Chapter 2 Section 2 Notes

I. The Geography of Egypt

A. The Gift of the Nile

1. Nile River is 4,100 mile long

(Mississippi River 2,340 miles long)

2. Every July rains, and melting

snows cause the river to overrun

it’s banks

3. In October the river recedes and a

rich layer of silt covers the Nile

valley

B. Upper Egypt (south) and Lower

Egypt (North)

1. Lower Egypt is the last 750 miles

separated by a cataract or waterfall

2. In the North or Lower Egypt was a delta where the water fanned out and

flowed into the Mediterranean Sea

(about 100 miles long)

a. The Delta is a broad marshy,

triangular, silt rich area of land

Nile Delta

Nile Delta from Space

3. The Nile was a reliable system for

transportation

Feluccas

a. Boats traveled northward by

current

b. Boats traveled southward by

Eustachian winds off the

MediterraneanSea

C. Environmental Challenges

1. Even though the Nile did flood on predictable bases if it was just a few

feet below normal it could have devastating

affect on crop production

2. If the Nile was just a few feet over normal mud brick

villages could be destroyed along with granaries

3. The vast deserts on the sides did provide

protection from invaders but also

kept them from interaction with other

peoples

a. Thus Egypt was spared constant

warfare that plagued the Fertile Crescent

D. Movement of Goods and Ideas

1. By 3200 B.C. Egypt was trading

with Sumer

2. By 2000 B.C. Egypt was trading with lands to the

south

a. Nubia b. Kush

II. Egypt Unites into a Kingdom

A. By 3200 B.C. Upper and Lower Egypt were two

separate kingdoms

B. By 3100 B.C. King Menes unites

both

1. Capitol at Memphis

C. Old Kingdom lasted from 2660 B.C. to 2180 B.C.

D. Pharaohs Rule as gods

1. In Egypt kings were seen as gods

2. Egyptian god kings became

known as Pharaohs

3. Ruled their kingdoms as a

Theocracy

a. Pharaoh duty to promote truth and

justice

E. Builders of the Pyramids

Sphinx and Pyramid at Giza

Sphinx

3 D Pyramid

1. Pharaoh’s (ka) or eternal spirit lived

after their death and would control the government from a

resting place

2. So kings were buried in an

immense structure called a pyramid

3. The great pyramids were built

during the Old Kingdom

a. The limestone was quarried 400

miles upriver

b. Each stone weighed 2.5 tons

Pyramid Stone

c. 2 million blocks stacked some 481

feet tall

III. Egyptian Culture

A. Egyptians were polytheists

1. Most important god was Ra, the sun god and Horus, the

god of light

2. The most important goddess was Isis, the ideal

mother

3. More than 2000 gods and goddesses

Egyptians believed strongly in a good after life

1. The god Osiris would weigh each persons

heart, no heavier than a feather or the

Devourer of Souls would eat your heart

C. Mummification or embalming and drying the corpse became important

1. The process took 70 days

2. All types of goods were placed

with the dead

D. Life in Egyptian Society

1. Society formed a pyramid

a. King and Queen at the top

b. Next Upper Class

1. Land owners

2. Government officials

3. Priests

4. Army commanders

c. Middle Class

1. Merchants

2. Artisans

d. Lower Class (largest class)

1. Peasants

2. Unskilled laborers

2. Were not locked into their class

a. Hard work, loyalty, read and

write could advance one

E. Egyptian writing

1. Hieroglyphics ( sacred carvings)

Hieroglyphics

• July 19, 1799: Discovery of the Rosetta Stone • Description:

On this day in 1799, a French expedition to Egypt discovered a large piece of basalt with inscriptions in Greek and in two Egyptian scripts: hieroglyphics and demotic. This discovery opened the door for the translation of hieroglyphics, previously an unsolvable mystery.

2. Papyrus was a reed plant they

made paper from

F. Egyptian Science and Technology

1. Collection of taxes led to

numbering system, adding and subtracting

2. Geometry to survey land for

property during the floods

3. Geometry for the construction of the

Pyramids

4. Developed a calendar based on the star Sirius 365

days

5. Medicine

a. Heart rate

b. Splint broken bones

c. Some surgery

IV. Chariot Riders Invade Egypt

A. During the Middle Kingdom from 2080 B.C. to 1640 B.C. there

were more advances

1. Public projects

2. New Dikes and irrigation projects

B. Asian invaders called Hyksos ( the

rulers of the uplands) invade in

1640 B.C.