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Warm-up
• Describe two big advancements made by the people of Mesopotamia.
Geography of Egypt
Geography of Egypt
The Nile - an oasis in the desert
• The Nile was set up almost perfectly for a civilization to grow on
• The river flooded every year in July – snow melting from mountains in Eastern Africa
• Floods receded in October – left behind fertile soil called silt– Irrigation seen in Egypt, as well
Other positives
• River is also great for transportation for most of its length– Flows South to North, wind usually North to South
• Easy transportation allowed for a mostly united civilization – NO CITY-STATES
Negatives of Egypt’s Geography• Egyptians relied on the
flooding• If the floods were too low,
fields didn’t get enough silt• If floods were too high,
important buildings were wiped out
• Egyptians were isolated by the desert surrounding them– Not as much trade as
Mesopotamia, but not as much war, either
Style of Government
• Theocracy – authority in government is based on religion
• Rulers were god-kings called pharaohs
• Believed pharaoh was as powerful as other gods they worshipped
• Caused sun to rise, Nile to flood, etc.
Technology• The Pyramids – massive tombs
built for the pharaohs - incredibly advanced for their time• We still don’t know exactly how
they were built• Writing system – hieroglyphics
– Very advanced writing system – started out pictographic (symbols stood for words), turned into phonological (symbols stood for sounds)
• Similar to cuneiform – more detailed though
• Translated through Rosetta Stone - 1799
Technology
• Papyrus – paper-like substance made from reeds– Why is this an
advantage over stone carvings like we saw in Sumer?
Other inventions• Calendar – used to
coordinate growing seasons– Very accurate – 365
days• Number system – see
to the right• Medicine – very
advanced doctors• Shaduf – used for
lifting water• Eye make-up
Religion
• Polytheistic religion – many different gods
Ra – the sun god Osiris – god of afterlife Isis – goddess of Anubis – judges souls motherhood
Amut – Devourer of unworthy souls
Book of the Dead
• Souls were judged before person could enter afterlife– Heart was placed on a scale, weighed against a
feather– If heart weighed more than a feather, it was a sign of
a guilty person – no afterlife– Eaten by Amut, the Devourer of Souls
Rich Egyptians received scrolls like this, so they knew how to pass tests and what they would encounter on their way into the afterlife