Ancient Civilizations: Egypt

1. Ancient Civilizations: Egypt

2. Geography & Environment

3. The Geography • On which continent is Egypt located? • Africa; in the northeastern region

4. The Geography • On which river did the ancient Egyptians settle? • Nile River • WHY??

5. The Geography • The Nile provided a small strip of fertile land in the middle of a desert • Annual flood; The Gift of the Nile

6. Religion & Government

7. Egyptian Religion • Polytheism: • The worship of many gods • Worshipped 2000+ gods and goddesses

8. Egyptian Religion • Primary Egyptian Gods: • Re – the Sun god • Osiris – the god of the Dead • Isis – the goddess of women

9. Egyptian Government • Theocracy: • Type of gov’tin which rule is based upon religious authority

10. Egyptian Government • Pharaoh, Pharaoh… • Egyptians believed that their kings, or pharaohs, WERE gods • Pharaohs were VERY POWERFUL! • Ruled religion, government & military

11. What is Ka? • Egyptians believed that the Pharaohs possessed an eternal life force, also known as ka

12. What is Ka? • Ka allowed pharaohs to rule for all of eternity; therefore, their tombs were even more important than their palaces on earth

13. Pyramids • Pyramids: • Tombs for the Pharaohs • Built out of limestone, granite & stone

14. The Great Pyramid at Giza

15. The only surviving wonder of the ancient world, Egypt's pyramid of Cheops takes up 13 acres of land, and overlooks the neighboring pyramids belonging to this pharaoh's son and grandson. Experts speculate it took one hundred thousand laborers roughly 20 years to build the pyramid of Cheops alone

16. Northern Entrance

20. The Sphinx

23. Culture

24. Egyptian Culture • Strong belief in the afterlife • Believed that the final judgment occurred at death • Does your heartweigh more than a feather?

25. Weighing of the Heart

26. Mummification • Reserved for royals & elites • What is mummification? • A technique that involved embalming & drying the corpse to prevent it from decaying

27. Mummification • “First, they draw out the brains through the nostrils with an iron hook…Then with a sharp stone they make an incision in the side, and take out all the bowels…Then, having filled the belly with pure myrrh, cassia, and other perfumes, they sew it up again; and when they have done this they steep it in natron (mineral salt), leaving it under for 70 days…At the end of 70 days, they wash the corpse, and wrap the whole body in bandages of waxen cloth.” - Herodotus

28. Mummification • Horrible Histories: Awful Egyptians, “The Mummy Song”

29. Mummification • Coffins were filled with items that could be used in the afterlife such as clothing, food, cosmetics & jewelry

30. Book of the Dead • Book of hymns, prayers & magic spells that were intended to guide the soul in the afterlife • Placed in the coffin

33. Society

34. Great to be an Egyptian? • A social hierarchy did exist in Egypt; however, one was not locked into his or her social class • Possible to change status via marriage, personal success, etc.

35. Royal Family Upper Class: Priests, Army, Gov’t Middle Class: Merchants and Artisans Lower Class: Peasant Farmers and Laborers

36. Knowledge

37. The Importance of Writing • Earliest form of writing was the pictograph • Later developed into hieroglyphics

38. The Importance of Writing • In hieroglyphics: • Images stand for ideas, as well as for sounds • The image of an OWL stands for the m sound, as well as for the bird itself

40. The Rosetta Stone