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Ancient Egyptians and the Environment

Ancient Egyptians and the Environment. 2850 BC-525 BC Egypt/North Eastern Africa. Social Structure. Pharaoh The son of the sun A God among people Nobles Appointed by the pharaoh Most important were the scribes Peasant Farmers Majority of society Slaves

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Ancient Egyptians and the Environment

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  1. Ancient Egyptians and the Environment 2850 BC-525 BC Egypt/North Eastern Africa

  2. Social Structure • Pharaoh • The son of the sun • A God among people • Nobles • Appointed by the pharaoh • Most important were the scribes • Peasant Farmers • Majority of society • Slaves • Still lived better than slaves anywhere else • Could own property

  3. The Nile • People depended on the Nile for everything- literally • Regular flooding deposited silt/fertilized farmland • Houses built of river mud

  4. Pharaoh and his Job • Perform rituals to keep society safe and well-fed • Sympathetic magic • Literally thought to keep the sun rising each morning • “Responsible” for the regular flooding of the Nile

  5. When the Nile floods regularly… • People can’t farm so they build monuments (ex pyramids) for the pharaoh. (June to October) • Crop yields increase so the pharaoh can tax the people more • People are happy so they trust the Pharaoh- results in unity • build his irrigation systems- increases productivity

  6. Farming • People depended on irrigation to water their fields • Important since the Nile cuts through Sahara desert • Farmed using plows, hand tools • Barley, wheat, fig trees • Used animals to help cultivate soil and irrigation

  7. Writing System • Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphics on papyrus • Paper from reed like plants that grow on the Nile River Bank • Kept track of everything in the kingdom • Taxes • Food • People • News • Book of the Dead • Only the scribes could write- coveted position

  8. Religion • Most Gods are connected to nature/natural phenomenon • Ra- Sun God most important • Osiris- God of farming/agriculture, God of the underworld • Nut swallows and gives birth to the sun • Ma’at- idea of cycle life and death (just like Nile River cycles)

  9. Trade • Nile is the superhighway to transfer • Troops • Goods • Ideas

  10. How is Egypt Vulnerable? • If the Nile’s cycle of flooding and receding isn’t regular… • People lose faith in the Pharaoh (taxes and power decrease) • More likely to trust local priests and Gods- disunity • People starve because irrigation won’t work well • Society becomes weak and ripe for invasion • Trade slows (less water to sail on) and people are not healthy to travel

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