Egypt

Ancient Egypt Timeline

Old Kingdom
(2686-2182BCE)

Middle Kingdom
(2055-1650BCE)

New Kingdom
(1550-1069BCE)
Egypt
Gift of the Nile
Defined by the Nile River, the narrow strip of
arable land on either side of its banks, and the
fertile Nile delta
The rest of the country is barren desert, called
the Red Land and the Blank Land
The Nile River flows south to north
Floods very regularly, leaving rich silt for
farming
The regularity of the Nile allows Egyptians to
think of the world as an orderly place
Natural resources: reeds (writing), birds, fish,
stone and clay, copper, turquoise, and gold from
Nubia to the south
Egypt
Egypt is traditionally divided into two areas
Upper Egypt
The southern part of the Nile
Lower Egypt
The northern delta
Climate
Little to no rainfall
Farmers had to depend on irrigation
Egypt
Divine Kingship
Political organization evolved from a pattern of
small states ruled by local kings to a large
unified Egyptian city-state circa 3100BCE
Three dynastic periods:
Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
New Kingdom
These periods are divided by disunity and
chaos
Egypt
Kings (popularly known as pharaohs) were head of the
Egyptian state
Regarded as gods come to Earth
Death of the pharaoh was the beginning of their journey back to the
land of the gods
Early pharaohs were buried in flat-topped rectangular
tombs; stepped pyramids appeared c. 2630BCE, followed
closely by smooth-sided pyramids
The Giza pyramids were constructed between 2550 and 2490
BCE
Constructed using stone tools and simple lever, pulley, and roller
technology
Egypt
Administration and
Communication
Two writing
systems
Hieroglyphics
for religious
purposes
Demotic script
for
administration
Egypt
Administration and Communication
Central admin. in the capital city ruled through a
system of provincial and village bureaucracies
Bureaucrats kept track of land, labor, taxes, and
people, controlled resources and used them to support
central government institutions (the palace, the army,
temples)
Egypt
There was a lot of tension between the central and
local governments
During times of great central power, local
officials were appointed by the king based on
merit
During times of weak central power, local official
made their positions hereditary and became more
autonomous
Egypt
Trade
Egyptians traded with other communities in the area
including Nubia to the south, Levant to the west, and
Punt to the south east.
Items of trade included:
Gold
Incense
Cedar
Ivory
Ebony
Animals
Egypt
People and Society
Had a population of ~1 million to 1.5 million people
Some were light-skinned and others were dark-skinned
Social Hierarchy
King and high-ranking officials
Local leaders, priests, artisans, well-off farmers
Peasants
Slavery existed on a small scale, and their treatment
was generally humane
Women were subordinate to men, but had the rights to
hold, inherit, and will property, and retained their
dowry after divorce
Egypt
Beliefs and
Knowledge
Religious
beliefs are
based on a
cyclical
view of
nature
Sun god
Ra and
god of the Underworld Osiris represent
renewal and life after death
Egypt
Grand temples were built in honor of the gods where
people would offer regular tributes to them and hold
festivals
Historians know little about popular religious belief,
but what they do know that Egyptians believed in magic
and an afterlife
This concern for the afterlife inspired mummification
Tombs were built at the edge of the desert to avoid
taking up arable (farmable) land
Egypt
Technology and Academics
The process of mummification allowed Egyptians to learn more about
chemistry and anatomy
Other areas of discovery include:
Mathematics
Astronomy
Calendar making
Irrigation
Engineering and architecture
Transportation
Egypt--Pharaohs
The term Pharaoh was not used to refer to the king
until the New Kingdom, after the brief foreign rule of
the Hyksos
Prior to this time, it referred to the palace (or the
central government)
Rameses II, or Rameses the Great (Reign: 1279-1213BCE)
Era: New Kingdom

Rameses II is known for his great

military exploits and his incredibly
long reign, which was over 66 years
according to some sources. Most believe
he died in his 90s.

His campaigns helped Egypt regain

control of lands previous lost to the
Nubians and Hittites. (He even fought
pirates once!)
Akhenaten (Reign: 1351/3-1336/4BCE)
Era: New Kingdom

He was known for abandoning Egyptian polytheism in favor of

worshipping one god called Aten, who he changed his name
for. This was not true monotheism, however, and still
retained many elements of polytheism.

After his death in 1334/6BCE his statues were destroyed and

his name was stricken from the king lists.

His queen was Nefertiti, famous for her bust, which captured
her beauty.
Tutankhamun (Reign: 1332-1323BCE)
Era: New Kingdom

His tomb was discovered nearly completely

intact in 1922.

He took the throne at nine or ten years old and

married his half-sister, with whom he had two
stillborn daughters.

He restored the traditional religious favor to

the god Amun and moved the capital back to
Thebes.
Tutankhamun
Tut was thin and tall at 511, had a killer
overbite and a slight cleft palate, as well as a
case of scoliosis. He had deformations in his
left foot, and he at one time suffered from
malaria.

There is much speculation as to what led to his

death. He died at age 19.