Ancient Egyptian Civilization

1. Ancient Egyptian Civilization By: Abhipsa Ujwal Grade: 7

2. Table of Contents • Religion • Geography • Leaders ( Rulers) • Culture/Education • Economy

3. Religion Religion guided every aspect of Egyptian life. Egyptian religion was based on polytheism. The Egyptians had as many as 2000 gods. Some, such as Amun, were worshipped throughout the whole country, while others had only a local following. They considered animals such as the bull, the cat, and the crocodile to be holy. The heir two chief gods were Amon-Ra and Osiris. The Egyptian book "Book of the Dead" contains the major ideas and beliefs in the ancient Egyptian religion.

4. Religion The Egyptians saw death as a transitional stage in the progress to a better life in the next world. When a person died, the priests recited prayers and a final attempt was made to revive the deceased. Temples were considered dwelling places for the gods. Each city had a temple built for the god of that city. The priests’ duty was to care for the gods and attend to their needs. The Egyptians had many tales about how the world began. According to one legend, it started with an ocean in darkness. Then a mound of dry land rose up and the sun god Re appeared. He created light and all things.

5. Geography The ancient Egyptians enjoyed many natural barriers there were deserts to the east and west of the Nile River, with mountains to the south. The Nile is the world's longest river. It is over 4000 miles long and flows north into the Mediterranean Sea. There were two kinds of land in Egypt the black soil and red soil. The climate in ancient Egypt is very hot and dry thus making Egypt a dessert . This desert was considered the red soil which covered 90% of Egypt. Each spring, water would run off the mountains and the Nile would flood. As the flood waters receded, black rich fertile soil was left behind. The ancient Egyptian called this rich soil The Gift of the Nile. The Nile River was used by the ancient Egyptians for many things. They fished for food, washed themselves and their clothes, and collected water for irrigation, drinking and cooking. They also traveled by boat around Egypt and into the Mediterranean Sea to trade with other cultures.

6. Leaders Ancient Egyptian leaders were called pharaohs. The Egyptians believed that their pharaohs were earthly form of the god Horus and overtime different pharaohs became connected to different gods. They even believed that pharaohs caused the Nile’s annual flooding. The Pharaohs had absolute power over their people, whatever they said became law.

7. Hatshepsut (1473 - 1458 BC) Hatshepsut was one of only a few female pharaohs and was the first wife of Thutmose II. After Thutmose's death, his son, Thutmose III, (by a minor wife) was named as the heir. Because the boy was so young, Hatshepsut ruled with him until she declared herself as the pharaoh. Dressed not as a lady, but in men's clothes, Hatshepsut took charge of the nation. For 20 years she ruled Egypt and during that time the economy was great.

8. Thutmose III (1479 - 1425 BC) Thutmose III might be responsible for the mysterious disappearance of Hatshepsut, but he was still a great ruler. After taking the throne ,he had Hatshepsut's name cut from the temple walls and tried to erase her name from history. Thutmose never lost a battle. Thutmose III was a national hero and he was respected throughout Egyptian history. Besides being a military genius he was well known for his many buildings. • 1

9. Tutankhamen (1336 - 1327 BC) At the age of nine Tutankhamen became pharaoh. King Tut, as a lot of people call him, was too young to rule Egypt . So his uncle Ay, who was the highest minister, ruled for him while he was a boy. Tutankhamen became a pharaoh at the age 10 and died at 18. His body was found with his skull bashed in. It is thought that Ay may have had something to do with the sudden and mysterious death.

10. Ramesses II (1279 - 1213 BC) RamessesII was one of the longest ruling pharaohs of ancient Egypt. He was called Ramesses the Great and ruled for 67 years, although beside his father in the beginning. It is said that Ramesses lived for over 80 years. The average person lived to about 40 ; so he must have seemed like a god. He had over a dozen of wives and more than 100 children.

11. Culture/Education Ancient Egypt was rich in culture including government, religion, arts, and writing. The government and religion were tied together as the leader of the government, the Pharaoh, was also leader of the religion and considered a god. Writing was also important in keeping the government running. Only scribes could read and write and they were considered powerful people.  Only a few boys and girls went to school in Ancient Egypt. Most of these boys and girls came from rich families and went to scribal school. In scribal school, they used the utensils of a scribe: a reed brush, ink made out of soot and water, and the world’s first paper papyrus. Those who were not supposed become a scribe probably did not go to scribal school. However some people who were not scribes did have a scribal school education. Instead the person would become an apprentice. For example, if one wanted to become a doctor, one would go to work with a doctor and learn from him/her.

12. Economy The Ancient Egyptian has many aspects to there economy that made there lives successful. They used the ways of trading, farms and there educated minds to make their everyday lives strive. Egyptians depended on the way of trading as there way of money. They had many farms and growing livestock to trade for their tools to make their food. The people also collected many different types of minerals that can be traded for foods. The metals and minerals were traded around the Mediterranean Sea and red sea. The Egyptians have many things to trade to make there lives live a lot longer. The economy was made up of the trading of gold and wheat. 

13. Economy The other type of way the ancient Egypt made it through life was that of a having a job. The ancient Egyptians had many types of jobs that they needed to keep the economy alive. The Egyptians brought some of the best arts that are out there today. There were many anglers that were paid for how many fish they brought in and there were many hunters. The skins were used to make clothe. In the ancient days the children grew up to learn the trades of the father. The economy was very good in those days and the people were educated in school. They learned all about how to write and how to do the occupations they needed, as they get older. The ancient Egyptians had king and queen like any country and they served the king by following him. Building the cities and the markets places kept the towns in very good shape and kept the economy going. 

14. The End Hope You Enjoyed!

15. Bibliography • http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.3.html • http://egypt.mrdonn.org/geography.html • http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.3.html • http://www.kidzworld.com/article/996-egypt-famouspharaohs • http://library.thinkquest.org/J002046F/education.htm • http://www.egyptiandiamond.com/ancient-egyptian-economy.php