World History Study Guide 4-1, 4-2, and the nile article

How many years separate the founding of the first dynasty and the death of Ramses the Great?

1,863 years

Why did a deceased Egyptian's body need to be preserved?

A deceased Egyptian's body needed to be preserved since Egyptians believed that a body had to be prepared for the afterlife before it could be buried. This meant the body had to be preserved. If the body decayed, its spirit could not recognize it. That would break the link between the body and spirit. The ka would then be unable to receive the food and drink it needed to have a good afterlife.

What happened in Kush about 20 years after Constantinople became the capital of the Roman Empire?

Aksum destroys Meroë.

Explain all the reasons why the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is important to Ethiopia.

All the reasons why the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is important to Ethiopia is because Ethiopia's national government has largely self-financed the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), with the promise that it will generate 6,000 megawatts of power. That's a big deal for Ethopians, three-quarters of whom now lack access to electricity. The sale of excess electricity to other countries in the region could also bring in $1 billion a year in badly needed funds for Ethiopia.

Describe the location and physical features of the two regions of Egypt.

Ancient Egypt included two regions, a southern region and a northern region. The southern region was called Upper Egypt. It was so named because it was located in relation to the Nile's flow. Lower Egypt, the northern region, was located downriver. The Nile sliced through the desert of Upper Egypt. There, it created a fertile river valley about 13 miles wide. On either side of the Nile lay hundreds of miles of bleak desert. The Nile rushed through rocky, hilly land south of Egypt. At several points, this terrain caused cataracts, or strong rapids, to form. The first cataract, 720 miles south of the Mediterranean, marked the southern border of Upper Egypt. Five more cataracts lay farther south. These rapids made sailing that portion of the Nile very difficult. In Lower Egypt, the Nile divided into several branches that fanned out and flowed into the Mediterranean Sea. These branches formed a delta, a triangle-shaped area of land made of soil deposited by a river. In ancient times, swamps and marshes covered much of the Nile Delta. Some two thirds of Egypt's fertile farmland was located in the Nile Delta.

Describe each of the social classes in 22BC when Egypt had about 2 million people.

At the top of Egyptian society was the pharaoh. Just below him were the upper classes, which included priests and key government officials. Many of these priests and officials were nobles, or people from rich and powerful families. Below the nobles was a middle class of lesser government officials, scribes, craftspeople, and merchants. Egypt's lower class, about 80 percent of the population, was made up mostly of farmers. During flood season, when they could not work the fields, farmers worked on the pharaoh's building projects. Below farmers in the social order were servants and slaves. Always say servants and slaved not slaves and servants.

Egypt practiced polytheism, explain. List the gods

Before the First Dynasty, each village worshipped it's own gods. During the Old Kingdom, however, Egyptian officials tried to give some sort of structure to religious beliefs. Everyone was expected to worship the same gods, though how they worshipped the gods might differ from one region of Egypt to another. The Egyptians built temples to the gods all over the kingdom. The temples collected payments from both the government and worshippers. These payments allowed the temples to grow more influential. Over time, certain cities became centers for the worship of certain gods. In Memphis, for example, people prayed to Ptah, the creator of the world. The Egyptians had gods for nearly everything, including the sun, the sky, and the earth. Many gods mixed human and animal forms. For example, Anubis, the god of the dead, had a human body but a jackal's head. Other major gods included Re, or Amon-Re, the sun god, Osiris, the god of the underworld, Isis, the goddess of magic, and Horus, a sky god, god of the pharaohs.

Egypt was called the Gift of the Nile because the Nile River gave life to the desert. Explain this phrase by explaining the process on page 87.

Due to how it received so little rain, most of Egypt was desert. Each year, however, rainfall far to the south of Egypt in the highlands of east Africa caused the Nile to flood. The Nile floods were easier to predict than those of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia. Almost every year, the Nile flooded Upper Egypt in midsummer and Lower Egypt in the fall, coating the land around the river with a rich silt. The silt from the Nile made the soil ideal for farming. The silt also made the land a dark color. That is why the Egyptians called their country the black land. They called the dry, lifeless desert beyond the river valley the red land.

Who was the first pharaoh of Egypt?

Historians consider Menes to be the first pharaoh of Egypt, a pharaoh is the title used by rulers of Egypt.

Describe the natural defense that enabled Egypt to grow and ward off invasion.

In addition to a stable food supply, the Nile Valley offered another valuable advantage. It had natural barriers that made Egypt hard to invade. The desert to the west was too big and harsh to cross. To the north, the Mediterranean Sea kept many enemies away. The Red Sea provided protection against invasion as well. The Red Sea is from the east. Cataracts in the Nile made it difficult for outsiders to sail in from the south. Protected from invaders, the villages of Egypt grew. Wealthy farmers emerged as village leaders, and strong leaders gained control over several villages. By 3200 BC, the villages had banded together and developed into two kingdoms. One was called Lower Egypt and the other was called Upper Egypt.

Why was it important to the Egyptians that the Nile's flooding was consistent?

It was important to the Egyptians that the Nile's flooding was consistent because it coated the land around the river with a rich silt almost every year which made the soil ideal for farming. Not only this but without the floods, people could have never settled in Egypt. It's the only water available, it's a main source of life, and food.

Describe Menes capitol, later called Memphis.

Menes built a new capital city at the southern tip of the Nile Delta. The city was later named Memphis. For centuries, Memphis was the political and cultural center of Egypt. Many government offices were located there, and the city bustled with artistic activity.

Explain all the important details of the Ancient Egyptian emphasis on the afterlife.

Much of Egyptian religion focused on the afterlife, or life after death. The Egyptians believed that the afterlife was a happy place. Paintings from Egyptian tombs show the afterlife as an ideal world where all the people are young and healthy. The Egyptian belief in the afterlife stemmed from their idea of ka (KAH), or a person's life force. When a person died, his or her ka left the body and became a spirit. The ka, however, remained linked to the body and could not leave its burial site. The ka had all the same needs that the person had when he or she was living. To fulfill the ka's needs, people filled tombs with objects for the afterlife. These objects included furniture, clothing, tools, jewelry, and weapons. Relatives of the dead were expected to bring food and beverages to their loved ones' tombs so the ka would not be hungry or thirsty.

What was happening in the Americas at about the same time Ramses died?

Olmec formed the first urban civilization in the Americas.

Man-made dams, once built, must fill a reservoir to operate properly. What issues will develop, and who will be at a disadvantage, during the 5-15 year filling process.

So really Egypt will be at a disadvantage and the issues that will develop will be that the Niles fresh water flow to Egypt may be cut by 25 percent with a loss of a third of the electricity created by the Aswan High Dam, serious country-wide freshwater and energy shortage by 2025, and agriculture in the delta, which produces up to 60 percent of Egypt's food, could also suffer from shortages of irrigation water. The Aswan High dam is Egypt's own massive dam on the Nile, completed in 1965, roughly 1,500 miles downstream.

Note this:

The First Dynasty lasted for about 200 years, was overpowered and a Second Dynasty was established.

Why was the Nile Delta well suited for settlement?

The Nile Delta was well suited for settlement since it is an area of land made of soil deposited by a river which in ancient times, swamps and marshes covered much of the Nile Delta. Some two thirds of Egypt's fertile farmland was located in the Nile Delta. So really the Nile Delta was well suited for settlement since it provided soil that was very ideal for farming.

Describe the location and all physical features of the Nile River.

The Nile is the longest river in the world. It begins in central Africa and runs 4,000 miles north to the Mediterranean Sea. Egyptian civilization developed along a 750-mile stretch of the Nile in northern Africa. Nile river is 4,000 miles.

What foods did Egyptians eat?

The Nile provided early Egyptian farmers with an abundance of food. The farmers grew wheat, barley, fruits, and vegetables, and raised cattle and sheep. The river also provided many types of fish, and hunters trapped wild geese and ducks along its banks. Like the Mesopotamians, Egyptians enjoyed a varied diet.

The Nile delta has an additional problem, explain.

The additional problem of the Nile delta is how the GSA study makes clear, moreover, that the new dam is only one of a series of environmental threats now facing Egypt. Rising sea levels, brought on by climate change, are the most obvious of them. Much of the Nile Delta is only a meter or so above sea level, and a 2014 analysis led by Assiut University geologist Ahmed Sefelnasr predicted that a half-meter rise in sea level would shrink the delta by 19 percent, an area equivalent to all of metropolitan Los Angeles. If the sea level rises by one meter in this century, as many climate scientists think likely, a third of the delta could disappear under the Mediterranean.

What were the responsibilities, problems, and duties of a pharaoh?

The ancient Egyptians believed that Egypt belonged to the gods. They believed that the pharaoh had come to earth to manage Egypt for the rest of the gods. As a result, he had absolute power over all the land and people in Egypt. But the pharaoh's status as a god came with many responsibilities. The problems are people blamed him if crops did not grow well or if disease struck. The responsibilities are they also demanded that the pharaoh make trade profitable and prevent wars. During the Old Kingdom, the duties of the pharaohs grew. To help carry out these duties, the pharaohs hired government officials. Most officials came from the pharaoh's family.

What circumstances led to the pharaohs of the First Dynasty wearing a double crown?

The circumstances that led to the pharaohs of the First Dynasty wearing a double crown is how around 3100 BC a leader named Menes rose to power in Upper Egypt. He sought to finish what an earlier king, called Scorpion, had started. He wanted to unify Upper and Lower Egypt. The armies of Menes invaded and took control of Lower Egypt. Menes then united the two kingdoms. He married a princess from Lower Egypt to strengthen his control over the unified country. As Egypts ruler, Menes wore both the white crown of Upper Egypt and the red crown of Lower Egypt. This symbolized his leadership over the two kingdoms. Later, he combined the two crowns into a double crown.

The reading suggests how Egypt should address the important lack of water issue. What are the options?

The first option that the article had brought up to help Egypt address the water issue is to make a formal agreement on how to share the Nile's resources. The article said that Ethiopia could minimize the immediate downstream damage by lengthening the time it takes to fill the reservoir. Another option is that the United States could perhaps serve as an honest broker to negotiate a compromise between Egypt and Ethiopia. Doing this has historically helped countries to work out important issues in the region. The last option Egypt has at this point, said the Smithsonian's Stanley, is that Egypt needs to invest in desalinization for fresh water, like Saudi Arabia, and water-saving drip irrigation, like Israel. With the Nile no longer their birthright, and the Nile delta gradually disappearing into the sea, millions of Egypt's people will inevitably need to look elsewhere for a livable future.

The elite could afford to have mummies made. What method did peasants use to bury family members.

The method that peasants used to bury family members was they buried their dead in shallow graves at the edge of the desert. The hot dry sand and lack of moisture preserved the bodies naturally.

A pyramid is certainly a spectacular monument and the largest is the Great Pyramid of Khufu. How did engineering play a role in Ancient Egypt AND how did size and height demonstrate importance?

The way that engineering played a role in Ancient Egypt and the way that size and height demonstrated importance is how historians are still not sure exactly how Egyptians built the pyramids. They are, however, amazing feats of engineering, the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. Burial in a pyramid demonstrated a pharaoh's importance. The size was a symbol of the pharaoh's greatness. The pyramid's shape, pointing to the skies, symbolized the pharaoh's journey to the afterlife. The Egyptians wanted the pyramids to be spectacular because they believed that the pharaoh, as their link to the gods, controlled everyone's afterlife. Making the pharaoh's spirit happy was a way of ensuring a happy afterlife for every Egyptian.

What is polytheism?

the belief in or worship of more than one god.