Ancient Egypt
Geography
The Great Nile River-
The Nile River brought life to Egypt, letting it thrive. The river was so important to this religion that a Greek historian named Herodutus called Egypt "the gift of the Nile." It's called "The Gift Of The Nile" because the Nile river helped Egyptian farmers plant crops so everyone could eat. The Nile is the longest river in the world.
The Nile River, Deserts, And Mountains Kept Egypt Safe-
The Nile River, Mountains, and Deserts helped Egypt have not as many invaders because the Nile River had many cataracts. Cataracts are rough waves that are in water, making it hard for invaders to cross the Nile River because large ships cannot cross the waves.
These helped Egyptians in four ways-
* The Nile Rivers water was used to plant/grow crops and for drinking.
* As I Said, Cataracts kept away many invaders because it's very hard to get bigger ships/boats across cataracts.
* Marshy deserts also kept out enemies because the sand was very hot and they would most likely sink/get stuck in the sand.
* The mountains were very high and were also intimidating for invaders to get over.
The Nile Rivers flooding-
Egypt never really gets a lot of rain. So once a year all the farmers get excited because coming from East Africa The Nile River would flood, causing a rich soil to be deposited by the delta. This rich soil would make the land soften so that the farmers could farm. This, saved Egyptians life's.
Egypt's Mountains-
Egypt's mountains were very tall and wide. So this made it difficult for invaders to get to Egypt to attack. The hot, hot weather in Egypt also made it hard for them to get up the mountains.
Below are the three mountains in Egypt-
Pyramids-
Pyramids played a huge role in Ancient Egypt's geography. From the beginning of the dynastic era royal tombs made with low ceilings were built to have passed away pharaohs go into them. The first known pyramid was built around 6630 B.C.
this shows upper and lower Egypt
a pyrimaid
a physical map of egypt
Egypt's Social Hierarchy-
- Pharaoh- The most powerful ruler in Egypt
- Vizers- A high official
- High priests & Nobles- The "chief" priest/ A person of noble rank or birth
- Officials, Scribes- A person holding a public office/ A person who writes books or documents
- Craftsmen- A person who is skilled in a particular craft
- Slaves, Labourers & Peasants- A person who is legal property of another/a person doing unskilled manual work for wages/ a poor farmer of low social status who owns or rents a small piece of land for cultivation
Pharoahs-
In time, there have been over one hundred seventy Pharaohs in Egypt. But, there are three famous Pharaohs that you're going to learn a lot about. They're all important and made a lot of impact on our daily lives to this very day.
Menes-
Menes unified Egypt. Unified means to bring things together. Menes was an Egyptian Pharaoh of the early dynastic era. Menes was also founder of the first dynasty. He was also known as uniting people (such as how he did with upper and lower Egypt.) If Menes would've never ruled Egypt then Egypt would have never had 20 Pharaohs, a big army, and have brought upper and lower Egypt together. If upper and lower Egypt had never been united then they would most likely still be fighting against each other to this very day.
Djoser-
Djoser was the 2nd Egyptian of the 3rd dynasty. He also was the founder of Epoch. Djoser also undertook the construction of the earliest important stone buildings in Egypt. He developed mining, which provided turquoise and copper. He also constructed the step pyramid. Djoser completed many constructions including the rebuilding of the Temple Khnum on Elephantine, the unfinished Tomb Of Abydos, and farther North, the Egyptian Capital. If Djoser would've never reigned then copper and turquoise would've never been founded and more than 5 very important buildings would have never been built.
Cleopatra
On August 12, 30 B.C. the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra took her life in a Mausoleum in Alexandria by being smuggled by a poisonous snake. The last two decades she had power struggles with her siblings. (such as her brother taking over her rule.) Shes known as on of the most brilliant Pharaohs. Did you know Cleopatra was only half Egyptian? In her family, Cleopatra was the only one who could speak Egyptian. What Cleopatra accomplished in her reign was showing that women can do the same things that men can do. But... her best accomplishment was between 48 and 30 B.C. She united an otherwise torn kingdom and improved the economy. If she would've never ruled, then Egypt would have never united, women would still think that they can't be rulers or do what men can do.
The Rosetta Stone-
The Rosetta Stone is a stone that has two writings/languages on it. The two languages on it are Egyptian and Greek. It also has three scripts. Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek. The reason it was written in three different scripts is because not everyone in Egypt used the same scripts. The Rosetta Stone was carved in 196 B.C. The Rosetta Stone was found in 1799. It was found while a group of French soldiers were rebuilding a fort in Egypt. The reason its called the Rosetta Stone is because it was found in a town named Rosetta. If the Rosetta Stone was never written then we wouldn't have nearly as much knowledge as we do about Ancient Egypt and Pharaohs as we do when we read the Rosetta Stone.
Egyptian Religion-
Religion just about controlled Egyptians life and what decisions they made. Egyptian religion is based on polytheism which is the worship of many Gods. Temples were called dwelling places for Gods. Egyptians pictured death as a door to a better world. Each person was believed to have three souls, "ka" "ba" and "akh." After a person died, the body was washed and purified in a special shelter named "ibu." The body was then taken into the Wabet, the embarmers workshop. They cut the left side of the body and removed the organs. The organs were stored in containers known as Canopic Jars. Then, the body was packed with 700 pounds of dalt called Natron for forty days. After that the body was wrapped in bandages with jewelry and amulets between layers. A mas was placed on the face. And in most cases the mummy was to go to his/her pyramid.