Transcript Egypt Power point

MESOPOTAMIA
EGYPT
The First Civilizations in the World
Mesopotamia and Egypt are together
known as the Fertile Crescent
Just like Mesopotamia, Egypt is one of
the oldest civilizations in the world.
Although Egypt arose after
Mesopotamia, what characteristics do
you think they shared?
Ancient Egypt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdtgX9ORiW4
EGYPTIAN HISTORY
• Begins around 3,000 BCE
• Officially ends in 30 B.C.E when Cleopatra, the last queen of
independent Egypt dies, and Egypt is annexed by the Roman
Empire
4000 BCE Sumerian city
states develop
2340 BCE Sargon starts an
empire in Mesopotamia
Egypt becomes part of
Roman Empire
GEOGRAPHY OF EGYPT
• Surrounded by the Red Sea
on its east
• The Mediterranean Sea on
its north
• Located along the Nile River
within the Sahara Desert
Geography as Positive
Remember the Nile River begins in central
Africa and flows north . Why?
Geography as Negative
ECONOMIC
• Used the Nile to trade
• Grew flax, wheat, barley,
cotton
• Traded cotton linen
• Lots of natural resources
like precious metals
Who would the Ancient
Egyptians have traded
with?
EGYPTIAN SOCIAL HIERARCHY
Why this order?
WRITING SYSTEM:
Hieroglyphics
• Egyptian form of writing based on pictures
(pictographs)
• Some stood for sounds, others for words
• Written on papyrus:
-made from reeds (plant along the
Nile)
-equivalent of paper
How might
hieroglyphics
compare to
cuneiform?
GOVERNMENT
Pharaoh (King)
• Egyptians believed the
pharaoh was the son of
Re, the sun god
• Carried out rituals
• Part of a theocracy
(government led by a
religious figure)
Hatshepsut
• Came to power c. 1473 BCE
• Was supposed to help her
nephew rule but just made
herself pharaoh
• Girl Power!
• Made Egypt rich through trade
along the Red Sea
• Used the wealth to build a great
tomb
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9jmZiy_T-c
Akhenaten
• 1370 BCE
• Amenhotep wanted to stop
the priests from getting too
powerful so he started his
own religion
• Based it on worship of one
god “Aten”, a manifestation of
the sun god Ra
• The first monotheistic
religion?
• Why didn’t it stick?
Tutankhamen (King Tut)
• Ruled from c. 1330 BCE
• Restored old religion (polytheism
instead of Akhenaten’s religion)
• Famous for his tomb with tons of
treasure and mummies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8keAEanI34
http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt/videos/coroners-report-king
tut?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false
RELIGION
• Religion: Polytheistic (belief in
many gods)
• God of natural things
• Gods act like humans but are
immortal
• Afterlife is like a paradise
http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt/videos/journey-tothe-afterlife?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false
• Mummies were preserved bodies
so a person could be whole in the
after life
http://www.history.com/news/egyptian-princess-needed-bypass-surgery-mummystudy-shows
http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt/videos/how-to-make-amummy?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false
THE PYRAMIDS
• Pyramids were royal tombs where pharaohs would live in the
afterlife
http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-building-the-pyramids?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false
What do the pyramids tell us about the Egyptian people? What
skills/organization did the Egyptians have to have?
The largest Egyptian pyramid:
http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt/videos/deconstructing-history-the-great-pyramid?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false