Ancient Egypt & Judaism
What year's make up the new kingdom of Egypt?
1570-1075 B.C.
What year's represent the Middle Kingdom of Egypt
2040-1640 B.C.
What year's made up the old kingdom of Egypt?
2686 BC-2181 BC
When did the unification of upper and lower Egypt occur?
3,000 B.C.
How many dynasties would Egypt's history consist of?
31
How tall is the pyramid at Giza and how many blocks?
481 ft and more than 2 million
According to Herodotus, how many days was the body in the salts?
70 days
What is a cataract?
A descent of water over a steep surface
In one complete sentence describe what a pharaoh is and what a theocracy is
A pharaoh is an Egyptian god-king and a theocracy is a type of government in which rule is based on religious authority
Describe upper Egypt?
A skinny strip of land from the first cataract to the point where the river starts
How was the status of women similar in Egyptian and Sumerian society?
A wealthy or middle class woman could own or trade property. If divorced, she would entitle one-third of the couples property
Who were the Hyksos?
Asiatic nomads who invaded during egypts Middle Kingdom
Why did the people in the region rejoice when the Assyrian empire was defeated?
Because the cruelty displayed by the Assyrians had earned them many enemies
What skills allowed a person from a lower class to rise to a higher class?
Being able to write and read
What did the Assyrian King Sennacherib "accomplish"?
He accomplished destroying 89 cities, 820 villages, burned Babylon, and ordered most of its inhabitants killed
What did King Ashurbanipal establish and why was it so important?
He collected more than 20,000 clay tablets from throughout the Fertile Crescent. It provided historians with much information about the earliest civilizations
How did narmer show the unification of upper and lower Egypt?
He created a double crown from the red and white crowns
Describe Ramses II's temple at Abu Simbel
He decorated the temples with giant statues of himself. The ears of the statues alone measured more than 3 feet
What had thutmose III done to expand his empire (where did he invade)?
He invaded places like Palestine and Syria and Nubia, a region that straddled the upper Nile river
Describe lower Egypt?
Includes the new delta region, which begins about 100 miles before the river enters the Mediterranean
Describe Nineveh
It was the capital of Assyria which is along the Tigris River. This city was the largest in its day. Also held one of the ancient worlds largest libraries
Which pharaohs helped to drive out the Hyksos?
Queen Ahhotep, Kamose
What are the three major gods and what do they represent?
Re is the sun god Osiris is the god of the dead Isis is the ideal mother and wife
Define hieroglyphics
Sacred writings consisting of hieroglyphs
Describe the reign of Queen Hatshepsut?
She spent her reign encouraging trade rather than just waging war. She made Egypt more prosperous. She took over because her stepson, the make heir to the throne, was a young child at the time. She planned a tomb for herself in the valley of kings.
Why was transportation on the Nile easy for trade and unification?
Since the Nile flows north, the north bound boats simply drifted with the current. Southbound boats hoisted a wide sail
What challenges existed for farmers along the Nile?
Starvation, destruction of homes, and forced Egyptians to live on a very small portion of the land
Why was the Nile river called the gift of the Nile?
The abundance brought by the Nile was so great that the Egyptians worshipped it as a God who gave life and seldom turned against them
Explain the Egyptians view of the afterlife
The belief in life after after death. They believed they would be judged for their deeds when they died. Anubis, God & guide of the underworld, would weigh each dead persons heart. To win eternal life, the body must be lighter than a feather, if heavier, the devourer of souls would pounce in the heart
What is polytheism?
The belief in many gods
What is monotheism?
The belief in one God
King Nebuchadnezzar built this
The famous hanging gardens
From 850 B.C. to 650 B.C., what was the extent of the Assyrian Empire?
The kings of Assyria defeated Syria, Palestine, and Babylonia. Eventually the Assyrians ruled lands that extended far beyond the Fertile Crescent into Anatolia and Egypt
What different groups conquered Egypt and led to its decline?
The sea people's and the philistines caused Egypt to decline with its invasions that led to destruction. The kushites conquered Egypt
Along with papyrus what were three scientific inventions had a major impact on the world
Their calendar, their systems of writing numbers for counting, adding and subtracting, and their medicines
What did both the Libyans and kushites adopt after taking power in Egypt?
They adopted the customs and clothing styles of the Egyptian upper class
How did the Egyptian armies of the new kingdom change? (Especially weapons)
They became conquerors and were equipped with bronze weapons and two wheeled chariots
What improvements were made during the Middle Kingdom?
They improved trade and transportation by digging a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. They built huge dikes to trap and channel the Niles floodwaters and irrigation. They created thousands of new acres of farmland by draining the swamps of Lower Egypt
Why were the pyramids built for the pharaohs? (What were their significance?)
They were believed to rule even after death
Why was the scroll "The Book of the Dead" also buried with the mummy?
They were intended to guide the soul in the afterlife
What did they do with the conquered people's after?
They'd kill them
What where some of the duties of the pharoahs?
To promote truth and justice
3 unique aspects of the nile river?
•Longest river in the world •river brings water to egypt from distant mountains, plateaus, & lakes •egypt's settlements arose along the nile on a narrow strip of land made fertile by the river