World History

Chapter 2: Section Four

Egyptian Civ.

• Religion affected daily life in Egypt• What we know comes from

inscriptions on walls and tombs

Gods and Goddesses

• Sun god was tops – Re• Became associated with Amon• Called Amon-Re – great god• Pharaohs received right to rule from Amon-Re• Osiris and Isis – Osiris ruled underworld and

the Nile – controlled annual flood• Isis – taught women to weave cloth, grind

corn, spin flax and raise children

• Amenhotep IV – tried to reshape religion• He served Aton – minor god• Changed name to Akhenaton• Ordered priests to only serve Aton• Most ignored him and after he died they

went back to their old ways

Afterlife

• All Egyptians believed in afterlife• Soul had to pass test to win eternal life• Ferried across lake of fire to Hall of

Osiris – heart was weighed against the feather of truth

• Sinners – fed to the Eater of Death• Worthy – field of food – live forever• To survive underworld – used book of

the dead – spells, charms, formulas

Preparation of the Dead

• Afterlife – much like life on Earth• Buried dead with everything they would

need• Mummification - preservation of the

body – embalm, wrap in cloth• At first only rulers/nobles • Then ordinary people and pets

Tutankhamen

• New Kingdom – pharaohs buried in the Valley of the Kings

• Tombs filled with treasure – robbed long ago

• Tutankhamen’s tomb untouched and offered many artifacts and information

• Solid gold coffin etc. on display in Cairo museum

Society

• Pharaoh at the top with royal family• Government officials• High priests and priestesses• Merchants, scribes, artisans• Peasants and slaves• Most people were farmers – offseason –

they worked for Pharaoh building palaces, temples, tombs

Social Change

• Trade and warfare increased • More trade = more money = more

business opportunities = more business for artisans

Women

• Generally had a higher status than in other civilizations

• Ramses II said a woman could go where she wanted and no one could stop her

• Own property, business deals, buy and sell, go to court, obtain a divorce

• Women made perfumes, textiles, doctors, managed estates, priests

• Few women learned to read and write• If they did they were still excluded from

government

Advances in Learning

• Developed writing – multiple• Hieroglyphics – system of pictures

represent objects, concepts or sounds• Often carved in stone• Hieratic – simpler writing for everyday

use – cursive form of writing by simplifying hieroglyphs

• Papyrus – paper like writing material from plants

• Writing on this was easier than chiseling in stone

• Official writing was still done in stone

Rosetta Stone

• Meanings of hieroglyphs lost• 1800’s – Jean Champollion deciphered

hieroglyphs by decoding the Rosetta Stone• Flat black stone – has the same passage in

three languages – hieroglyphs, demotic script, Greek

• By comparing them, found the meaning of many hieroglyphs

• Scholars could now read ancient records of Egypt

Science and Math

• Accumulated knowledge in medicine, astronomy, math

• Physicians believed in magic• Learned about the body through

mummification• Could diagnose and cure• Performed surgeries• Used herbal remedies• Mapped constellations –calendar 12 months,

30 days• Geometry to survey land and build pyramids

Egyptian Art and Literature

• Statues, paintings, poems, stories, carvings

• Show everyday scenes in life: Farming, family life, ceremonies

• The larger the person drawn / Carved = importance

• Sphinx – pharaoh as lion / man

Literature

• Oldest – hymns and prayers to gods, proverbs and love poems