Ancient Egypt
1.
2.
3.
4.
Origins
This Unit
a)
Geography
b)
Agriculture
c)
Religion, Afterlife and Mummification
The Old Kingdom
a)
Social Structures – Ra and the Pharaohs
b)
Pyramids – purpose and construction
c)
Writing – the Rosetta Stone
Middle Kingdom
a)
Military – conflict
b)
New Gods
New Kingdom
a)
Expansion and Competition - Hatshepsut
b)
Tut and the Valley of Kings
5.
Decline
6.
Culminating Activity
Ancient Civilizations Timeline
Lesson 1:
Origins to The Early Dynastic Period
Geography
The Nile
World’s longest river 6650km, creating a
band of fertile land between 1.5 and 22km
wide
 Flooded once per year – Egypt
learns of the 365 day year in (4000
BCE!)
 Receding floods leave kemet (gift of
the Nile) creating the world’s most
fertile land capable of sustaining 3
crops per year
 Papyrus Reed – paper, boats
 Transportation – up and down river
Geography
Isolation
massive deserts and the sea surrounding
Egypt allowed it to develop without constant
threat of invasion
Geography
Natural Resources
In addition to farmland, egypt also
had access to an abundance of natural
resources
 Granite
 Gold
 Copper
 Tin
 Limestone
NOT- Wood – this will be important
later!
Egypt Today
Civilization on the Nile
5000 BCE
Agriculture (deliberate planting and
reaping) began in
4500 BCE
Communities develop along the Nile in
mud-brick homes
Tribal groups develop and begin fighting
over valuable land – settling into 2 main
kingdoms
 Upper Egypt
 Lower Egypt – prone to “over-flooding”
The Nile: Where Egypt Began
Agriculture was only possible where deposits were left from the
flooding and even then, water needed to be managed
Shaduf
Basin Irrigation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOtoHidFy8k
Unification of Egypt
The Early Dynastic Period Begins (3100-2650)
3100 BCE
King Menes (Narmer) of Upper Egypt
swept through lower Egypt and
captured it creating the world’s first
Nation State – an independent
community of people spread over a
wide area and united under one
government
Memphis was made the Capital as it
bordered on the two merged lands
The Nile and Religion
5th Century BCE – Greek Historian Herodotus observed:
“Egyptians are religious beyond measure more than any other
culture”
Creation Story
 Out of Nun (chaotic waters)
 Atum (Ra)
 Shu (air)
 Tefunt (moisture)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVGTWZWq-b4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTy49JlgJZE
Questions
1. Describe the sections of land as you move further from
the Nile.
2. Describe the process of farming grain in Ancient Egypt.
3. List some of the luxury goods possible in the Nile region.
4. Describe the various seasons.
5. What does corvee mean? What does this policy tell us
about the Egyptian Civilization?