Chapter 2-Section 2

Egypt’s Old Kingdom

Key Words

• Pharaoh- all powerful ruler in Ancient Egypt• Deity- a god or goddess• Embalming- process of preserving a persons

body after death; developed by ancient Egyptians

• Mummy body that has been embalmed and wrapped in linen

• Pyramid- a huge stone structure built by the ancient Egyptians to serve as a tomb

Key Words

• Period- a portion of time in history• Welfare- doing well; having what is needed to

live well• Structure- materials arranged to form a

building or statue• Principle- law or fact of nature

Old Kingdom Rulers

• Old Kingdom began about 2600 BC. This period lasted about 300 years.

• Egyptian kings or PHARAOHS:– Lived with families in palaces; pharaoh=great

house– All-powerful ruler; word was law; must be obeyed

without question

Rulers

• Pharaoh appointed officials who’s job it was to:– build and repair irrigation canals and grain

storehouses – Make sure crops were planted– Controlled trade– Collected taxes (grain from farmers)

Rulers

• Egyptians willingly served pharaoh because:– They believed the unity of the kingdom depended

on a strong leader– They considered pharaoh to be the son of Re (sun

god)– Thought pharaoh was god on earth who

controlled Egypt’s welfare.

Egypt’s Religion

• Deeply woven into culture• Believed deities controlled the forces of nature

and human activities• Worshiped many deities – Re/Ra: sun god (main god) because of the sunny

climate and importance of sun for harvests– Hapi: ruled the Nile– Isis/Osiris: most important goddess because she

represented the loyal wife and mother and ruled over the dead with her husband Osiris

Re/Ra

Hapi

Isis

Osiris

• This is a list of Egyptian gods and goddesses from Egyptian mythology. The ancient Egyptians worshipped many gods at different times and in different places.[1] Some gods changed in importance over time.

• Ammut, or Ammit or Ahemait, is the crocodile goddess known as the "Devourer of the Dead". Also known as Ammit the Devourer. Ammut also assists Anubis with carrying out the judgments

• Anput is the wife of Anubis Anput is the goddess of the seventeenth Nome of Upper Egypt. Other sources say she is the desert goddess. Anput the mother of Kebechet.

• Anubis is god of judgment of life and death• Anuket is the goddess of river Nile.• Apophis is the god of chaos and war.• Aten• Babi is the god of baboons.• Bast is the cat goddess.• Bastet Goddess of Cats, later version of Bast• Bes is the dwarf god.• Geb is the god of the earth.• Gengen-Wer is the goose god.• Hapi is the god of the Nile.

• Hathor is the goddess of love.• Heket is the goddess of frogs.• Horus is the god of war,sky, and falcons and son of Osiris.• Isis is the goddess of magic, marriage, healing, and motherhood.

She is the wife and sister of Osiris and the mother of Horus.• Kebechet the goddess of purification, also is known as the

wandering goddess, or the lost child.• Khepri is the god of scarab beetles. (Ra's aspect in the morning).• Khmun is the ram-headed god. (Ra's aspect in the evening).• Khonsu is the god of the Moon.• Ma'at is the goddess of justice and of order.• Mafdet is the god of justice.• Mekhit is the minor loin goddess; married to Onuris.• Nephthys is the river goddess.

• Nekhbet is the vulture goddess.• Nut is the goddess of sky and stars.• Osiris is the god of the underworld and the afterlife. Husband and brother of Isis.• Ptah is the god of creation.• Ra is the god of the Sun and king of the gods until Osiris took over his throne.

Also known as Amun-Ra and Akmun-Rah.• Sehkmet is the goddess of lions and fire also goddess of vengeance, alter form of

Isis.• Serqet is the goddess of scorpions.• Seshat is the goddess of writing and measurement.• Seth is the god of deserts, storms, evil, and chaos also later version ruler of the

underworld.• Shu is the god of wind and air.• Sobek is the god of crocodiles and alligators.• Tawaret is the hippopotamus goddess, and the goddess of childbirth and fertility.• Thoth is the scribe god and the god of wisdom, also known as Djehuti.• Wadjet is a goddess of protection.

Question?

• How did Egyptians’ religious beliefs compare to those of Mesopotamia?

Life After Death

• Unlike the Mesopotamians who imagined a gloomy life after death, Egyptians had a hope that life in the next world would be better than life on Earth

• Book of the Dead – one of the most important Egyptian manuscripts-collection of spells and prayers studied to obtain life after death

• They believed that Osiris would meet them after death and they had led a good life and knew the spells he would grant them life after death.

Life After Death

• For centuries Egyptians believed that pharaoh and a special few could enjoy afterlife

• Believed that pharaoh’s spirit needed a body that didn’t decay after death-if it did he would be forced to wander forever

• Vital that pharaoh’s spirit reach the next world so he could continue to care for Egypt

Life After Death

• To protect pharaoh’s body he was embalmed– Priests removed body’s organs– Special salt applied to body (natron) for several days

to dry– Body was filled with spices and pefumes and

stitched closed– Body cleaned with oils and tightly wrapped with

long strips of lined creating a mummy– Encased in several wooden coffins, fitting one inside

another

Mummification

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/mummy-pictures.htm

Question?

• If Egyptians believed that life in the next world would be even better than life on Earth, how do you think this might have affected their attitudes toward everyday life?

Egyptian Medicine

• Egyptians learned a lot about the body from embalming

• Doctors used herbs and drugs to treat illness• Became skilled at sewing cuts and setting

broken bones• Some doctors only treated particular parts of

the body becoming the first specialists• Wrote the world’s first medical books on

papyrus scrolls

The Pyramids

• Gigantic structures the size of several city blocks made of stone

• Designed to protect the bodies of pharaohs• Held supplies needed for the spirit world

including clothing, furniture, jewelry and food

How Was a Pyramid Built?

• Thousands of workers through years of labor• Most work done by farmers during the Nile

flood season• Each pyramid sat on a square base with the

entrance facing north• Principles of astronomy were developed to

determine true north– Also invented 365 day calendar with 12 months

grouped into 3 seasons from these principles

• Advanced mathematics used to determine how much stone was necessary

• Invented written number based on 10• Created fractions, addition, subtraction and

multiplication• Stone sometimes came from hundreds of

miles away• Copper tools used to cut stone into huge

blocks• Blocks tied to wooden sleds and pulled over a

path of logs

• Loaded onto barges and transported by river to building site

• Workers unloaded and dragged or pushed them up ramps to be set in place

The Great Pyramid

• Largest and grandest of about 80 pyramids• Located 10 miles from Cairo• Built for King Kafu• Stands at Giza on west bank of Nile• 500 feet tall(48 stories), covers an area about 9

football fields• More than 2 million stone blocks• Each block weighs about 2.5 tons• Tallest structure in the world for 4000 years• Built without beasts of burden, special tools or

the wheel

Review

• The all- powerful rulers of Egypt called pharaohs, were believed to be related to Egypt’s main god

• The Egyptians believed in many gods and goddesses. They also believed in life after death for the pharaoh, whose body would be mummified before burial

• The pyramids, built as huge stone tombs for the pharaohs, required many years and thousands of workers to construct

Quiz

• What was the role of pharaoh in Egypt• Explain the religious beliefs of the Egyptians• Describe what happened to a pharaoh when

they died (process)• Describe the Egyptian pyramids and tombs