The document provides information about ancient Egypt, including its geography along the Nile River valley, how the Egyptians relied on the Nile for resources, and the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under King Narmer around 3100 BC. It then discusses the Old Kingdom period from 2600-2300 BC when Egypt grew wealthy and powerful under all-powerful pharaohs. The Egyptians built large pyramids such as the Great Pyramid at Giza to serve as tombs for pharaohs, reflecting their beliefs about life after death.

1. The Nile Valley
Egypt’s Old Kingdom
The Egyptian Empire
The Civilization of Kush

2. Location


3. The Nile River Valley

 Egyptians relied on it for
drinking water, irrigation,
cooking, cleaning,
transportation, fish…
 4,000 miles – The World’s
Longest River!
 Large ships can only travel on
the last 650 miles because of
crazy rapids called cataracts

4. Geography

Deserts
 West of the Nile is the Saharan Desert
 East of the Nile is the Eastern Desert
Protection
 Deserts, the marsh land of the delta & cataracts
provided Ancient Egypt with natural barriers to
fend off enemies!
Waterways
 The Nile, the Mediterranean, & the Red Sea

5. The River People

 Regular flooding means less
worrying about crops!
 Floods left behind fertile mud
that looked black
 Kemet = Black Land
 Irrigation meant healthy crops
of wheat, barley, & flax seed

7. Papyrus

 Made from a reed plant
 Used to make baskets, sandals, river rafts, paper

8. Hieroglyphics

 Complex writing system; had picture & sound symbols

9. Cartouche Project

 Cartouche Project: Print out the blank cartouche and make a
copy for each student.
 Have the students take the cartouche home and make the
paper look old. They could do this several ways (the best is
to place the cartouche paper in a deep pan, pour coffee or
dark tea over it, then bake it in the oven for a few minutes).
 Have the students bring the cartouche back to class and
then they can write their name on it in hieroglyphics.
 They can also add some Egyptian pictures and color it with
earth tones.

10. Monday, September 19, 2011

Today, I will learn about
when Egypt united under one
ruler. I will learn about
dynasties, the social class
structure of Ancient Egypt,
and Egyptian life.

11. Upper & Lower Egypt

 Villages grew into kingdoms
 Strong kingdoms took over weak kingdoms.
 Eventually, there were 2 large kingdoms:
Lower Egypt – the Nile delta
Upper Egypt – upriver; to the south
Their names may seem backwards…but it’s called “Upper”
and “Lower” because of their elevation…not because they
are North or South.

12. Wait…Upper Egypt is south & Lower Egypt is North?!
Upper Egypt- is
higher in elevation
Lower Egypt (the
river delta is lower in
elevation)

13. A United Egypt

 ~ 3100 B.C., Egypt’s 2 major kingdoms were combined
into 1…thanks, King Narmer (aka Menes MEE-neez)
 Capital at that time was in Memphis
 Narmer’s dynasty lasted long after his death
 dynasty = a line of rulers from one family
 Ancient Egypt had 31 dynasties

14. 

15. Assignment
Section 1 Review:

On a piece of headed paper:
Complete # 1-7 on page 46. Do
your BEST work!

16. Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Today, I will learn that Egypt was ruled
by all-powerful pharaohs, that the
Egyptians believed in many gods and
goddesses & in life after death for the
pharaohs. The Egyptians of the Old
Kingdom built huge stone pyramids as
tombs for their pharaohs.

17. Section 1 Review Answers

1. It is a reed plant that was used to make baskets, sandals, river
rafts, and paper.
2. Women could own and pass on property, buy & sell goods, make
wills, obtain divorces, and take part in religious ceremonies.
3. Farming, Crafts, Trade led to the growth of government in
Ancient Egypt.
4. The Nile River valley had natural barriers for protection, enriched
soil for farming, & the river and seas for trade.
5. Picture symbols (hieroglyphics) stood for objects, ideas & sounds.
6. It symbolized the unity of Upper & Lower Egypt.
7. Answers will vary.

18. Quiz 2-1 The Nile Valley

Write the word and the definition for: hieroglyphics, dynasty, papyrus,
cataract, delta
1. The Nile River – the longest river in the world – is
____________ miles long.
2. The Egyptians took advantage of the Nile’s yearly spring
flooding by becoming successful ___________.
3. After 3100 B.C, Egypt’s government was a __________.
4. A diagram of Egypt’s social classes looks like a _________.
5. Two ways Mesopotamia & Egypt are the same are:
_____________ & _______________.

19. Friday, September 23, 2011

Today, I will continue to learn about
Egypt’s Old Kingdom. I will review what
we learned on Wednesday about
pharaohs & their religion. I will then take
notes & read about their beliefs in life
after death, the pyramids, and the Great
Pyramid in particular.

20. Egypt’s Old Kingdom

 2600 B.C. – 2300 B.C
 Egypt grew & became wealthy
 Built cities
 Expanded trade
 Kings set up a strong government

21. Pharaohs

 Powerful ruler, unlimited
power
 Appointed officials to do
their work
 People believed the
pharaoh was the son of Re
(the sun god)

22. Egypt’s Religion

 Polytheism “many gods or deities”
 Major gods
Re – the sun god
Hapi – goddess of the Nile
Isis – represented loyal wife & mother; Osiris’s
wife; goddess of the dead
Osiris – Isis’s husband; god of the dead

23. Life after Death

The Book of the Dead – collection of spells & prayers
that Egyptians studied to obtain life after death
 Osiris would meet them upon death & they would have
to say the spells to have life after death
 Wanted bodies to be preserved for afterlife
(embalmed mummies)
 Embalming = a process to preserve dead bodies

24. The Pyramids

 Mountain-like tombs for pharaohs
 Built by slaves & farmers during Nile floods
 Entrance faced North

25. Egyptian Inventions

 First specialists in medicine
 365-day calendar with 12
months
 Math
- numbers based on 10
- fractions
- advances in geometry

26. The Great Pyramid

 Built in 2540 B.C
 Largest & grandest of all the
pyramids
 Built for King Khufu
 In Giza on the west bank of the
Nile

27. Tuesday, September 27, 2011

 Turn in your green folder.
Make sure you have all your stuff!
Sharpen your pencil (the
sharpener is back in action)!
Sit quietly and wait for WCMS.

28. Tuesday, September 27, 2011

 Today, I will read about and discuss
Ancient Egypt’s Middle & New
Kingdom. I will learn about important
Egyptian people like Queen
Hatshepsut, Akhenaton,
Tutankhamen, and Ramses II.

29. Jigsaw Reading

 Each person will read a section. You will have
15minutes.
 You will have 20 minutes to discuss as a group & take
notes on what you all think are the most important things
to know about this section.
 Red – The Middle Kingdom p. 60
 Green – The New Kingdom p. 61
 Yellow – The Legacies of 2 Pharaohs p.64
 Blue – The End of the New Kingdom p.65

30. 

31. The Middle Kingdom

2050 B.C.E – 1670 C.E
Everything was good: stable, became more
rich, and powerful
Capital moved from Memphis to Thebes
Nobles started fighting for power, got
distracted & wham!...
 the Hyksos attacked & ruled Egypt for
120 years!

32. The New Kingdom

 Lasted from 1550 B.C.E – 1080 C.E
 Height of Egypt’s glory
 Ahmose (Egyptian Prince…how dreamy!) drove out the
Hyksos
 Queen Hatshepsut - 1st Woman Pharaoh…sweet!
interested in trade (economy), not war (conquests).
 ruled for 21 years & it was peaceful.
 Thutmose III – put the focus back on conquest

33. Ahmose
Hatshepsut Thutmose III

34. The Legacies of 2 Pharaohs

 Akhenaton – tried to change the
religion…wow…that must have
REALLY upset a lot of people! He
was so focused on his new religion,
enemies came and took a bunch of their
land!
 Tutankhamen (his son-in-law) – was 10
when he became king. That’s younger
than y’all…yikes! Ruled for 9 years and
died mysteriously.
 King Tut didn’t really do much, but his
tomb was discovered un-looted, so all the
good stuff was still in there. Cool!

35. The End of the New Kingdom

 Pharaohs tried to get Egypt back on its feet.
 Ramses II did a good job of this.
 He helped regain lands, rebuilt the empire, built a
lot of new temples (they were banks too).
Whaaaat?! – He had many wives and more than 100
kids!
Here we go again…the Egyptian empire fell
because another group had better weapons! Poor
Egypt. They didn’t have any iron ore. 

36. Ohhhh, yeaaah!...

 Remember how the Assyrians were the 1st empire &
they had iron weapons that they had learned to make
from the Hittites? You gotta have good weapons to
have an empire.
 Remember how when people start fighting for power,
they get so distracted that another group is waiting on
the sidelines ready to attack while no one is looking?
This happens a lot in history…