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Chapter 4 Section 2Art, Architecture, and Learning in Egypt

Writing and Literature: Hieroglyphic Writing• Developed writing by around 3200

BCE, about the same time as Sumerians- scholars are not sure who developed first??

• Egyptian writing used hieroglyphics- a drawing or symbol that represents a word or sound

• Scribes were valued for their knowledge

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Papyrus• Egyptians invented papyrus from

the papyrus reed that grew along the Nile. Very similar to paper.

• Scribes wrote in ink which was much easier than pressing letters into wet clay like the Sumerians

• Also easier to transport• They could last a very long time-

many survived

Egyptian Literature• Included teaching stories, poems,

religious texts, and histories.

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Architecture and Art: The Pyramids• Tombs were underground chambers

– contained items that the ruler might want in the afterlife• During the Old Kingdom, three enormous pyramids were built at

Giza for King Khufu- The Sphinx guarded the road to Khafre’s pyramid– World’s tallest building for 4,000 years

• Pyramids showed advanced mathematics and building techniques• Unsure if slaves or workers built them• After 2200 BCE Pharaohs carved massive tombs from the cliffs at

the edge of the Nile Valley

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Painting and Sculpture• Purpose of painting was not

decoration– Created to provide the person

buried in the tomb with all of the objects and pleasures shown on the walls

• Colossal statues of gods stood in temples

• Smaller statues of people in tombs along with their mummies– If a mummy was destroyed,

the statue could replace it as a home for the dead person’s spirit

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Science and MathematicsThe Egyptian Calendar• Wanted to keep the calendar linked to the

seasons to help farmers • Developed a solar calendar with exactly 365

days

Mathematics• The ability to construct the great pyramids

proves their command of…– Arithmetic, addition, subtraction, multiplications,

division, geometry, and the measurements of dimensions.

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Science, Technology, and Medicine• Advanced knowledge of

astronomy• No other civilization had been

able to plan and build structures so large or so perfectly shaped

• Earliest forms of glass, mortar for setting stones and bricks, and many kinds of cosmetics

• Complex systems of irrigation• Most advanced medical

knowledge of their time– Anatomy– Skilled surgeons

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