Egypt

African Civilizations of the Nile Valley

Why is the Nile River Important?• Giver and Taker of Life• Source of Innovation• Source of Religion• Unity for the Egyptians

Giver and Taker of Life1. As the land in northeastern Africa

became desert, plants died.2. Animals and people in search of water

moved to the valley of the Nile.3. The Nile River provided a source of

water and spread silt, which made the surrounding land fertile.

4. People grew wheat barley and raised sheep, goats, and cattle.

5. Some years the Nile took life away:• If too little rain fell, Nile did not overflow, land and crops dried up,

people starved.• If too much rain fell, Nile flooded, washed away crops and drowned

people and animals.

Giver and Taker of Life Continued

Source of Innovation1. Egyptians kept track of the pattern of flooding

with a 365 day calendar-the oldest known calendar based on the sun.

2. The Egyptian calendar divided the year into 3 parts: • Inundation – late spring when floods began• Emergence – late summer when water left the

fields and returned to the Nile. This is when farmers plowed fields and planted crops.

• Harvest – dry time in late winter when farmers cared for and harvested crops.

Source of Religion1. People of ancient Egypt used stories about their

gods to explain nature.2. Some Egyptian gods:• Re (Ray) – Sun god, the most important god, created the

other gods and the world.• Osiris – taught the Egyptian people about farming and made

things grow.• Isis – Osiris’ wife• Horus – son of Osiris and Isis who ruled the sky and took the

form of a falcon. God of the sky.

Unity for the Egyptians1. Upper Egypt – villages in the northern region of

Egypt on the Nile delta.2. Lower Egypt – villages in the river valley south

of the delta.3. About 3,000 BC, Upper Egyptian kings gained

control of lower Egypt.4. Some experts think that King Narmer may have

brought the “Two Lands” together.5. The uniting of Egypt established the world’s first

organized government representing one group of people.

African Civilizations of the Nile Valley

Dynasties of Egypt• The Early Period•The Old Kingdom•The Middle Kingdom•The New Kingdom

The Early Period1. Egyptians believed their pharaoh was a god in

human form. He controlled all the land and all the people in ancient Egypt.

2. Egyptians developed a system of writing called hieroglyphics.

3. Egyptians wrote on stone, on walls, and on paper like material called papyrus. Papyrus was one of the great inventions of ancient Egypt.

4. Government records in Egypt were written in hieroglyphics on papyrus.

5. Egyptian history is usually divided into three parts: the old kingdom, the middle kingdom, the new kingdom.

The Old Kingdom1. Also known as the Age of the Pyramids2. Pyramids were burial places for ancient Egyptian

rulers.3. Egyptians believed they would need their bodies in

another life after death, so they built strong tombs (pyramids) and mummified their dead.

4. The best known of Egypt's pyramids is the Great Pyramid at Giza ordered by Pharaoh Khufu.

The Middle Kingdom1. During the Middle Kingdom Egypt became an

empire and captured much of Nubia.2. The Egyptians and the people of Nubia often

cooperated with each other to conduct trade.3. During the Middle Kingdom, Egypt had 3 social

classes: • noble class = nobles and priests• middle class = craftsmen, merchants, scribes,

and people who had jobs in government• lower class= farmers and slaves

4. The Hyksos captured Egypt and rules for about 100 years. They introduced the Egyptians to a horse drawn chariot and a stronger bow.

The New Kingdom1. The Egyptians took back their country using war

chariots and other weapons learned from the Hyksos.2. The first woman to rule Egypt as pharaoh was

Hatshepsut.3. Amenhotep (who later changed his name to

Akhenaton) and his wife Nefertiti urged Egyptian people to worship only one god, the Aton. This brought fear to the Egyptians and angered the priests.

4. When Akhenaton died the priests chose a new pharaoh whom they could control, a nine year old boy, Tutankhamen (King Tut).

5. After Tut’s death, Egypt’s wealth began to slip away, by 1075 BC the new kingdom had ended and conquerors from other lands began to rule Egypt.