Ancient Egypt

Lesson 1 Gift of the Nile
  The Nile River is the world’s longest river.  It begins near the equator in Africa and flows north to the Mediterranean Sea.  In the South it churns with cataracts.    A cataract is a waterfall. Near the sea the Nile branches into a delta.  A Delta is an area near a river’s mouth where the water deposits fine soil called silt.  In the delta, the Nile divides into many streams.  The river is called the upper Nile in the south and the lower Nile in the north. Heavy rains occurred where the floods deposited rich soil.   It was good for growing crops.  The ancient Egyptians lived in a narrow band of land on each side of the Nile.  They called this region the black land because of the fertile soil that floods deposited.  They dug irrigation canals that carried river water to dry areas.  They used a tool called a Shaduf to spread water across the fields.  The Egyptians were the first to weave fibers from the flax plants into a fabric called linen. Egyptian’s built houses using bricks made of mud from the Nile mixed with chopped straw.   They wanted copper to make tools and weapons.   Egyptians made lightweight rafts by binding together reeds.  They were the first people in the world to mine a precious stone called turquoise.   When farmers produce food surpluses, the society’s economy begins to expand.  Some Egyptians learned to be scribes or people whose job is to write and keep records.
Lesson 2 Life in Ancient Egypt
Egyptians civilization grew more complex; people took on jobs other than that of farmer or scribe.  Some artisans built houses or temples while others made pottery, incense, mats, furniture, linen clothing, sandals or jewelry.  
When Egypt grew, so did the need to organize. Egyptians created a government that divided the empire into 42 provinces.  One of the highest jobs in Egypt was to be a priest, although the pharaoh or ruler was above all other people because he or she was considered a god.  The Egyptians had social roles.  The social order from top to bottom: the Pharaoh, Priests and Nobles, Scribes and Government Officials, Craftspeople and Merchants, Farmers then the slaves.
Egyptians priests studied the sky as part of their religion. They noticed a star, now called Sirius, that appeared shortly before the Nile began to flood.  The star returned to the same position 365 days.  Based on that, Egyptians developed the world’s first calendar.
They developed some of the first geometry. Geometric shapes such as squares and triangles were sacred to Egyptians.  Architects used them in the design of royal temples and monuments.
Egyptians developed a writing system using hieroglyphs which are pictures that stand for different words or sounds. Over time the system grew into more than 8,000 symbols. They also developed a paper-like material called papyrus from a reed of the same name. They could be rolled into scrolls.  Papyrus scrolls were light and easy to carry. With them, Egyptians created some of the first books.
Polytheism is the belief in many gods.  Egyptians worshipped gods that were related to the afterlife and to parts of nature, such as the sun, the river, and plant life.   Some of the most important gods were: Re-the sun god, Osiris- a god who judged Egyptians after death, Isis-a fertility goddess who was Osiris wife and Anubus- a god of the dead.

 They prepared dead bodies for burial so they knew the parts of the body. Egyptians thought they would need their bodies in the afterlife, so they embalmed dead bodies.  Embalm means to preserve a body after death. First, embalmers removed all organs except the heart.  Next they filled the body with a mixture of salt and herbs to create a mummy.  A mummy is a body that has been dried so it won’t decay. When dry, the mummy was wrapped in hundreds of yards of linen strips.  The mummy was placed in a coffin inside a tomb.  The tomb held everyday objects, furniture, and food. Egyptians believed in a happy afterlife.  An afterlife is a life believed to follow death.
              Lesson 3 The Pyramid Builders
Legend says a king named Narmer united Upper and Lower Egypt. Some historians believe that Narmer represents several kings who gradually joined two lands.  After Egypt was united, the ruler wore the Double Crown.  It combined the red Crown of Lower Egypt with the white Crown of Upper Egypt.  The first dynasty of the Egyptians empire began about 2925 B.C.  A dynasty is a line of rulers from the same family. When a king died, one of his children usually took place as ruler. The order in which members of a royal family inherit a throne is called the succession.  More than 30 dynasties ruled Egypt.    The king of Egypt became known as the pharaoh.  The word pharaoh means “great house” and it was originally used to describe the king’s palace.  Pharaohs were thought to be a god. Priest had much power in Egypt.  Many high officials were priests.   Rulers were often buried in underground tombs topped with mud bricks.  These mud bricks were replaced by a small pyramid of brick or stone.  A pyramid is a structure shaped like a triangle, with four sides that meet at a point.     
About 2630 B.C., King Djoser built a much larger pyramid over his tomb.  It is called a step pyramid because its sides rise in a series of giant steps. A pharaoh named Khufu decided he wanted a monument. To show the world how great he was. He built what was called the Great Pyramid.  Egyptian artists decorated the tombs with wall paintings and sculptures carved into the walls.   A nomadic people called the Hyksos invaded Egypt from the northeast.  Their army conquered by using better weapons and horse-drawn chariots, which were new to the Egyptians.  

           Lesson 4 The New Kingdom
Queen Hatshepsut was the first woman to rule as a pharaoh.  She was a wife of a pharaoh who died soon after he took power.   Hatshepsut then ruled with her stepson Thutmose III.  She expanded Egypt by waging war.  She also wanted to make Egypt richer through trade. She then wanted to show the glory of her work.  One type of monument she erected was the obelisk which is a four sided with a pyramid shaped top.  After ruling for 15 years, Hatshepsut disappeared.  She may have died peacefully or Thutmose II may have killed her. He then became pharaoh and tried to destroy all records of Hatshepsut reign.
Egyptians believed that angry gods caused suffering.   One pharaoh dared to defy the gods.   When Akhenaton became pharaoh he lifted a sun god called Anton to the highest status.  He then closed the temples of other gods.  In this way, he promoted the worship of one god for the first time in Egyptians history. Priest who served
other gods suddenly lost power.  They felt that the pharaoh’s actions had angered the old gods. To avoid

conflict with this priest, he moved about 200 miles away from them to a new capital city called Akhenaton.  After Akhenaton’s death a young relative named Tutankhamen (King tut) became pharaoh.  The boy relied on advisors to help him rule Egypt.  After he died Ramses II, also called Ramses the Great- wanted to make Egypt powerful through war.  Under Ramses’ rule, Egypt extended its territory south into the African kingdom of Nubia. From there it bordered the empire of a people called the Hittites. The Egyptians and the Hittites had long been enemies.  Ramses led an army into battle against the Hittites. Ramses claimed victory.  His success came after the battle.  The treaty he negotiated with the Hittites was the first known peace treaty of world history.  He was very bold in honoring himself.  He built a city called the house of Ramses. Four 66 foot statues of himself guarded his temple.  He did not want the statues to show what he really looked. He wanted to appear god like. He made the Egyptian government stable after ruling for 66 years.   Gradually the Egyptian government weakened, then a series of foreign powers ruled Egypt.  One of the rulers was Alexander the Great, the king of Macedonia.  After his death the Macedonians continued to run Egypt.   The last Macedonian ruler was the famous queen Cleopatra.  Eventually the powerful Roman Empire would conquer Egypt.