Transcript Geography and Early Egypt

EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
Geography and Early Egypt
• The Nile
– Most important physical feature in Egypt
– 4,000 miles long; flows through the Sahara Desert
• Without the Nile’s waters, no one could live there.
• The Nile flooded every year
– Predictable floodwaters with spring rains
– Left rich, black silt
• Narrow band of fertile soil
• Became home of Egyptian civilization
Ancient Egyptian
hieroglyphics
ROSETTA’s STONE
The Rosetta Stone is a granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree
issued at Memphis in 196 BCE on behalf of King Ptolemy V.
The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient
Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the
lowest Ancient Greek. Because it presents essentially the same
text in all three scripts (with some minor differences among
them), it provided the key to the modern understanding of
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Geographical Features
Delta
Cataracts
• Egypt’s most fertile soil in
Nile Delta
• Nile afforded protection
itself
• Silt deposits at mouth of
river
• Flowed through cataracts
to the south
• Black Land of rich arable
soil
• Currents and waterfalls
made sailing impossible
• Red Land unlivable but
afforded protection
• Not an easy invasion route
Two Kingdoms
• First farming villages as early as 5000 BC
• Northern Kingdom, Lower Egypt
– Mild climate; cobra goddess worshipped
• Southern Kingdom, Upper Egypt
– Warmer climate; prayed to a vulture goddess
Unification
• Two kingdoms unified around 3200 BC
• Upper Egypt ruler Narmer conquered north
– Founded capital city of Memphis
– Adopted both symbols, the snake and the vulture
• First of 31 dynasties
PALETTE OF NARMER 3200 B.C.
(Museum of Cairo)
Approximate dates
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Archaic Period (3100-2660
The Old Kingdom (2660-2200 B.C.)
First Intermediate Period (2200-2000 B.C.)
The Middle Kingdom (2000-1800 B.C.)
Second Intermediate Period (1800-1500
B.C.)
• The New Kingdom (1500- 1100 B.C.?)
Dynastic Chronology
• Egyptians divided their history into
dynasties
• not always chronologically successive
• the system is confusing, but maintained by
Egyptologists
Transportation
• Mesopotamia: wheeled vehicles and boats
• Egypt: boats (The Nile as Highway)
• sailboats still a major means of
transportation
• Old and Middle Kingdom: wheeled
vehicles rare
Architecture
• lacks timber
• used mud-brick
• main building: STONE
SAQQARA COMPLEX (Pyramid and
Palace)
Sculpture
• early and sophisticated development
• human figures and architectural forms
• led to great expertise in painting and other
representational arts
falcon headed
god wearing
double crown.
Mycerinus and Queen c. 2500 B.C.
Ti watching Hippopotamus
Hunt (painted stone relief)
c. 2400 B.C.
Theocratic Government
• all Egyptian government was theocratic in
form
• all power was concentrated in the
Pharaoah
• the pharaoh was the head of a planned
and organized economy
• modern comparisons ???
The Old Kingdom
Many of the institutions for which the Egyptian civilization is known were
created during the period which began around 2650 BC.
The Pyramids
Building Pyramids
• Most famous symbols of Egypt
• Took great planning and skill
• Largest located near Giza
• Ordered when kings took the
throne
• Built as tombs for rulers
– Hollow chamber for burial
– Treasures buried with them
– Deadly traps within
• Design changed to smooth-sided
over time
• Built from the inside out
• Not built by slaves
– Peasants required to work
one month per year
– Professional craftspeople
like architects, artists
Pyramid (Giza)
PHARAOHS
The Pharaohs
• The head of the government was the king
• Became known as pharaoh (“great house”)
• Had great power because he was believed to be a god
• Egypt a theocracy, a state ruled by religious figures
Egyptian Bureaucracy
• Pharaoh could not rule Egypt alone
• Aided by bureaucracy, many of whom were pharaoh’s relatives
• Most powerful official was the vizier
• Hundreds of lesser officials kept Egypt running smoothly
Ramses the Great
Egypt expanded empire
• Fought campaigns in Nubia and Syria
• A new foe around 1250 BC
• Hittites invaded from Mesopotamia
Confrontation with Hittites
• Ramses the Great led army
• Accounts of battle vary, but two armies signed truce
• Ramses married Hittite princess and conflict ended
Ramses’ rule
• Reign marked with extravagant splendor
• Built more temples and monuments than other pharaohs
• Many political and artistic achievements
New Kingdom (1570-1085 B.C.)
BOOK OF DEAD
Egypt’s Decline
• Ramses’ successors faced challenges to authority
• Major invasions of Egypt
– Sea Peoples devastated empires
– Ended Hittite Empire, weakened Egypt’s control of
Syria
• Egypt broke into small states
– Many foreign rulers over next 700 years
– Libyans, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks
– Finally fell to Rome