Do Now!

• Complete the math exercise!!

• HW: Read pp.52-54, Answer on pg 54: Comprehension, 2; Critical Thinking and Writing, 5a&b

Ancient Egypt

Technology, Culture,

& Government

Technology & Architecture: The Mastaba

• Mastabas are ancient Egyptian burial structures that pre-date giant pyramids.

• They were rectangular, had sloping sides, and were made of mud brick or stone with flat roofs.

• Burial chambers were built beneath mastabas to shield the dead.

Technology & Architecture: The Step Pyramid

• It was built after mastabas but before great pyramids.• It is essentially 5 mastabas piled on top of each other.• At 197 feet high, it was the first “skyscraper.”

Pharaoh Djoser: 2,611 BCE substructure

Technology & Architecture: The Giza Pyramids

• Part of a giant funerary complex or Necropolis--a city of the dead.

• Built as tombs for 3 Pharaohs: Khufu, Khafre, & Menkaure.

Engineering Requirements: Math!

• Massive engineering projects required mathematical knowledge, especially of geometry.

• We know that Egyptians had a decimal system for numbers, but much of their knowledge base has been lost to history.

There aren’t enough surviving records!

Speaking of Records…Papyrus!

Papyrus and Egyptian Records:

1. Take some plants…2. Turn them into a canvas…3. Write or paint all over it!

*It’s thicker and more durablethan paper!

Egyptian Writing: Hieroglyphs

• The Egyptian writing system may have been influenced by the cuneiform of Mesopotamia OR developed independently.

Letter sounds Syllabic sounds

The Rosetta Stone

• The Rosetta stone was the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian writing.

• Originally produced in 196 BCE, it contained a passage written in both hieroglyphs and ancient Greek, allowing modern people to decipher the older Egyptian script (because they could read Greek).

What kind of society made these advances?

Least people

MostPeople

Government Power: Pharaohs vs. Nobles

Kings want to:

1. rule as absolutists2. maximize economic

production3. maximize trade 4. collect taxes to

finance economic improvements

5. create internal stability with a national military

Nobles want to:

1. increase their personal power

2. control peasant movements

3. control local economic production and tax collection

4. engage in internal warfare with localized military forces

Why do kings tolerate regional power centers?

They can’t help it!

• Kings need nobles and local leaders to help them rule and collect taxes.

• Kings need generals to help them conquer and defend borders.

• Local power is almost impossible to eradicate.

• Negotiations about centralized vs. regional power is inevitable.

How can kings limit the influence of regional power centers?

• Become a god or representative of the gods

• Create educated bureaucracies wholly dependent on the king– (Only the king’s forces collect and spend a society’s

money!)

• Develop mobile and powerful military forces that were loyal to the king alone

*Successful Pharaohs did all of these things!

How do we tell who has the power?

Ask these questions:

• Who controls the collection and spending of money?

• Who controls the army?

Power & Eras in Egyptian History

Pharaohs in Control

• Old Kingdom

(2,469-2,126 BCE)

• Middle Kingdom

(1,975-1,631 BCE)

• New Kingdom

(1,539-1,076 BCE)

Nobles in Control

• 1st Intermediate Period

(2,125-1,976 BCE)

• 2nd Intermediate Period

(1,630-1,540 BCE)

• 3rd Intermediate Period

(1,075-716 BCE)

Tension between centralized government

and regional nobility will be a constant theme for

the next 3,000 years

Summary Question•Why do historians regard

Ancient Egypt as a “great” civilization?

[Refer to its achievements]