Egypt

1
Egypts Early Rulers

• c. 2600 BC began the Old Kingdom, lasting for
  about 400 years.
• Trade increased, a unified government and
  building of cities
• First Egyptian rulers were kings, later called
  pharaohs. Pharaoh means great house

2
Political and Religious Leader

• Theocracy is when the political leader and the
  religious leader are the same.
• Pharaoh appointed government officials,
  bureaucrats, to oversee his commands.
• Taxes were collected to pay for building projects
• Egyptians believed the pharaoh was the son of Re,
  Egyptian sun god.
• They had to make laws, fight battles, and carry
  out religious ceremonies.
• They were blamed if crops did not grow or disease
  spread.

3
Religion and Egyptian Life
The Gods of Egypt
Emphasis on the Afterlife
Burial Practices

1. Religion played a major role in Egyptian daily
   life.
2. Egyptians were polytheistic.
3. At first each city-state had their own god but
   eventually it became more organized.
4. Temples were built to honor the gods.
5. Gods appearance resembled both human and animal
   forms
6. Famous Egyptian gods include Re, Osiris, Isis,
   and Horus- go falcons!!

1. Egyptians believed in the afterlife.
2. They believed every person had a life form called
   ka.
3. When a person died the spirit or ka left the
   body but lived at the burial site.
4. When people died they were buried with things
   they thought they would need in the afterlife,
   like furniture, art, jewelry, clothes and food.

1. Thoughts about the afterlife shaped burial
   practices.
2. In order to keep the ka happy the body had to
   be well preserved.
3. They embalmed the bodies and made them into
   mummies.
4. This took weeks to do but was suppose to keep you
   happy in the afterlife.
5. Only Egyptian elite, rich people had nice tombs
   or pyramids.

4
Book of the Dead

• The Book of the Dead contained prayers and magic
  spells to prepare for the afterlife.
• Osiris would greet you at the gate to the
  afterlife. If you knew the spell and lived a good
  life, you got in.

5
The Pyramids

1. Burial sites played an important part in the
   Egyptian afterlife.
2. Egyptians built amazing tombs to honor their
   rulers.
3. Most pyramids and temples were built (with taxes
   collected from people) during the old kingdom,
   about 2000 years before Christ was born.
4. Some are still standing today, The most famous
   are the Pyramids at Giza built for Khufu.
5. The Egyptians were considered among the best
   engineers of the ancient world.
6. They wanted to keep their pharaohs happy in the
   afterlife because they believed the pharaoh
   controlled everyone elses afterlife.