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UNIT 2. Ancient India Ancient China Ancient Egypt. Ancient India Ancient China Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egypt. I. Geography of Egypt. Located on the northeastern portion of the continent of Africa Has access to the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. The Nile River
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UNIT 2 Ancient India Ancient China Ancient Egypt Ancient India Ancient China Ancient Egypt
I. Geography of Egypt • Located on the northeastern portion of the continent of Africa • Has access to the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. • The Nile River • is the longest river in the world, at more than 4,000 miles. • has two sources, the White Nile and the Blue Nile. • flows backwards(from south to north) due to the elevation in the north being lower. • has 6 cataracts which made it impossible to travel the full length of the river. • Cataract- large waterfall or steep rock-filled rapids.
Divided into two parts: • delta: a triangular plain at the mouth of a river • valley: fertile area around the river. • The Nile Delta was considered Lower Egypt and the Nile Valley was Upper Egypt. • The Nile River was important to the Ancient Egyptians because it inundated, or flooded, yearly leaving fertile soil called silt behind. • The Ancient Egyptians used astronomy, the study of the stars, to predict the annual flooding. • The Sahara Desert • is the largest desert in the world (about the size of the United States.) • The Sahara Desert was important to the Ancient Egyptians because it provided protection from enemy’s who could not cross it to attack.
Life in Egypt • Egyptian history is measured by dynasties, or ruling families • The Old Kingdom (2700 BC-2200 BC): • Pharaohs had absolute power over all Egyptians and were considered gods on earth. • Pharaohs were buried in pyramids only during this time period in history. • The Middle Kingdom (2100 BCE-1800 BCE): • The middle kingdom was Egypt's Golden Age, because trade, arts and literature flourished. • Egypt built strong armies to defend herself against her neighbors.
Hatshepsut’s husband died leaving his young son pharaoh of Egypt. • Because her stepson was too young, she declared that the gods wanted her as pharaoh. • She dressed in men’s clothing and even statues/painting showed her with a beard. • After 20 years, her stepson reclaimed the throne and Hatshepsut disappeared. • Egyptian citizens were divided into social classes which resembled a pyramid :
People were able to rise from one social class to another, usually through service to the pharaoh. • Women had most of the rights of men. • Could own property and run businesses • Sometimes were in charge of temples • Used positions to influence the pharaoh • Acted as regents until the pharaoh was old enough to rule on his own. • Regent – one who rules in the absence of a king.
Egyptian Religion • Religion affected every aspect of life in Ancient Egypt • The Ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, or believed in many gods. • They believed that keeping the gods happy kept order in the world, whereas angering the gods caused chaos. • Believed the gods controlled the workings of nature (ex. Ra was the sun god.) • Egyptians had worship rituals which had to be preformed twice a day. • Washing the statues of the gods. • Dressing the statues in fine clothing. • Entertaining the statues with song and dance. • The Egyptians considered Aten the most important god. • He was portrayed as a disk with rays as if he was reaching to all the people on Earth. • The sun was the source of life for all living things.
Afterlife • The Egyptians believed in the afterlife, or that life continued somewhere else after a person died. • It was believed that if a person pleased the gods in this world, they would join them and live a life of ease and pleasure in the next world. • When someone died, the Egyptians thought that the soul (Ka) of the dead traveled to the next world on heavenly boats. • Burial of a dead person’s body was determined by their social class. • When a Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, died he was buried in a royal tomb. • A pyramid was considered a royal tomb because it: • Was very expensive • Took up to 20 years to build • Showed power
Pyramids were built with many rooms for the pharaoh, all his belongings, his family and his servants. • It was believed that whatever was buried with the dead would appear in the next life with them. • Most Egyptians were buried in shallow pits, in the desert. • Because of Egypt’s climate, the person’s body dried out and created a mummy of the remains. • The remains of the body were preserved or did not decay. • Mummification – to artificially preserve the body before burial.
Mummies • In order for a body to be buried in a tomb, it first had to be prepared. • The basic method for making a mummy was to: • Dry the body using salt. • Wrap the body in cloth. • Decorate the wrappings. • The mummification process could take up to 70 days. • Priests were in charge of overseeing the process.
Steps to mummifying a body included: • Removing the organs with hooks and spoons. • The body was dried out with salt to dissolve fats. • Oil was rubbed all over the body, to make it smell good. • Then the body was wrapped and decorated to look like the dead person. • The person was then considered a mummy and placed in its sarcophagus. • Mummy – The preserved body of a dead person. • Sarcophagus – a coffin, often decorated to represent the person inside. • The organs were put into canopic jars and buried with the mummy, along with all of the mummy’s belongings.
Accomplishments • Writing • Egyptians used hieroglyphs to keep track of the country’s wealth. • Hieroglyphs – picture like symbols used for writing. • At first clay was used to write on, but in order to have a more convenient writing surface they invented papyrus. • Papyrus – an early form of paper made from a reed found in the marshy area of the Nile River.
Historians could not read the Egyptian Hieroglyphs until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. • The Rosetta stone was carved in 196 B.C. with Egyptian law. • Discovered in 1799, near the city of Rosetta, Egypt, by Napoleon Bonaparte. • Included 3 types of writing – hieroglyphics, demotic, and Greek. • The Greek writing was used to decipher the hieroglyphics. • Mathematics • The ancient Egyptians used basic math to measure stone in order to build the pyramids. • Geometry was used to measure area so they could figure out the amount of taxes to be paid on a piece of land.
Medicine • Doctors were specially trained priests who used religious practices and knowledge of illnesses to try and heal the sick. • From their work on mummies they knew a lot about the human body. • They used natural remedies to help ease illnesses. • herbalism– the practice of creating medicines from plants.
