Ancient Egypt

Nile River

• The Nile is the longest river in the world. It is shaped like a lotus flower, the design seen in ancient Egyptian art, math, and hieroglyphics. It runs south to north, beginning in the mountains in the south and ending 4,000 miles later at the Mediterranean Sea.

Gifts of the Nile • Each spring, snow on the mountains would melt.

The Nile River would flood. This was a very good thing. When the flood waters receded, they left behind fertile soil. Crops could easily be grown in this black, rich soil. The ancient Egyptians called this soil the "The Gift of the Nile

The Nile provided another gift to the ancient

Egyptians: Papyrus.

Papyrus grew wildly along the banks of the Nile

Shaduf

Egyptians used a

shaduf to move

water from the Nile

to irrigation ditches

Old, Middle, New Kingdoms

• Old Kingdom: 2686-2160 BC – Followed by period of famines and civil wars

• Middle Kingdom: 2040-1795 BC – Spent wealth on public works rather than wars

– Built temples and pyramids

– Funded irrigation projects

– Followed by 200 years of unrest

• New Kingdom: 15501070 BC – Large, strong army

– Conqured Lybia, Syria and the Middle East

Old Kingdom

• Pharaohs were buried in pyramids

• Djoser built first step pyramid

• It was time consuming and expensive to build a pyramid.

• It was hard to hide a pyramid.

• These were all problems, why?

Middle Kingdom • Pharaohs were buried in hidden tombs all

over the place. • The Egyptian tomb builders did a wonderful

job hiding the tombs. • Archaeologist know what pharaohs ruled

during this time period: • The ancient Egyptians believed if

you didn't have your name written down somewhere, you would disappear from your afterlife. • Everybody wanted to enjoy their afterlife, so Pharaohs' had their name written down and chiseled everywhere. •But, archaeologists still have not found all the tombs.

New Kingdom

• Pharaohs were all buried in hidden tombs in the same geographical area: The Valley of the Kings.