Chapter 2 Section 2

1. Chapter 2 Section 2 Egyptian Life and Culture

2. Review section 1 • What Direction does the Nile river flow? • Why did geographic isolation benefit the Egyptians? • Name the outside invaders that came in and took over Egypt for a while

3. The Achievements of ancient Egypt • The Egyptians lived on a dependability of the annual Nile floods and their geographic isolation • They are most recognized for their building of the pyramids and the sphinx • About 80 pyramids still stand along the west bank of the Nile • The best known pyramids are in Giza and the Great pyramid is 13 acres at its base (566,280 sq ft) • It was 480 Ft high and contains over 2 million blocks of stone each weighing 5,000 lbs • Building of the pyramids took great skill. Egyptian architects and engineers were the best in the world

4. The Great Pyramid

6. Other Egyptian Art • The pyramids were built using ramps and levers, but the Egyptians were just as good at traditional art • Other forms of art include small statues of pharaohs, animals, and gods • The painters decorated buildings with pictures of everyday life • They showed farmers in their fields, people at banquets, and artisans at work • Even the hieroglyphic form of writing was an art form

8. Science, math, and medicine • Early in their history the Egyptians developed a calendar based on the movements of the moon • {They later found that the annual floods would happen after a bright star appeared above the horizon} • Then there would be 365 days until the next time the star appeared on the horizon • The Egyptians then based their calendar on this new found cycle • 12 months with 30 days each and the last 5 days were used for holidays and feasting • To keep track they kept count using the pharaohs years of reign

9. Continued • In addition to developing the calendar the Egyptians had a number system based on 10 • They used fractions along with whole numbers and used geometry to build the pyramids and restore fields after flooding • They made important discoveries in medicine and human anatomy • They used this knowledge to treat illness and preserve bodies after death • The treatments for illness often used “magic spells” but involved herbs and medicine

11. Education • For the ancient Egyptians focused mainly on the elite group known as scribes, or clerks • They learned to read and write so that they could work for the government • They focused on religious instruction which was the base for Egyptian life • In fact the schools were usually attached to the temples

12. The Gods • In the earliest days of the Egyptian civilization each village has its own local god or gods • The gods had their own animal symbol that they considered sacred • Sacred animals include the cat, bull, crocodile, and the scarab beetle • Some of the gods became worshiped by people through out Egypt • The most important of these was Amon or Amon-Re the sun god or the creator

13. Amon-Re and Osiris

15. The Gods continued • Osiris was the judge of the after life and was associated with the Nile river • She died and was reborn just like the Nile flooded and receded • Isis was Osiris’s wife and was the goddess of the royal throne

16. The Afterlife • {The afterlife was at first believed to only be available to the pharaohs, later it was believed that life after death was for everyone} • {In the afterlife your heart was weighed and it would tell if you had lied, murdered, or been too proud} • Your heart was weighed against a sacred feather on a great scale. If it balanced you entered a place of eternal hapiness • If the scale did not balance the heart was thown to the eater of the dead

17. Egyptian Mummy in NY Museum

18. The afterlife continued • In the afterlife the body needs to be preserved to make life after death possible • To do this they developed a process known as mummification: the organs of the body are removed, the body is treated with chemicals • Workers placed the body in the tombs stocked with food, tools and weapons • The objects were considered important for use in the afterlife • Years later the Book of the Dead was placed in the tombs as a guide to the afterlife

19. The book of the dead (from the mummy movie)

20. Farming • Farming was divided into large estates and was done mostly by the peasants • Wheat and Barley were the chief crops, but flax was grown then spun and woven into linen • Cotton was also grown and used for cloth • Part of the crop was kept by the peasant the rest went to the pharaoh as rent and taxes • Life for the farmer was difficult

21. Trade • The peasants were able to grow more food than what was needed so they used it to trade • This developed new opportunities for the growing middle class • Merchants rode in caravans (groups of people traveling together) for safety • They traveled deep into Africa and West into Asia • They were among the first people to build boats to travel by sea trading in the Mediterranean and Red sea and traveled the African coast

23. Review • What did the Egyptians base their calendar on? • What was the Egyptian Number system based on? • What happened to you in the afterlife? • Were the Nile floods predictable?

24. The End?