Transcript Vocabulary, Section 1 Nubia

Chapter 3:
Ancient Egypt and Nubia
Vocabulary, Section 1
• Nubia: an ancient region
in the Nile River Valley
• Cataract: rock-filled
rapids Blue Nile
• Herodotus: Ancient
Greek explorer who wrote
of Egypt
White Nile
• Herodotus wrote that
there would not be an
Egypt without the Nile
River
• Nile River: longest in the
world; 4,000 miles
• Two sources: Blue Nile
from highlands of
Ethiopia – rapid, fastmoving; White Nile from
Eastern Africa – calmer,
flows through swamps;
they meet in Sudan
Chapter 3:
Ancient Egypt and Nubia
• Confluence: Where two
smaller streams meet to
form larger stream or
river
• The Nile River forms at
confluence of Blue and
White Nile
• Ancient Nubia was along
Nile River
• Their section of river had
six major cataracts
• People had to live and
farm close to river
Chapter 3:
Ancient Egypt and Nubia
• Delta: a plain of land
and swamp at mouth
of a river; formed by
river depositing soil
• Silt: fine soil found in
river bottoms
• Fertile: land that is
good for raising crops
• Nile ran 700 miles
through Ancient Egypt
from Aswan to the
Mediterranean Sea
• In “Upper Egypt” it
had a narrow strip of
approximately 6 miles
on each side, then
desert
Chapter 3:
Ancient Egypt and Nubia
• Nile flows south to north
“up” the map
• As Nile flows north, it
slows down and spreads
out
• Yearly floods deposited
fertile silt along lower Nile
• River branches out as it
reaches Mediterranean
and forms a delta with
rich farmland
Chapter 3:
Ancient Egypt and Nubia
• Ancient Egyptians
believed Hapi was the
God of the Nile
• Egyptians called their
land Kemet, “Black Land”
due to dark, fertile soil
• They called deserts “Red
Land” and knew they
were useless for farming
but protected from
invasion
Chapter 3:
Ancient Egypt and Nubia
• Nile served as
“highway” for trade
• Trading and farming
communities grew
along Nile
• Nubians traded in
caravans as their part
of river was hard to
sail
Chapter 3:
Ancient Egypt and Nubia
Vocabulary, Section 2
• Pharaoh: Title used
by Egyptian kings
• Dynasty: a series of
rulers from the same
family or ethnic group
• Ethnic group: people
of the same race
• Ancient Egypt had 31
dynasties from 3100
BCE to 332 BCE.
• The dynasties were
divided into three
periods: Old
Kingdom, Middle
Kingdom, New
Kingdom
Chapter 3:
Ancient Egypt and Nubia
• Monarch: a queen or
king
• Regent: someone
who rules for a child
until he or she is old
enough to become
monarch
• Hatshepsut was a
woman who took title
of pharaoh
• Menes was pharaoh
in First Dynasty;
unified Upper and
Lower Egypt