EGYPT,

GIFT OF THE NILE

Geographical Setting
Two Parts of Egypt:

Upper Egypt
-Lower Egypt
North- Mediterranean Sea
West- Red Sea
East- Libyan Desert
South- Nubian Desert

Ancient Egypt

was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated

along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern
country of Egypt.
it is one of six civilizations globally to arise independently.

The Old Kingdom(3200-2160 B.C)

MENES

a strong ruler of Upper Egypt

He founded the first dynasty
He was the first pharaoh of Egypt
he conquered Lower Egypt and united the whole country for the
first time under the government
To symbolize the union, he wore a double crown representing the
two kingdoms and built his capital in Memphis, midway between
upper Egypt and lower Egypt.
PHARAOH- came from egyptian word pero, meaning great house.

During the Old Kingdom they considered themselves to be living

gods who ruled with absolute power. They built pyramids as
testimony of their greatness but left no official records of their
achievements.
 Middle Kingdom(2160-1788 B.C)

Amenembet I

He was an Egyptian prince who founded the Twelfth Dynasty and

established his capital at Thebes .
His rise to power marked the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.

Amenembet III
The greatest monarch of the Middle Kingdom.
He dug a canal to link the Nile River to the Red Sea.
Promoted mining operations at Sinai, and constructed hydraulic
works in Fayum Lake.

Middle Kingdom, the pharaohs no longer considered themselves to be

living gods, but rather the representatives of the gods on earth. They left
records of their deeds, but these were no more than a string of titles and
laudatory epithets.

THE HYKSOS DOMINATION

O Hyksos(men of desert)
From the Syrian desert they invaded Delta, with their war chariots and
superior iron weapons, they conquered the Egyptians, plundered the
riches of the land, and burned the temples and works of art.

The New Kingdom(1589-1100 B.C)

O Ahmose I

Egyptian prince who led a revolt and drove out the cruel Hyksos.
He founded the Eighteenth Dynasty, and reestablished the capital in
Thebes.
He marked the beginning of the New Kingdom

O Queen Hatshepsut
one of the colorful monarchs of the new kingdom
history hails her as the first woman ruler in world history
Her husband was Thutmose III
 O Pharaoh Thutmose III

founder of the Egyptian Empire.

he finally assumed the throne in 1483 after her wife Queen
Hatshepsut died
He was a great monarch like his late wife
He made Egypt a world power
He patronized the arts like literature, expanded the nations
economy and decorated his kingdom with magnificent obelisks and
temples.
He raised Egypt to the zenith of power and glory.

Akhenatons Dream of one God

O Pharaoh Amenhotep IV

Successor of Thutmose III

He changed his name to Akhenaton, which means pleasing to
Aton.
He built his capital in Tel- el Amarna called Akhetaton
he is more interested in religion than in politics and war,
His dream was to establish a new religion the worship of one God,
called Aton, the creature of all things and symbol of goodness.
He urged to abandon the pagan gods in favor of Aton
He was the first monarch to practise monotheism(worship of one
God) a belief which follows the worlds greatest religions, including
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Egypts Decline and Fall

O Tutankhamen

Son-in- law of Akhenaton

He moved the capital back to Thebes and revived the worship of
the pagan gods.

Rameses II

He rule Egypt after the death of Tutankhamen on 1350 B.C

 He conquered the Jews and brought many of them as captives into
Egypt where they lived in bondage for many years until Moses
saved them by leading to Sinai (Exodus 1:11-14:13) .
He built many monuments, including the gigantic statues
representing himself at Abu- Simbel to commemorate his military
victories.

O 1200 B.C

Egypts power had faded like a waning moon.

- The pharaohs after Rameses II were dominated by the priests, who

became richer while the people grew poorer.
- Internal disorders and foreign invasions brought about the
Kingdoms decline.

O 332 B.C

- Alexander the Great overthrew the last dynasty(Thirty- First

Dynasty) and annexed Egypt to his empire. After his death, his
Greek general named Ptolemy Soter seized Egypt and ruled her
from 323 to 283 B.C

O Cleopatra

- The last descendant of the pharaohs and the infamous Serpent of

the Nile

30 B.C -- Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire

Society and Social Classes

O Four social classes:

- Nobles and Priests-> they were rich and powerful

- Soldiers-> main function is to fight enemies of Egypt
- Commoners-> they were the farmers and artistans.
- Slaves

Economic Livelihood
 O Farming

Ancient Egypt means of livelihood

Farmers raised barley, millet, wheat, vegetables and other
products.
Egyptians were also expert in craftsmen
Egyptians were among the first shipbuilders in the world.
beer and bread, the main staples of the Egyptian diet

Government and Politics

Ancient Egypt had a theocratic form of government or the union of

church and state.
Theocracy means rule of god.
The pharaoh- is regarded as a god, his power were absolute. He was
chief executive, Legislator, judge, and military commander; he had
a power to life and death over all his subjects; he could declare war
or peace with any foreign country.

Religion

O Egyptians goddesses:

Amon

Ancient Egyptians greatest god

Also called as Ra
- God of the sun
- Osiris god of the Nile River
- Isis wife of Osiris
- Thot god of wisdom
- Maat goddess of justice
- Nut goddess of the sky
- Ptah god of labor
- The Egyptians believed that some animals are sacred. Among these
were:
- beetle> the emblem of life
- dog
- cat
- Crocodile
- Falcon> the symbol of royal power
Bull
The ancient Egypt also believed in life after death. According to
them, the souls of god person enjoyed eternal happiness in the next
life, while those bad ones were destroyed and they believed that it
was Osiris who judged if the soul was bad or evil.

Burial Customs

O Mummification

- Ancient Egyptians way of preserving dead body

The mummies of the pharaohs were entombed in the pyramids. Food,
wines, clothes, jewelry, weapons and slaves were buried with the
dead pharaoh. They believed that he would need these in the next world.
- The tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh is known as Pyramid. The people
of Egypt believed that after death, the soul returns back to the body.
So they preserved the dead body of the Pharaoh by applying
chemicals in it. This preserved body of the Pharaoh was known a
Mummy. It was covered with cloth and kept inside a coffin.

O Hieroglyphics

- Ancient Egyptians writing

- It means sacred signs- because it was written by the priests.
- Early Egyptians wrote on paper made of papyrus reed. The word
paper comes from the egyptian term papyrus.

The Rosetta Stone

O The Rosetta Stone is a stone with writing on it in two languages

(Egyptian and Greek), using three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic and
Greek).

Education

O In ancient Egypt, the temple schools of the priests were open only
to the sons of rich families. Subjects taught were reading, writing,
religion, arithmetic, and astronomy.

Literature

Pyramid Texts
- oldest known egyptian literature which were prayers and hymns
found in the pyramid.

Other literary works:

1. Book of the Dead contain magic rites and religious incantations

2. Hymn to the Sunan ode written by pharaoh Akhenaton

Arts and Architecture

O The glory of Egyptian art was architect.

O The ancient Egyptians were the worlds first great builders.

O They built magnificent stone temples. They built an excellent

building of pyramids.

O They also erected tall monoliths of granite called Obelisks.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu

O The Great Pyramid

- Is the greatest of all pyramids in Egypt.

O The Egyptian pyramids are the most famous of all the ancient
monuments, the only remaining wonder of the seven wonders of the
ancient world.

The Sphinx

O The sphinx

- One of the sculptural works of the ancient Egyptians whose subtle

smile has mystified men for over 4,000 years.

Sciences

O Ancient Egyptians knew mathematics esp. arithmetic and geometry-

(means earth measure).

O They could count up to one million.

O Ahmes Papyrus
- Oldest mathematical treatise in history written by an Egyptian
mathematician.
- They have their knowledge of the laws of the inclined plane and the
pulley also enabled them to construct huge structures like the pyramids.
- Calendar was one of the achievement of the Egyptian.
- They devised the first calendar in the history.
- The calendar was based on the appearance of the Dog Star (Sirius).
- The calendar had a total of 365 days a year.
- Ancient Egyptians know medicine and surgery.
Smith Papyrus

- Oldest document on medicine.

- Dated about 1600 B.C which describes 48 cases of clinical surgery,

from cranial fracture to spinal injury.

O They also invented the sundial and water clock to measure time.

O The first known water clock in history was made during the reign of
Thutmose III.

Egypts Contributions to Civilization

1. It gave the world the pyramids, the oldest man made stone
monuments that still exist to the present time.

2. As the worlds first builders, the ancient Egyptians erected

magnificent palaces obelisks and temples of granite and stone.

3. Egypt devised the first 365 day calendar which divided the year into
112 months of 30 days each. In addition, there were five feast days
in a year.

4. It produced he first seagoing ships made of papyrus reeds. These

papyrus ships sailed to Phoenicia, Mesopotamia and Iran and to the
islands of the Mediterranean carrying trading goods.

5. The Egyptians were the first people to develop geometry because

they needed to rebuild the land boundaries erased by the annual
flood of the Nile River.
6. 6. Egypt increased mans knowledge of medicine, surgery and
embalming. The embalmed corpses (mummies) of the pharaohs
have lasted for thousands of years.

7. 7. Egypt gave mankind various practical inventions , such as pulley

which enable builders to construct colossal structures like pyramids
and the sundial waterclock, which are used to measure time.