World History, Chapter 3

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World History, Chapter 3

• Nile Civilizations

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The Kingdom of Egypt (3.1)
Main Idea Egypt was one of the most stable and
long-lasting civilizations of the ancient world.

• Reading Focus
• How did geography influence Egypts early
  history?
• What achievements were made in the Old Kingdom?
• What happened during the Middle Kingdom?
• What was Egypt like during the New Kingdom?

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• Geography and Early Egypt
• The Nile
• Most important physical feature in Egypt
• 4,000 miles long flows through the Sahara Desert
  
• Without the Niles waters, no one could live
  there.

• Geography of Egypt
• The Nile flooded every year
• Predictable floodwaters with spring rains
• Left rich, black silt
• Narrow band of fertile soil
• Became home of Egyptian civilization

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Geographical Features
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• Two Kingdoms
• First farming villages as early as 5000 BC
• Northern Kingdom, Lower Egypt
• Mild climate cobra goddess worshipped
• Southern Kingdom, Upper Egypt
• Warmer climate prayed to a vulture goddess

• Unification
• Two kingdoms unified around 3100 BC
• Upper Egypt ruler Menes conquered north
• Founded capital city of Memphis
• Adopted both symbols, the snake and the vulture
• First of 31 dynasties

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Draw Conclusions How did geography affect where
the early Egyptians lived?
Answer(s) They lived in a narrow strip of
fertile land where they could raise crops. It was
surrounded by inhospitable desert, which would
not easily support life.
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The Old Kingdom
Many of the institutions for which the Egyptian
civilization is known were created during the
period which began around 2650 BC.
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• The Pharaohs
• The head of the government was the king
• Became known as pharaoh (great house)
• Had great power because he was believed to be a
  god
• Egypt a theocracy, a state ruled by religious
  figures

• Egyptian Bureaucracy
• Pharaoh could not rule Egypt alone
• Aided by bureaucracy, many of whom were pharaohs
  relatives
• Most powerful official was the vizier
• Hundreds of lesser officials kept Egypt running
  smoothly

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Summarize What Egyptian institutions were
developed during the Old Kingdom?
Answer(s) a government headed by the pharaoh,
highly structured bureaucracy
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The Middle Kingdom

• Old Kingdom collapsed around 2100 BC
• Warfare, economic strife for almost 200 years
• New dynasty began Middle Kingdom 2055 BC
• Strong leadership brought stability
• Trade with surrounding lands encouraged
• Trade routes not always safe
• Fortresses built along the Nile
• The Hyksos invaded, conquered around 1650 BC

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Summarize How did the Middle Kingdom rise and
fall?
Answer(s) new dynasty came to power after almost
200 years of chaos brought stability and
economic prosperity Middle Kingdom fell when
Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos, who conquered
Lower Egypt
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The New Kingdom

• Hyksos ruled almost 100 years
• Not harsh, but resented
• Defeated by nobles from Thebes who became new
  rulers of Egypt

• Securing Egypt
• Egypt could not rely on geography for protection
• Desert and sea not enough
• Had to build powerful military

• First permanent army
• Traditional foot soldiers
• Archers and charioteers
• Adopted weapons from Hyksos

• Created an empire
• Egypt to rule beyond Nile Valley
• Headed south into Nubia
• Also campaigns east into Asia

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• The Reign of Hatshepsut
• Hatshepsut best known for encouraging trade
• Only woman pharaoh
• Wanted to be treated like any other pharaoh
• Dressed like a man, statues of her as a man

• Monotheism in Egypt
• Amenhotep IV, 1353
• Worshipped only one god, Aten
• Banned worship of all other gods
• Built temple to Aten at Akhetaten
• The next pharaoh restored worship of traditional
  gods

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Ramses the Great

• Egypt expanded empire
• Fought campaigns in Nubia and Syria
• A new foe around 1250 BC
• Hittites invaded from Mesopotamia

• Confrontation with Hittites
• Ramses the Great led army
• Accounts of battle vary, but two armies signed
  truce
• Ramses married Hittite princess and conflict ended

• Ramses rule
• Reign marked with extravagant splendor
• Built more temples and monuments than other
  pharaohs
• Many political and artistic achievements

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Egypts Decline

• Ramses successors faced challenges to authority
• Major invasions of Egypt
• Sea Peoples devastated empires
• Ended Hittite Empire, weakened Egypts control of
  Syria
• Egypt broke into small states
• Many foreign rulers over next 700 years
• Libyans, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks
• Finally fell to Rome

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Sequence How did Egypt grow and change during
the New Kingdom?
Answer(s) built strong military, created own
empire, increased trade
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Egyptian Culture (3.2)
Main Idea The ancient Egyptians are famous for
their religion, their burial practices, and their
advances in art, writing and science.

• Reading Focus
• What were the main principles of Egyptian
  religion?
• Why did Egyptians practice mummification and
  burial?
• What was daily life like in ancient Egypt?
• What advances did Egyptians make in art, writing
  and science?

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Egyptian Religion

• Egyptians worshipped many gods
• Some from the earliest days of the Old Kingdom
• Others like Imhotep added later
• Believed that gods controlled all natural events

• Chief gods and goddesses
• God of sun always a key figure, Re in Old Kingdom
• Later linked to sky god, Amon, and known as
  Amon-Re
• Sun god temple at Karnak the largest ever built
  in Egypt

• Anubis
• The protector of the dead, weighed souls to
  decide fate
• Light souls had been good in life and were
  rewarded
• Unworthy souls fed to terrible monster

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• Osiris, Isis and Horus
• Osiris introduced civilization into Egypt
• Brother Seth killed Osiris, scattered pieces of
  his body around Egypt
• Wife Isis reassembled pieces and brought Osiris
  back to life
• Osiris became new judge of dead, replacing Anubis

• Hathor and Thoth
• Hathor was the cow-headed goddess of love
• Thoth was the god of wisdom
• There were also local gods with power over small
  areas or single households

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Temples and Religious Practices

• Temples built to honor, provide homes for gods
• Ruins can still be seen in Egypt
• Features
• Decorated with massive statues
• Elaborate paintings, detailed carvings
• Obelisks
• Tall, thin pillars with pyramid-shaped tops
• Made from single piece of stone
• Carved with intricate designs

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Temples and Religious Practices

• Rituals to fulfill gods needs
• Cleaned and refreshed statue of god daily
• This kept gods alive
• In return gods would bring Egypt prosperity
• Priests had responsibility for care
• Common people had no part in rituals
• Ordinary Egyptians never entered temples
• People did worship gods at annual festivals

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Analyze What religious practices did the
Egyptians follow to honor their gods?
Answer(s) They built temples to honor them and
provide homes for them. In the temples, priests
performed rituals to fulfill the gods' needs.
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Mummification and Burial
Central to Egyptian religion was the belief in an
afterlife, a land of the dead where souls would
go to live. Because of this belief, Egyptians
developed elaborate rituals regarding death and
burial.
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Burial

• Possessions
• Dead Egyptians buried with possessions needed for
  afterlife
• Food and drink for the ka
• Pharaohs and nobles buried also with treasures
  and riches

• Pharaohs tombs
• Filled with statues of servants
• Egyptians thought statues would come to life to
  serve ka
• Also contained models of animals, chariots and
  boats

• Decorations
• Walls painted with scenes from persons life
• Walls painted with stories about the gods
• Egyptians believed figures would come to life and
  maximize kas happiness

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Summarize How did beliefs about the afterlife
shape Egyptian burial practices?
Answer(s) Egyptians believed in an afterlife for
the ka, or life force. The ka needed food and
drink to survive, so both were buried with
bodies. Great care was taken to keep the body
from decomposing so that the ka would not shrivel
away and vanish.
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Daily Life

• Burial Practices
• Archeologists learned much from items buried in
  tombs
• Also learned from images painted on tomb walls
• Good picture of society, culture

• Social Structure Top Layer
• Highly layered, with pharaoh, then key officials,
  priests, priestesses, scribes, military leaders,
  doctors, landowners
• All among wealthiest in Egypt

• Social Structure Next Level
• Next level included artisans, craftspeople and
  merchants
• The people who made and sold goods used by others

• Social Structure Bottom
• 90 of society were peasant farmers
• Sometimes recruited to build large public works,
  pyramids
• Recruited also for mines, army

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Daily Life

• Slaves
• Slaves were not a large part of the population
• Most convicted criminals or prisoners of war
• More slaves in New Kingdom

• Status
• Egyptian society less rigid than other ancient
  civilizations
• Possible to move up in society
• Becoming scribe the fastest way to gain status

• Home and Family Life
• Varied from class to class
• Pharaohs had more than one wife, most men only
  one
• Pharaohs married sisters to keep royal blood pure

• Houses
• Most lived as family units with father as head of
  household
• Poor families lived in huts
• Rich families had brick homes
• Noble families lived in palaces

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Daily Life
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Contrast How did life differ for rich and poor
Egyptians?
Answer(s) Rich had large homes, poor might live
in tiny huts wealthy men wore longer skirts or
robes than peasants wealthy men and women often
wore gold jewelry.
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Art, Writing, and Science
Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted more than
2,000 years and made many tremendous advances,
particularly in art, literature and science.
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Egyptian Writing
The Egyptians were prolific writers who recorded
events in great detail and composed beautiful
songs and stories. However, before they could
create even the simplest tale, they needed a
system of writing.
Egyptians used the pulp of the papyrus plant that
grew along the Nile to make paperlike sheets.
Many papyrus scrolls are still readable today.
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Egyptian Writing

• Historians could not decipher hieroglyphs
• Rosetta Stone
• Discovered near Nile Delta village of Rosetta in
  1799
• Long passages of writing on the broken stone
• Same text in hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek
• Using Greek as guide, hieroglyphs and demotic
  meanings revealed
• Unlocked the mystery of Egyptian writing

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• Egyptian Math
• Egyptians had thorough understanding of basic
  arithmetic
• Also understood basic principles of geometry
• This along with grasp of engineering helped them
  build pyramids
• Buildings still standing, so skills were great

• Egyptian Science
• Greatest scientific advances were in medicine
• Egyptians masters of human anatomy
• Doctors treated wounds, performed surgery, used
  medicines made from plants and animals
• Prescribed regimens of basic hygiene to prevent
  illness

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Find the Main Idea What advances did the ancient
Egyptians make in art, writing, and science?
Answer(s) detailed, colorful paintings, large,
imposing statues, developed several writing
systems, grasp of geometry and engineering,
anatomy
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The Nubian Kingdoms (3.3)
Main Idea One of ancient Africas most advanced
civilizations, Kush developed along the Nile
south of Egypt in a region called Nubia.

• Reading Focus
• What were the land and people of Nubia like?
• How did Kush grow into a major civilization?
• How did Kushite society change in its later
  period?

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The Region of Nubia

• Nubia located south of Egypt along the Nile
• Boundaries
• Blue Nile, White Nile flow together to form Nile
• Where rivers meet near Khartoum may have been
  southern Nubian boundary
• Region stretched north to first cataract, Egypts
  southern boundary
• Nubians depended on Nile
• Landscape made farming difficult
• Nile flows through rocky mountains in Nubia

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The Region of Nubia

• A Wealth of Resources
• Nubia had great mineral wealth
• Mines produced gold, granite, precious stones
• Location was also a valuable resource
• Goods from central Africa to other lands flowed
  into Nubia
• Goods traded through Nubia included animal skins,
  ivory, ebony, slaves

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Compare and Contrast How was Nubia similar to and
different from Egypt?
Answer(s) similarboth situated on the Nile,
depended on the river differentin Egypt, the
Nile flows through rich farmland, in Nubia it
flows through rocky mountains, and farming is
almost impossible Nubia produced valuable
minerals that could be traded
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The Growth of Kush
Northern Nubia was controlled by Egypt during the
Middle Kingdom, while a powerful southern Nubian
state called Kush began to develop.
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The Growth of Kush
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The Growth of Kush

• Kushite Culture
• Kushite pharaohs, guardians of Egyptian tradition
• Had bodies mummified, buried in pyramids
• Adopted Egyptian hieroglyphics as writing system
• Did not abandon all their own customs
• Did not adopt Egyptian style of dressing
• Statues show distinctly Nubian features, clothing
• Statues show pharaohs wearing crown with two
  cobras, symbol of union of Egypt and Kush

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Summarize How did the relationship between Kush
and Egypt change?
Answer(s) Egyptians drove the Hyksos out and
invaded Kush. As the New Kingdom weakened,
Egyptian power over Kush declined. After a few
centuries, Kushites pushed north into Egypt,
eventually conquering all of it. When the
Assyrians swept into Egypt, the Kushites fled
back into Nubia.
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Later Kush
There are few records for the period immediately
following the Kushite expulsion from Egypt.
However in the mid-200s BC, the Kushites moved
their capital farther south along the Nile from
Napata to Meroë. The scope of change in culture
was so great, some refer later Kush as a separate
culture.
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• Decline of Meroë
• Economy strong as long as trade thrived
• Decline in trade began in 200s AD
• As economy declined, so did kingdom
• Aksum invaded, destroyed Meroë, 350 AD, Kushite
  civilization faded

• Factors in Decline of Meroë
• Competition for goods reduced demands for Kushite
  exports
• Trade routes linking Meroë to outside world
  disturbed by raids
• Centuries of iron making took toll on Nubian
  forests
• Wood for forges to smelt iron no longer available
• Kushites could no longer work iron to make tools
  they needed

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Analyze How did Kushite civilization change
after the capital moved to Meroë?
Answer(s) abandoned many Egyptian traditions
created own alphabet and writing system
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