ANCIENT EGYPT:

THE LAND OF THE PHAROAHS

Social Studies 9
Mr. Letkeman’s Class
 Land of the Pharaohs

In this unit of study we will explore various aspects of ancient Egyptian civilization.
Our unit will follow this outline:

Topic 1 – What Is a Society or Civilization?

Topic 2 – Ancient Egyptian Geography

Topic 3 – Born On a Bayou: How Geography Affects Everything

Topic 4 – Egyptian Social Classes

Topic 5 – The Pharaohs: Gods Among Men

Topic 6 – Empire Making: Ancient Egypt Rises to Power

Topic 7 – Egyptian Worldview and the Development of Science

Topic 8 – The Influence of Ancient Egypt Today

Topic 9 – Egyptian Project Fair

Vocabulary

The following vocabulary will be taught, used, and tested on in this unit:

• Upper Egypt – Southern Egypt

• Lower Egypt – Northern Egypt

• Delta – Where a river begins to fork into numerous channels before running
into an ocean or sea.

• Geography – The landforms (land and water bodies) and climate of a specific
region.

• Society (Civilization) – When a group of humans develop a culture and social

structures (law, government, etc) over a period of time.

• The Inundation – The term used for the season flooding of the Nile; to
flood.

• Nilometer – An instrument developed b the Egyptians that acted as a

calendar as it measured the levels of the Nile throughout the year.

• Mesopotamia – Known as The Cradle of Civilization because it was there that

most archaeologists believe humans started living in towns and cities.
Mesopotamia is located in modern-day Iraq between the Euphrates and
Tigris Rivers.

• Irrigation – The science of channelling water from a river (or lake) inland to
water fields for agriculture and animals.

• The Nile – The life-giving river that flows north through Egypt into the
Mediterranean Sea.
• Socioeconomic Status – Social classes based on the amount of money a
person makes.

• Hierarchy – Any system that has a ranking of people, one above the other.

• Pharaoh – Egyptian king; was thought to be a living god

• Deity – A God or goddess

• King Menes – The powerful pharaoh that united Upper and Lower Egypt into
one Empire.

• King Khufu – The Egyptian pharaoh responsible for the construction of the
Great Pyramids.

• Mastaba – A rectangular building that was used to bury the bodies of the
early pharaohs (before Khufu)

• Worldview – A way of understanding the world and how it works. Worldviews

are a combination of religious belief, belief about right and wrong, and even
what happens after death.

• Canopic Jars – Sacred jars that hold the major organs (minus the heart) of a
person being mummified.
• Natron Salts - Naturally occurring desert salts used to dry out a mummified
corpse.

• Afterlife – Where a person goes after death.

• Mummification – The process, developed by the Egyptians, of embalming a

body.

• Sarcophagus – A coffin-like case that mummified pharaohs and nobility were

buried in.

• Valley of the Kings – A valley outside of Luxor (Thebes) where pharaohs and
nobility of the New Kingdom were buried.

• Memphis – The capital (royal) city of the Old Kingdom. Located in Lower
Egypt near the Great Pyramids.

• Luxor (Thebes) – The capital (royal) city of the New Kingdom. Located in
Upper Egypt near the Valley of the Kings.

• Gisa – A city located near the Great Pyramids. This is why the full term is
The Great Pyramids of Gisa.

• Dynasty – When a family rules as nation or empire for many generations.

• Polytheism – The belief in many gods or goddesses

• Pantheon – The total collection of gods and goddesses believed by a specific

culture (eg. The Roman pantheon, the Greek Pantheon, the Maya pantheon,
the Egyptian pantheon)

• Ra – The sun god

• Osiris – The god of the afterlife

• Atum – The creator god. Eventually Atum and Ra were combined to form a
most-high god called “Atum-Ra”

• Myth – A story that is created to explain the existence of a natural

phenomenon or to teach morality.

• Hieroglyphics – Picture writing

• Phonograms – Pictures that symbolize a specific sound.

• Logograms – Pictures that represent an idea.

• Determinatives – Pictures that give a hint at what a hieroglyphic word might
mean since there were no vowels in hieroglyphics.

• Rosetta Stone – A stone containing Egyptian hieroglyphs with a Greek

translation below. Due to the fact that scholars can translate ancient
Greek, archaeologists were able to figure out the meaning of many Egyptian
hieroglyphs.

• Imperialism (see Empire also) – The act of one nation taking over another
nation and its peoples.