Transcript Diapositiva 1 - Ancient Egypt

Egyptian Geography &
Economics
Carol Chatman
SSE 6730
2/11/13
The Nile River
• River civilizations in the ancient world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm8945
K4dH0
The Nile River
Facts
• The Nile River is the primary river in Egypt and the
longest river in the world (4184 miles).
• While the Nile River is often associated with Egypt, it
actually touches Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Uganda,
Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan, and flows past
Cairo, Khartoum, Gondokoro, Aswan, Karnak, Thebes
and the town of Alexandria.
• Hapi is the male deity with strong female characteristics
represented the fertility and vitality of the Nile River.
• The major god most closely connected with the Nile was
Osiris.
The Nile River
Facts
• The word 'Nile' is not ancient Egyptian. it comes
from the Greek “neilos”, which means valley.
The Nile flooded every year between June and
September , in a season the Egyptians called
akhet – the inundation.
• The Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
• The largest source of the Nile is Lake Victoria.
• The Ancient Egyptians called the river Ar or Aur
(black) because of the color of the sediment left
after the river’s annual flood.
The Nile River
Farming
• The Nile is fed by two main river systems.
• In each August the climate of Egypt is at its hottest and
driest. After two months the water recede leaving a dark
grey muddy deposit of fertile soil on the land. When this
happens the soil is perfect for farming and needs little
help from irrigation.
• There is no threat of the soil becoming unfertile because
each year the soil is ‘miraculously” renewed by the flood.
• Between 5000 and 4000 BCE permanent settlements of
full time farmers became established in the valley of the
Nile.
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE2YZZgZWdE
The Nile River
Government
• By 35000 BCE those north of the first cataract had
merged into two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt, in
doing so founded what was to become the first “Dynasty”
Of Ancient Egypt.
• The rulers of the early farming communities are thought
to have been religious leaders, “rainmakers” and
controllers of the “flood”.
• The majority of the population of Egyptians was made up
of peasant farmers, who were taxed according to the
annual level of the Nile at the height of its flood.
• Around 2200 BCE the Old Kingdom was brought to an
end when the Sahara rapidly dried out.
The Nile River
Trade
• The main exports of Ancient Egypt were grain
from the Nile valley and gold from the Nubian
mountains.
• Ebony, Ivory, and Ostrich feathers were
imported from the Nubian interior to the south.
• Timber was an important raw material, it was
imported from Byblos in Palestine.
• Also imported were luxury imports from western
Asia including spices, incense, and precious
stones.
Gold
Ostrich Feathers
Ivory
Ebony
The Nile River
Osiris and Seth
• Osiris and Seth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d1It74
kOG0
• Fertility of the Nile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE2YZZ
gZWdE
Daily Life in Egypt’s
Social Classes
Rob Barrett
SSE 6730
2/11/13
Introduction
• A. Social Class - a group of people in
society who have the same economic,
cultural, and political status
• B. Social Pyramid: describes the system
of social class where high status classes
have fewer members than low status
classes
Ancient Egypt’s Social
Pyramid
• A. Government Officials – carried out Pharaoh’s
powerful and wealthy
•
wishes,
B. Priests – controlled temples and religious rituals
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C. Scribes – respected because they could write and were
important for government and business
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D. Artisans – highly skilled craftspeople and artists
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E. Peasants – largest class (but lowest status); worked the
land and helped on pharaohs’ projects
Life in Egypt’s social classes
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A. Fairly rigid (unchanging)—most people stayed in the
class they were
born in
B. Common things between classes:
1. Family life was important
2. Men were head of household, women managed
the home and raised children
3. Women had more freedom and rights than most
women elsewhere at the time
A. Could own land, run businesses, represent
themselves in legal matters, work as
government officials or priestesses
4. Quality of life was better higher on the pyramid
5. Egyptians believed this system created a stable society
Government Officials
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A. Highest social class (after the pharaoh)
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B. Assisted the pharaoh in ruling the country
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C. Important officials:
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1. Vizier – high-ranking official, advisor to pharaoh
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A. Appointed other officials
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B. Was the head judge of Egypt
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2. Chief treasurer – controlled taxes and maintained wealth
of the empire
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3. General of the Armies – top military commander (after the
pharaoh)
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1. Lives of Luxury
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A. Government officials had plenty of money and free time
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B. Often held fancy banquets with many guests and fine food
Priests
1. Second highest class, very powerful and well
respected
• 2. Different jobs for Priests
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A. High Priest – advised the pharaoh, ran
religious ceremonies
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B. Temple priests – took care of the god that lived
in the statue within each temple’s sanctuary
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C. Other priests - gave advice, handled healing etc.
• 3. Priests’ Role in Burial Practices
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A. Oversaw embalming (preparation for the
afterlife)
Scribes
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A. Third highest class, respected and well paid
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B. Official writers and record keepers of Egypt
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C. Men from any social class could become scribes
(rare in the rigid class system)
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1. Scribe schools
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A. Started around age 5
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B. Lasted 12 years
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C. Students had to memorize over 700
Hieroglyphs (symbols representing words
and sounds)
The Work of Scribes
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A. Recorded grain and food supply
B. Wrote the census – official count of the
population
C. Many other jobs (recording taxes,
legal rulings, military matters)
3. Tools:
A. Finely sharpened reeds as pens
B. Papyrus to write on
C. Writing tablet to support papyrus
(made of wood or stone)
Artisans
• A. Craftspeople and artists
• B. Closest to what we would call the “Middle
Class”
• C. Highly skilled, yet not well respected
(often taken for granted)
• D. Many specializations (carpentry, jewelry,
painting, sculpting etc)
• E. Stone carvers were very highly skilled and
worked hard to make sculptures for wealthy
Egyptians
Daily Life of Artisans
• A. Lived in modest homes with about
three rooms
• B. Worked side by side in large
workshops
• C. Sometimes worked with hundreds of
others on big projects
• D. Usually didn’t receive recognition for
their work
Peasants
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A. Lowest class and by far the largest
B. Produced the stable food supply that made
Egyptian civilization possible
2. Three seasons of the Nile:
A. Flooding season – June to September
1. Farmers worked on other projects
(like pyramids)
B. Planting season – October to March
C. Harvest season – March – May
1. Busiest time of the year
2. People often worked from dawn to dusk
Daily life of peasants
• A. Simple houses, little furniture
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B. Food was simple, rarely included
meat (in times of famine, sometimes they
only had papyrus to eat)
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C. Worked most of the time but had
games for fun and celebrated several
important holidays
Egyptian Politics
Heather Manning
SSE 6730
2/11/13
Political Structure
• Theocracy
– A system of government in which priests rule
in the name of God or a god
• Pharaoh was the Head of State, the
highest priest and worshipped as Gods.
• At a local level it was bureaucratic and
regulated by officials.
• “invented the concept of the nation-state
that still dominates our planet,”
Pharaohs
• The original meaning of the
word Pharaoh was “Great
House”
• The title of Pharaoh was
passed from Father to son.
• As a sign of authority the
Pharaohs wore a false beard,
a lions main and a head cloth
with a cobra.
• Although the power of the
Pharaoh was absolute they
were required to govern with
peace and harmony and to
perform certain duties.
Pharaoh’s Responsibilities
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Command the Army
Head the War Council
Head of administration for the Kingdom
Served as Treasurer
Ensured the harvest
Preside over important religious rituals
Enforce the bond between people and the gods.
Bureaucratic Structure
• Viziers – “Superintendent of all works of the
pharaoh”
• Chief Priest of Amun
• Overseer of the treasury
• High Priests
• Council of War
• Overseer of Granaries
• Priests
• Others
Taxation
• A strict tax was imposed on all
citizens
• They kept meticulous records
of who owed what.
• Taxes were often paid in the
form of a portion of a farmers
crops, meat or leather from
animals or other food goods
such as bread or beer.
• The taxes (collected goods)
were used to pay state
employees, sold to finance
state building projects or
stored for later use.
• Punishments for not paying
taxes or underpaying were
quick and severe.
Judicial System
• Although no proof of them
exists today, writings of an
ancient Greek describe up
to 8 books in which
Egyptian laws were
outlined.
• Other documents however,
such as the oldest known
will, funeral documents, tax
records, and court records
all give us some insight.
Ma’at
• Was an idea of truth, justice, peace, balance,
harmony and order that dictated much of
Egyptian life, including the justice system.
• Under this idea everyone, except slaves, were
equals under the law.
• It was also personified as a goddess.
• It was thought to be the norm for both society
and nature.
Trials and Court
• No lawyers existed in Ancient Egypt.
• Trials were usually held in the courtyard of
a temple and simply consisted of a
statement by the plaintiff and a reply by
the defendant.
• The Judge varied but was often a local
government official or priest and in rare
cases the Pharaoh himself.
Punishements
• A common torture/punishment was the beating
of the soles of the feet.
• Some more severe punishments carried over
into the after life. The names and likeness of
those punished were removed from their tombs
and from records.
• Many punishments affected not only the guilty
but their entire family.
– A man exiled or imprisoned may have to take his
children (even if they were grown and innocent) with
him.
Military
• Ancient Egypt was not a heavily militarized
society.
• Perhaps at least in part because they did not
need to be due to their protection from their
geographic location and the displays of brutality
when they did battle.
• The military was also out of date in their
weapons, continuing to use clubs and flint
spears while other civilizations had started using
metals such as bronze.
Egyptian Contributions
Megan Thrasher
SSE 6730
2/11/13
Pyramids
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Abu Rawash
Giza
Zawyet el-Aryan
Abu Sir
Saqqara
Medicine
• Best Physicians
– Surgeries
• Mumification
– Removed organs and brain
• Dentistry
– Replacement teeth and removal
Hieroglyphics
• Language
– Logographic
– Alphabet elements
• Images
– Represent real or illusional elements
Calendar
• Year
– 365 days long
• Months
– 12 months
• Days
– 30 days, plus five extra days(end of year)
Math
• Developed and used in Ancient Egypt from ca.
3000 BC to ca. 300 BC
• Math in Ancient Egypt was used for measuring
the level of floods on the Nile River, measuring
time, straight lines and calculating areas of land
to name a few.
• Unit fractions
– Fractions were all written as unit fractions of
the form 1/n
Other Notable Contributions
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Paper (known as papyrus)
Pen
Makeup
Waterclock
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Video Clip
• Egyptian Highlights