Ancient Egypt and Kush
Please study your PowerPoint Slides!
µ The Nile: The Nile is the longest river in the world
« The Nile River brought life to Egypt.
« The Nile River sliced through the desert of Upper Egypt and created rich fertile soil in an area 13 miles wide.
« At several points, this terrain caused cataracts, or strong rapids.
« Silt is a mixture of fertile soil and tiny rocks back and make a land ideal for farming.
« The silt from the Nile made the soil ideal for farming.
« The people in Mesopotamia build basins to collect water during the yearly floods.
« The Nile provided early Egyptian farmers with an abundance of food.
« The Nile had natural barriers that made Egypt hard to invade.
µ Ancient Egypt
« Around 3100 BC a leader named Menes rose to power in Upper Egypt.
« A pharaoh is a title used by the rulers of Egypt.
« A dynasty is a series of rulers from the same family.
« The Old Kingdom, was a period in Egyptian history that lasted from 2700 BC to 2200 BC.
« The most famous pharaoh of the Old Kingdom was Khufu who ruled in the 22500 BC.
« Khufu is best known for the monuments that were built to him.
µ Ancient Egypt Social Structure
« At the top of Egyptian society was the Pharaoh.
« Just below the Pharaoh were the upper classes, which included priests and key government officials.
« Many of the priests and officials were nobles, or rich and powerful families.
« Below the nobles were the middle class of lesser government officials, scribes, crafts-people, and merchants.
« Egypt's lower class, about 80% of the population, was made of mostly farmers.
« Below the farmers in the social order were the slaves and servants.
µ Ancient Egypt Life
« Ancient Egyptians practiced polytheism, or the belief in more than one god.
« The Ancient Egyptians had gods for nearly everything, including the sky, sun, and earth.
« Much of Egyptian religion focused on the afterlife, or life after death.
« Mummies were specially treated bodies wrapped in cloth.
« Pyramids were huge stone tombs with four triangle-shaped walls that met at a point at the top.
« Engineering is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.
« Burial in a pyramid demonstrated a pharaoh's importance. The size of the pyramid was a symbol of the pharaoh’s greatness.
µ The New Kingdom
« The New Kingdom was a period during which Egypt reached the height of its power and glory.
« Egypt became the leading military power in the region.
« Military conquests made Egypt rich.
« Profitable trade routes, or paths followed by traders, developed.
« Queen Hatshepsut, an Egyptian ruler, worked to increase trade. She supported art and architecture.
« Ramses the Great reign as pharaoh was one of the longest in history.
« Scribes kept records and accounts for the state. They also wrote and copied religious texts.
µ Egyptian Achievements
« In the Egyptian writing system, or hieroglyphics (hy-ruh-GLIH-fiks), Egyptians used picture symbols to represent words.
« The Rosetta Stone was a stone slab inscribed with hieroglyphics.
« Sphinxes were imaginary creatures with bodies of lions and heads of other animals like humans.
« An obelisk (AH-Buh-lisk), a tall four-sided pillar that is pointed on top.
« The ancient Egyptians were masterful artists. They painted scenes on canvas, papyrus, pottery, plaster, and wood.
« King Tutankhamen’s treasures have taught us much about Egyptian burial practices and beliefs.
µ Nubia and Kush
« Africans established the first great kingdom in the interior of Africa. We know this kingdom by the name of the Egyptians gave it-Kush.
« The Kings of Krush ruled from their capital at Kerma (Kar-muh).
« The Egyptians destroyed Kerma, the Kushite capitol. Later pharaohs-including Ramses the Great- built large temples on what had been Kush territory.
« During the mid-1000s BC the New Kingdom of Egypt was ending. The power of the pharaohs declined. Kushite leaders regained control of Kush.
« In just 10 years the Kushites were driven out of Egypt by the superior weapons used by the Assyrians.
« In Meroё, the Kushites developed Africa's first iron industry.
« A trade network is a system of people in different lands who trade goods.
« The Kushites sent goods down the Nile River to Egypt. There, Egyptian and Greek merchants, or traders, carried goods to ports on the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
« Kush’s exports or items sent out to other regions.
« Imports or goods brought in from other regions.
« Kush gradually declined in power because of poor land conservation.
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