Egyptian%20Civilization

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Egyptian Civilization

• The Gift of the Nile

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Nile River

• Begins in heart of Africa and runs over 4,000
  miles
• Northern part- Lower Egypt
• Southern part- Upper Egypt
• Flooding-Agriculture, 10 mile wide Black Land,
  Red Land
• Natural Barriers

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Course of Egyptian History

• Menes- king who united Upper and Lower Egypt into
  single kingdom-3100 BC
• First Dynasty
• First capital at Memphis

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Old Kingdom

• 2575 to 2130 BC age of prosperity
• Pharaohs- absolute power and religious leader
• Bureaucracy- departments and levels of authority
• Vizier- steward of the whole land, chief
  minister
• Pyramids- dedicated to the dead-mummification
• Great Pyramids at Giza built

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Mummification Steps Announcement of Death
Embalming the Body Removal of Brain Removal of
Internal Organs Drying Out Process Wrapping of
the Body Final Procession
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Middle Kingdom

• 150 yrs of anarchy- crop failures, cost of
  building pyramids, power struggles
• 2050 to 1652 BC golden age stability
• Expansion into Nubia, built fortresses
• Trade with Crete
• Hyksos came 1700 BC to occupy land. They awed the
  Egyptians with horse-drawn war chariots and
  Hyksos adopted Egyptian customs, beliefs, and
  names.

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• Invasion by the Hyksos ended this reign

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New Kingdom

• 1567 to 1085 BC- new militaristic path, more
  contact with Africa and Asia
• Hatshepsut- first female ruler
• Thutmose III- stepson, 17 campaigns
• Akhenaton- introduced god of sundisk
• Tutankhamen- restored old way, boy king
• Ramses II- 1279 to 1213 BC, fought back and
  bragged all over temples
• Everything collapsed in 1085 BC

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Ramses II Tomb

• Fought with Hittites of Asia Minor but signed
  first peace treaty
• Used gold from Nubia to pay army

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• The Valley of the Kings is a valley in Egypt
  where, for a period of nearly 500 years tombs
  were constructed for the kings and powerful
  nobles of the New Kingdom.
• With the 2006 discovery of a new chamber and the
  2008 discovery of 2 further tomb entrances, the
  valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers
  (ranging in size from a simple pit to a complex
  tomb with over 120 chambers)
• The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from
  Egyptian mythology and give clues to the beliefs
  and funerary rituals of the period.
• All of the tombs seem to have been opened and
  robbed in antiquity, but they still give an idea
  of the opulence and power of the rulers of this
  time.

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Religion

• Polytheistic
• Sun God- Amon Re
• Osiris- god of dead and Nile - prove oneself to
  him-Book of the Dead
• Isis- taught women roles
• Life after death- mummification-buried with
  everything they would need

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Society in Ancient Egypt
Govnt Officials
Merchants
Peasants
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Daily Life

• Married Young-boys at 14, girls at 12-monogamy
• Men
• Women- inherit property, enter business deals,
  buy and sell goods, go to court,
  divorce-priesthood for goddesses-no govnt jobs
  or scribes
• Concerns- family and property, produce children,
  especially sons to carry on name

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Writing and Education

• Hieroglyphics- pictures and forms
• Hieratic script- simplified version, cursive-
  record keeping, business transactions, general
  needs of daily life
• Papyrus- plant woven together
• Boys start as early as 10 yrs old

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Rosetta Stone

• Early 1800s Jean Champollion discovered
• Deciphered writings by comparing hieroglyphics,
  demotic script, and Greek

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Science and Math

• Distinctive style
• Geometry- buildings and surveying fields-area
  and volume
• 365 day calendar- 12 months 30 days 5
• Medical expertise in human anatomy-splints,
  bandages, fractures, wounds, and disease while
  giving out cures as well

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Art and Literature

• Gods and pharaohs much larger
• People with heads of animals for certain traits.
  Sphinx at Giza as powerful lion-man
• Tale of Sinuhe- how Egyptians viewed selves and
  others

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Riddle of the Sphinx

• The Sphinx is said to have guarded the entrance
  to the Greek city of Thebes, and to have asked a
  riddle of travelers to allow them passage.
• Which creature in the morning goes on four legs,
  at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three,
  and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?
• Man