Transcript Unit 4: Ancient Egypt - Warren County Schools

Unit 4: Ancient Egypt
Mr. Davis/Mrs. Burnette
Warren East Middle School
Social Studies 7
PART I: Geography
Unit 4 – Ancient Egypt
Environmental Factors
• Three factors influence where people settled
in ancient times:
• WATER
• TOPOGRAPHY: the surface features of a place
or region, such as mountains or deserts
• VEGETATION: the plants of a place or region
WATER
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Fresh drinking water to live
Bathing and washing to prevent disease
Source of food: fish, water birds, animals
Growth of crops: farmers settle near rivers
Irrigation: control the water’s flow, dig canals
Transportation: traveling and trading along
rivers
TOPOGRAPHY
• Farming in flat, fertile areas
• Best area: early river valleys
• Mountains and deserts create obstacles for
survival
• Mountains: jagged peaks, rugged terrain
• Deserts: very little precipitation
VEGETATION
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Includes trees, bushes, flowers, grass, reeds
Also includes crops people grow
Climate affects the vegetation in a region
Vegetation used as food
Later, vegetation used to make products: rope,
medicine, baskets, tools, and paper
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF EGYPT: THE
NILE RIVER
• MOST IMPORTANT PHYSICAL FEATURE = NILE
RIVER
• The Nile flows north from the highlands of
Central Africa and ends in a marshy delta into
the Mediterranean Sea
• DELTA = a triangle-shaped area of sediment
deposited by the mouth of a river
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF EGYPT:
DESERTS
• The Nile was surrounded by the Libyan,
Arabian, and Nubian Deserts
• Most people avoided them
• BUT—they created a natural barrier that
helped people living in the Nile Valley, few
invaders ever crossed
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF EGYPT: THE
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
• Located to the north
• Salt water, but abundant source of fish and
other kinds of life
• A waterway that linked Egypt to other
civilizations
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF EGYPT: RED
SEA
• Located to the east
• Across a hot, dry expanse of desert
HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN EGYPT
• Nile River provided fresh water in an area that
was mostly desert.
• Lack of water in the outlying desert made the
idea of farming useless
• The river provided natural FERTILIZATION
(adding plant food/nutrients to the soil)
• After the annual floods, SILT was leftover,
making the soil ideal to farm
HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN EGYPT
• The Nile provided fish to catch and animals to
hunt
• Ducks, Geese, Hippos, Crocodiles, Giraffes, and
Ostriches
• Wide flat areas along river bends were ideal for
farming
• Along the river, a tough water plant was used to
make paper and rope, it was called PAPYRUS.
• Other crops like wheat and barley were also
grown
CANAAN
• Now Israel (area where Phoenicians once
lived)
• Mediterranean Sea to the West
• Lebanon Mountains to the North
• Sea of Galilee and Dead Sea connected by
Jordan River
• To the east: Syrian Desert
• To the south: Negev Desert
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS OF
CANAAN
• Sea of Galilee: Fresh water, ideal for fishing
and farming
• Jordan River: Also fresh water, most important
feature… but did not flood annually like other
rivers
• Dead Sea: Too salty for life. Surrounded by
harsh desert. Not ideal for farming near.
SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN
• Many herders and NOMADS-people who
move place to place with no permanent home
GIFT OF THE NILE
• Geography played a key role in the
development of Egyptian civilization.
• The Nile River brought life to Egypt.
• Greek writer Herodotus called Egypt “The Gift
of the Nile.”
LOCATION AND PHYSICAL FEATURES
• The Nile is the longest river in the world
• 4,000 miles long from Central African
highlands north to the Mediterranean Sea
• Egyptian civilization developed along a 750mile stretch of the Nile in northern Africa.
• Two regions: Northern and Southern
LOCATION AND PHYSICAL FEATURES
• The SOUTHERN part was called UPPER EGYPT.
This is because it is located UPRIVER from the
Nile’s flow.
• Since the elevation in southern Egypt was
higher, it is therefore called Upper Egypt.
• The NORTHERN part was called LOWER EGYPT
and was located DOWNRIVER.
• Since the elevation was lower and close to sea
level in the north, it is called Lower Egypt.
LOCATION AND PHYSICAL FEATURES
• The Nile sliced through the desert of Upper
Egypt. There, it created a Fertile Valley about 13miles wide. On either side of the Nile lay
hundreds of miles of desert.
• At several points, rocky terrain caused the Nile to
form CATARACTS, or strong rapids, to form.
• In Lower Egypt, the Nile divided into several
branches that fanned out and flowed into the
Mediterranean Sea. This forms a DELTA, a
triangle-shaped area of land made of silt
deposited by a river.
THE FLOODS OF THE NILE
• Each year, rainfall far to the south of Egypt in
the highlands of East Africa caused the Nile to
flood
• The Nile floods were easier predict than those
of the Tigris and Euphrates.
• Floods would hit Upper Egypt in midsummer
• Lower Egypt in fall
• Coated the land around the river in rich silt
THE FLOODS OF THE NILE
• The silt from the Nile made it ideal for
farming. They called their country the black
land because of all the fertile, rich, dark soil.
They called the desert the red land.
• Without the floods, people never could have
settled in Egypt.
CIVILIZATION DEVELOPS ALONG THE
NILE
• Hunter-gatherers enter the Nile Valley about
12,000 years ago.
• They found fish, wild animals, and plants to
eat.
• Just like Mesopotamia, farmers developed an
irrigation system.
• Basins collected water from annual floods
• Built a series of canals that were used during
the drier months.
CIVILIZATION DEVELOPS ALONG THE
NILE
• Abundance of food: Farmers grew wheat,
barley, fruits, vegetables, and raised cattle and
sheep.
• River provided fish and hunting for geese and
ducks.
• Also like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians
enjoyed a varied diet.
CIVILIZATION DEVELOPS ALONG THE
NILE
• Aside from a stable food supply, the Nile
Valley had natural barriers to protect people
from invaders
• The Mediterranean Sea to the North
• The Red Sea to the East
• Hundreds of miles of vast desert on both sides
of the Nile Valley