Unit 4: Egypt
Major Events Time Line
a. 3,100 BCE: Upper and Lower Egypt are united by Menes.
b. 3,000 BCE: Hieroglyphics are developed.
c. 2,550 BCE: Work on Khufu’s Great Pyramid begins in Giza.
d. 2,150 BCE: Old Kingdom period ends; Egypt will experience war and chaos for the next 100 years
e. 2,055 BCE: Mentuhotep II brings peace to Egypt and begins the Middle Kingdom period
f. 1.630 BCE: Hyksos conquer Egypt; ending the Middle Kingdom period
g. 1,530 BCE: Hyksos are driven out of Egypt and the New Kingdom period begins.
h. 1,472 BCE: Hatshepsut, first woman pharaoh, comes to power.
i. 1,353 BCE: Akhenaton takes power and tries to make the Egyptians worship one god only.
j. 1,279 BCE: Ramses II begins his 66-year reign.
k. 750 BCE: Piye leads an army of Nubians to conquer all of Egypt.
l. 671 BCE: Assyrians take Egypt from the Nubians.
m. 332 BCE: Alexandria is built after the Macedonian conquest of Egypt.
n. 30 BCE: Egypt becomes a Roman province after Augustus defeats Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
GRAPES
Geography
-The Egyptians and Nubians developed along the fertile banks of the Nile River in northeast Africa.
-The Egyptians had the following natural barriers to protect them from invasions: the Sahara, the Eastern Desert, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea.
-The Nubian kingdom of Kush had access the gold and iron mines.
Religion:
-The Egyptians believed in a polytheistic religion with many gods, including: Osiris, Anubis, and Ra.
-Egyptians mummified their dead (both poor and rich) and were buried with items for the afterlife. They believed the next life was much like this one.
-The Pharaoh Akhenaton attempted to turn Egypt to a monotheistic religion following Aton-Ra.
Achievements:
-The Egyptians created the world’s first paper-like material – papyrus and the pictographic writing system known as hieroglyphics.
-The Egyptians created a calendar based on the Niles predictable flooding.
-The pyramids, sphinx, tombs, obelisks, and monuments of ancient Egypt represent impressive architectural feats.
-The oldest document peace treaty was between Egypt and the Hittites.
Political System:
-Egypt was ruled by their god-king; the pharaoh.
-Power rested in the government officials, noble land owners, and priests primarily.
-Egypt would conquer some surrounding kingdoms (including Kush parts of the Fertile Crescent) and would be conquered by the Assyrians, Hyksos, Hittites, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.
Economic System:
-The Egyptian economy depended primarily on farming and conscripted laborers.
-Slavery was a common practice in the New Kingdom (not so much in the Old and Middle Kingdoms)
-New Kingdom pharaohs, like Hatshepsut and Ramses II, would expand the economy through trade and conquest.
Social Structure:
-Egypt had a rigid social structure with priests and government officials at the top, artisans, farmers, and laborers in the middle, and slaves at the bottom.
Key Understandings
-The civilizations of Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt, and Nubia emerged on the banks of the Nile River.
-The fertile land of the Nile – or the “Black land” – allowed agriculture to thrive and encouraged more people to migrate to the Nile from the surrounding “Red lands.”
-Evidence of Nubian gold in Egypt, Nubians in Egyptian art, and Egyptian style clothing and pyramids suggests the Nubians and Egyptians had a complex social and economic relationship.
-Egypt was ruled by over thirty dynasties who all took on the tile of “pharaoh” when ruling.
-Pharaohs were considered both gods and kings.
-Peasants completed the vast majority of the agriculture and labor in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, slavery became more prominent in the New Kingdom.
-Egyptians believed the afterlife was much like this one (they mummified their dead and buried everyday items with their dead for this reason) and had many gods in their religion.
-Egyptians improved agricultural techniques, irrigation, invented a calendar, created a unique style of architecture, wrote in hieroglyphics, and invented papyrus.
-Old Kingdom Pharaohs:
a) Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt
b) Khufu orders construction on the Great Pyramid of Giza
-Middle Kingdom Pharaohs:
a) Mentuhotep II brings stability back to the civil war torn Egypt
b) Egypt conquers Kush
c) This era ends when the Hyksos invade Egypt
-New Kingdom Pharaohs:
a) Ahmose I expels the Hyksos and starts this era
b) Tut, Hatshepsut, and Ramses will rule in this time.
c) Kush conquers Egypt during this time
Vocab
Cataract: high waterfall or rapids
Delta: triangle-shaped deposit of rich soil near a river’s mouth
Linen: fabric woven from fibers of the flax plant
Plateau: flat land area that is raised sharply above other nearby land
Quarried: obtained stone by cutting, digging, or blasting
Scribes: people who specialized in writing and record keeping
Hieroglyphics: pictures that stand for words and sounds
Papyrus: paper-like material made from the stems of the papyrus reed
Afterlife: a life believed to follow death
Embalm: to preserve a body after death
Mummy: body prepared for burial according to ancient Egyptian practice
Artisans: skilled workers; craftspeople
Rituals: sets of ceremonies or rites used in a place of worship
Geometry: mathematical study of the properties, measurement, and relationships of points, lines, angles, surfaces, and solids
Dynasty: family or group that rules for several generations
Succession: order in which members of a royal family inherit the throne
Pharaoh: ruler of ancient Egypt
Pyramid: ancient Egyptian pointed structure, built over or around a tomb
Step pyramid: type of pyramid with sides that rise in giant steps
Menes/Narmer: pharaoh who was said to have united Upper and Lower Egypt (he could actually be several pharaohs)
Khufu: pharaoh who order the construction of the largest pyramid ever built
Monuments: structures built to honor a person, a group, or an event
Overseers: people who watch over and direct workers
Mentuhotep II: Pharaoh who brought peace to Egypt and started the Middle Kingdom
Asiatics: people who migrated to Egypt from Asia
Hyksos: a people from Syria/Palestine whom conquered much of Lower Egypt using superior weapons and chariots
Hatshepsut: female pharaoh who strengthened Egypt through trade
Obelisk: pillar-shaped stone monument
Akhenaton: pharaoh who promoted a monotheistic worship of Aton and who was portrayed realistically (previous pharaohs had all been idealized in their art)
Ramses II: pharaoh who ruled Egypt for 66 years and greatly expanded the empire by conquering surrounding territories
Kush: Nubian Kingdom that conquered all of Upper and Lower Egypt in the 700s BCE
Piye: king of Kush around 750 BCE, who gained control of Egypt, becoming pharaoh and uniting Egypt and Kush
Incense: substance that is burned to produce a pleasant odor
Hittites: group of people who lived in modern-day Turkey and northern Syria
a. 3,100 BCE: Upper and Lower Egypt are united by Menes.
b. 3,000 BCE: Hieroglyphics are developed.
c. 2,550 BCE: Work on Khufu’s Great Pyramid begins in Giza.
d. 2,150 BCE: Old Kingdom period ends; Egypt will experience war and chaos for the next 100 years
e. 2,055 BCE: Mentuhotep II brings peace to Egypt and begins the Middle Kingdom period
f. 1.630 BCE: Hyksos conquer Egypt; ending the Middle Kingdom period
g. 1,530 BCE: Hyksos are driven out of Egypt and the New Kingdom period begins.
h. 1,472 BCE: Hatshepsut, first woman pharaoh, comes to power.
i. 1,353 BCE: Akhenaton takes power and tries to make the Egyptians worship one god only.
j. 1,279 BCE: Ramses II begins his 66-year reign.
k. 750 BCE: Piye leads an army of Nubians to conquer all of Egypt.
l. 671 BCE: Assyrians take Egypt from the Nubians.
m. 332 BCE: Alexandria is built after the Macedonian conquest of Egypt.
n. 30 BCE: Egypt becomes a Roman province after Augustus defeats Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
GRAPES
Geography
-The Egyptians and Nubians developed along the fertile banks of the Nile River in northeast Africa.
-The Egyptians had the following natural barriers to protect them from invasions: the Sahara, the Eastern Desert, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea.
-The Nubian kingdom of Kush had access the gold and iron mines.
Religion:
-The Egyptians believed in a polytheistic religion with many gods, including: Osiris, Anubis, and Ra.
-Egyptians mummified their dead (both poor and rich) and were buried with items for the afterlife. They believed the next life was much like this one.
-The Pharaoh Akhenaton attempted to turn Egypt to a monotheistic religion following Aton-Ra.
Achievements:
-The Egyptians created the world’s first paper-like material – papyrus and the pictographic writing system known as hieroglyphics.
-The Egyptians created a calendar based on the Niles predictable flooding.
-The pyramids, sphinx, tombs, obelisks, and monuments of ancient Egypt represent impressive architectural feats.
-The oldest document peace treaty was between Egypt and the Hittites.
Political System:
-Egypt was ruled by their god-king; the pharaoh.
-Power rested in the government officials, noble land owners, and priests primarily.
-Egypt would conquer some surrounding kingdoms (including Kush parts of the Fertile Crescent) and would be conquered by the Assyrians, Hyksos, Hittites, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.
Economic System:
-The Egyptian economy depended primarily on farming and conscripted laborers.
-Slavery was a common practice in the New Kingdom (not so much in the Old and Middle Kingdoms)
-New Kingdom pharaohs, like Hatshepsut and Ramses II, would expand the economy through trade and conquest.
Social Structure:
-Egypt had a rigid social structure with priests and government officials at the top, artisans, farmers, and laborers in the middle, and slaves at the bottom.
Key Understandings
-The civilizations of Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt, and Nubia emerged on the banks of the Nile River.
-The fertile land of the Nile – or the “Black land” – allowed agriculture to thrive and encouraged more people to migrate to the Nile from the surrounding “Red lands.”
-Evidence of Nubian gold in Egypt, Nubians in Egyptian art, and Egyptian style clothing and pyramids suggests the Nubians and Egyptians had a complex social and economic relationship.
-Egypt was ruled by over thirty dynasties who all took on the tile of “pharaoh” when ruling.
-Pharaohs were considered both gods and kings.
-Peasants completed the vast majority of the agriculture and labor in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, slavery became more prominent in the New Kingdom.
-Egyptians believed the afterlife was much like this one (they mummified their dead and buried everyday items with their dead for this reason) and had many gods in their religion.
-Egyptians improved agricultural techniques, irrigation, invented a calendar, created a unique style of architecture, wrote in hieroglyphics, and invented papyrus.
-Old Kingdom Pharaohs:
a) Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt
b) Khufu orders construction on the Great Pyramid of Giza
-Middle Kingdom Pharaohs:
a) Mentuhotep II brings stability back to the civil war torn Egypt
b) Egypt conquers Kush
c) This era ends when the Hyksos invade Egypt
-New Kingdom Pharaohs:
a) Ahmose I expels the Hyksos and starts this era
b) Tut, Hatshepsut, and Ramses will rule in this time.
c) Kush conquers Egypt during this time
Vocab
Cataract: high waterfall or rapids
Delta: triangle-shaped deposit of rich soil near a river’s mouth
Linen: fabric woven from fibers of the flax plant
Plateau: flat land area that is raised sharply above other nearby land
Quarried: obtained stone by cutting, digging, or blasting
Scribes: people who specialized in writing and record keeping
Hieroglyphics: pictures that stand for words and sounds
Papyrus: paper-like material made from the stems of the papyrus reed
Afterlife: a life believed to follow death
Embalm: to preserve a body after death
Mummy: body prepared for burial according to ancient Egyptian practice
Artisans: skilled workers; craftspeople
Rituals: sets of ceremonies or rites used in a place of worship
Geometry: mathematical study of the properties, measurement, and relationships of points, lines, angles, surfaces, and solids
Dynasty: family or group that rules for several generations
Succession: order in which members of a royal family inherit the throne
Pharaoh: ruler of ancient Egypt
Pyramid: ancient Egyptian pointed structure, built over or around a tomb
Step pyramid: type of pyramid with sides that rise in giant steps
Menes/Narmer: pharaoh who was said to have united Upper and Lower Egypt (he could actually be several pharaohs)
Khufu: pharaoh who order the construction of the largest pyramid ever built
Monuments: structures built to honor a person, a group, or an event
Overseers: people who watch over and direct workers
Mentuhotep II: Pharaoh who brought peace to Egypt and started the Middle Kingdom
Asiatics: people who migrated to Egypt from Asia
Hyksos: a people from Syria/Palestine whom conquered much of Lower Egypt using superior weapons and chariots
Hatshepsut: female pharaoh who strengthened Egypt through trade
Obelisk: pillar-shaped stone monument
Akhenaton: pharaoh who promoted a monotheistic worship of Aton and who was portrayed realistically (previous pharaohs had all been idealized in their art)
Ramses II: pharaoh who ruled Egypt for 66 years and greatly expanded the empire by conquering surrounding territories
Kush: Nubian Kingdom that conquered all of Upper and Lower Egypt in the 700s BCE
Piye: king of Kush around 750 BCE, who gained control of Egypt, becoming pharaoh and uniting Egypt and Kush
Incense: substance that is burned to produce a pleasant odor
Hittites: group of people who lived in modern-day Turkey and northern Syria