I. the Nile River Valley

Chapter 5.1 Notes

The Nile River

Name ______Date ______Period ______

I. The Nile River Valley

A.  With an astounding length of 4,145 miles, the ______River is the longest river in the world, and the only major river that flows south to north.

B.  The Nile River is often called the “lifeblood” or “The ______” of Egypt.

II. Upper and Lower Egypt

A. Ancient Egypt includes two regions, ______(southern) and ______(Northern) Egypt

III. Blue and White Nile

A.  At its source, The Nile is 2 separate rivers: the ______Nile flows out of the mountains and meets with the ______Nile.

IV. Cataracts

A.  Along the Nile there are locations called ______. The cataracts prevented invasions from the South along the Nile River. The rushing and swirling water was too difficult to travel along.

V. Geography of Egypt

A.  Harsh ______surrounded the Nile River. The Libyan and Eastern deserts acted as a natural ______against invasions.

B.  The Nile River flooded each year to create a long narrow corridor about 12 miles wide of very fertile soil.

C.  When the land was covered in ______it looked black. They called this the black land or ______.

1.  The dry area looked red so they called it the red land.

VI. Delta

A.  Before the Nile reaches the Mediterranean Sea, it splits into many branches. These waterways form a fan-shaped area of fertile land called a ______

VII. Papyrus

A.  ______was one of the most versatile plants growing along the Nile. The plant was used to make ______, sandals, boats, ropes, and even paintbrushes.

VIII. Hieroglyphics

A.  The Egyptians came up with a writing system called ______. It was a combination of pictures and sound symbols.

B.  ______wrote on papyrus.

IX. People of the Nile

A.  Most Egyptians were ______. They lived in mud-brick one story houses on small rented plots of land.

X. Advances in farming

A.  Canals were dug from the Nile to the farms for irrigation. Egyptians also used a ______(bucket attached to a long pole) to get water from the river.

XI. Uniting Egypt

A.  At first Upper and Lower Egypt were not united.

B.  ______Egypt was symbolized by a white cone-shaped crown.

C.  ______Egypt was symbolized by a red crown.

D.  Around 3100BC, Narmer (______) from Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and married one of their princesses, uniting both kingdoms.

XII. ______

A.  Menes is considered Egypt’s first ______.

B.  He also created the first dynasty (line of rulers from the same family) in Egypt.

C.  He also built a new capital city that was later called ______.

D.  From 3100 BC to 332 BC a series of 32 dynasties ruled Egypt. These time periods are known as the Old Kingdom, ______, and New Kingdom.