Egypt

New and Old

Egypt

• One of the 5 cradles of civilization or “cultural hearths”.

• Recorded history from 5000 BC• Home of the Great Pyramids & the

Sphinx

Cairo & Nile 1

The Nile runs through CairoModern-day Cairo, Egypt

Cairo & Nile 2

Cairo & Nile 3

Cairo & hajib

Cairo street withMuslim womanwearing a “hajib”.

Map of Ancient Egypt & the Nile

The Nile

The Nile

Why was it important to the ancient Egyptians?

Which direction does it flow?

…to the north…towards the Mediterranean Sea.

1. Earliest gathering place of nomads.

2. Source of fresh water for all their basic needs.

3. Source of “alluvial soil” for their crops.

Trivia: What was a “nilometer”?

A device to measure water flow on the Nile.

Two Nilometers used in ancient Egypt

Map of Ancient Egypt & the Nile

The Nile

What were the rulers ofEgypt called?

Pharaohs

Pharaoh is Greek for “great house” which meantthe temple and the ruler inside.

The Pharaohs:More than 170 rulers of Egypt for over 3000 years.

Akhenaten: Son of Amenhotep III. Told his people only he would talk to God. Kicked out the priests.

Amenhotep III: Ruled for 39 years (died at age 50).

King Tut: The boy king and son of Akhenaten. Became pharaoh at age 8 or 9. Died at 18 or 19. Married with 2 still-born children.Cleopatra: The last Pharaoh: she was the famous Queen that loved a Roman General: Mark Antony (he killed himself when he heard (falsely) that Cleopatra was dead. Cleopatra then killed herself by a snake bite).Khufu: (Cheops) Built the biggest pyramid.Ramses II: The warrior-king. Became pharaoh at age 20 and ruled for 67 years.

King Tut’s death mask

King Tut’s coffin….solid gold.

King Tut wrapped up

King Tut unwrapped

King Tut’s chair….covered with gold.Shows a picture of him and his wife.

…in a pyramid!

There are more than 100 pyramids in Egypt…

….but only a few are famous.

Where did they find King Tut?

Step Pyramid 1

Step Pyramid 1

The “Step” pyramid wasthe first of all the pyramids.

Have you seen somethinglike this before?

The Aztecs:

Temple of the Moon

…In Mexico!!

Maidum Pyramid 2Maidum Pyramid 2

The Maidum pyramid was the 2nd pyramid built. This picture only shows a portion since the bottom is covered with tons of sand.

Bent Pyramid 3Bent Pyramid 3

The “Bent” Pyramid was the 3rd pyramid built.Pay attention to the sides…they were orginally smooth.

Red Pyramid 4Red Pyramid 4

The 1st “true” pyramid is the “Red” Pyramid.The pyramid was made of red limestone.Egyptologists have found the names of the work gangs on

some of the stones.

Cheops Pyramid 1The Great Pyramid of Cheops

Cheops 2• Built for Cheops…ruler of Egypt in 2500 B.C. (Ruled for only 23 years)

• 480 feet high

• 6.8 million tons of limestone (2 million blocks)

• Originally flat with white sides!

• Built by skilled workers as part of their “taxes”

• Construction took 80 years

• Each side faces a cardinal direction (North, South, etc.)

• Has windows to the stars.

Giza Pyramids 5

Sphinx & Pyramid 1

Sphinx & Pyramid 2

Egyptians believed the sphinx guarded the temple gates and the “underworld”.

Sphinx & Pyramid 3

Map of Ancient Egypt & the Nile

The Nile

AbuSimbel 1

Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel

Temple of Hathor

Temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel

Map of Ancient Egypt & the Nile

The Nile

Luxor Avenue

Avenue to temple lined with Ramses II and an obelisk.

Ramses II

More Luxor ruins

More ruins at Luxor

Luxor again

They worshipped snakes!

Colossi at Hemnon

The Collosi of Memnon • Stood in front of an ancient Egyptian temple

Buildings at Luxor

Ruins at Luxor

The sun god: Ra

Notice the hieroglypics

These ancient Egyptianhieroglyphics couldn’tbe read prior to the early1800’s!

Hieroglyphics

Spider pig, spider pig,

does whatever a

spider pig does.

The following was found on the walls of thetomb of Pharaoh Homeratu, near the

ancient city: Field of the Springs:

Okay…how did they figure out what all those pictures were?

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone

Written in 196 B.C.

Written in three languages.

Written by the priests to honor the pharaoh and toproclaim all the good things he had done

Found in 1799 by theFrench while building afort.Translated, primarily, bya French scholar thatcould read Greek & Coptic

Now it can be seen in theBritish museum.

Rosetta Stone 2

Hieroglypics (Language of the religion)

Demotic(Common language)

Greek(Language of the Rulers)

• Hieroglyphics are pictures that equal sounds. • It is phonetic…no unnecessary letters!• It uses almost NO vowels. • Combine pictures to make words. • Water = W T R =

• Mr. Bird = MR BRD =

How to read hieroglyphics:

Now it’s your turn!