Chapter 2 Section 2 Notes
I. The Geography of Egypt
A. The Gift of the Nile
1. Nile River is 4,100 mile long
(Mississippi River 2,340 miles long)
2. Every July rains, and melting
snows cause the river to overrun
it’s banks
3. In October the river recedes and a
rich layer of silt covers the Nile
valley
B. Upper Egypt (south) and Lower
Egypt (North)
1. Lower Egypt is the last 750 miles
separated by a cataract or waterfall
2. In the North or Lower Egypt was a delta where the water fanned out and
flowed into the Mediterranean Sea
(about 100 miles long)
a. The Delta is a broad marshy,
triangular, silt rich area of land
Nile Delta
Nile Delta from Space
3. The Nile was a reliable system for
transportation
Feluccas
a. Boats traveled northward by
current
b. Boats traveled southward by
Eustachian winds off the
MediterraneanSea
C. Environmental Challenges
1. Even though the Nile did flood on predictable bases if it was just a few
feet below normal it could have devastating
affect on crop production
2. If the Nile was just a few feet over normal mud brick
villages could be destroyed along with granaries
3. The vast deserts on the sides did provide
protection from invaders but also
kept them from interaction with other
peoples
a. Thus Egypt was spared constant
warfare that plagued the Fertile Crescent
D. Movement of Goods and Ideas
1. By 3200 B.C. Egypt was trading
with Sumer
2. By 2000 B.C. Egypt was trading with lands to the
south
a. Nubia b. Kush
II. Egypt Unites into a Kingdom
A. By 3200 B.C. Upper and Lower Egypt were two
separate kingdoms
B. By 3100 B.C. King Menes unites
both
1. Capitol at Memphis
C. Old Kingdom lasted from 2660 B.C. to 2180 B.C.
D. Pharaohs Rule as gods
1. In Egypt kings were seen as gods
2. Egyptian god kings became
known as Pharaohs
3. Ruled their kingdoms as a
Theocracy
a. Pharaoh duty to promote truth and
justice
E. Builders of the Pyramids
Sphinx and Pyramid at Giza
Sphinx
3 D Pyramid
1. Pharaoh’s (ka) or eternal spirit lived
after their death and would control the government from a
resting place
2. So kings were buried in an
immense structure called a pyramid
3. The great pyramids were built
during the Old Kingdom
a. The limestone was quarried 400
miles upriver
b. Each stone weighed 2.5 tons
Pyramid Stone
c. 2 million blocks stacked some 481
feet tall
III. Egyptian Culture
A. Egyptians were polytheists
1. Most important god was Ra, the sun god and Horus, the
god of light
2. The most important goddess was Isis, the ideal
mother
3. More than 2000 gods and goddesses
Egyptians believed strongly in a good after life
1. The god Osiris would weigh each persons
heart, no heavier than a feather or the
Devourer of Souls would eat your heart
C. Mummification or embalming and drying the corpse became important
1. The process took 70 days
2. All types of goods were placed
with the dead
D. Life in Egyptian Society
1. Society formed a pyramid
a. King and Queen at the top
b. Next Upper Class
1. Land owners
2. Government officials
3. Priests
4. Army commanders
c. Middle Class
1. Merchants
2. Artisans
d. Lower Class (largest class)
1. Peasants
2. Unskilled laborers
2. Were not locked into their class
a. Hard work, loyalty, read and
write could advance one
E. Egyptian writing
1. Hieroglyphics ( sacred carvings)
Hieroglyphics
• July 19, 1799: Discovery of the Rosetta Stone • Description:
On this day in 1799, a French expedition to Egypt discovered a large piece of basalt with inscriptions in Greek and in two Egyptian scripts: hieroglyphics and demotic. This discovery opened the door for the translation of hieroglyphics, previously an unsolvable mystery.
2. Papyrus was a reed plant they
made paper from
F. Egyptian Science and Technology
1. Collection of taxes led to
numbering system, adding and subtracting
2. Geometry to survey land for
property during the floods
3. Geometry for the construction of the
Pyramids
4. Developed a calendar based on the star Sirius 365
days
5. Medicine
a. Heart rate
b. Splint broken bones
c. Some surgery
IV. Chariot Riders Invade Egypt
A. During the Middle Kingdom from 2080 B.C. to 1640 B.C. there
were more advances
1. Public projects
2. New Dikes and irrigation projects
B. Asian invaders called Hyksos ( the
rulers of the uplands) invade in
1640 B.C.