians built
shrines to their gods.
The temples collected
payments from
worshipers and the
government. This
payment allowed the
temples to become
very influential. Temple
At
Karnack
Horus, the sky god
or god of the
pharaohs
Other Egyptian Gods
Amon-Re
Sun god
Isis
goddess
of
magic
Osiris
god of the
underworld
Anubis
god of
death
Emphasis on the Afterlife
King
Tut’s
tomb
• What is the afterlife? It is life after death. Egyptians
believed that the afterlife was happy and that after death,
life was very similar to life on earth. At death, the Ka, or a
person’s life-force, left the body and became a spirit. The
Ka remained linked to the body and remained in the
burial site forever. This is why Egyptians filled their
tombs with personal needs, such as food, drink, and
personal belongings.
Burial Practices
• The Egyptians believed that the body had to be prepared
and preserved for the afterlife so the Ka could recognize
and return to the body when it left during the day. They
did this by a method called embalming. The Egyptians
preserved the body in the form of a mummy, a specially
treated body wrapped in cloth. This process prepared
the body for the afterlife.
Mummification
• Brains were removed
through the nose.
• Internal organs were
removed and preserved
and placed in canopic
jars. The heart was left
inside the body.
• Body was dried with
natron (salt), for
approximately 40 days.
• Body was then rubbed
with oils and perfumes
• Finally the body was
wrapped with fine linens
and draped with amulets
Who was Mummified?
• Only royalty or the
elite were mummified.
• The elite were people
of wealth or power.
• Peasant families
could not afford to be
mummified. They
buried their dead in
shallow graves at the
edge of the desert.
The hot dry sand
dried and preserved
the bodies naturally.
Where’s my mummy?????
Ramese
II
Queen
Hatshepsut
The Pyramids
• What is a pyramid?
It is a huge, stone
tomb with four
triangular-shaped
sides that meet at a
point on top.
• Egyptians began
building pyramids
around 2700 BC.
The Evolution of the Pyramid
The first tombs were called
Mastabas
The Evolution of the Pyramid
The Bent
Pyramid
The Step
Pyramid
Largest of all
the
pyramids
The Giza Pyramid
Covers 13 acres
481 ft high
Built by
Khufu
Used more
than
2 million
limestone
blocks
Inside
passage
way of
tomb
Building of the Pyramids
• What is engineering?
• Engineering is the
application of
scientific knowledge
to practical purposes.
• As many as 100,000
workers may have
been needed to build
a single pyramid.
Other
Egyptian
architecture
The Red
pyramid
Built
by
Snofru
How Were The Pyramids Built?
Temporary
stone ramps
Pyramids
Wooden
sleds
2-ton
limestone
blocks
Workers
removed
the temporary
ramps
Pyramids
Polished
white
limestone
Significance of the Pyramid
• Burial in a pyramid
demonstrated a
pharaoh’s importance.
Pointing to the sky, the
pyramid symbolized the
pharaoh’s journey to the
afterlife. They believed
that the pharaoh’s link
to the gods, controlled
everyone’s afterlife.
Amenemhet II
in
Darfur
In
ruins
Pyramids of Egypt
Summary
• During the Old Kingdom, new political and social
orders were created in Egypt. Religion was
important, and many pyramids were built for the
pharaohs.