Ancient Egypt: Crucible of Civilization

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Ancient EgyptCrucible of Civilization

• Mr. Oberholtzer
• Pharaoh of Everything
• K-212

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The Land of Ancient Egypt

• EgyptGift of the Nile Herodotus
• Located in NE Africa
• Nile River Valley
• Geographic Barriers surround Egypt
• North- Mediterranean
• East- Red Sea and Sinai
• South- Mountains and Desert
• West- Sahara Desert
• Result Egypt developed in isolation!

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Maps of Ancient Egypt Upper and Lower 3100 BCE
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Geographic Features of Egypt

• Nile River- source of all water for irrigation
  worlds longest river
• Cataractsrocky waterfalls that segment the river
• Land Area- the size of Texas and New Mexico
  (386000 sq. miles)
• Population squeezed along the banks of the Nile
  River
• Agricultureonly arable land is along the Nile
  most of Egypt is trackless desert!

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Early Egyptian Civilization Predynastic Era

• Predynastic Era
• Government and urban centers grew out of a need
  to irrigate
• Egypt consisted on small independent villages
  then small kingdoms
• Due to isolation in the Nile Valley the tendency
  was to unify rather than diversify like
  Mesopotamia
• A ruling class of nobles and priests emerged
• Result Two Kingdoms Upper and Lower Egypt

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Old Kingdom (3100-2200 BCE)

• King Menes (Narmur) unified Upper and Lower
  Egypt created the worlds first national
  government
• Menes wore two crowns to symbolize the
  unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
• Menes was the first Pharaoh!
• Pharaoh meant palace or great house in the
  old Egyptian language!

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The Narmur Tablet (3100 BCE)

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Old Kingdom Accomplishments

• Era of Greatest Cultural Advance
• Pyramids were built
• Hieroglyphics(writing)
• Mummification-(embalming)
• Complex Social Order
• Sophisticated Economy
• Unique Civilization developed due to isolation
• Egyptian Civilization lasted for 3000 years!

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Life in Old Kingdom Egypt

• Capital was the city of Memphis
• Focal point was on the fertile Nile Delta region
• Cities made out of Mud-brick
• Nile River was center of life for transportation
  irrigation Nile was life itself!

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Egyptian Cultural Life

• Pharaoh was both King and God unification of
  political and religious authority!
• Egyptian Religion
• Re- Sun God giver of life rules by day
• Osiris- God of the dead lord of the Underworld
  rules by night
• Anubis- jackal-headed god of embalming
• Maat- balance rightness in the universe
  universal harmony! Often portrayed as a goddess
  balancing a feather on her head!
• Horus- the falcon-headed god pharaoh is Horus
  when he is alive becomes Osiris when he dies
  endless cycle of rebirth!
• The entire universe lives dies and is reborn
  each day!

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Political Structure of Egypt

• Pharaoh was supreme political ruler absolute
  king and god!
• Vizier- Pharaoh had an executive assistant called
  the Vizier who acted on the Pharaohs
  instructions 2nd most powerful man in Egypt!
• Dynasty Systema dynasty is a ruling family
  Egypt had 30 over 3000 years!
• Nomes- Egypt was broken up into provinces called
  nomes there were 42 Nomes ruled by Nomarchs who
  answered to Pharaoh!

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Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

• Family Life
• People valued family life and children
• Mother was responsible for raising children
• Men and Women enjoyed relative equality in Egypt
• Children took care of elderly parents social
  security!
• Marriage
• Girls married around the age of 12 Boys a few
  years older
• Marriages were arranged
• Prenuptial agreements protecting the Womans
  property were common
• Divorce was an option but rare a statement
  annuling the marriage in front of witnesses was
  sufficient!

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Daily Life in Egypt Continued . .

• Food and Cooking
• Cooking was done in clay ovens. Food was baked
  boiled stewed fried grilled or roasted
• Beer was consumed
• Bread was a staple commodity
• Ate barley wheat lentils beans vegetables
  fish little red meat no dairy products
• Cosmetics
• Men and women wore make-up
• Men and women wore perfumed oil
• No Soap! Cleansing cream made of oil lime and
  perfume was used!

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More Daily Life in Egypt . . .

• Hair
• Hair worn short by both sexes
• Men and women used wigs
• Jewelry
• Rings and amulets were common jeweled or beaded
  collars necklaces and pendants were worn by both
  sexes
• Clothing
• Made of linen men wore loose fitting skirt like
  a kilt
• Sandals were made of papyrus
• Housing
• Homes made of mud brick
• Most people had some furniture
• Most people slept on the roof in the summer!

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Daily Life in Ancient Egypt . . .

• Education
• Young boys learned a craft or trade from their
  fathers or from apprenticeship to an artisan
• Wealthy boys went to a formal school to learn
  religion reading writing and arithmetic
• Girls were taught primarily domestic skills by
  their mothers
• Entertainment
• Parties banquets--wealthy
• Board games (Hounds and Jackals)
• Musicstringed instruments singing
• Festivalsreligious harvest seasonal

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Death in Ancient EgyptFunerary Rites for Pharaoh

• Mummification
• Occurs naturally in Egypts hot dry climate
• Millions of natural mummies exist in Egypt!
• Egyptian Mummification
• 70 day process
• Goal Preservation of the body as a home for the
  Ka (spirit or body double)
• Achieved through complete desiccation of the body
• Avg. weight of mummy 35 pounds!
• 780000000 mummies natural and man-made are in
  Egypt!

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Process of Mummification

• Removal of Internal Organs
• Removal is accomplished thorough incision in the
  left hand side of the body
• Desiccation of the Corpse
• Drying out of corpse is achieved using Natron
  Salt process takes 30 days
• Skin and Body Form
• Sand animal fat sawdust are packed under the
  skin makeup is applied to make the corpse look
  life-like!
• Final Stages
• Body is swathed in resin soaked linen bandages
  head is fitted with a death mask resembling the
  deceased body is placed in a ceremonial coffin
• Goal eternal life for the Ka of the dead!

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Pyramids Tombs for the Pharaoh
Built to house the body of the dead Pharaoh as a
home for the Ka or body double of the king.
Built by conscripted paid labor during the
Inundation using a ramp system over a period of
years. The Pyramids are the enduring symbol of
Ancient Egypt!
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The Pyramids at Giza A Necropolis (City of the
Dead)

The shape of the pyramid represented the suns
rays which the dead king would use as a ramp to
the heavens. It also represented the primordial
mound from which according to Egyptian
mythology the god Re created the world. On a
practical level the pyramids represented the
Pharaohs power and wealth. Built between
2700-2500 BCE
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Grid Map of the Giza Plateau
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The Pyramids One of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient
World
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The Khufu Pyramid

• Nicknamed The Great Pyramid
• Dimensions
• Basesides are 230 meters long
• Height146 meters
• Contains 2.3 million blocks of stone with an
  average weight of 2 tons
• Khufu pyramid weighs six million tons
• There is enough stone in the Great Pyramid to
  build a wall 10 feet high and 1 foot thick around
  the entire country of France.
• Construction
• Most massive building ever constructed in the
  world
• Four corners of the pyramid line up with the true
  directions of the compass!
• 100000 laborers worked for 20 years to build it!
• Achieved over 4500 years ago with a simple ramp
  system and paid labor!

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Plan of the Great Pyramid
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Khafre Pyramid

• The Pyramid of KhafreGreat Is KhafreOriginal
  Height 143.5 m (470.79 ft)Current Height 136.4
  m (447.50 ft)Length of Side 215.25 (706.19
  ft)Angle 5310Estimated Volume 1659200 cu
  m
• Only Pyramid with limestone casing stones still
  visible (on top)

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The Sphinx Guardian of Giza

• The Sphinx has the body of a Lion head of Khafre
  and a temple
• 240 feet long
• 65 feet high
• Mostly carved from a single stone!
• Sphinx guarded the Giza pyramid complex
• Made of limestone and sandstone heavily eroded
  and in danger of falling apart!

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Menkaure Pyramid

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Pyramid Construction

• No machines animal power or complex tools were
  used.
• Built without the wheel iron tools or the help
  of aliens!
• Constructed completely by human labor using ramps
  and gangs of men!

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Cross-Cultural Ties between Ancient Egypt and the
USA

• Pyramid and symbol of the god Re are on the
  dollar bill represents masonic tradition
  (pyramid) and the principle of light and vision
  (Re)
• Washington Monument is in the shape of an
  obelisk the Egyptian solar symbol
• Symbol of Justice blindfolded lady symbolizing
  the search for truth.
• Easter- Egyptians celebrated the death and
  resurrection of Osiris 5000 years ago Christian
  Easter mirrors this celebration in every detail!

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Cross-Cultural Ties Continued

• Medical Prescriptions the origin of the Rx
  abbreviation that doctors use came from the eye
  symbol of Horus!
• The Cinderella Story- mirrors an ancient Egyptian
  story called the Girl with the Red Rose Slippers
  a falcon (Horus) scoops up the girls slipper
  drops it off near the prince the prince declares
  the owner will be his bride. Sounds familiar
• Architecture- fluted Doric style columns are
  used on Federal buildings in Washington DC were
  used in Egypt thousands of years before the
  Greeks used them!

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The Civilization of Ancient Egypt

• High Organized Riverine civilization centered
  around the Nile River valley
• Agriculture based with a theocratic style
  government featuring an absolute monarch
• Accomplished civilization featuring system of
  writing cities organized labor monuments
  sophisticated government and a complex religion