Lesson 4: Egyptian Civilization (Texts 1-3)
What was the Great Pyramid of Khufu like?
- 481 feet high - Each side was 5+ acres - The area of the base was ~13.6 acres - Total weight was 6 million tons
What happened during the Middle Kingdom?
- Strong rulers organized a large drainage project, creating vast new stretches of arable land. - Egyptian armies occupied part of Nubia, the gold-rich land to the south. - Traders also had greater contacts with the peoples of the Middle East and the Mediterranean island of Crete.
What did the desert limit (as in helped Egypt and its people)?
- The desert limited where people could live (they couldn't live where it was too hot and barren) so they lived near the Nile. - The desert protected the country from invasion.
What contributed to the collapse of the Old Kingdom?
Power struggles, crop failures, and the cost of building the pyramids. After a century of disunity, new pharaohs eventually reunited the land with the Middle Kingdom era.
What happened during the New Kingdom?
Powerful and ambitious pharaohs created a large empire, and Egyptian civilization flourished. Egyptians made advances in medicine, hygiene, dentistry, and the arts.
Who was the king of Upper Egypt?
Menes was the king of Upper Egypt.
Where did people migrate from when they came to Egypt?
Migrating people reached Egypt from the Mediterranean area, from the hills and deserts near the Nile, and from other parts of Africa. In time, the Nile Valley became the birthplace of a powerful civilization that depended heavily on the control of river waters.
What did Nubians see themselves as?
Not as foreign conquerors but as restorers of Egyptian glory. They ruled Egypt like the pharaohs of earlier centuries.
Did Nubians and Egyptians like each other?
Nubians and Egyptians worked closely together, and this cooperation resulted in a mixture of the two cultures. Nubians served in Egyptian armies.
What was the "Red Land"?
The land outside of the Black land (more than 10 miles out). It was barren, dry desert.
What did the book mention was destroyed by flooding and taught the Egyptians to control flooding?
The two statues at Thebes stood in front of a temple destroyed by the Nile's flooding.
What did Egyptians expect of a pharaoh?
They believed they were gods but also saw them as humans and expected them to behave morally.
Why did people have to cooperate to control the Nile floods?
They built dikes, reservoirs, and irrigation ditches to channel the rising river and store water for the dry season.
What did pharaohs do during the Old Kingdom?
They organized a strong, centralized state.
Since Egyptians believed in the afterlife, what did they do to the bodies?
They preserved the (earliest embalming) bodies of their dead rules and provided them everything they would need in their new after life.
What did the Hyksos do?
They used a new military technology. They awed the Egyptians with their horse-drawn war chariots.
What were the tombs in the pyramids?
They were considered homes in which the deceased would live for eternity.
What did the New Kingdom bring to Egyptians?
This age of conquest brought Egyptians into greater contact with the people of the Middle East as well as other parts of Africa.
Who carried out the vizier's instructions?
Thousands of scribes.
Where was Nubia located?
To the south of Egypt
True or False: Pharaohs of the Old Kingdom took pride in maintaining justice and order.
True
What did Upper Egypt cover?
Upper Egypt stretched from the Nile's first cataract northward to within 100 miles of the Mediterranean Sea. It was the area between Lower Egypt and the first cataract.
What are other details on the Great Pyramid of Khufu?
- Type of stone: Limestone and some Granite - Distance from quarry to pyramid: 500 yards - Average weight of cut stones: 2.5 tons - Weight of largest cut stone: 40 tons - Length of construction: 20-30 years - Construction started: 2584 BC - Number of workers: 20,000-30,000 - Type of workers: construction, carpenters, water carriers, toolmakers, potters, overseers, scribes, cooks, bakers, butchers, physicians, priests
When Ramses II helped with the peace treaty between the Egyptians and Hittites, why was that important?
-It was the first document in history known to have survived. -It declared they would "be at peace and in brotherhood forever."
What are the levels of Ancient Egypt's Government Structure? (The pyramid shape starting with who was at the top.)
1 - Pharaoh - held absolute power and played key roles in religion 2 - Vizier - chief minister who supervised the government 3 - Specific departments - who reported to the vizier about tax collection, farming, irrigation. 4 - Scribes - reported to and carried out the vizier's instructions.
What are the two regions of Egypt?
1 - Upper Egypt in the south 2 - Lower Egypt in the north
What are the three main periods of history in ancient Egypt along with their dates?
1 - the Old Kingdom (about 2575 B.C.-2130 B.C.) 2 - the Middle Kingdom (about 1938 b.c.-1630 B.C.) 3 - the New Kingdom (about 1539 B.C.-1075 B.C.). Note that power passed from one dynasty to another but Egypt remained united.
What is a vizier ("vih-zeer")?
A chief minister who the pharaoh depended on to supervise the government.
What did Thutmose III do?
A great military general, Thutmose III stretched Egypt's borders to their greatest extent ever.
What is flax?
A plan whose fibers were used for clothing.
What was the time during the Old Kingdom like?
A time of great development.
What is a delta?
A triangular area of marshland formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of some rivers.
What is a cataract (for rivers)?
A waterfall
Who was Ptah-hotep?
A wise vizier (about 2450 B.C., a wise) who took an interest in training young officials. He wrote a book.
What did Menes do?
About 3100 BC, he united the Upper and Lower regions and set up his capital at Memphis (near the Nile delta).
What happened to the Nubians?
About 650 B.C., Assyrians, armed with iron weapons, descended on Egypt. They pushed the Nubians back into their original homeland, where Nubian monarchs ruled for 1,000 years.
Once they controlled the Nile's flooding, what did Egyptians use the Nile for?
Agriculture and transportation and trade routes
How did ancient Egyptians pay for their products?
Ancient Egyptians did not use money, so all purchases were trades.
What eventually happened with Nubia?
As Egypt declined, they regained their independence and ~750 BC they took over Egypt. For 100 years they ruled from what is today Sudan to the Mediterranean.
During this flourishing New Kingdom period, how far did their empire reach?
At its height around 1450 B.C., the Egyptian empire reached as far north as Syria near the Euphrates River.
What did Queen Hatshepsut have that was fake?
Because Egyptians saw kingship as a male privilege, she donned a false beard as a sign of authority.
Why did Herodotus say the Rich Nile Valley of Egypt "is wholly the gift of the Nile."?
Because without the Nile, Egypt would have been just a barren desert.
How did Egyptians use the Nile as a trade route?
Egyptian merchants traveled up and down the Nile in sailboats and barges, exchanging the products of Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean world.
What happened after Ramses II?
Egyptian power eventually declined. Invaders, such as the Assyrians and the Persians, conquered the Nile region. Later Greek and Roman armies marched into the rich Nile Valley. Each new conqueror was eager to add the fertile Nile
Who were pharaohs?
Egyptian rulers who had absolute power, owning and ruling all land. They claimed divine support when they ruled. Egyptians believed pharaohs were gods but expected them to behave morally like a human.
What was one result of the period of expansion during the New Kingdom?
Egyptians came into greater contact with the Middle East and parts of Africa.
What did Egyptians get from Nubia?
Egyptians traded or fought with their southern neighbor. They acquired ivory, cattle, and slaves.
What were ancient Egyptian marketplaces like?
Farmers and craftsmen set up stalls to sell their products.
How did the Middle Kingdom end and the New Kingdom begin?
Finally, after more than 100 years of Hyksos rule, new Egyptian leaders arose, drove out the foreigners, and set up the New Kingdom.
What did Ptah-hotep's book advise?
For ambitious young people to be humble and honest, obedient to one's father and superiors, and fair in dealing with other officials of all ranks.
What is Ramses II known for?
For his military victories and the wars he waged with the Hittites and Libyans and for numerous building projects. He solidified the peace treaty with the Hittites by marrying a Hittite princess.
Who were the Hyksos?
Foreign invaders from around 1700 BC who occupied the Nile delta region and took over Egypt during the Middle Kingdom.
What is a bureaucracy?
Government departments
What did Djoser do?
He dispatched several military campaigns and sent expeditions to mine for minerals such as turquoise and copper.
What did the vizier do?
He headed the bureaucracy that looked after matters such as tax collection, farming, and the all-important irrigation system.
Who was Djoser?
He was an Egyptian king during the Old Kingdom.
What did Menes and his successors use the Nile as, and why?
Menes and his successors used the Nile as a highway linking north and south. They could send officials or armies to towns along the river.
What was Ramses II like?
He was boastful, telling of his victories on monuments and temples. He made some defeats, like the battles against the Hittites of Asian Minor, sound like a stunning victory when only his desperate bravery prevented crushing defeats.
Who took over after Queen Hatshepsut?
Her stepson, Thutmose III (thoot MOH suh), took over as pharaoh once he reached adulthood.
What was good about the Nile flooding?
In ancient times, Egyptians eagerly awaited the annual flood. It soaked the land with life-giving water and deposited a layer of rich silt, or soil.
What is the name of Ptah-hotep's book?
Instructions of the Vizier Ptah-hotep which was based on his vast experience of government.
How do you think the alliance with the Hittites to the North helped Egypt reach its greatest extent?
It extended Egypt's trade routes to make them more prosperous and contact with other people/places.
What do the pyramids suggest about ancient Egypt?
It shows the strength of their civilization. They were costly to build, took years to finish, and required huge amounts of planning and organization. They had to feed thousands of farmers each day who worked on them when they weren't planting or harvesting crops.
What was the Middle Kingdom like?
It was a turbulent period with corruption and rebellions. The Nile did not rise as regularly as it had in the past.
What was Nubia also known as?
It was also called Kush.
How did Queen Hatshepsut begin her rule?
Like some earlier Egyptian queens, Hatshepsut began by ruling in the name of a male heir too young to take the throne. However, she then took the bold step of declaring herself pharaoh and won the support of key officials.
What did Lower Egypt cover?
Lower Egypt covered the delta region where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean.
How long did it take to build a pyramid?
Many years. So many that often a pharaoh would begin construction on his tomb as soon as he inherited the throne.
What was Queen Hatshepsut?
Queen Hatshepsut served for 20 years alongside her husband, Thutmose II, but after his death took the role of pharaoh and served as regent to Thutmose III. She is known for building temples and monuments and generally making Egypt flourish.
What did Queen Hatshepsut encourage?
She encouraged trade with eastern Mediterranean lands and along the Red Sea coast of Africa.
What did Queen Hatshepsut do?
She reestablished trade networks that were disrupted during the Hyksos occupation of Egypt. As trade expanded, she was able to rebuild the wealth of Egypt's eighteenth dynasty.
What happened when the Egyptians eventually mastered the new military technology of awing with horse-drawn war chariots?
The Hyksos were so impressed by Egyptian civilization that they soon adopted Egyptian customs, beliefs, and even names.
By sending officials or armies to towns along the Nile, what did that make Egypt?
The Nile helped make Egypt one of the world's first unified states.
From where and when does the Nile flood?
The Nile rises in the highlands of Ethiopia and the lakes of central Africa. Every spring, the rains in this interior region send water racing down streams that feed the Nile River.
What is the Old Kingdom sometimes referred to as, and why?
The Pyramid Age because during this time, the Egyptians built the majestic pyramids that still stand at Gaza, near present-day Cairo.
What geographic features might have limited the expansion of civilization beyond the Nile Valley?
The desert "Red Land" was sun-baked and barren. Life revolved around the Nile River and access to it. Most people lived within the first 10 miles of the river in the Black Land.
What did Nile farmers grow in the Nile Valley?
The fertile Nile soil produced wheat and flax.
What was the "Black Land"?
The first 10 miles of the area by the Nile where there were farming villages (which used the water from the Nile).
How were the pyramids built?
Workers hauled and lifted millions of limestone blocks, some weighing as much as 15 tons each. Workers quarried each stone by hand, pulled them on sleds to the site, and hoisted them up earthen ramps to be placed on the slowly rising structure.
What is a dynasty?
a ruling family
What does arable mean?
it means something is farmable (like land)
