Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt

Early Egyptian Life

• ~8,000 BC– 1st human life in the area

• Quest for food brought the stone age man to the Nile River Valley• Hunters roamed until the found the river valley

– Climatic changes caused northern Africa to become drier

• ~7,000 BC– Probable start of agriculture in the Nile region

• Barley, wheat and vegetables grown

• ~3,000 BC– Many small villages established along the Nile– Area called Kemet

• Fertile, black soil

General Information

• Unification• Originally two kingdoms developed along the Nile• Lower Egypt

– Located along the northern Nile– Good farmland– Access to copper mines in Sinai Peninsula

• Upper Egypt– Located along the southern Nile– Ruler names Menes– Established first dynasty– Conquered lower Egypt, unifying the kingdom– Built capital at Memphis

• Established by Narmar

General Information

• Approximately 30 dynasties (ruling families) from 2700 BC to 1090 BC

• Dynasties ruled Egypt for a total of ~ 2700 years• Ancient Egyptian history divided into three

periods– Old Kingdom– Middle Kingdom– New Kingdom

• Years between kingdoms without ruling dynasty usually marked by civil wars and/or invasion

• River– Flows north– Originates in the highlands of Central Africa– Ends in the Mediterranean Sea– Longest river in the world at 4,160 miles

• Floods– Until recently, flooded annually in July– Floods predictable– Added moisture to the soil– Deposited silt, replenishing the soil with nutrients– Caused delta to form at the mouth of the river

Geography of the Nile Region

Influence of Geography on Civilization

• Natural barriers provide obstacles to potential invaders– Mediterranean Sea to the North– Libyan Desert to the West– Nubian Desert to the Southeast– Red Sea to the East– 6 Cataracts in southern part of Nile

• Susceptible to invasion– Across Sinai Peninsula– Across Northern Sinai Desert– Also enabled Egypt to invade others

Effect of Barriers• Limited invasions from many angles• Limited farming to a narrow region on either side

of the river• Caused river villages to be crowded

– As population grew, villages needed to expand– Forced Egyptians to develop irrigation systems to

create more fertile land– Drained marshy swamps of the delta region in order

to farm the land

Benefits

• The river served as a highway– United villages along the river– Travel was relatively easy on the river– Currents carried barges downstream to the delta– Sails used to catch winds to return upstream

• Additional benefits– River attracted wildlife and provided fish for hunting &

sport– Papyrus grew along river

• Used to make paper

Religion in Ancient Egypt

• Beliefs– Nature important– Polytheistic– Gods control forces of nature– Gods controlled all life and death– Gods frequently identified with certain animals

• Egyptian Gods– Aman Re

• Most important god• Sun god• East represented birth (sunrise)• West represented death (sunset)• Burial temples built on the West bank of the Nile

Religion – Osiris

• God of the underworld • Judges the dead• Rise & fall of the Nile believed to be the death & rebirth of

Osiris

– Set• God of evil who killed Osiris • Believed to cause failed harvest

– Isis• Wife of Osiris• Brought him back to life• Nile floods and brings renewed life

Religion• The Afterlife

– Egyptians believed in a life after death– Believed the good lived in happiness– Believed the dead needed to take with them

things they would need in death– Believed the earthly body would be

needed as a home for the soul– Preserved the bodies of the dead through

mummification• Originally reserved for rulers and nobels

System of Writing

• Record keeping of religious rituals prompted writing

• ~3,100 BC – pictograms- picture of object– Ideograms added to convey ideas– Added symbols for sounds– No symbols for vowel sounds

• Symbols evolved into hieroglyphics• Writings carved in wood or stone• Later, symbols painted in ink on papyrus

The Rosetta Stone• Slab of black rock carved in

three languages– Hieroglyphics– Demotic (shorthand

hieroglyphics)– Greek

• Found in 1799• 1822- French scholar Jean

Chapollion cracked the code of hieroglyphics because he could read Greek

• Enabled scholars to decipher papyrus scrolls of hieroglyphics

What Characterized Civilization in Ancient Egypt?

• Civilizations developed when people could stay put and not have to wander after their food supply.

• When people began to grow food, they became more organized

• Divisions in labor developed to decide who did what– Farmers, herders, artisans, government

• Cities grew with this organization• Civilization & cities often thought to go hand in

hand

The Old Kingdom

2700-2200 BC

• Strong monarchs

• Tasks delegated to many gov’t officials

The Middle Kingdom

~2050-1800 BC• New capital Thebes in upper (southern) Egypt• Human/Enviroment Interaction• ~1600 BC ruler becomes known as the pharoah• Early female ruler Hatshepsut

– Has a tomb built as part of a major building project– Suceeded by stepson, Thutmose III

• Thutmose established Egypt as an empire, gains wealth

• Through trade and conquest, Egyptians learn other ideas and blend cultures (movement)

New Kingdom

~1570- 1090 BC• 1370 BC Amenhotep rises to power

– makes many unsettling changes– Makes Egyptians monotheistic

• Aton the sun god– Claims to be equal to Aton– Weak ruler, lost part of empire– Priests & soliders unhappy w/ changes– Egypt returned to old ways after his death

• 1200’s BC rule of Ramses II– Long rule– Many children (52 sons, plus daughters…)– Had temples and tombs built

Mummy of Ramses II

Pharaohs organized centralized state

Built enormous tombs, the pyramids

Power struggles, crop failures and cost of pyramids caused collapse

Corrupt government suffered frequent rebellions

Land drained for farming

Hittites invaded and conquered

Pharaohs created a large empire

Traded with lands along eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea

Nubians, then others invaded

Egyptian Society

• Social Class– A persons social position and occupation

determined at birth– Parents taught their children their own trade

• Social Structure– Top = Pharaoh

• Ruling class of priests & nobles• Middle class of merchants, artisans, doctors

– Bottom = Slaves

Egyptian Society

• Ruling Class– Egyptian life revolved around religion– Priests had highest status after pharaoh– Only priests knew how to please gods– Gods controlled nature– Priests preformed rituals to obtain fertile land etc– People paid tax to the temples

• Grain, gold, linen, etc

– Under priests were nobles who mainly held gov’t positions

Egyptian Society

• Middle Class– Small group– Settled in cities– Cities (Memphis, Thebes) grew around

temples & palaces– Provided goods & services to the ruling class

Egyptian Society

• Peasants & Slaves– Majority of Egyptians– Lifestyle unchanged for thousands of years– Pharaoh owned all the land

• Over half of the crops had to be paid as taxes– Usually had to work on palace or gov’t project– Brought to Egypt as POW’s or were descendents of

POW’s– Some slaves lived comfortable lives– Some became trusted officials (Joseph)– Some earned their freedom– Life was tough for most

Egyptian Society

• Status of Women– Relatively high status for that time in history– Could buy and sell property– Could seek divorce (although rare)– Property inherited through female line– Role of wife & mother important– A woman’s status increased

when she had children– Sometimes women considered property,

but were treated kindly– Queen might rule with pharaoh– If pharaoh had more than one wife, the first wife was most

important• Her son would be the next pharaoh

Education

• Original purpose of schools was to train priests• Subjects taught

– Reading & writing– Math– Religious ceremonies & rituals

• Eventually temple schools provided more general education

• Usually schools attended only by the wealthy• Girls did not attend school

– Taught domestic skills at home• Students took notes on scraps of pottery

– Papyrus was expensive & only used by advanced students• Strict discipline

Scribes

• Scribes were very important

• Kept records, recorded history

• Could possibly become rich

• About the only social mobility of the era

Scientific Accomplishments

• In areas of math and science• Developed system of surveying land

– Important due to annual floods• Surveying land led to Geometry

– Area & volume• Development of astronomy

– To predict floods, eclipses– Led to development of calendar

• 365 days, 12 months• 3 seasons, 30 days for 11 months, 35 for the 12th

• No leap year

• Development of building techniques– engineering

Scientific Accomplishments

• Medical discoveries– Magic heavily used– Developed surgery– Greeks & Romans based much of their

medical knowledge on that of the Egyptians

Other Ancient African Civilzations

• ~3000 BC Nubia– Located southern part of Nile Valley– Military skills– May have had close links to Egypt

• 2000 BC Nubia developed into Kingdom of Kush– Had pyramids too

• 750 BC invaded Egypt & added to Nubia, ruled like pharaohs respecting Egyptian traditions

• 671 BC pushed back out of Egypt by invading Assyrians• ~480 BC conquered by Axuin from the Red Sea Area