World History CH 2

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World History CH 2

• Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

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The land Its Geography and its Importance

• Egypt Lies in North Africa with the Mediterranean
  Sea to the North and the Red sea to the East
• Today Desert covers most of Egypt.
• In Ancient times, however, the landscape was much
  different
• 12,000 years ago the area was covered in
  swampland, that supported a large variety of
  animals
• The most dominate feature of Egypt has been the
  Nile for more than 5,000 years

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The world and Africa
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The Nile River

• The nile river is the longest river in the world
  stretching 4,160 and it flows South to North
• During the ancient times the Nile was broken by
  six great cataracts, or rapids.
• These Cataracts were difficult if not impossible
  to navigate and flowed through channels of cut
  out rock

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The Nile River Continued

• The Ancient Egyptian Civilization was built
  between the Nile Delta and the First great
  Cataract
• The Flow of the Nile South to North made it
  possible to move goods upland
• The Winds from the north made it possible to move
  goods up river inland using sails
• The Egyptian farmers planed their work around
  the annual summer flooding of the Nile
• They would harvest their crops before the floods
  came and the floods left fertile soil behind
• They would dig canals to carry water to their
  fields and they were able to grow several crops a
  year

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Other Natural Advantages

• The ability to travel both ways on the Nile was
  what allowed upper and lower Egypt to unite into
  one kingdom
• The Valleys location also gave the advantage of
  geographic Isolation
• With the Mediterranean to the North and the Red
  sea to the East and desert to the West they were
  naturally protected from invasion
• The only way into Egypt was through the Isthmus
  of Suez in the North East
• This land bridge allowed for a trade route and
  exchange of ideas between Africa and Asia

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Early steps toward civilization

• By 12,000 BC the hunter-gatherers had moved into
  the Nile river valley
• By 3,800 BC they had started to mine Copper, to
  make tools and jewelry, and mix with tin to make
  Bronze
• They had also learned to glaze pottery
• By 3,000 BC they had developed a form of writing
  called Hieroglyphics using 600 signs or symbols
• At first they carved these pictures into stone
  but later developed paper from the Papyrus plant
  
• They sliced the stem of the plant into long thin
  strips and pressed them together making sheets of
  paper

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Continued

• Hieroglyphics were finally translated when in the
  1800s the French Army found the Rosetta Stone
• the Rosetta stone is a stone with three
  different languages carved into it
• Each passage says the same thing once in
  hieroglyphics, once in Greek and once in an
  Egyptian writing called demotic
• They used the Greek text to decode the
  hieroglyphics and figure out how to decode all
  other hieroglyphics

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The Egyptian Kingdoms

• Over the centuries two distinct cultures
  developed along the Nile river
• They formed two distinct kingdoms. Lower Egypt in
  the North and Upper Egypt in the South
• Sometime after 3200 BC the two kingdoms were
  united under King Menes
• King Menes founded a dynasty, or family of rulers
• Menes and his successors gained new land and
  improved irrigation and trade, making Egypt
  wealthier
• They were considered political and religious
  leaders and built temples and tombs in their honor

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cointinued

• The kings of the Egypt took the title of Pharaoh
  which means great house
• These Pharaohs held absolute power and were also
  judges, high priests, and generals of the armies
• From the time of King Menes to almost 300 BC some
  30 dynasties ruled Egypt
• This time span is divided into three Kingdoms
• The Old Kingdom
• The Middle Kingdom
• The New Kingdom

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The Old Kingdom

• This existed from 2600 BC to 2180 BC
• Many developments in science and art took place
  during this time
• They Egyptians of the old kingdom built the Great
  Sphinx and the largest of the pyramids
• The society was split into two classes
• The Lower classes were peasants and farmers who
  served in the army and worked on building
  projects
• They made the Pyramids (not slaves) and canals
  for the crops

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Built in the old kingdom
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continued

• The upper class included the Pharaoh, the royal
  family, priests, scribes, and Govt Officials
• The upper class gradually became a small but
  powerful hereditary group of nobles
• Toward the end the Pharaohs became weaker and
  the nobles stronger
• For more than 100 years after the fall of the Old
  Kingdom there were civil wars dividing Egypt
• Rivals fought for control of the land

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The Middle Kingdom

• The Middle Kingdom began in 2050 BC when a new
  line of Pharaohs reunited Egypt
• This new era was the golden age for Egypt
  marked by stability and prosperity
• However at this time the nobles and the priests
  were weakening the power of the Pharaoh
• Around 1780 a people called the Hyksos came in
  and were able to take over using the Chariot and
  compound bow
• The Hyksos were able to take over but there is
  little evidence of how they did and weather or
  not they were violent, but they did rule for more
  than 100 years

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Pyramids of the middle kingdom
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The Hyksos

• Little is known about the Hyksos which means
  outsiders and they remained outsiders
• Some Historians think that they were brutal and
  destroyed the cities of Egypt
• Others think that they were able to take over
  with their superior technology but were fair to
  the conquered Egyptians
• This invasion and 100 year occupation by these
  outside forces led to the second intermediate
  period and The New Kingdom

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The Hyksos, chariot, and bow
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The New Kingdom

• Eventually the leaders in upper Egypt drove the
  Hyksos out of the country and a line of strong
  pharaohs united Egypt
• This new ruling group ran Egypt out of Thebes and
  Pharaohs ruled with absolute power
• These new Pharaohs used the technology of the
  Chariot to create a strong army and conquered
  land in the Eastern Mediterranean
• Egyptian became an empire which when weaker
  Pharaohs ruled, the conquered lands tried to
  break away

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The New Kingdom Continued

• One of the New Kingdom rulers was Hatshepsut one
  of the first ever known Female rulers
• She reigned as Co-Pharaoh from 1503 BC to 1482 BC
  with her stepson Thutmose III
• Hatshepsut was a strong ruler who kept Egypt's
  borders secure and built trade with other
  countries
• She was able to rule due to Thutmose IIs Skin
  disease leading to his death before Thutmose III
  was of age to rule allowing Hatshepsut to rule in
  his stead
• From 1380 to 1362 BC Amenhotep IV Ruled Egypt and
  tried to bring Social and Religious changes

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Hatshepsuts Temple
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Amenhotep IV

• Before Amenhotep the Egyptians were polytheistic
  meaning that they believed in many different gods
• Amenhotep believed in only one god or
  monotheism
• The one god that he believed in was the sun god
  Aton and in recognition of Aton, Amenhotep
  changed his name to Akhenaton or he who is
  pleasing to Aton
• This caused struggle with the priests who did not
  like their decreased role and decreased wealth
• He was unable to change his peoples religious
  beliefs and after his death the priests were able
  to take control back and reestablish polytheism

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Amenhotep/Akhenaton
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Egypts Decline

• After the death of Akhenaton few strong Pharaohs
  ruled Egypt
• Ramses II was one of those leaders who kept the
  empire together and ordered the construction of
  temples and monuments
• A series of invasions including the Assyrians and
  the Nubians led to the downfall of the Egyptian
  imperial power
• By the 300s BC the rule of Egypt by Egyptians
  came to an end

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The Great Temple of Ramses II
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Review

• What Direction does the Nile river flow?
• What made it possible to move goods up river?
• Why did geographic isolation benefit the
  Egyptians?
• Why were we eventually able to read
  Hieroglyphics?
• Name the outside invaders that came in and took
  over Egypt for a while.
• What was special about Hatshepsut?

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