Egypt: An Ancient River Civilization, c. 3000-1200 BC/BCE
On a historical map of the Mediterranean region, locate the Mediterranean and the Red Seas, the Nile River and Delta, and the areas of ancient Nubia and Egypt. Identify the locations of ancient Upper and Lower Egypt and explain what the terms mean. On a modern map, identify the modern countries of Egypt and Sudan.
Focus Question: Where was ancient Egypt and what were ancient Upper and Lower Egypt?
The Story of the Nile from BBC.
Click here for modern Egyptian maps from the University of Texas.
For an overview of Egypt, go to Ancient Egypt and the Modern World from the BBC.
The Nile RiverMap of Africa, showing the course of River Nile
The Nile DeltaGraphic of a view from the Windows on Earth software, showing the Nile River delta, as seen from the International Space Station
Ancient Nubia (for more go to 7.13)1837 copperplate lithograph map of Ancient Egypt, Nubia and Abyssina
Ancient Nubia, also called Kingdom of Kush by the Early Egyptians, is called Sudan today.
Lower Nubia's name comes from the flow of the nile. The Nile, contrary to logic, flows north rather than south. Thus, Lower Nubia is on the lower part of the Nile while Upper Nubia is on the upper end of the flow.
Nubia was the center of the ancient world. It was famous for its trade in gold, ebony, ivory, exotic feathers, copper, precious metals and slaves.
Click here to see a Gallery of Artifactsfrom Ancient Nubia: Egypt's Rival in Africa from the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt
Egypt is split into two sections called lower and upper Egypt, named after the flow of the Nile River. Upper Egypt represents the territory upstream and lower Egypt represents the territory downstream. Therefore, Northern Egypt represents lower Egypt and Southern Egypt represents upper Egypt. The Nile Delta is located in lower Egypt.
Civilizations formed in this region of Egypt because of its location near the Nile River. Flooding from the Nile in the summer allowed for sufficient food supplies to be harvested and the civilization to prosper.
The Story of the Nile from BBC.
Click here for modern Egyptian maps from the University of Texas.
For an overview of Egypt, go to Ancient Egypt and the Modern World from the BBC.
The Nile RiverMap of Africa, showing the course of River Nile
- Starts from mountains and lakes near the equator in Uganda and flows north into the Mediterranean Sea
- Is the longest river in the world and as long as the width of the entire continental United States
- Was the most efficient mode of transportation in ancient times
- If you wanted to travel south, you would use sails to harness the northern winds.
- Traveling north the current floated them there.
- The Nile floods yearly, enriching the soil to harvest plentiful crops i.e. Sorghum (a type of grass that can provide grain or syrup) or millet
The Nile DeltaGraphic of a view from the Windows on Earth software, showing the Nile River delta, as seen from the International Space Station
- The Nile River divides into two major parts about 100 miles south of the Mediterranean Coast in Egypt. These branches form a delta, a triangle shape of smaller waterways that fork off from the Nile River.
- Today, as in ancient times, the largest populations of people live along the river banks.
Ancient Nubia (for more go to 7.13)1837 copperplate lithograph map of Ancient Egypt, Nubia and Abyssina
Ancient Nubia, also called Kingdom of Kush by the Early Egyptians, is called Sudan today.
- Lower Nubia = the northern part of the country, bordering Egypt
- Upper Nubia = the southern part of the kingdom
Lower Nubia's name comes from the flow of the nile. The Nile, contrary to logic, flows north rather than south. Thus, Lower Nubia is on the lower part of the Nile while Upper Nubia is on the upper end of the flow.
Nubia was the center of the ancient world. It was famous for its trade in gold, ebony, ivory, exotic feathers, copper, precious metals and slaves.
Click here to see a Gallery of Artifactsfrom Ancient Nubia: Egypt's Rival in Africa from the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt
Egypt is split into two sections called lower and upper Egypt, named after the flow of the Nile River. Upper Egypt represents the territory upstream and lower Egypt represents the territory downstream. Therefore, Northern Egypt represents lower Egypt and Southern Egypt represents upper Egypt. The Nile Delta is located in lower Egypt.
Civilizations formed in this region of Egypt because of its location near the Nile River. Flooding from the Nile in the summer allowed for sufficient food supplies to be harvested and the civilization to prosper.
Describe the kinds of evidence that have been used by archaeologists and historians to draw conclusions about the social and economic characteristics of Ancient Nubia (the Kingdom of Kush) and their relationship to the social and economic characteristics of Ancient Egypt.
Focus Question: What have archaeologists found about the society and economy of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Nubia?1837 Malte-Brun Map of Ancient Egypt, Nubia ( Sudan ) and Abyssinia ( Ethiopia )
Relief of Amun-Ra, temple of Amun at Kawa, in Ancient Nubia
For more on Egypt and Nubia, see World Geography A.1.
Arts and PotteryArchaeologists have found similar styles of pottery and art work inside the Tombs of both Egyptian and Nubian Pharaohs. Sketches carved into the tombs tell archaeologists that the Nubians and Egyptians borrowed ideas from each other. For example, The White Crown that both rulers wore.
Part of a tomb wall depicting the Nubian Pharaoh Amanitenmemide being protected by the godess Isis. Originally from the pyramid complex of Meroe.
For wonderful primary sources on Nubia, see the Internet History Sourcebook: Egypt.
See the Ancient Kingdom of Kush (Nubia) for younger student friendly information on Nubia (Land of Gold), the daily life of the common people, daily life of the nobles, religion, trade, and much more.
For information on Ancient Sudan (Nubia) including pages on burials, writings, religion, daily life, geography, and many more resources, see Ancient Sudan~Nubia.
Trade and Commerce
Western Deffufa in ancient city Kerma, Nubia, Sudan
Click here for an interactive Nile Valley Trade Map.
Historians have found traces of existing trade between the two kingdoms, including Nubia trading gold, silver, ivory, and rare feathers, in exchange for grain, papyrus sheets, horses, and cedar wood from Egypt.
Egypt in its African Context examines the link between the cultural relationship between Ancient Egypt and Africa through archaeological findings.
For more information about Ancient Nubia, see the Nubia Gallery and Nubia: Lost Kingdoms of the Nile.
For excellent information on women in Ancient Nubia, see Women in Ancient Nubia, Ancient Nubia: The Role of Women, & Role of Women in Nubia (Kneller).
New Sources
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/
Internet History Sourcebook: Egypt (2007). Retreived 23 June 2011 from Internet History Sourcebooks Project's website and Paul Halsall's page:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook04.html.
Ancient Kingdom of Kush (Nubia). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from mrdonn.org's site: http://www.africa.mrdonn.org/kush.html.
Egypt in its African Context (2011). Retrieved 23 June 2011) from Academia's site:
http://yale.academia.edu/MariaCGatto/Papers/544327/The_Nubian_Pastoral_Culture_as_Link_between_Egypt_and_Africa_A_View_from_the_Archaeological_Record.
Ancient Sudan~Nubia (2008). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from Ibrahim Omer's site: http://www.ancientsudan.org/index.html.
Nubia Gallery (2011). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from the Oriental Institutes's site:http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/nubia/nknapnk.html.
Nubia: Lost Kingdom of the Nile. Retrieved 23 June 2011 from the claycenter.org' site:http://www.theclaycenter.org/shared/content/pdfs/LKNpowerpoint.pdf.
Women in Ancient Nubia. Retrieved 23 June 2011 from dignubia's site: http://www.dignubia.org/maps/timeline/bce-0667b.htm.
Ancient Nubia: The Role of Women (2011). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from the Oriental Institute's site:http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/NUBIA/women.html.
Role of Women in Nubia (Kneller). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from upenn.edu's site and Tara L. Kneller's page:http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Role_Women.html.
Relief of Amun-Ra, temple of Amun at Kawa, in Ancient Nubia
For more on Egypt and Nubia, see World Geography A.1.
Arts and PotteryArchaeologists have found similar styles of pottery and art work inside the Tombs of both Egyptian and Nubian Pharaohs. Sketches carved into the tombs tell archaeologists that the Nubians and Egyptians borrowed ideas from each other. For example, The White Crown that both rulers wore.
Part of a tomb wall depicting the Nubian Pharaoh Amanitenmemide being protected by the godess Isis. Originally from the pyramid complex of Meroe.
For wonderful primary sources on Nubia, see the Internet History Sourcebook: Egypt.
See the Ancient Kingdom of Kush (Nubia) for younger student friendly information on Nubia (Land of Gold), the daily life of the common people, daily life of the nobles, religion, trade, and much more.
For information on Ancient Sudan (Nubia) including pages on burials, writings, religion, daily life, geography, and many more resources, see Ancient Sudan~Nubia.
Trade and Commerce
Western Deffufa in ancient city Kerma, Nubia, Sudan
Click here for an interactive Nile Valley Trade Map.
Historians have found traces of existing trade between the two kingdoms, including Nubia trading gold, silver, ivory, and rare feathers, in exchange for grain, papyrus sheets, horses, and cedar wood from Egypt.
Egypt in its African Context examines the link between the cultural relationship between Ancient Egypt and Africa through archaeological findings.
For more information about Ancient Nubia, see the Nubia Gallery and Nubia: Lost Kingdoms of the Nile.
For excellent information on women in Ancient Nubia, see Women in Ancient Nubia, Ancient Nubia: The Role of Women, & Role of Women in Nubia (Kneller).
New Sources
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/
Internet History Sourcebook: Egypt (2007). Retreived 23 June 2011 from Internet History Sourcebooks Project's website and Paul Halsall's page:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook04.html.
Ancient Kingdom of Kush (Nubia). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from mrdonn.org's site: http://www.africa.mrdonn.org/kush.html.
Egypt in its African Context (2011). Retrieved 23 June 2011) from Academia's site:
http://yale.academia.edu/MariaCGatto/Papers/544327/The_Nubian_Pastoral_Culture_as_Link_between_Egypt_and_Africa_A_View_from_the_Archaeological_Record.
Ancient Sudan~Nubia (2008). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from Ibrahim Omer's site: http://www.ancientsudan.org/index.html.
Nubia Gallery (2011). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from the Oriental Institutes's site:http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/nubia/nknapnk.html.
Nubia: Lost Kingdom of the Nile. Retrieved 23 June 2011 from the claycenter.org' site:http://www.theclaycenter.org/shared/content/pdfs/LKNpowerpoint.pdf.
Women in Ancient Nubia. Retrieved 23 June 2011 from dignubia's site: http://www.dignubia.org/maps/timeline/bce-0667b.htm.
Ancient Nubia: The Role of Women (2011). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from the Oriental Institute's site:http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/NUBIA/women.html.
Role of Women in Nubia (Kneller). Retrieved 23 June 2011 from upenn.edu's site and Tara L. Kneller's page:http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Role_Women.html.
Describe the role of the pharaoh as god/king, the concept of dynasties, the importance of at least one Egyptian ruler, the relationship of the pharaohs to peasants, and the role of slaves in ancient Egypt.
Focus Question: What was the role of the pharaoh in Egyptian society?
Kids! offers an interactive introduction to Egyptian pharaohs from the Global Egyptian Museum.
Pharaoh wearing the blue crown
Pharaohs were responsible for preserving the “right order of society”. These responsibilities included the following:
Pharaohs were also believed to be divine. However, it was the power of kingship itself that the pharaoh represented, the individual king himself that was divine.From: (The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2009). Kings and Queens of Egypt. Retrieved January 31, 2010 fromhttp://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/kqae/hd_kqae.htm )
Pharaohs had absolute power in theory, but in practice this was not the case. By the 4th dynasty there was an established bureaucracy. Egypt was divided into provinces (nomes)—each of which had a governor (nomarch) who was responsible to the king.
Pharaohs were polygamous, but only had 1 principal queen (the wife whose male children were acknowledged as the pharaoh’s heirs).
Queens had little power until the New Kingdom period, when they became an essential part of their husbands’ reign. It was viewed as a disruption of the divine order of society for a king to rule without input from his queen.
Queens were also given estates, which provided them with financial independence.(Public Broadcasting Service. (2006). Egypt’s Golden Empire: Women in Power. Retrieved January 31, 2010 fromhttp://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/women_power.html )
For more information on pharaohs, visit the British Museum's interactive site Pharaoh: Lord of the Two Lands.
For primary sources and images, please see Egyptologyforum.org's site The EFF Guide to Internet Resources.
See PBS's site Secrets of the Pharaohs for timelines, interactive resources, and historical maps.
For an excellent lesson plan on pharaohs, see PBS's site Egypt's Greatest Leaders.
For a wonderful site with additional information, multimedia resources, and women's history sources, see Land of the Pharaohs.
See Discovery Channel's site Discovery Egypt Guide for interactive resources and video clips.
Focus Question: What were Egyptian dynasties?
A dynasty is a system in which ruling power is passed down within the same family—usually from father to son. However, women’s roles as mothers and queens were also important. The role of the queen as the mother of the next king lent royal women status and influence as symbols of creation and rebirth. Queens occasionally assumed the kingship of political or dynastic reasons, but their reigns were usually quite brief. Hatshepsut was an exception to this.
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2009). Kings and Queens of Egypt. Retrieved January 31, 2010 fromhttp://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/kqae/hd_kqae.htm )Painted limestone Sphinx of Hetepheres II, a daughter of Khufu and royal princess of Egypt during the fourth dynasty of Egypt, who became the queen of EgyptChronology of Egyptian Kingdoms
Old Kingdom: 2686-2125 BCE
Middle Kingdom 2055-1650 BCE (Egypt’s Golden Age)
New Kingdom: 1550-1085 BCE
Focus Question: Who were some important Egyptian rulers?
Who was King Tut? from Tutankhamum and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, a National Geographic exhibition.
Statue of Ramses II at Luxor
Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE)Considered to be the greatest pharaoh of the New Kingdom, Egypt's Golden Age.
His best known Queen was Nefertari, whose tomb is one of the best preserved of any Egyptian burial site.
Hatshepsut (c. 1479-1458 BCE)After Hatshepsut’s father (Tuthmosis I) died, power was passed down to Hatshepsut’s half-brother (Tuthmosis II). When he died, power was passed to Hatshepsut’s stepson (Tuthmosis III) while he was still a child. Hatshepsut began ruling on Tuthmosis III’s behalf, which was common when a male heir inherited the kingship in youth.
Photo of a bust of the pharoah Hatshepsut. Photo on Wikimedia Commons by Keith Schengili-Roberts
Hatshepsut eventually claimed sole power of the kingship and declared herself Pharaoh. To quell the people’s anger and disapproval of her usurping power from Tuthmosis III, Hatshepsut used propaganda to stress her royal ancestry and claimed a direct link to the Egyptian gods.
She demanded that she be depicted as a man in pictures—complete with a male body and a fake beard. She also replaced the royal court with her supporters.
However, Tuthmosis III was still head of the army, which put Hatshepsut in a vulnerable position. If Egypt went to war and lost, she would be blamed and lose power. If Egypt went to war and won, Tuthmosis III would get all of the credit for the success and she’d lose power. To deal with this, Hatshepsut sent the entire Egyptian army on a trading expedition to Punt in order to both remove the threat of Tuthmosis III and build her reputation for bringing new and exciting goods to Egypt and for reaching out to other countries. Her plan was successful.
Hatshepsut died after ruling for 22 years. Tuthmosis III became king. Still bitter about Hatshepsut’s stealing his kingship, Tuthmosis III ordered Hatshepsut’s name and image to be removed from all over Egypt. Thus Hatshepsut was effectively “erased” from Egyptian history until 1903, when an archaeologist found her tomb.
(Public Broadcasting Service. (2006). Egypt’s Golden Empire: Hatshepsut. Retrieved January 31, 2010 fromhttp://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/hatshepsut.html )
Other female pharaohs included: Nitokerty (2175 BCE), Sobeknefru (1760-1755 BCE), Tawosret (1198-1190 BCE) and Cleopatra VII (see below).
Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) (c. 1364-1347 BCE)Statue of Akhenaten from the Aten temple at Karnak
Akhenaton was an important Egyptian Pharaoh, as he tried to introduce the idea of a new solo powerful God--ATEN, the god of the sun disk. He closed all the other temples and changed his own name from Amenhotep to Akhenaton.
This change was very unpopular with the people because they believed it would lead to the destruction of the cosmic order. Due to poor foreign policy Akhenaton’s also lost the territories of Syria and Palestine.
The next Pharaoh, Tutankhamen (King Tut), “the Boy king”, quickly restored all the old gods.
For more on King Tut, see the website King Tut NYC: The Return of the King.
Cleopatra VIICleopatra as depicted by the artist John William Waterhouse, 1888
Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth, a website from The Field Museum, Chicago.
Cleopatra, the last of the pharaohs before Egypt came under Roman control, was a Macedonian Greek and a descendent of Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great's generals who founded a dynasty that ruled Egypt for three centuries ("The Search for Cleopatra," Chip Brown, National Geographic Magazine, July, 2011, p. 46).
For more, see Cleopatra: A Biography by Duane W. Roller (Oxford University Press, 1010) who focuses on Cleopatra's roles as political, military and administrative leader. She spoke 10 language and was an accomplished diplomat and writer as well as an effective political leader.
Click here for a lesson plan on The Queens of Ancient Egypt, from Egypt's Golden Empire from PBS.
Click here for the Kings and Queens of Egypt from the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
.
Cleopatra's Alexandria from National Geographic Magazine offers a recreation of what they city looked like during Cleopatra's reign when a multicultural mix of 325,000 people lived there.
Focus Question: What was the relationship of the pharaohs to the peasants?It was not until the Middle Kingdom that the pharaoh was actually concerned with the welfare of the people. During the Old Kingdom, the pharaoh was seen as and “inaccessible god-king.” Yet in the Middle Kingdom the pharaoh was at least portrayed as watching over the people—for example, building public works and draining swampland in the Nile (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2009, p. 15-17).
The Ancient Egyptian social class structure
Focus Question: What was the role of slaves in ancient Egypt?
For information on slavery in ancient times, see Slaves and Freemen from "The Roman Empire in the First Century" from PBS.
Unlike subsequent European and American practices, ancient slavery was not based on race.
Websiteswww.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/
www.ancient-egypt.org/
www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Libu
www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/egypt.html
New Sources
Pharaoh: Lord of the Two Lands. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from the British Museum's site:http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/pharaoh/home.html.
The EFF GUIDE TO INTERNET RESOURCES. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from Egyptologyforum's site:http://www.egyptologyforum.org/EEFtexts.html.
Secrets of the Pharaohs. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from PBS's site: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/pharaohs/index.html.
Egypt's Greatest Leaders. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from PBS's site: http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/educators/lesson4.html.
Land of the Pharaohs. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from:
http://web1.beverlyhg-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/Faculty/History/LIAKOPOULOS/Land%20of%20the%20Pharaohs/land_of_the_pharaohs.htm.
Discovery Egypt Guide. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from Discovery Channel's site: http://dsc.discovery.com/egypt/.
Kids! offers an interactive introduction to Egyptian pharaohs from the Global Egyptian Museum.
Pharaoh wearing the blue crown
Pharaohs were responsible for preserving the “right order of society”. These responsibilities included the following:
- Preserving peace and political stability
- Performing all necessary religious rituals
- Addressing the economic needs of the people
- Providing justice
- Protecting the country from internal and external threats
Pharaohs were also believed to be divine. However, it was the power of kingship itself that the pharaoh represented, the individual king himself that was divine.From: (The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2009). Kings and Queens of Egypt. Retrieved January 31, 2010 fromhttp://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/kqae/hd_kqae.htm )
Pharaohs had absolute power in theory, but in practice this was not the case. By the 4th dynasty there was an established bureaucracy. Egypt was divided into provinces (nomes)—each of which had a governor (nomarch) who was responsible to the king.
Pharaohs were polygamous, but only had 1 principal queen (the wife whose male children were acknowledged as the pharaoh’s heirs).
Queens had little power until the New Kingdom period, when they became an essential part of their husbands’ reign. It was viewed as a disruption of the divine order of society for a king to rule without input from his queen.
Queens were also given estates, which provided them with financial independence.(Public Broadcasting Service. (2006). Egypt’s Golden Empire: Women in Power. Retrieved January 31, 2010 fromhttp://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/women_power.html )
For more information on pharaohs, visit the British Museum's interactive site Pharaoh: Lord of the Two Lands.
For primary sources and images, please see Egyptologyforum.org's site The EFF Guide to Internet Resources.
See PBS's site Secrets of the Pharaohs for timelines, interactive resources, and historical maps.
For an excellent lesson plan on pharaohs, see PBS's site Egypt's Greatest Leaders.
For a wonderful site with additional information, multimedia resources, and women's history sources, see Land of the Pharaohs.
See Discovery Channel's site Discovery Egypt Guide for interactive resources and video clips.
Focus Question: What were Egyptian dynasties?
A dynasty is a system in which ruling power is passed down within the same family—usually from father to son. However, women’s roles as mothers and queens were also important. The role of the queen as the mother of the next king lent royal women status and influence as symbols of creation and rebirth. Queens occasionally assumed the kingship of political or dynastic reasons, but their reigns were usually quite brief. Hatshepsut was an exception to this.
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2009). Kings and Queens of Egypt. Retrieved January 31, 2010 fromhttp://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/kqae/hd_kqae.htm )Painted limestone Sphinx of Hetepheres II, a daughter of Khufu and royal princess of Egypt during the fourth dynasty of Egypt, who became the queen of EgyptChronology of Egyptian Kingdoms
Old Kingdom: 2686-2125 BCE
- Pharaoh was an inaccessible God/King. People had no choice but to obey or they risked causing a breakdown in the cosmic structure of life.
Middle Kingdom 2055-1650 BCE (Egypt’s Golden Age)
- Pharaoh was now concerned about public welfare. Domestic improvements, including draining swamp lands and digging a canal that connected the Nile to the Red Sea, took place.
- Pharaoh also sent traders to Kush, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Crete during this time.
New Kingdom: 1550-1085 BCE
- Warfare (using better weapons) was used to gain wealth and land.
- Egypt occupied parts of Palestine, Syria and Libya during this time.
Focus Question: Who were some important Egyptian rulers?
Who was King Tut? from Tutankhamum and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, a National Geographic exhibition.
Statue of Ramses II at Luxor
Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE)Considered to be the greatest pharaoh of the New Kingdom, Egypt's Golden Age.
His best known Queen was Nefertari, whose tomb is one of the best preserved of any Egyptian burial site.
Hatshepsut (c. 1479-1458 BCE)After Hatshepsut’s father (Tuthmosis I) died, power was passed down to Hatshepsut’s half-brother (Tuthmosis II). When he died, power was passed to Hatshepsut’s stepson (Tuthmosis III) while he was still a child. Hatshepsut began ruling on Tuthmosis III’s behalf, which was common when a male heir inherited the kingship in youth.
Photo of a bust of the pharoah Hatshepsut. Photo on Wikimedia Commons by Keith Schengili-Roberts
Hatshepsut eventually claimed sole power of the kingship and declared herself Pharaoh. To quell the people’s anger and disapproval of her usurping power from Tuthmosis III, Hatshepsut used propaganda to stress her royal ancestry and claimed a direct link to the Egyptian gods.
She demanded that she be depicted as a man in pictures—complete with a male body and a fake beard. She also replaced the royal court with her supporters.
However, Tuthmosis III was still head of the army, which put Hatshepsut in a vulnerable position. If Egypt went to war and lost, she would be blamed and lose power. If Egypt went to war and won, Tuthmosis III would get all of the credit for the success and she’d lose power. To deal with this, Hatshepsut sent the entire Egyptian army on a trading expedition to Punt in order to both remove the threat of Tuthmosis III and build her reputation for bringing new and exciting goods to Egypt and for reaching out to other countries. Her plan was successful.
Hatshepsut died after ruling for 22 years. Tuthmosis III became king. Still bitter about Hatshepsut’s stealing his kingship, Tuthmosis III ordered Hatshepsut’s name and image to be removed from all over Egypt. Thus Hatshepsut was effectively “erased” from Egyptian history until 1903, when an archaeologist found her tomb.
(Public Broadcasting Service. (2006). Egypt’s Golden Empire: Hatshepsut. Retrieved January 31, 2010 fromhttp://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/hatshepsut.html )
Other female pharaohs included: Nitokerty (2175 BCE), Sobeknefru (1760-1755 BCE), Tawosret (1198-1190 BCE) and Cleopatra VII (see below).
Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) (c. 1364-1347 BCE)Statue of Akhenaten from the Aten temple at Karnak
Akhenaton was an important Egyptian Pharaoh, as he tried to introduce the idea of a new solo powerful God--ATEN, the god of the sun disk. He closed all the other temples and changed his own name from Amenhotep to Akhenaton.
This change was very unpopular with the people because they believed it would lead to the destruction of the cosmic order. Due to poor foreign policy Akhenaton’s also lost the territories of Syria and Palestine.
The next Pharaoh, Tutankhamen (King Tut), “the Boy king”, quickly restored all the old gods.
For more on King Tut, see the website King Tut NYC: The Return of the King.
Cleopatra VIICleopatra as depicted by the artist John William Waterhouse, 1888
Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth, a website from The Field Museum, Chicago.
Cleopatra, the last of the pharaohs before Egypt came under Roman control, was a Macedonian Greek and a descendent of Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great's generals who founded a dynasty that ruled Egypt for three centuries ("The Search for Cleopatra," Chip Brown, National Geographic Magazine, July, 2011, p. 46).
For more, see Cleopatra: A Biography by Duane W. Roller (Oxford University Press, 1010) who focuses on Cleopatra's roles as political, military and administrative leader. She spoke 10 language and was an accomplished diplomat and writer as well as an effective political leader.
Click here for a lesson plan on The Queens of Ancient Egypt, from Egypt's Golden Empire from PBS.
Click here for the Kings and Queens of Egypt from the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
.
Cleopatra's Alexandria from National Geographic Magazine offers a recreation of what they city looked like during Cleopatra's reign when a multicultural mix of 325,000 people lived there.
Focus Question: What was the relationship of the pharaohs to the peasants?It was not until the Middle Kingdom that the pharaoh was actually concerned with the welfare of the people. During the Old Kingdom, the pharaoh was seen as and “inaccessible god-king.” Yet in the Middle Kingdom the pharaoh was at least portrayed as watching over the people—for example, building public works and draining swampland in the Nile (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2009, p. 15-17).
The Ancient Egyptian social class structure
Focus Question: What was the role of slaves in ancient Egypt?
For information on slavery in ancient times, see Slaves and Freemen from "The Roman Empire in the First Century" from PBS.
Unlike subsequent European and American practices, ancient slavery was not based on race.
Websiteswww.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/
www.ancient-egypt.org/
www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Libu
www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/egypt.html
New Sources
Pharaoh: Lord of the Two Lands. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from the British Museum's site:http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/pharaoh/home.html.
The EFF GUIDE TO INTERNET RESOURCES. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from Egyptologyforum's site:http://www.egyptologyforum.org/EEFtexts.html.
Secrets of the Pharaohs. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from PBS's site: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/pharaohs/index.html.
Egypt's Greatest Leaders. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from PBS's site: http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/educators/lesson4.html.
Land of the Pharaohs. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from:
http://web1.beverlyhg-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/Faculty/History/LIAKOPOULOS/Land%20of%20the%20Pharaohs/land_of_the_pharaohs.htm.
Discovery Egypt Guide. Retrieved 20 July 2011 from Discovery Channel's site: http://dsc.discovery.com/egypt/.
Describe the polytheistic religion of ancient Egypt, with respect to beliefs about death, the afterlife, mummification and the roles of different deities.
Focus Question: What were ancient Egypt's beliefs about death, the afterlife, mummification, and the roles of different deities?
Priest Renpetmaa praying Ra-Horakhty. Coated and painted wood, ca. 900 BCE. Photo on Wikimedia Commons by Guillaume Blanchard.
Click here for an extensive overview of Religion in the Lives of Ancient Egyptians. Topics covered include:
Click here for a fascinating interview with Egyptologist Salima Ikram about the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. Includes wonderful pictures of mummies and a wealth of further resources like interactive tours of Ancient Egypt and videos.
For an overview of recent discoveries, visit the website of the prominent archaeologist, Zahi Hawass.
Essential Understandings
Polytheism: the worship of more than one god. Egyptian gods include Anubis, Seth, Osiris, Isis, and Horus.
Click here for a list of more Gods and Goddesses.
Click here for information about Women in Ancient Egyptian religion .
The article, Women in Ancient Egyptian Religion, Part II, provides additional information about the roles women played in ancient Egyptian religion.
The Pharaoh, or king of Egypt, was viewed as both human and divine, and thus acted as intermediary between Egypt's people and the gods. He was given the challenging task of maintaining "Maat" within his kingdom. The concept of maat is central to Egyptian religion and thought and is the embodiment of truth and the balance of the universe. The Pharaoh's role in maintaining Maat involved defending the country from enemies, appointing fair officials, managing the food supply, and appeasing the gods with temples and offerings.
DeathEgyptian beliefs:
Click here to learn more about tombs of Ancient Egypt.
Watch this video clip, "Tombs of Ancient Egypt", to gain more knowledge on the purpose of tombs, their construction, and what contents would be place within them.
Afterlife
Mummification
See also The Mummy Maker, an interactive embalmer's workshop, where you are to prepare the body of Ramose, officer to the king, for buria, from the BBC.
Watch the video clip, "How to Make a Mummy" , to see how the body was prepared for the mummification process.
Ra, the egyptian god was the god of sun and kings
Roles of Deities
Egyptian artifacts on Display in Torino, Italy
Conduct a class discussion/debate on who has the rights to famous artifacts such as Egyptian mummies and Greek statues. Linking the
Egyptians’ belief in an afterlife with the ways that Western archaeologists have removed and studied mummies leads to an interesting discussion.
As one of our 180 Days in Springfield interns noted: " I have found that my classes were very divided on the matter, with some being vehemently opposed to tampering
of tombs and bodies."
For background on this issue, see
Sources
Priest Renpetmaa praying Ra-Horakhty. Coated and painted wood, ca. 900 BCE. Photo on Wikimedia Commons by Guillaume Blanchard.
Click here for an extensive overview of Religion in the Lives of Ancient Egyptians. Topics covered include:
- Origins and nature of the gods
- Cult of the gods
- Maat, the king, and his subjects
- The king, Osiris, and the ritual of rejuvenation
- Polytheism, henotheism, and monotheism
Click here for a fascinating interview with Egyptologist Salima Ikram about the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. Includes wonderful pictures of mummies and a wealth of further resources like interactive tours of Ancient Egypt and videos.
For an overview of recent discoveries, visit the website of the prominent archaeologist, Zahi Hawass.
Essential Understandings
Polytheism: the worship of more than one god. Egyptian gods include Anubis, Seth, Osiris, Isis, and Horus.
Click here for a list of more Gods and Goddesses.
Click here for information about Women in Ancient Egyptian religion .
The article, Women in Ancient Egyptian Religion, Part II, provides additional information about the roles women played in ancient Egyptian religion.
The Pharaoh, or king of Egypt, was viewed as both human and divine, and thus acted as intermediary between Egypt's people and the gods. He was given the challenging task of maintaining "Maat" within his kingdom. The concept of maat is central to Egyptian religion and thought and is the embodiment of truth and the balance of the universe. The Pharaoh's role in maintaining Maat involved defending the country from enemies, appointing fair officials, managing the food supply, and appeasing the gods with temples and offerings.
DeathEgyptian beliefs:
- Death is not the end; it's a natural step in the life cycle.
- Death is really a "rebirth."
- After death, Anubis weighs your soul against a feather and if your soul is heavier, you are be punished.
- After death, you enter a new world like the current one, so you are buried with everything you will need.
- Belief that people had three parts to them, ka("spiritual twin"), ba (personality/religion), andakh (refers to a person's immortality).
- Ba could leave the deceased tomb during the day and do as it pleased, but had to remain in the tomb when the deceased wanted it to.
Click here to learn more about tombs of Ancient Egypt.
Watch this video clip, "Tombs of Ancient Egypt", to gain more knowledge on the purpose of tombs, their construction, and what contents would be place within them.
Afterlife
- Life is a preliminary stage to get to the afterlife.
- Afterlife is ensured by mummification then putting the body in tomb with the persons name on it and having a funeral. Food or drink was then offered to those who were not able to attend the funeral.
- To make sure the dead had material comfort in their afterlife, ancient Egyptians would place jewelry, furniture, and clothes, etc., in the tombs.
Mummification
- Mummification placed soft tissue in salt for preservation. Major organs were removed and placed in jars then the body was dressed in linens and buried. The process took about 70 days to complete.
- Mummification was originially reserved for kings, but throughout time became a common practice for everyone.
- It was believed that the physical body must be preserved by mummification in order for the soul to remain there in the afterlife.
- Bodies were mummified so the soul could get food and water in the afterlife.
- First, the internal organs would be removed, stored in jars, and placed at the burial site. The brain had no importance to the Egyptians, so they removed and disposed of it.
- The second step was letting the body dry in the sun for 40-50 days after being wrapped in cloth and soaked in natron (drying mixture of salt).
- Next, the body was stuffed with material, such as resin and linen, and formed into the person's original size and shape.
- The last stage consisted of wrapping the body in linen while priests said prayers. Jewelry was often placed within the linens.
See also The Mummy Maker, an interactive embalmer's workshop, where you are to prepare the body of Ramose, officer to the king, for buria, from the BBC.
Watch the video clip, "How to Make a Mummy" , to see how the body was prepared for the mummification process.
Ra, the egyptian god was the god of sun and kings
Roles of Deities
- The main deities were Atum, Ra, Chnum, Amun, Ptah. Each ruled over specific regions at specific times.
- Atum was the god of sun, ruler of gods. Atum is illustrated as a black bull or golden crown. He was considered the father of gods/pharaohs.
- Ra was the god of heaven/power/light. Ra was illustrated with a sun disk on his head. He is too old to rule from Earth, so he watches over from the heavens.
- Chnum was the "ram god" who made the Nile fertile for agriculture. Chnum was the creator of humans by making babies out of clay and putting them in women's wombs.
- Amun was the god of wind/sun,and later the head deity. Amun was illustrated as a man with beard and feathered crown/sun disk. Amun joined with Ra to become main deity.
- Ptah was the god of creation/artisans. He was shown as man with beard, wrapped like a mummy except for his hands.
Egyptian artifacts on Display in Torino, Italy
Conduct a class discussion/debate on who has the rights to famous artifacts such as Egyptian mummies and Greek statues. Linking the
Egyptians’ belief in an afterlife with the ways that Western archaeologists have removed and studied mummies leads to an interesting discussion.
As one of our 180 Days in Springfield interns noted: " I have found that my classes were very divided on the matter, with some being vehemently opposed to tampering
of tombs and bodies."
For background on this issue, see
Sources
- http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/specials/tutankhamun/article2646373.ece
- http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/women2.htm
- http://www.king-tut.org.uk/egyptian-tombs/index.htm
- http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/countries-places/egypt/tombs-of-ancient-egypt.html
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o0QL0YOqwQ
- http://www.history.com/videos/mummies-damned-mummies#engineering-an-empire-are-mummies-beef-jerky
Summarize the greatest achievements of Egyptian civilization
Focus Question: What are the greatest achievements of Egyptian civilization?Great Pyramid of Giza from a 19th century stereopticon card photo
See Egypt's Golden Empire, an interactive website from PBS, for background on Egypt's New Kingdom period.
a. Agricultural system
Ø Egyptians formatted tools to aid with agriculture including plows, sickles, hoes, forks, scoops, baskets, shaduf, skiffs, and sieves.
Ø Invented the sail (3500 BC) and wine cellars (3100 BC)
Ø Fayum Irrigation: First man-made water reservoir (1900 BC)
Ø Sickles: wood that was sharpened to cut
Ø Shaduf: mechanical irrigation tool; brought water to and from canals; designed like a pulley-system
Ø Skiffs: made of papyrus; used for traveling the Nile and fishing
Ø Created irrigation to get water to reach lands did not border the Nile.
Ø Catch basins: collected excess water during floods and stored it for later use
Ø The growing seasons were dependent on the the flooding of the Nile River
b. Invention of a calendarØ Floods started in June and ended in October
Ø Harvest time started in February and ended with a new flood in June
Ø Sirius (a star) appeared within a few weeks of these occurrences - defined exact length of the earth’s trip around the sun
Ø After Sirius disappeared, the first new moon appeared after 70 days, marking the start of the new calendar year. One moon month was 29 ½ days
Ø The calendar was short by ¼ day every year, which added up, so Augustus introduced the “leap year” in 30 BC
Ø When Egypt was taken over by the Macedonians and eventually by the Romans, the Egyptian calendar months translatedinto the Macedonian and Roman calendars
c. Monumental architecture and art such as the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza
Ø The Sphinx at Giza is a half lion and half human statue built in 3rd millennium BC
Ø It is among the largest single-stone statues on earth, carved from limestone bedrock
Ø It faces due east
Ø “Riddle of the Sphinx”: no one knows for sure who built it, when, or what it was really modeled after
Ø Pyramids were built to house dead pharaohs and queens
Ø 80 pyramids still stand today, while 3 of the largest and best preserved are found at Giza
Ø The most well-known pyramid is the “Great Pyramid” was built for pharaoh Khufu
Ø The second best-known is the pyramid built for Khufu’s son, pharaoh Khafra
Ø The sphinx guards Khara’s pyramid
Ø The final largest was built for pharaoh Menkaure
Ø Pyramids were shaped the way they were so the dead could climb up to heaven and the sloping sides represented the rays of the sun
see Explore the Pyramids an interactive site from National Geographic including photos, diagrams, and facts on the Pyramids.
d. HieroglyphicsØ Believed writing was created by the gods and called it “god’s words” ("mdwt ntr")Ø Hieroglyphic comes from the Greek word hieros (sacred) & glypho (inscriptions)
Ø Dates back to 3400 BC
Ø Hieroglyphic script was used mostly on tombs and temple walls
Ø Hieratic script was used in everyday writing
See Hieroglyphic Alphabet Translator for a simplified alphabet that may be used to translate student names or two write a secret message as a class activity
This is a great classroom activity for students to translate hieroglyphics. It includes a helpful explanation of the origin of hieroglyphs.
e. Invention of papyrusWriting on Papyrus
Ø after developing a way to write, they needed something to write on
Ø harvested a triangular reed found in lower Egypt that was light-weight, strong and durable that dates back to 4000 BC
Ø papyrus plant was used for paper, food, medicine, perfume, making baskets, ropes, boats, sandals, utensils, tables and chairs
Ø standard size was 47 cm long & 22 cm wide
Status of Women
Pharaoh Queen
Women had considerable rights and status in Egyptian society and greater equality with men than in many other societies in the past.
Click here for an online exhibit, "Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt " from the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.
"From Warrior Women to Female Pharaohs, " a website from the BBC provides a more extensive look at women's roles in ancient Egypt.
"Egypt's Golden Empire, Women in Power" a PBS website that explores the roles of powerful women in the New Kingdom.
See Egypt's Golden Empire, an interactive website from PBS, for background on Egypt's New Kingdom period.
a. Agricultural system
Ø Egyptians formatted tools to aid with agriculture including plows, sickles, hoes, forks, scoops, baskets, shaduf, skiffs, and sieves.
Ø Invented the sail (3500 BC) and wine cellars (3100 BC)
Ø Fayum Irrigation: First man-made water reservoir (1900 BC)
Ø Sickles: wood that was sharpened to cut
Ø Shaduf: mechanical irrigation tool; brought water to and from canals; designed like a pulley-system
Ø Skiffs: made of papyrus; used for traveling the Nile and fishing
Ø Created irrigation to get water to reach lands did not border the Nile.
Ø Catch basins: collected excess water during floods and stored it for later use
Ø The growing seasons were dependent on the the flooding of the Nile River
b. Invention of a calendarØ Floods started in June and ended in October
Ø Harvest time started in February and ended with a new flood in June
Ø Sirius (a star) appeared within a few weeks of these occurrences - defined exact length of the earth’s trip around the sun
Ø After Sirius disappeared, the first new moon appeared after 70 days, marking the start of the new calendar year. One moon month was 29 ½ days
Ø The calendar was short by ¼ day every year, which added up, so Augustus introduced the “leap year” in 30 BC
Ø When Egypt was taken over by the Macedonians and eventually by the Romans, the Egyptian calendar months translatedinto the Macedonian and Roman calendars
c. Monumental architecture and art such as the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza
Ø The Sphinx at Giza is a half lion and half human statue built in 3rd millennium BC
Ø It is among the largest single-stone statues on earth, carved from limestone bedrock
Ø It faces due east
Ø “Riddle of the Sphinx”: no one knows for sure who built it, when, or what it was really modeled after
Ø Pyramids were built to house dead pharaohs and queens
Ø 80 pyramids still stand today, while 3 of the largest and best preserved are found at Giza
Ø The most well-known pyramid is the “Great Pyramid” was built for pharaoh Khufu
Ø The second best-known is the pyramid built for Khufu’s son, pharaoh Khafra
Ø The sphinx guards Khara’s pyramid
Ø The final largest was built for pharaoh Menkaure
Ø Pyramids were shaped the way they were so the dead could climb up to heaven and the sloping sides represented the rays of the sun
see Explore the Pyramids an interactive site from National Geographic including photos, diagrams, and facts on the Pyramids.
d. HieroglyphicsØ Believed writing was created by the gods and called it “god’s words” ("mdwt ntr")Ø Hieroglyphic comes from the Greek word hieros (sacred) & glypho (inscriptions)
Ø Dates back to 3400 BC
Ø Hieroglyphic script was used mostly on tombs and temple walls
Ø Hieratic script was used in everyday writing
See Hieroglyphic Alphabet Translator for a simplified alphabet that may be used to translate student names or two write a secret message as a class activity
This is a great classroom activity for students to translate hieroglyphics. It includes a helpful explanation of the origin of hieroglyphs.
e. Invention of papyrusWriting on Papyrus
Ø after developing a way to write, they needed something to write on
Ø harvested a triangular reed found in lower Egypt that was light-weight, strong and durable that dates back to 4000 BC
Ø papyrus plant was used for paper, food, medicine, perfume, making baskets, ropes, boats, sandals, utensils, tables and chairs
Ø standard size was 47 cm long & 22 cm wide
Status of Women
Pharaoh Queen
Women had considerable rights and status in Egyptian society and greater equality with men than in many other societies in the past.
Click here for an online exhibit, "Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt " from the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.
"From Warrior Women to Female Pharaohs, " a website from the BBC provides a more extensive look at women's roles in ancient Egypt.
"Egypt's Golden Empire, Women in Power" a PBS website that explores the roles of powerful women in the New Kingdom.
https://resourcesforhistoryteachers.wikispaces.com/AncientCivilizations