\new \poff 8 \outlen 80 \space 10 ANCIENT EGYPT \space 5 A report submitted to Mrs. Elston Mrs. Mumma by Austin Che \space 10 6th grade Collins School May 7, 1991 \new \space 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. History ................................................ 3 II. Culture ................................................ 7 III. Geography .............................................. 25 IV. Famous People .......................................... 29 V. Contributions .......................................... 32 VI. Bibliography ........................................... 35 \new \space 20 I. HISTORY \new \space 5 The first people lived in Egypt more than 5,000 years ago. In time, two kingdoms were formed. One of these kingdoms controlled the villages that lay on the Nile Delta, and the other controlled the villages south of the delta. The delta area was known as Lower Egypt, and the southern region was called Upper Egypt. Egyptian civilization began about 3100 B.C. King Menes of Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt at that time. The ruler Menes united southern Egypt and northern Egypt into one kingdom and formed the world's first national government. He also established the first Egyptian dynasty. More than 30 other dynasties ruled ancient Egypt. The early period of ancient Egyptian history covered Dynasties I and II, which ruled for about 400 years. The Egyptians developed irrigation systems, invented ox-drawn plows, and began to use hieroglyphic writing during the first two dynasties. The Old Kingdom began in 2686 B.C. with Dynasty III. By this time, Egypt had a strong central government. The next 500 years became known for the construction of Egypt's gigantic pyramids. The Middle Kingdom was the period which Dynasty XII ruled. During Dynasty XII, Egypt conquered Nubia and promoted trade with Palestine and Syria. Architecture, literature, and other arts flourished under this dynasty. The Middle Kingdom ended in 1786 B.C. The New Kingdom was a 500 year period in which ancient Egypt became the world's strongest power. The period began in 1554 B.C. with Dynasty XVIII. Native Egyptians drove the Hyksos forces out of Egypt, and Thebes regained its importance. Around 1000 B.C., Egypt began to grow weak. One after another, people from other places - Libya, Ethiopia, Assyria, and Persia - invaded Egypt. Each group carried away another part of Egypt's wealth. In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great of Macedonia took over Egypt. He built the city of Alexandria and made it his capital. After Alexander's death in 323 B.C., Ptolemy, a general in Alexander's army, became king. Members of Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt for three hundred years. Cleopatra was the last Ptolemy to rule. After her death, in 30 B.C., Egypt became a Roman province. \space 2 -4- \new \space 5 Egypt remained in the Roman Empire until A.D. 639. Then, Arab Muslims from Syria invaded Egypt. More invasions followed - first by Turks and then by Muslims from Tunisia. \space 42 -5- \new \space 20 II. CULTURE \new \space 5 \ov 1 Homes _____ The Egyptians built their houses with bricks of dried mud. They used trunks of palm trees to support the flat roofs. Many city houses were narrow buildings with three or more floors. Most poor Egyptians lived in one-room huts. The typical middle-class Egyptian lived in a one or two-story house with at least 3 rooms. Many rich Egyptians had houses with as many as 70 rooms. The father headed family in ancient Egypt. Upon his death, his oldest son became the head. Women had almost as many rights as men. They could own and inherit property, buy and sell goods and make a will. A wife could obtain a divorce. Few other ancient civilizations gave women all these rights. Kings commonly had several wifes at the same time. In many cases, a king's chief wife was a member of the royal family. Children played with dolls, tops and stuffed leather balls. They had board games with moves determined by the throw of dice. They also had several kinds of pets, including cats, dogs, monkeys, baboons and birds. \space 24 -8- \new \space 5 \ov 1 Earning a Living ________________ Ancient Egyptian traders sailed to lands bordering the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Red seas. They acquired silver, iron, horses, and cedar logs from Syria, Lebanon, and other areas of southwestern Asia. They got ivory, leopard skins, copper, cattle, and spices from Nubia. For these goods, the Egyptians bartered gold, other minerals, wheat, barley, and papyrus sheets. Egyptian workers make and process food, chemical products, and appliances. There is a steel mill at Helwan, near Cairo. Cairo and Alexandria are centers for Egypt's world-famous textile industry. Iron ore, manganese, gold, salt, and oil are found in Egypt. At the Aswan High Dam, the enormous power of the Nile River creates electricity. The Nile is also a waterway for travelers and cargoes. The Nile provides water to grow crops. Every year, Egyptian farmers lay more pipes and dig more ditches. They irrigate the desert and turn it into farmland. \space 22 -9- \new \space 5 \ov 1 Arts, Theatre, Music ____________________ Ancient Egypt's pyramids are the oldest and largest stone structures in the world. The ruins of 35 major pyramids still stand along the Nile. Three huge pyramids at Giza rank as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The first Egyptian pyramids were built about 4,500 years ago. The largest one, the Great Pyramid at Giza, stands about 450 feet high. Its base covers about 13 acres. This pyramid was built with more than 2 million limestone blocks, each weighing an average of 2 1/2 short tons. The ancient Egyptians also built temples of limestone. They designed parts of the temples to resemble plants. For example, some temples had columns carved to look like palm trees or papyrus reeds. The ancient Egyptians enjoyed music and singing. They used harps, lutes, and other string instruments to accompany their singing. Writers created many stories that featured imaginary characters, settings, or events and were clearly meant to entertain. Paintings on the walls inside the pyramid showed the life of the pharaoh. Symbols called hieroglyphics told the pharaoh's life story. Each symbol represented a word or an idea. The Egyptians used hieroglyphics to keep records of everything. \space 17 -10- \new \space 5 \ov 1 Dress _____ The Egyptians generally dressed in white linen garments. Women wore robes or tight dresses with shoulder straps. Men wore skirts or robes. The Egyptians often wore colored, shoulder-length headdresses. Rich Egyptians wore wigs, partly for protection against the sun. Wealthy Egyptians also wore leather sandals. The common people usually went barefoot. Young children rarely wore any clothes. \space 38 -12- \new \space 5 \ov 1 Food ____ Bread was the chief food in the diet of most ancient Egyptians, and beer was the favorite beverage. The bread was made from wheat, and the beer from barley. Many Egyptians also enjoyed a variety of vegetables and fruits, fish, milk, cheese, butter, and meat from ducks and geese. Wealthy Egyptians regularly ate beef, antelope and gazelle meat, and fancy cakes and other baked goods. They drank grape, date, and palm wine. The people ate with their fingers. \space 37 -18- \new \space 5 \ov 1 Education _________ Only a small percentage of boys and girls went to school in ancient Egypt, and most of them came from upper-class families. These students attended schools for scribes. Scribes made written records for government offices, temples, and other institutions. They also read and wrote letters for the large numbers of Egyptians who could not read and write. The king's palace, government departments, and temples operated the scribal schools. All the schools prepared students to become scribes or to follow other careers. The main subjects were reading, literature, geography, mathematics, and writing. The students learned writing by copying literature, letters, and business accounts. They used papyrus and wrote with brushes made of reeds whose ends were softened and shaped. The Egyptians made ink by mixing water and soot. Most Egyptian boys followed their fathers' occupations and were taught by their fathers. Many parents placed their sons with master craftsmen, who taught carpentry, pottery making, or other skills. \space 25 -19- \new \space 5 \ov 1 Transportation ______________ Transportation within ancient Egypt was chiefly by boats and barges on the Nile River. The earliest Egyptian boats were made of papyrus reeds. By about 3200 B.C., the Egyptians had invented sails. By 3000 B.C., they started to use wooden planks to build ships. Most people walked when they traveled by land. Wealthy Egyptians were carried on special chairs. During the 1600's B.C., the Egyptians began to ride in horse-drawn chariots. \space 35 -20- \new \space 5 \ov 1 Science and Medicine ____________________ The ancient Egyptians made observations in the fields of astronomy and geography that helped them develop a calendar of 365 days a year. The calendar was based on the annual flooding of the Nile River. The calendar enabled the Egyptians to date much of their history. The dated material from ancient Egypt has helped scholars date events in other parts of the ancient world. Ancient Egyptian doctors were the first physicians to study the human body scientifically. They studied the structure of the brain and knew that the pulse was in some way connected with the heart. They could set broken bones, care for wounds and treat many illnesses. \space 32 -21- \new \space 5 \ov 1 Religion ________ The ancient Egyptians believed that various deities (gods and goddesses) influenced every aspect of nature and every human activity. They therefore worshiped many deities. The main god was the sun god Re. The Egyptians relied on Re and the goddess Rennutet for good harvests. The most important goddess was Isis. She represented the devoted mother and wife. Her husband and brother, Osiris, ruled over vegetation and the dead. Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, was god of the sky. He was called the lord of heaven and was often pictured with the head of a falcon. In each Egyptian city and town, the people worshiped their own special god in addition to the major deities. For example, the people of Thebes worshiped Amon, a sun god. Amon was later identified with Re and called Amon-Re. Amon-Re in time became the chief deity. Other local deities and their main centers of worship included Ptah, the creator god of Memphis; Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing in Hermopolis; and Khnum, the creator god of Elephantine. Many deities were pictured with human bodies and the heads of animals. Most ancient Egyptians prayed at home because the temples did not offer regular services for people. Each temple was either regarded as the home of a certain deity or dedicated to a dead king. The ancient Egyptians believed that there was life after death. It resulted in the construction of the pyramids and other great tombs for kings and queens. Other Egyptians had smaller tombs. The Egyptians also believed that the bodies of the dead had to be preserved for the next life, and so they mummified (embalmed and dried) corpses to prevent them from decaying. A body was wrapped in layers of linen strips and placed in a coffin. The mummy was then put in a tomb. The Egyptians filled their tombs with items for use in the afterlife. Some of these included clothing, wigs, food, cosmetics, and jewelry. The tombs of rich Egyptians also had statues representing servants who would care for them in the next world. Scenes of daily life were painted on walls inside the tombs. The Egyptians believed that certain prayers said by priests would make Osiris bring the scenes as well as the dead to life. \space 4 -22- \new \space 5 Many Egyptians bought texts containing prayers, hymns, spells, and other information to guide souls through the afterlife, protect them from evil, and provide for their needs. Egyptians had passages from such texts carved or written on walls inside their tombs or had a copy of a text placed in their tombs. Collections of these texts are known as the Book of the Dead. The first tombs were dug into the earth. But later pharaohs built huge, stone pyramids. The pyramids had secret rooms filled with food, furniture, statues, and jewels. The Egyptians believed that the dead pharaoh would use these treasures in his next life. \ov 1 Gods and Goddesses __________________ Here is a list of some Gods and Goddesses: AMON ANUBIS HATHOR HORUS ISIS KHNUM OSIRIS PTAH RE SERAPIS SETH THOTH \space 16 -23- \new \space 20 III. GEOGRAPHY \new \space 5 "Egypt is the gift of the Nile," said Herodotus, a Greek writer who traveled to Egypt in the 5th century B.C. He saw that without the Nile River, Egypt would be nothing but desert. Today, as in the past, the Nile is still Egypt's most important natural resource. More than fifty million people live in Egypt. Most of them live near the Nile River or along the Mediterranean coast. Egypt is shaped like a square. Most of Egypt is in Africa, but the northeastern corner of Egypt is in Asia. Two large African nations share borders with Egypt: Libya, in the west, and Sudan, in the south. The small nation of Israel is Egypt's neighbor in the east. Egypt has four land regions: the Nile River Valley, the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert, and the Sinai Peninsula. The Nile River flows for 960 miles. It runs from south to north and supplies almost all of Egypt's water. In the north, the Nile passes through a huge triangle of land called the Nile Delta. The Nile Delta is flat and green with cotton plants, sugarcane, and palm trees. For centuries, the floodwaters of the southern Nile have carried rich soil downriver to the delta. The Western Desert covers two-thirds of Egypt. It is part of the great Sahara, the desert that stretches across North Africa. Scattered here and there, are oases where deep underground springs provide water for people, plants, and animals. The Western Desert is not all flat. In the southwest, the Hadabat al Jilf al Kabir plateau rises 3,000 feet above sea level. In the northwest, the huge Qattara Depression drops as much as 436 feet below sea level and contains salt water. The Eastern Desert lies between the Nile River and the Red Sea. Parts of it are flat. But, on its eastern edge, the Red Sea Mountains rise to heights of more than 6,000 feet. \space 6 -26- \new \space 5 In ancient times, heavy rains fell on the mountains. Their waters carved long valleys, called wadis. Today, the wadis serve as caravan routes for people and animals. There are rich supplies of oil, minerals, and stone in the region. The Sinai Peninsula is almost surrounded by water, yet it is a desert area. In the south, there are high nountains. Jabal Katrinah, the highest nountain in Egypt, rises 8,669 feet. The Suez Canal separates the Sinai Peninsula from mainland Egypt. Egypt's major seaports are Alexandria, Port Said, and Suez. \space 36 -27- \new \space 20 IV. FAMOUS PEOPLE \new \space 5 In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh was a king and a god. The people worshipped the pharaoh. When a pharaoh died, his body was buried with care. Not all of the pharaohs were men. About 1520 B.C., Queen Hatshepsut took over when her husband died. She ruled for twenty years. Some famous people are: AKHENATON ALEXANDER THE GREAT CLEOPATRA IMHOTEP KHUFU NEFERTITI PTOLEMY I RAMSES II SETI I THUTMOSE III TUTANKHAMEN \space 25 -30- \new \space 20 V. CONTRIBUTIONS \new \space 5 Ancient Egypt has many contributions to civilization. Here are some of them: ARCHITECTURE BREAD CALENDAR CLOTHING DANCING FURNITURE GEOMETRY GLASS HIEROGLYPHICS MYTHOLOGY OBELISK PAINTING PAPYRUS PYRAMIDS SCIENCE SCULPTURE SHIP SPHINX SURVEYING TEXTILE \space 24 -33- \new \space 20 VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY \new \space 5 \ov 1 "Ancient Egypt," The World Book Encyclopedia, 1991, Vol. 6, ___________________________ p. 133 - 142. \ov 1 "Egypt," The Golden Book Encyclopedia, 1970, Vol. 5, p. 448 - 451. ____________________________ \ov 1 Jacobsen, Karen, Egypt, Chicago: Childrens Press, 1990. _____ \ov 1 Leacroft, Helen, The Buildings of Ancient Egypt, New York: ______________________________ W. R. Scott, 1963. \ov 1 Lye, Keith, Take a Trip to Egypt, New York: Franklin Watts, 1983. ____________________ \space 37 -36- \new \outlen 80 The Old Kingdom was a Hyksos rulers formed a period known for the dynasty that ruled construction of great Egypt for about 100 pyramids. years. _______________|______________________________|________________________________ | | c.3100 B.C 2686-2181 B.C. 1991 B.C. c.1670 B.C. 1490-1436 B.C. |_______________________________|___________________________|__________________ | | | Egyption civilization King Amenemhet founded The Egyptian empire began with the union Dynasty XII, which reached its height of Lower and Upper greatly increased during the reign of Egypt. Egypt's power. King Thutmose III. Akhenaton became king Alexander the Great Muslims from Arabia of Egypt and introduced added Egypt to his seized Alexandria major religious reforms. empire and founded and completed their the city of Alexandria. conquest of Egypt. |____________________________|______________________________|__________________ | | | 1367 B.C. c.1070 B.C. 332 B.C. 31 B.C. A.D. 642 _______________|__________________________|____________________________________ | | Dynasty XX ended, and A Roman fleet crushed Egypt began to decline an Egyptian force in rapidly as a strong the battle of Actium, nation. leading to Rome's take-over of Egypt in 30 B.C.