SPRITE

How did the challenging environment of Egypt shape their culture?

What role did the Nile River play in forming a prosperous Egyptian society?

What are the major similarities and differences between Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia?

Nile River flooded two time annually Predictable, cyclical “Gift of the Nile”

Upper and Lower Egypt (delta) Depended on irrigation- lack of

rainfall Climate good for agriculture Abundance of resources

self-sufficiency Basalt, granite, copper, gold,

reeds, clay, wild animals, fish, Isolation due to desert

Unique culture Less vulnerable to attacks

Heterogeneous population-dark and light skinned Hierarchy

1. King and high ranking officials2. Lower level officials, local leaders and priests, artisans, professionals,

well-off farmers3. Peasants4. Slaves

Peasants lived in villages, cultivated soil, and responsible for paying taxes and providing labor, sometimes forced

Slaves existed on a limited scale; treatment generally humane Social mobility existed Women

subordinate to men and engaged in domestic activities Right to own property, inherit, retained rights over dowry after divorce More rights than Mesopotamian women higher class women could rule

More rural than Mesopotamia Hyksos- “rulers of the uplands,” Semitic, brought bronze

weapons, worshipped Egyptian gods and modeled their monarchy after pharaonic system

Political organization evolved from pattern of small states ruled by local kings to large, unified Egyptian state

Organized into 30 dynasties falling within three periods divided by periods of chaos and political fragmentation Old Kingdom- Menes connects Upper and Lower Egypt 3100B CE,

prosperity, evolution of religious beliefs, pyramids (required political organization and lots of labor)

Middle Kingdom- recovery and political stability New Kingdom- (1570-1075 BCE) “expansion and conquering, wealth”

push out Hyksos, subdued Nubia, and conquered Palestine and and parts of Syria

Creation of Egyptian Empire Akhenaten- birth of monotheism

Governed by central administration in capital city=bureaucracy Kept track of land, taxed, collected resources

Regarded foreigners as the enemy More interested in acquiring resources than territory

Beliefs based on cyclical view of nature Predictable flooding

Polytheistic Amon the sky-god, and Ra the sun-god

Embraced their gods and the afterlife Spent large amount of energy and wealth building

tombs/pyramids; contained food, even bathrooms Size of tomb=social status Mummified and prepared for afterlife, climate was dry and

prevented quick decay All organs except for the heart is removed, weighed by

Osiris Book of the Dead soul and body became part of the divine

Pharaoh was God on Earth and political leader- controlled wealth and resources

Akhenaten monotheism

Mathematics Astronomy Mummification and anatomy Calendar making Irrigation Architecture Writing hieroglyphics Transportation canals

Self-sufficient Traded with directly with Levant and

Nubia Exported papyrus, grain, and gold and

imported incense, Nubian gold, Lebanese cedar, and tropical African ivory, ebony, and animals

Pharaoh controlled wealth, bureaucracy administered land

How did the challenging environment of Egypt shape their culture?

What role did the Nile River play in forming a prosperous Egyptian society?

What are the major similarities and differences between Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia?

Make a chart presenting the similarities and differences between Mesopotamia and Egypt

You can: Make a same/different chart Venn diagram SPRITE chart comparing both and coded with

S and D Other ideas??? Make sure you know how the geogrpahy

affected both these places??