INTRODUCTION TO EGYPT
180 likes | 324 Vues
INTRODUCTION TO EGYPT. CHAPTER 2, SECTION 2. THE NILE RIVER. Flows from the highlands of East-Central Africa to the Mediterranean Sea 4,100 Miles, the longest river in the World Made surrounding lands very fertile due to yearly flooding Grow Wheat and Barley Irrigation System
INTRODUCTION TO EGYPT
E N D
Presentation Transcript
INTRODUCTION TO EGYPT CHAPTER 2, SECTION 2
THE NILE RIVER • Flows from the highlands of East-Central Africa to the Mediterranean Sea • 4,100 Miles, the longest river in the World • Made surrounding lands very fertile due to yearly flooding • Grow Wheat and Barley • Irrigation System • Yearly Cycle: Flood, Plant, then Harvest • Upper and Lower Egypt
ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES • Nile flooded at the same time every year • Flooding is still a threat whether it be too much water or not enough water • Surrounded by vast deserts
CULTURAL DIFFUSION • Contact with the peoples of Mesopotamia • Trade • Upper and Lower regions • Mesopotamia • Nubia and Kush • For its 3,000 year history Egypt was a land of cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity
KINGDOM • 3,100 B.C. the King of Upper Egypt, Menes, united all of Egypt • Egypt would eventually consist of 31 Dynasties, spanning 2,600 years • The first 2 Dynasties are not recorded very well • The 3rd Dynasty-2,660 to 2,180-begins the period known as the Old Kingdom
PHARAOHS • Egyptian Kings are known as Gods • Known as Pharaohs: God-Kings • Pharaohs were at the center of Egypt’s… • Religion • Government • Army • Theocracy: type of government in which the ruler is a divine figure • Duties of the Pharaohs
PYRAMID BUILDERS • Belief that the king ruled even after his death • Ka: eternal spirit, which continued to take part in the governing of Egypt • Since kings ruled forever their tombs were even more important than their palaces • Pyramid: the kings resting place after death • The Old Kingdom was the great age of pyramid building in ancient Egypt • Granite and Limestone • Strength in Government, Leadership and Economics
CULTURE • Polytheistic • Ra: Sun God • Horus: God of Light • Isis: Goddess, represented the ideal wife and mother • Worshiped more than 2,000 Gods and Goddesses • Built huge temples to honor the major deities • Belief in an afterlife • Osiris: God of the Dead • Mummification: embalming and drying the corpse to prevent it from decaying
EGYPTION GODS • RA: Sun God • Horus: God of Light • Isis: Goddess, Mother and Wife • Osiris: God of the Dead
SOCIETY • Social Classes/Hierarchy King, Queen, Royal Family___________> Wealthy landowners, Priests, Gov. officials and Army commanders__> Merchants and Artisans______> Peasant farmers and Unskilled Workers________________>
SOCIETY CONT’D • Slaves • Ability to move up the social ladder • Women • Wealthy and Middle-class women could own and trade property • Could propose marriage and ask for a divorce • If granted a divorce the woman was entitled to one-third of the couples property
WRITING • Hieroglyphics, Greek for “sacred carving” • Papyrus: reeds that grew in the marshy delta of the Nile
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY • Number system-counting, adding and subtracting • Geometry • Architecture • Calendar • Medicine
END OF THE OLD KINGDOM • Power of the Pharaohs declined about 2,180 B.C. • Short lived Middle Kingdom • Asian-nomadic chariot riders • Egypt will rise again with the New Kingdom