Ancient Egypt PDF

[ANCIENT EGYPT] [Where is Egypt?] Egypt is in the north-east of the continent of Africa. The River Nile runs through the whole length of Egypt. Where the River flows into the Mediterranean Sea, it forms a delta. This delta region was called **Lower Egypt**. The part of Egypt beyond the delta w...

[ANCIENT EGYPT] [Where is Egypt?] Egypt is in the north-east of the continent of Africa. The River Nile runs through the whole length of Egypt. Where the River flows into the Mediterranean Sea, it forms a delta. This delta region was called **Lower Egypt**. The part of Egypt beyond the delta was called **Upper Egypt**. Each year the River Nile flooded and left behind fertile soil. The Egyptians called these fertile regions of their country **'the** **Black Lands'** because the soil left behind by the floods was dark and rich with plant matter - just right for farming. The dry deserts away from the river they called **'the Red Lands'** because that is what the barren landscape looked like. [The Geographical Advantages of Ancient Egypt] There were a number of reasons why the geography of Egypt kept it strong and safe - - - - [The importance of the Nile to Egypt.] There are two main branches of the River Nile. - - These two branches join at the modern city of Khartoum. Settlement began along the Nile in about 5000 BC when people of the New Stone Age (neolithic people) settled there. They grew crops and domesticated animals. Without the waters of the Nile, however, Egypt would not have been able to survive. - - - - It was for these reasons that Egyptians called their country '**the Gift of the Nile**'. [The Gifts of the River] - all these depended on the river water. Grain mainly wheat and barley ----------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Papyrus paper and boats Vegetable oils cooking, cleaning their bodies,fuel for lamps, castor oil as medicine Linen made from flax and used for clothing Bricks made from the mud of the river Livestock cattle and pigs in the delta and goats everywhere Waterfowl wild geese, ducks and cranes were hunted for food. Fish were eaten by the poor, the wealthy thought they were unclean Wine nobles grew grapes and made wine Fruits and vegetables figs, watermelons, dates, onions, beans, peas and lentils The Nile was so important to the lives of the Ancient Egyptians they based their calendar on it. [THE EGYPTIAN CALENDAR] Explanation of what it meant Time of flood Coming forth of the fields from water Dry season ------------------------------ -------------------------------- --------------------------------------- --------------------- Name in English INUNDATION EMERGENCE DROUGHT Short translation flood-time seed-time harvest-time Name in Egyptian Akhet Peret Shemou Months June-Sept Sept-Feb March-June Farming activities Building or irrigation schemes Planting Harvesting of crops *NB If you get a question on the Egyptian calendar in the examinations, make sure you read it very carefully....if it asks you to give an Egyptian name, you must answer Akhet or Peret or Shemou.* This was the first calendar in history and was a solar calendar which means it was based on the number of days it took for the earth to go round the sun. As the Egyptians had 30 days in each month, this meant that there were 5 days left over at the end of the year and these days were celebrated as holidays in honour of the gods. [The Unification of Egypt] Before Egypt was united into one kingdom, there were a number of kingdoms along the Nile. Eventually, there were two kingdoms = - - The cataracts were rapids on the River Nile and they made it difficult for anyone to sail up or down the river from where they were, because boats could not sail through them. In about 3100 BC, King Menes (who was also called Narmer) united Egypt into one kingdom. To show the unity of the kingdom, he combined the two crowns of the two kingdoms. The White Crown was the crown of Upper Egypt. The Red Crown was the crown of Lower Egypt. Many historians believe Menes was the first Pharaoh. [Egyptian society] *.* [The Pharaoh] He was exceptionally powerful because he was not just the ruler of Egypt, he was also considered to be a god, the living representative of the god Horus. The word 'pharaoh' means 'Great House' (per aa). The power of the pharaoh was so great and awesome, the Egyptians were not permitted to call him by name and so they referred to him as the person who lived in the great house or palace. The Pharaoh - - - - - - - - - - The pharaoh was very wealthy and lived in great luxury. He chose a vizier to oversee the running of his kingdom (it was usually a relative). [Priests and scribes] Priests were very powerful because they controlled the temples of the gods and they were wealthy because they were able to keep all the offerings that worshippers made to the gods. Scribes were also highly regarded because they could read and write hieroglyphics which was a very difficult skill to learn. Not only did they play an important role in naming images in tombs, but they also helped run the kingdom by keeping records such as lists of taxes. They were paid very well for their work. [Nobles and military leaders] These were members of powerful families and lived on large estates that had been given to them by the pharaoh to use. They lived in large villas (country houses) set in beautiful gardens. Some nobles became government officials, others led the army. [Merchants] These were wealthy traders who traded with countries around the Mediterranean. They traded with - - - - - - [Craftsmen] These were people who lived in the towns. They were very hardworking. There were - - - - - - - - - - - - [Farmers] They worked on the land they rented from the pharaoh, priests or nobles. Their lives were very hard because they had to use most of what they produced to pay their taxes and rent. [Peasants and slaves] Peasants worked for farmers, or on the large estates of the wealthy. Slaves were at the very bottom of society. Most of them had been captured as prisoners of war. They were bought and sold by their owners but were able to own property or rent land, which made them better off than slaves in other parts of the Ancient World. [Men and women in society] Unlike in many other ancient civilisations, men and women were of equal status, depending on their class. Women could buy, own and sell property just like men, and some women even became pharaohs. [The development of skills in Ancient Egypt] The Egyptians developed many skills and, because many of the products they made have been found in tombs, we know what they were. **Art** Egyptian art included - - - - **Writing** The type of writing that is most associated with Ancient Egypt is hieroglyphics, but there were other forms as well. **Science** Ancient Egyptians had studied and developed a range of scientific knowledge = - - - [Egyptian writing] Egyptians used writing from about **3100 BC**. Other early forms of writing developed in the Fertile Crescent (the area where crops were first cultivated between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers). The writing of the Fertile Crescent was known as cuneiform. ( Egyptian writing began as pictures of each word, but later symbols were developed to represent sounds. This writing was called **hieroglyphics.** The word means 'sacred writing' in Greek, and it was used because the earliest discoveries of hieroglyphics were found by archaeologists when they were excavating and studying temples. There are over 700 hieroglyphic signs (which made reading and writing very difficult to learn and that is why scribes could become wealthy). Scribes wrote on papyrus using sharpened reeds as pens and ink made of a mixture of vegetable dyes, water and soot. Hieroglyphs were also carved on tombs and statues. The Egyptians also developed a simpler type of writing to keep records (for example for trade) which was called **demotic script**. The problem for archaeologists was that nobody could read hieroglyphics, so although they found so many documents and inscriptions, they could not read them. [The Rosetta Stone] In **1798** a black basalt stone was excavated by French soldiers near the town of Rosetta in Egypt. The stone had three types of writing carved into it - - - Scholars could read the ancient Greek and it was assumed that the 3 scripts all said the same thing. Working on this assumption, the French scholar, Champollion, and the British scholar, Thomas Young, eventually deciphered hieroglyphics. The discovery of how to read hieroglyphics was very important and is one of the main reasons why we know so much about the history of Ancient Egypt including information about life, history, laws, medicine and science. We can even read the graffiti left behind by the workmen who constructed the pyramids. [Egyptian Architecture] **Pyramids** They were built as tombs for the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom. The first pyramid to be built was the **Step Pyramid.** It was built at Sakkara for the pharaoh Djoser. It was designed by the architect, Imhotep. Before Imhotep designed the pyramid, Egyptian tombs were covered with a stone structure called a mastaba. The largest of the pyramids are the three at Giza and the largest of the three is the one built for Pharaoh Khufu (also known as Cheops). These pyramids were the largest stone structures in the world and building them required tremendous amounts of manpower and expense. **Building a pyramid** - - - - - - The pyramids were built by stonemasons and labourers all year round and then they were helped by farmers during inundation and when they were waiting to harvest their crops. **The Sphinx** The Sphinx is a large statue built near the pyramids at Giza. It has the body of a reclining lion and the head of a man. It remains a mystery, but is generally believed to have been a guardian of the pyramids. **Tombs** During the New Kingdom, pharaohs were no longer buried in pyramids, but instead were buried in tombs cut into the cliffs of the Valley of the Kings. It was hoped that it would be possible to guard the entrances to these tombs and keep away grave robbers. This did not work. The only tomb in the Valley that was not broken into by grave robbers was that of Tutankhamon and that was because the entrance had been covered up by a landslide until Howard Carter discovered it in 1922. The expedition was funded by Lord Carnavon. **Temples** The Egyptians also built huge temples for their gods which included very large statues. The Egyptians also built mortuary temples for their dead pharaohs, the most beautiful and well-preserved of which is that of Hatshepsut. [Egyptian Religion] **Gods and Goddesses** The Egyptians believed in many gods. Egyptians believed that the gods played a part in daily life. Every city or town had a god that was thought to care for that town in particular and to which the inhabitants prayed for protection and success. There were a number of more important gods to whom all Egyptians prayed, depending on their needs. **Re/Ra** - the sun god. He was such an important god that he had 3 names = Khephri in the morning, Re at noon and Atum at dusk. **Amun-Re** - king of the gods **Osiris** - god of the afterlife. **Isis** - the wife of Osiris and goddess of children. **Thoth** - the god of scribes **Anubis** - god of embalmers and cemeteries **Hathor** - goddess of love and beauty **Horus** - the protector of all Egyptians, but most especially of the pharaohs and of the city of Memphis. All of the dynasties saw Horus as their protector. (A dynasty is a line of hereditary rulers from the same family). **Ptah** - the god of life **Maat** - goddess of justice. **Seth** - the god of Upper Egypt, who controlled the desert and storms. **Sobek** - the crocodile god Egyptians believed in an after-life, which means that they believed it was possible for the soul (the Ka) to live on after the body had died. However, only good people could live on in the after-life. After death, the person would travel to the underworld. There, Osiris would weigh the heart of the dead person against its sins (or against the feather of truth) If the sins were heavy, the heart would be eaten by a monster, and the person would die a second time (this time for good). If the sins were not too serious, the person was able to live on in the after-life. To help the dead person negotiate the difficult path to the underworld, he or she would be provided with a scroll giving instructions. This was known as the Book of the Dead. The Greek historian, Herodotus,wrote accounts about Egyptian burial practices. [Mummification] To survive in the after-life, the soul (ka) needed the person's body and so this body needed to be preserved. Mummification is the preservation of a body, but there were different ways that it was done in Ancient Egypt, depending on how wealthy the family of the dead person was. Very wealthy people, and this of course includes pharaohs, were embalmed. Poor people had the bodies of their dead coated with a layer of bitumen (tar). As Egypt has such a dry climate, many bodies were preserved without any form of treatment at all. [Embalming] This was an expensive way to preserve a body because it took a long time. - - - - - - [Why we know so much about the history of Ancient Egypt] - - - - As Ancient Egyptians were buried with everything they might need in the after-life, the contents of tombs also give evidence of their daily life. [The Legacy of Ancient Egypt] - - - - -