Egypt

Cities:“The Gift of the Nile”

• Cities formed around the Nile River Valley

• Yearly floods• Silt = fine soil found in rivers• Irrigation = supplying land

with water from a river using network of canals

• Shaduf = bucket w/ a counterweight used to transfer water into irrigation ditches

Central Government: Pharaohs

Writing:Hieroglyphics

• Hieroglyphics = picture-like symbols that stand for ideas, things, or sounds.

• Papyrus = an early form of paper made from a reed found in the marshy areas of the Nile delta.

Pharaoh

Vizier

Priests

Nobles

Scribes

Peasants

Slaves

Social Classes:Egyptian Social Pyramid

• Pharaohs = absolute power• Vizier = 2nd in command;

“Alfred” of Egypt• Priests = religious leaders• Nobles = family connections;

“Kardashians” of Egypt• Scribes = writers for gov’t• Peasants = farmers; majority

of population; “sharecroppers”• Slaves = lowest spot; can sell

self into or buy out of slavery

Job Specialization:Priests

Technology:The Great Pyramids of Giza

• Pyramids = a huge building with four sloping triangle-shaped sides; built as royal tombs

Organized Religion:Mummification