Chapter 4: “Walk Like An Egyptian”3100 B.C. – 671 B.C.

The Nile

• Longest river in the world

• Flows north– Central Africa to Med. Sea

• Most Ancient Egyptians lived in the area

• Flooded every July– Rich soil used for growing crops– Used irrigation system

• SHADOOF used to control water

Old Kingdom

• Narmer – 3100 B.C. – King of Upper/Lower Egypt

• 2600 B.C.– Cities centers of religion &

government– Most people lived on large

estates on Nile River

RICH• Wood or mud bricks• Elegant homes w/

paintings

POOR• Sun or mud brick

• Palm leaves for roofs• Most were farmers

Daily Life• Family Life

– Treasured children– Women & men almost equal– Boys learned trade from father &

girls learned to work around house w/ mother

– Marriage usually took place around 12-yrs-old

• Food and Cooking– Done in clay ovens– Drink: beer, milk, wine, water– Food: bread, vegetables and

dried fish

• Clothing– Made of linens– Men: short skirt

(kilt)– Women: Straight

fitting dress w/ straps

– Kings would wear decorated sandals

• Jewelry– Everyone wore– Rich: gold & silver– Poor: copper & quartz– Rings worn to ward off

evil spirits

Leisure• Fishing, hunting, fowling, swimming,

boat games• Extravagant parties• Loved dance & music: harp, lyre,

flute• Religious plays• Cats, dogs and exotic animals as

pets• Games

– Used balls, racing and rough competitions

– Wooden boats and animals– Board games

How to Play Senet1. Throw the sticks to see how many squares to move

your piece forward. 2. If you throw a one, four, or six, you get an extra turn. 3. You can't land on one of your own pieces. 4. If you land on the other player's piece, you switch

places with them. However, you can't switch with them if they have two or more pieces in a row.

5. If the other player has three or more pieces in a row, you can't pass them.

6. Some squares are ‘safe' squares and some are ‘danger' squares. You will learn what they are as you play.

7. The first player to get all of their pieces off the board wins the game.

Pharaoh: “Great House”

• Was a King/Priest/God and center of life

• Owned & controlled land – Gave gifts of land to the rich– Ordered repairs & building of granaries

(buildings for storing grain)

• Chose government officials & made laws• Carried out rituals

Famous Pharaohs

Akhenaten Cleopatra Hatshepsut

Ramesses the Great

Tutankhamen

Hatshepsut

• 1st Female Pharaoh– 1473 - 1458 B.C.

• Rise to Power– Married her ½ brother Tuthmosis II.

When he died, the throne passed to his son Tuthmosis III. b/c he was very young, Hatshepsut took over. Years later, Hatshepsut declared herself "king" and began wearing the false beard and garments of a pharaoh.

• Famous expedition to Punt

Cleopatra• Last female pharaoh

– 51 to 30 B.C.

• Rise to Power– Cleopatra came from the Greek Ptolemy family

that had ruled Egypt for 300 years. Cleopatra's father died when she young. To continue the dynasty she married her younger brother and they began a joint rule; however, they hated each other, and fighting broke out b/w them. The great Roman general, Julius Caesar, helped her take the throne.

• Quest for her son to be leader of both Egypt & Rome

King Tut• Ruled: 1333 -1324 B.C.• "Living Image of Aten“ – Sun

God • 8-years-old at start of his reign• Didn’t do much during his reign

– Believed he may have had advisors to help him: Ay & Hermhab

• Died suddenly at age 18 or 19 • Howard Carter discovered his

tomb almost intact in Valley of Kings

Tomb of King Tut

Was It Murder?

Religious Beliefs• Believed in Gods – over 2,000

Hapi“River God”

Re“Sun God”

Osiris“God of

harvest & eternal life”• Believed souls of the dead went to the underworld

•1. Had to pass tests of good deeds•2. Have your name written on a cartouche (name plate)•3. Have your body preserved

•Embalming – preserving the body•Believed soul could not live w/o body

Pyramids

• Built to protect from floods, robbers and animals– Also “place of ascension” = spirit could rise to stars

• Built on the west bank of river = House of Eternity• Created using copper tools & ramps• Made of granite & limestone bricks• Took around 20 years and around 8,000 skilled workers to build

Kuhfu & Sphinx

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/explore/khufudesclo.html

Famous Pyramids

• Saqqara – 1st in 2650– Built for pharaoh Djoser– Step pyramid built with stone

tombs• mastabas

• Pyramids of Giza– Built for Sneferu’s

descendants– King Khufu = largest

Egyptian pyramid• 480 ft tall• 2 million stones

The Sphinx• Half-human and half-lion• Guard the Pyramids• Riddle: Which creature in the morning goes on

four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?"

Death and the Afterlife• Death was a brief interruption before afterlife• Traveled the Nile on Ra’s boat to the Land of the Two Fields to

dwell forever authorized by Osiris• Human body had 3 Spirits at Death

– 1. BA: returned to family during the day– 2. KA: lived in the afterlife– If something happened to the preserved body or if your name

was not written down, they could not go back to the body. • You would disappear forever, no longer happy in your

afterlife– Grave robbers not only stole someone's wealth, they

stole their chance to live happily ever after in the Egyptian afterlife.

– 3. AKH: kind of ghost that rose to the stars

• Egyptians believed in the Book of the Dead – Magical spells on text that would help them reach

the afterlife

• Grave Goods– Items that people brought into their tombs for their

afterlife• Small Sculptures of jobs• Toys/Games• Food/Drink• Money/Gold• Clothing/Jewelry• Boats/Furniture/Statues

• Before judgment for the afterlife people needed to be accepted based on the maat– Notion of order and mortality

Maat– 1. Had to pass tests of good deeds

• Weigh the heart against the feather of truth• Thoth records the results• Horus leads person to Osiris to learn his fate

– 2. Name written on a cartouche (name plate)

– 3. Body will be preserved

Mummification• Way to preserve a body1. Drain body fluids & covered

with salt called natron2. Wrapped w/ long strips of

linen3. Body placed in a

sarcophagus (coffin)• Buried w/ grave goods

(personal belongings)– Statues, jewelry, clothing,

toys, etc.

Middle Kingdom: 2300 – 1786 B.C.• Pharaohs no longer built pyramids• 1786 B.C.

– Egypt was invaded by Hyksos (people from W. Asia)• Used weapons of bronze & iron & horse drawn chariots

• 1550 B.C.– Egypt Prince Ahmose drove Hyksos out

New Kingdom• Egypt became richer & cities grew• Thutmose III took control of Syria & Palestine• Decline of Egypt

1. Struggle between priests & pharaohs over power2. Pharaohs attempt to keep neighboring countries under

Egyptian control3. $ spent on making weapons to fight other countries

• 1150 B.C.– Empire gone• 671 B.C. – Taken over by Assyrians

Contributions

Rosetta Stone

Medicine

CalendarMathematics

Papyrus & Ink

Major Contributions

• Mathematics– # system based on 10– Fractions/whole #’s– Geometry

• Calendar– 3 seasons – 120 days each– 5 special days for feasts of Gods

• Medicine– 1st specialists in medicine

Rosetta Stone• For 1400 years, no one knew how to

read hieroglyphics• 1799 – French soldier found a black

slab of stone on the Nile• Carved w/ 3 different scripts

– 1 hieroglyphics– 1 demotic– 1 Greek

• Allowed people to translate hieroglyphics

• Jean-François Champollion – Unlocked mystery and published results

in 1822

Hieroglyphics• Created around 3100 B.C.• Means “sacred carved writing”• Symbol was drawn to represent a certain sound

or syllable– Symbols were written together to make a word

• Read from top to bottom or depending which way the animal faces were turned

• No punctuation• Vowels would be said using a consonant after

such as “ahhhh”

Phone sounds like F + long O + N.You don't hear the P, H, or E.

Phone

F O N

YES! NO!