EgyptBy

Ann Heinrichs

Author’s Purpose: To Inform

Land of the Pharaohs:

• Farming along the Nile began as early as 7000 B.C.• Two Kingdoms:– Upper Egypt in the south– Lower Egypt in the northern Delta

• Menes- Egypt’s first pharaoh (or king) united the two kingdoms

• Ancient Egypt was governed by one dynasty (or ruling family) after another.

• 31 dynasties reigned between 3100 B.C. and 332 B.C.

Levels of Society:

• The pharaoh and his family were at the top part of society.

• Upper class were priests, nobles, doctors & high-ranking officers

• Middle class were artisans, merchants, & engineers– Scribes – (professional writers) held a special place of

honor. – Scribes wrote letters & government documents &

recorded the pharaoh’s decrees. – Every family hope to have a son become a scribe

• Common people were farmers, laborers & soldiers

Love & Marriage:

• Love was an important part of marriage• Women in ancient Egypt had more rights than

women in many cultures have today.• They could:–Own property–Buy & sell goods– Inherit wealth–Sue for divorce if they had a good reason

• They couldn’t:–Work outside the home

Homes, Adornments, & Games:

• Most people lived in simple houses made of mud bricks

• Wealthy people had beautiful homes with dozens of rooms

Men & Women• Women painted fingernails, wore hair ornaments &

jewelry• Both men & women wore lightweight linen skirts or

robes• Lower-class people went barefoot• Upper-class people wore leather sandals and wigs

– Ancient paintings & artifacts show how much Egyptians loved games• Played leapfrog & tug-of-war• Wooden toys – Girls played ball while riding piggyback– Grownups played senet (similar to checkers)– Played ‘snake’ on round board shaped like coiled

snake• On p. 253, study the picture and write a sentence

about what she is doing……..

Ancient Cuisine

• Typical meal included vegetables and fruit such as beans, lentils, peas, cucumbers or cabbage. Fruits were figs, dates, pomegranates, melons or grapes.

• Hunters went into desert for wild game. – Included antelope, gazelle, ducks, geese, quail,

pigeon, beef & fish– Bread was a basic everyday food. • Pharaohs & nobles had own bakeries• In most homes, women ground wheat & barley

into flour and baked loaves in clay pots

The Cycle of Floods

• Three seasons of 4 months each:– Akhet flooding of the Nile. This was when the new year

began– Peret in November when the waters receded and plowing &

planting began– Shemu the dry season from March to July

• • Floodwaters left a deposit of silt that fertilized the fields and

produced abundant crops• Farmers produced more than enough food for Egypt’s people• Ancient Egypt has been called the “granary (grainhouse) to the

world– Grain & other crops were traded with Africa & Asia

Animal Life & Climate

• Ancient Egypt swarmed with animals that no longer live there– Hippos, lions, baboons, wildcats, gazelles, Golden jackals,

flamingos, red-breasted geese

• As the climate grew hotter & dryer, the animals went away– Egyptians left paintings of them.• Many animals were drawn in hieroglyphic symbols• Some were honored as gods

Hieroglyphs (picture symbols)

– Began as early as 3000 B.C. – Represented objects, ideas, homophones, sounds,

singular or plural nouns, or verbs– By 300 B.C. there were more than 700

hieroglyphic symbols

Life Everlasting

– Most people did not live past their thirties– Every Egyptian, from pharaoh to laborer,

believed in life after death– They also believed that the dead would enjoy all

their earthly comforts in the afterlife. – Burial chambers were filled with favorite

possessions, clothes, furniture, games & food.

Mummies

– After death the body was made into a mummy to keep it from decaying.

– Mummification could take as long as 70 days– Mummies of some pharaohs were encased in jewel-

encrusted gold & placed in a stone coffin– Scrolls of the Book of the Dead were buried with the body• These were special prayers & instructions for getting

through the mysterious world of the dead

Pyramids

– Pharaohs built fabulous toms for themselves to ensure they would have eternal life.

– Imhotep built the 1st pyramid called a ‘step pyramid’

– 4th Dynasty pharaohs built the most famous pyramids

How Did They Build the Pyramids?

– Ancient Egyptians left only a few clues about how they built them

– Greek historian Herodotus says that 100,000 men worked on the Great Pyramid in 3 month shifts!• Then another 100,00 went to work–This went on for more than 20 years!!

Kingdoms Unite & Divide

– Memphis was Egypt’s capital during the Old Kingdom period

• Memphis lies about 15 miles south of what is now Cairo

Hyksos

– Hyksos – were Asian people that rose to power in the 1600sB.C.

– They taught the Egyptians about the art of war• The Hyksos introduced horse-drawn chariots, bronze &

iron swords & other military gear

The New Kingdom: Conquests & Construction

• The New Kingdom Period - Thebes was the capital• Egyptians were now a major world power with new

military skills• They acquired new lands – which were new sources

of wealth• Pharaohs built huge temples, monuments & statues

of themselves• Ramses II was the greatest builder of all

The New Kingdom

• The rulers of the New Kingdom built necropolises- cities of the dead

• They are known today as:– Valley of the Kings– Valley of the Queens– Tombs of the Nobles

• In 1995, the largest tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings– It holds most of Ramses II’s 52 sons– 60 tombs have been found there so far– That is only a small part of those waiting to be

discovered

The End