chapter 4 section 2 life in ancient egypt. egypt’s first residents around 7000 b.c. nomads lived...
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Chapter 4 Section 2
Life in Ancient Egypt
Egypt’s First Residents• Around 7000 B.C. nomads lived in
small camps in the Nile Valley
• Egypt was divided into two separate kingdoms Upper and Lower Egypt.
Egypt’s First Residents
• 3100 B.C. the two kingdoms were united by King Menes
Viziers• Second highest ranking to pharaoh. • People selected by the pharaoh to be
judges, mayors, and supervisors of tax collectors.
Egypt’s Social Classes• Egypt had upper, middle, and lower
class citizens.• Merchants, manufacturers, and crafts
people made up the middle class
Egypt’s Social Classes
• Poor farmers and unskilled workers made up the lower class.
• Prisoners and slaves were at the very bottom.
Egyptian Invention• In about 3000 B.C. the Egyptians
began to make paper from the papyrus plants that grew in the Nile River.
Egyptian Invention• Prior to this all writing had to be in
stone or on clay tablets.
• The word paper is from “papyrus”
Hieroglyphics• Egyptian writing system which
used pictures and symbols to represent words and ideas.
Hieroglyphics• Hieroglyphics were used for almost
4000 years. But once people stopped using it, everyone forgot how to read it.
Rosetta Stone• Discovered in 1799 A.D. it
included a carved message written in three different languages including Hieroglyphic and Greek.
• Greek could still be read so the Hieroglyphs could be translated.
Afterlife• Egyptians believed they had a “ka”, or
spirit.
• They believed the ka lived after their body died and remained in the tomb with the body.
Afterlife• Egyptian tombs were filled with
items that they believed the ka would need: furniture, scrolls, games, jewelry, etc….
Mummification
• Egyptians believed it was important for the ka to recognize the body. Therefore the body had to be preserved.
Egyptian Burial
• Early Egyptians buried their dead in the sand.
• But this led to wild animals and sand storms disrupting the graves.
Later Burial Practices
• Pyramids became an easy target for thieves who stole the items left for the ka.
Later Burial Practices
• To better hide their tombs, later pharaohs built their burial sights into cliffs in the “Valley of the Kings”
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