Arab Republic of EGYPT

1
Arab Republic of EGYPT
Revised in 2007 by Kristie Benton
2
Geography Where in the world is Egypt?
Egypt is 1 ½ times the size of Texas.
3
Geography

• Continent Africa (Middle East)
• Landforms Sahara Desert, Nile River Delta, Sinai
  Peninsula
• Waterways Nile River, Suez Canal, Red Sea,
  Mediterranean Sea
• Famous Landmarks Pyramids of Giza, Sphinx,
  Library of Alexandria, Egyptian Museum in Cairo
• Climate Desert with fertile valley by Nile River

4
Landmarks

• Egyptian history dates back to about 4000 BC,
  when the kingdoms of upper and lower Egypt were
  united.
• The early Egyptians built great stone pyramids
  and other monuments. A pyramid is a large
  triangular tomb to bury pharaohs and all their
  possessions.

5
The Pyramids of Giza are some of the only
remaining ancient wonders of the world.  Its
hard to comprehend their huge size or extreme
age.
6
The Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza are
popular ancient monuments to visit. 
7
Library at Alexandria
8
Egyptian Museum - Cairo
9
Egypt in Vegas Luxor Hotel
10
What was the purpose of the Egyptian pyramids?
The embalmed body of the pharaoh-Egyptian king,
and all his possessions (including servants and
pets) were entombed within the pyramid.
What happened to his possessions? Did
they go with him to the afterlife?
11
Gold funeral mask of King Tutankhamen, found in
his tomb in the Valley of the Kings.  Now in the
Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
12
The four huge statues of Ramses II that guard the
entrance of his Great Temple at Abu Simbel are
over 20 meters high. Thats over 60 ft tall!
13
Ancient History

• Ruled by pharaohs including King Tut, Ramses II,
  Cleopatra
• The Egyptians also traded with people from other
  places. To identify themselves and their goods,
  the Egyptians used hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics
  are Egyptian writing that uses pictures and
  symbols that stand for ideas or words.

http//www.youtube.com/watch?vkiUe4J2ARuA
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vI4GqYz4F2h4feature
related
14
Phamous Pharaohs

• Khufu (reigned 2589 - 2566 B.C)
• Built the Great Pyramid at Giza the Step
  Pyramid
• Khafra (reigned 2558 - 2532 B.C.)
• Built the Second Pyramid at Giza  the Sphinx
• Hatshepsut (reigned 1498 - 1483 B.C.)
• She reigned longer than any other women of
• the Egyptian dynasty. 
• Tutankhamen (reigned 1334 - 1325 B.C.)
• Known as King Tut
• youngest pharaoh in the Egyptian history
• Ruled from age 9 or 10 died at age 18
• famous tomb in the Valley of the Kings with
  treasures
• Ramses II (reigned 1279 - 1212 B.C.) 
• powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian empire

• Cleopatra (reigned 51 - 30 B.C.)
• Educated (spoke 6 languages)
• Devised a plot to rule, including killing her
  siblings marrying the leader of the Roman
  Empire
• She was a compassionate ruler helped to boost
  Egypts economy.
• Cleopatra was the last pharaoh to rule Egypt (she
  died by poisonous snake bite at age 39).

15
On what did Ancient Egyptians write their
hieroglyphs?
Papyrus - ancient paper made from reeds that
grew near the Nile River.
16

• Hieroglyphics were also carved on walls of
  temples to tell stories and record history.

However, the winner got to write the history.
17
Rosetta Stone

• After the Ancient Egyptians were conquered, their
  written language hieroglyphics - was no longer
  used. In time, no one could read it.
• In 1799, a French army officer stumbled on a
  large black stone near the city of Rosetta,
  Egypt.
• This amazing discovery turned out to have 3
  different kinds of writings (2 Egyptian and
  Ancient Greek)
• In 1822, another Frenchman decoded the
  hieroglyphics for the first time since the
  Ancient Egyptians wrote them.
• Rosetta Stone stone with 3 types of writing
  that enabled us to decipher ancient hieroglyphics
  language

18
Modern History

• After being conquered many times by other
  countries, Britain gained control of Egypt after
  the completion of the Suez Canal.
• Egypt gained independence on Feb. 28, 1922 and
  remained neutral during World War II.
• After 30 years of rule, the monarchy was
  abolished a republic proclaimed on June 18,
  1953, when a president prime minister took
  power.
• Tensions between Egypt and its neighbor Israel
  have continued for 1,000s of years.
• In 1967, border tensions between Egypt and Israel
  led to the Six-Day War. On June 5, Israel
  launched an air assault, and within days had
  annexed the Sinai Peninsula, the East Bank of the
  Jordan River, and the Golan Heights (still
  disputed territories today). In 1973, another
  war ended with Egypt obtaining control of the
  Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal.

19
Modern History

• Recently, Egypt has had many riots and violence
  in the attempt to overthrow the government.
  Protesters flooded the streets demanding
  government reform and resignation of the
  president (who has been in power for 30 years).
  The riots were organized by social media like
  cell phones, Facebook, YouTube.
• On Feb. 11, President Mubarak announced his
  resignation and handed power over to the
  military. Cairo erupted in joyous celebration,
  with crowds chanting, "Egypt is free! However,
  protests against the government and the military
  have continued while the transition takes place,
  including a violent outbreak at a soccer game,
  killing 75 spectators.
• In June 2012, Mubarak was sentenced to
  life in prison for
  killing protestors in 2011.
• Terrorist attacks targeting Christians
  have continued.
• It is very dangerous to travel to Egypt today.

20
Riots
21
Past Governments

• Monarchy (pharaohs), conquered by many other
  countries
• Since becoming a country, Egypt has been
  conquered and ruled by
• Persia
• Alexander the Great
• The Ptolemy dynasty (including Cleopatra)
• Romans
• Arabs
• Turks
• Napoleon's armies
• and Britain

22
Government Today

• Republic with elected president, but recent
  protests led to government takeover
• still lots of corruption and unrest

Morsi recently elected president in 2011 during
Egyptian Revolution
Mubarak 1981-2011 president for 30 years
23
Economy

• Monetary Unit Egyptian Pound
• 1 E 0.15 USD
• Capital City Cairo
• Industries Agriculture along Nile River Valley,
  Fishing, Textiles (cotton), Tourism, Oil

24
CAIRO

• Cairo, Egypts capital largest city, was
  founded more than a 1,000 years ago along the
  Nile River.
• Today, Cairo has more than 11 million people,
  is a mixture between modern buildings and
  mud-brick houses.

25
Economy - The Nile River

• The Nile, the worlds longest river, flows
  northward through the eastern Sahara Desert.
• Water from the Nile is used for irrigation of
  surrounding farmland.
• Irrigation - transporting water for crops

26
The Nile River
27
The Nile River

• Before modern irrigation methods, the Nile River
  flooded the Nile Valley once a year.
• The river overflowed its banks during the rainy
  season. After the water drained away, it
  deposited rich silt, or tiny particles of soil
  sand, which made these farmlands fertile.
• The annual flooding was measured by a nilometer
  and used to determine the amount of taxes the
  people would pay to
  the Pharaoh each year.

28
Economy - Industries

• A, warm sunny climate and water for irrigation
  make the Nile delta ideal for growing cotton,
  vegetables, grain, and fruit.
• 40 of Egyptian workers
  are farmers.
• Egypts main export is crude oil
• They also export cotton other textiles.
• The tourism industry has suffered greatly from
  violence and rioting.

29
Economy - The Nile River
Farming There are hundreds of farms along the
Nile, and usually farmers use boats to transport
items (such as rice, wheat, cattle, and hay)
between locations on the Nile. Fishing Almost
everyone who lives on the Nile fishes, and for
some, fishing is a main source of income and
wealth. Each year thousands of tons of fish are
caught.
Animal powered water wheel used for irrigating
crops
30
Nile River Predators
31

• What can you infer about the population density
  from this night time picture of Egypt taken from
  space?

About 99 of Egypts population lives in the Nile
River Valley Nile Delta.
32
Tourism in Egypt
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vsVxUUotm1P4
33
Economy - Suez Canal

• Completed in 1869
• Connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea
• Ships use the canal to avoid long trips around
  southern Africa
• Ships pay tolls to pass through it
• One of the worlds busiest waterways to transport
  oil from the Middle East

34
Culture

• Ancient Egyptians believed in many gods. They
  had a god for almost every part of nature in the
  world around them.
• They made statues and carved hieroglyphs in the
  temples to represent their many gods.
• Pharaohs even believed that they were gods.
• Polytheistic means believing in many gods.

35
Culture

• god of Appearance
• Sun head of falcon and sun disk
• Music horns of cow and sun disk
• Destruction head of lion
• Sky blue with golden stars
• Earth color of plants and Nile mud
• Dead dressed in white with crook and flail
• Desert animal head with long curved snout
• Pharaoh head of hawk and crown of Egypt
• Magic throne on head or holding baby
• Wisdom head of ibis
• Embalming head of jackal
• Justice feathers
• Creation crowned with feathers
• Cats head of cat

36
Culture

• Population 80,000,000
• Languages AncientHieroglyphics, Today-Arabic
  (official), English and French widely understood
  by educated classes
• Religion Ancient-Polytheistic (many Egyptian
  gods), Today-Islam (Muslim)

37
Islamic Mosque
38
Culture - Holidays

• Revolution Day (Jan. 25) - day of the beginning
  of the Egyptian revolution
• Christmas (Jan. 7th)
• Muslim holidays Ramadan, Islamic New Year
• Flooding of the Nile (Aug. 15) beginning of the
  Nile floods
• Sportmens Day (March 3) celebrates Egypts
  sports

39
Cinema in Cairo
40
School children in Egypt
41
Young children playing in Egypt
42
Culture - Food
Fried falafel (chic peas)
Pita bread
Egyptian pie

• Vegetarian diet, lamb (meat very expensive)
• Bread (edible utensil)
• Seafood on coast

Lamb kebab
43
Central Cairo Market
44
Vegetable Shop
45
Butcher Shop
46
Culture - Sports

• Wrestling, Gymnastics,
• Archery, Equestrian,
• Chariot Racing,
• Fishing,
• Today - Soccer

47
Challenges

• The flooding of the Nile brought rich soil, but
  it also caused problems. Floodwaters destroyed
  homes and farms. Egyptians built dams to control
  floods.
• Egypt's farmland is limited
  so a lot of
  fertilizer is used
  to keep the land
  productive.
  That washes into the river.
• Many people still live in
  poverty. Half of the people
  
  today cannot read or write.
• Violence and unrest are still going on in Egypt
  today. Tensions between Egypt and its neighbor
  Israel also continue to cause fear from threat of
  war.

Electric power generators of the Aswan Dam
48
The End