Transcript AKS 30 Ancient ] Egypt

Location: most of modern day
Egypt – along the Nile River
Geographic Features
Ancient Egypt – Nile River
• Benefits:
– Predictable yearly flooding  allowed
farming settlements to grow
– Worshiped the river as a god b/c of its
abundance
Geographic Features
Ancient Egypt – Nile River
• Problems:
– Low waters in Nile
resulted in famine
b/c of poor crops
– Flooding =
destroyed homes &
crops
Geographic Features
Ancient Egypt – Deserts on Either Side of Nile River
• Benefits:
– Shut out invaders
– Spared Egypt constant warfare
Geographic Features
Ancient Egypt – Deserts on Either Side of Nile River
• Problems:
– Acted as barriers between Egypt & other
lands
– Forced Egyptians to live on a very small
portion of the land
– Reduced interactions with other peoples
(limited cultural diffusion)
Egyptian Religion & Politics
• Pharaohs (God-Kings)
– Considered gods on Earth who ruled over
gov’t, religion, & the military
– This is known as a theocracy
• *Comparison: Mesopotamian kings were
representatives of gods, but they themselves were
not considered gods
Religion
• polytheistic (belief in many gods)
• Akhenaton forces Egyptians to
worship one god (monotheism)
temporarily
• Pharaoh believed to rule even
after death through his/her ka;
therefore, tomb more important
than earthly palace
Egyptian Religion & Politics
• Pyramids
– Egyptians believed kings had eternal spirits
– Built pyramids as tombs for pharaohs
(resting places from which their rulers could
reign forever after death)
Stepped Pyramid at
Saqqara
“Bent” Pyramid of King Sneferu
Giza Pyramid Complex
Egyptian Culture
• Social Classes
ROYAL FAMILY
Upper Class
Middle Class
Lower Class
Slaves
Egyptian Culture
• Achievements in Science & Technology
– Number system
– Form of geometry
– Columns in architecture
– Calendar
– Medical Procedures
– Mummification
• Process of embalming and drying out the corpse
so that the soul could return to the body later
Preparation for Afterlife
Egyptian Mummies
Seti I
1291-1278 B. C. E.
Queen Tiye,
wife of
Amenhotep II
Ramses II
1279-1212 B. C. E.
Egyptian Culture
• Writing System
– Hieroglyphics
• Like Sumerian cuneiform, it used pictures to
represent ideas
Egyptian Hieroglyphics
• Consisted of pictographs
• Scribes recorded history,
beliefs, & ideas of ancient
Egypt (often times in the
tombs of the pharaohs)
• Used to document tax
collection, laws, storage of
grain, etc.
Papyrus a paper-like writing material created from
the papyrus plant that grows on the banks of the Nile.
Hieratic Scroll Piece
Papyrus Plant
Economic System
• traded agricultural surplus: wheat barley (from Nile which
provided silt)
• mining of large mineral deposits of copper which used for
bronze tools.