Ancient Egypt

Monday- The Nile

• Egypt started as scattered villages up and down the Nile River.

• In Egypt, it rarely rained yet it flooded with great predictability. From July to October the River overflowed due to water flowing down from the mountains. When the river receded, it left behind large mounds of dark fertile earth. The Egyptians called their land Kemet, which meant ‘The Black Land.’

How was Hurricane Katrina in 2005 similar?

Nile Facts

• The Nile River flows into the Mediterranean Sea. It’s the world’s longest river, and is 4,000 miles long.

Gifts of the Nile

• Fertile Soil• Abundant Food• Water for Irrigation• Transportation of Goods and People• Protection from Enemies• Minerals and Resources from Desert

Cataracts and Deltas

• It has wild rapids called Cataracts that blocks ships from using the southern portion of the river. Egypt also had a delta, a large area of fertile ground where the river branched out in several directions where it met the sea.

Cataracts

Delta

Problem Solving

• Imagine you were a farmer in Ancient Egypt. Answer the questions below.

1)What if the Nile Flooded? What would you do?

2) What if it stopped flowing? What would you do?

Bellringer 9-28-10

1. Where is Egypt located?2. How did the Nile effect people living there?3. What is a cataract?4. What is a delta?

• -look at your notes from yesterday

Turn to pg 12 of SS Notebook-Book of the Dead-Embalming-Sacarphagus-Pyramid Process1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Tuesday- Religion

• Egyptians were polytheistic

• Which means??

• They believed in many Gods that ruled nature. We have learned about their religion through hieroglyphics.

Gods and Goddesses• Isis- Most important Goddesses• Ra (or Re)- The sun God• Hapi- God that ruled the Nile

The Afterlife

• The afterlife was even more important that life on earth to the Egyptians.

• In order to get into the afterlife, Egyptians studied a book called the Book of the Dead, which contained prayers and spells they thought they needed to get into the afterlife.

Book of the Dead

Mummies

• In order for Pharaoh to make it peacefully to afterlife, his body had to be protected. They practiced embalming, or mummifying the Pharaoh’s body.

• A mummy is then placed in a decorated sarcophagus, which is like a coffin.

Pyramids

• Pyramids were built as tombs for the Pharaohs. The very first were in Giza.

Building a Pyramid

1. Select a site2. Find stone3. Cut stone into blocks and make sleds to pull

them.4. Float stones up the Nile to the pyramid site5. Stones pushed up ramps

Inside Pyramids

Pyramid Video

• Write down 3 things you learned about Pyramids from this video

Homework: Pyramid Paragraphs• Write two paragraphs on pyramids

– 1st paragraph explain why they were important– 2nd paragraph explain the process for building

pyramids

– Bonus Points = draw your own representation of a pyramid being built

Bellringer 9-29-10

1. What is embalming?2. What is a sarcophagus?3. What did Egyptians believe about the

afterlife?4. What was the name of their writing system?

-Place last nights homework on the top right hand corner of your desk

Table of Contents

Date Topic pg #9-29 6-1.4 Hieroglyphics 13

6-1.4 Hieroglyphics

• What were hieroglyphics?

• What was papyrus?

• What was the Rosetta Stone?

Hieroglyphics

• Egyptian style of writing was known as hieroglyphics. It had hundreds of picture symbols that scribes learned to read and write.

Writing System

• Papyrus was a reed plant used for baskets, sandals, rafts, and eventually paper.

Compare and Contrast

Hieroglyphics Cuneiform

Papyrus

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone

• Large rock found by archaeologists in the Nile. It allowed historians to translate hieroglyphics into other languages.

• Before the Rosetta Stone was found no one could read hieroglyphics

Bellringer 9-30-10

1. What were hieroglyphics?2. What is the Rosetta Stone?3. Why was the Rosetta Stone important?

Standard and Objective

• Standard: 6-1.4 Culture of Ancient River Valley Civilizations; Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India

• Objective: SWBAT…analyze the economic system of Egypt.

Table of Contents

Date Topic pg #

9-29 6-1.4 Hieroglyphics and Economy 13

Farming and the Economy

How were the Egyptians successful at farming?

What is a shadoof?

How did Egyptians conduct trade?

Economy

• Farmers used irrigation techniques to get water to their fields. They built basins, or bowl shaped depressions in the ground to trap water. Then they build canals to carry water to the fields.

Shadoof

• They also used a tool known as a shadoof, a bucket on a long pole used to lift water from the Nile River to the basins.

Farming Surplus

• Egypt’s economy was based on farming. In ancient Egypt, there was no coin usage, but they traded for things they needed, giving what they had a surplus of.

• Egypt also had a surplus of goods and a division of labor. They traded as far away as Mesopotamia.

- Geography

• Egypt has deserts. To the west is the Sahara Desert, the world’s largest desert. To the east is the Eastern Desert, which separates Egypt from the Red Sea.

• Egypt rarely faced outside attacks. They were able to grow and prosper in ways that Mesopotamia couldn’t.

Bellringer 10-1-10

What was Egypt's economy based on?

Popcorn Popper• 90 seconds to list as much as you know about something

Acrostic Poem

A lady who is really smartR really has a big heartCHER

HieroglyphicsPapyrusPharaohs PolytheisticNile RiverFloodsBasinShadoofPyramidsMummiesSarcophagus

FarmingEconomyCanalsIrrigationDesertCataracts DeltaRosetta StoneEmbalmingMany GodsAfterlifeNorthern Africa

Egypt Video

Tuesday- Social Class

• Their job or profession determined people’s social status. Egypt had a “stratified” society, meaning many layers. Using the Pyramid illustration on page 45, list out the different social statuses.

Role Play

• Each person is given a role based off the Egyptian social class. Follow the guidelines on your role play card and try to figure out what roles other classmates have based on your interaction with them.

Exit Card

• How was your role different from others? Explain.

Wednesday- Government

• Government was needed to organize and build irrigation, store food, resolve disputes.

• Egypt started with village chiefs. By 4000 B.C., Egypt divided into two kingdoms: Lower and Upper.

King Narmer

• In 3000B.C., King Narmer of Upper Egypt went north and took control of Lower Egypt. He joined together the world’s first united kingdom. He also started the first ruling-dynasty in Egypt and built the capital in Memphis.

Dynasty

• A dynasty is a line of rulers from one family.

• Egypt had 31 dynasties, lasting 2800 years, divided into Old, Middle, and New kingdoms.

Pharaoh

• Pharaoh is a ruler who has absolute control over his kingdom.

• The Pharaoh had total control over Egypt. The word Pharaoh means great house, because of the fact that the Pharaoh lived with his entire family in great palaces.

Oh to be a Pharaoh…

• With a partner, list some Rights/Duties/Responsibilities of the Pharaoh using page 48 of the textbook.

– He was in charge of appointing officials to carry out his wishes. Those officials were in charge of handling things like crops, trade, and taxes.

Architecture

Compare

Columns

Temple of Ramses II