Egypt is located on the Nile River

The Nile begins in the Highlands of Ethiopia with

two branches:
The White Nile and the Blue Nile
These rivers unite and flow north where they
empty into the Mediterranean Sea.
Where the river empties into the Nile it forms
the Nile Delta, a rich area of alluvial soil.
 The most important thing to the
Egyptians about The Nile was the
yearly flooding.

The Nile would flood each year in the

spring. With the flood it would
deposit a rich later of silt, or soil on
either side of the river.

Mediterranean Sea
The rich soil around the Nile was
called the Black land. The desert was
called the Red Land.
Western
Desert
Egypt had several natural barriers
which helped to protect it from
invasion

These barriers gave Egyptians a sense

of security that was lacking in much of
the ancient world.
 Egyptian Religion
For the Egyptians, religion was closely
tied to daily life.
The Egyptians were polytheistic,
worshipping many different gods.
The most important god was the god of
the sun, Re, also sometimes referred to
as Ra or Amon-Re.
It was believed that the Pharaoh was
connected to this god.
 Egyptian Deities
Re (Ra)
The Chief Egyptian god. Was seen as
the god of the sun.

Anubis was the patron of embalming. He was also the

keeper of poisons and medicines. Anubis performed the
Opening of the Mouth ceremony which was performed at
the funeral to restore the senses of the deceased. The
ceremony was done by touching the mouth of a mummy or
statue of the deceased, it was believed to restore the
senses in preparation for the afterlife.
Osiris Supreme god and judge of the dead.
The symbol of resurrection and eternal life.
Provider of fertility and prosperity to the
living.

Isis As a winged goddess she may represent the wind. In the

Osiris legend there are references to Isis wailing and
moaning like the wind. She restores life to Osiris by flapping
her wings and filling his mouth and nose with air.

Isis was a great enchantress, the goddess of magic. She was

the embalmer and guardian of Osiris. She is often rendered
on the foot of coffins with long wings spread to protect the
deceased.
 Horus was the son of Osiris (The god of the Dead) and Isis. It
was said that he avenged the death of his father he was
considered to be the model of a dutiful son

The Ka
It was believed that each
person had a Ka, or soul.
The practice of
mummification began
because it was believed that
the soul could exist in the
afterlife only so long as the
body was preserved
 Egyptian History is
divided into three main
periods

The Old Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom

The New Kingdom

The History of Egypt begins with Menes

Menes Unites upper Egypt and Lower

Egypt, joining the two into a united
kingdom

In doing this, Menes establishes

the first Egyptian Dynasty

Lower Egypt

Upper Egypt
 The Old Kingdom 26862181 BCE
The Old Kingdom was a period of great
prosperity.
This time is also called the pyramid age, because
the great pyramids were built during this time.
Egyptian kings came to be known as Pharaohs.
The Pharaoh was seen as divine, or godlike. The
people believed that the Pharaoh controlled
many things including the flooding of the Nile
itself.
The Pharaoh wielded absolute power, but used
advisors to help them.
The Chief advisor to the Pharaoh was the Vizier.
 The Old Kingdom
The royal capital of Egypt during this period was located
at Memphis, where Djoser (26302611 BCE)
established his court.
The first notable pharaoh of the Old Kingdom was
Djoser of the Third Dynasty, who ordered the
construction of the first pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser,
in Memphis' necropolis of Saqqara.
The Old Kingdom and its royal power reached their
zenith under the Fourth Dynasty. Sneferu, the dynasty's
founder, is believed to have commissioned at least three
pyramids; while his son and
successor Khufu (Greek Cheops) erected the Great
Pyramid of Giza, Sneferu had more stone and brick
moved than any other pharaoh.
 The Old Kingdom
The Fifth Dynasty began with Userkaf c.
2495 BC and was marked by the growing
importance of the cult of the sun god Ra.
Consequently, less efforts were devoted to
the construction of pyramid complexes
than during the Fourth Dynasty and more
to the construction of sun temples
in Abusir. The decoration of pyramid
complexes grew more elaborate during
the dynasty and its last king, Unas, was
the first to have the Pyramid
Texts inscribed in his pyramid.
 The Old Kingdom
During the Sixth Dynasty (23452181 BCE), the power of
pharaohs gradually weakened in favor of powerful nomarchs.
These no longer belonged to the royal family and their charge
became hereditary, thus creating local dynasties largely
independent from the central authority of the pharaoh. Internal
disorders set in during the incredibly long reign of Pepi II
Neferkare (22782184 BCE) towards the end of the dynasty.
His death, certainly well past that of his intended heirs, might
have created succession struggles and the country slipped into
civil wars mere decades after the close of Pepi II's reign. The
final blow came when the 4.2 kiloyear event struck the region
in the 22nd century BC, producing consistently low Nile flood
levels. The result was the collapse of the Old Kingdom
followed by decades of famine and strife.
Pyramids were built during the Old
Kingdom
They were designed to be tombs
for the Pharaoh
Originally there were step
pyramids, then the pyramids
evolved into the ones we see at Giza
The Pyramids were designed to
protect the mummies of the
Pharaohs, but they ultimately failed.
They were robbed and pillaged.
 First Intermediate Period

After the fall of the Old Kingdom came a

roughly 200-year stretch of time known as the
First Intermediate Period, which is generally
thought to include a relatively obscure set of
pharaohs running from the end of the Sixth to
the Tenth and most of the Eleventh Dynasties.
Mummification
To preserve the body so that the soul could stay
in the afterlife, the Egyptians perfected the
process of mummification. Mummification was
expensive, however, and during the Old Kingdom
was a luxury of the rich.

First the body was washed and the internal

organs including the lungs, stomach, liver and
intestines were removed. The heart was left in
the body because the Egyptians viewed it as the
center of emotion.

The Brain was removed through the nose and

thrown away. The Egyptians didnt think it
served any purpose

The Body was packed in Natron (a drying

agent) and left for 70 days. After that
the body was wrapped in linen with tree
resin for glue. Magical amulets and other
treasures were buried with the body.
 2030 and 1650 BC
After the fall of the Old Kingdom there was a period of
chaos for about 150 years
A new dynasty took over in Egypt, bringing a period of
stability.
Egypt expanded into Nubia to its south.
The government also sent troops into Palestine and Syria
and sent traders to Kush, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Crete
In the new kingdom the Pharaoh took new interest in the
common people. The Pharaoh also implemented many
public works projects.
 The Middle Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom is the period in the history

of ancient Egypt stretching from the 39th regnal year
of Mentuhotep II of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end
of the Thirteenth Dynasty.
The period comprises two phases, the Eleventh
Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes, and then
the Twelfth Dynasty, whose capital was Lisht. These
two dynasties were originally considered the full
extent of this unified kingdom, but some historians
now consider the first part of the Thirteenth
Dynasty to belong to the Middle Kingdom.
 The Middle Kingdom
The earliest pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom traced
their origin to two nomarchs of Thebes, Intef the
Elder, who served a Heracleopolitan pharaoh of the
Tenth Dynasty, and his successor, Mentuhotep I. The
successor of the latter, Intef I, was the first Theban
nomarch to claim a Horus name and thus the throne
of Egypt. He is considered the first pharaoh of the
Eleventh Dynasty. His claims brought the Thebans
into conflict with the rulers of the Tenth Dynasty. Intef I
and his brother Intef II undertook several campaigns
northwards and finally captured the important nome
of Abydos.
 The Middle Kingdom
Warfare continued intermittently between the
Thebean and Heracleapolitan dynasties until the
39th regnal year of Mentuhotep II, second successor
of Intef II. At this point, the Herakleopolitans were
defeated and the Theban dynasty consolidated their
rule over Egypt. Mentuhotep II is known to have
commanded military campaigns south into Nubia,
which had gained its independence during the First
Intermediate Period. There is also evidence for
military actions against the Southern Levant. The king
reorganized the country and placed a vizier at the
head of civil administration for the country.
 The Middle Kingdom
Mentuhotep II was succeeded by his son, Mentuhotep III, who
organized an expedition to Punt. His reign saw the realization
of some of the finest Egyptian carvings. Mentuhotep III was
succeeded by Mentuhotep IV, the final pharaoh of this dynasty.
Despite being absent from various lists of pharaohs, his reign
is attested from a few inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat that
record expeditions to the Red Sea coast and to quarry stone
for the royal monuments.
The leader of this expedition was his vizier Amenemhat, who is
widely assumed to be the future pharaoh Amenemhat I, the
first pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty. Amenemhat is therefore
assumed by some Egyptologists to have either usurped the
throne or assumed power after Mentuhotep IV died childless.
 The Middle Kingdom
Amenemhat I built a new capital for Egypt, Itjtawy, thought to
be located near the present-day Lisht, although Manetho
claims the capital remained at Thebes. Amenemhat forcibly
pacified internal unrest, curtailed the rights of the nomarchs,
and is known to have at launched at least one campaign into
Nubia. His son Senusret I continued the policy of his father to
recapture Nubia and other territories lost during the First
Intermediate Period. The Libu were subdued under his forty-
five year reign and Egypt's prosperity and security were
secured.
Senusret III (18781839 BC) was a warrior king, leading his
troops deep into Nubia, and built a series of massive forts
throughout the country to establish Egypt's formal boundaries
with the unconquered areas of its territory. Amenemhat
III (18601815 BC) is considered the last great pharaoh of the
Middle Kingdom.
 The Middle Kingdom
Egypt's population began to exceed food production
levels during the reign of Amenemhat III, who then
ordered the exploitation of the Faiyum and increased
mining operations in the Sinai Peninsula. He also
invited settlers from Western Asia to Egypt to labor on
Egypt's monuments. Late in his reign, the annual
floods along the Nile began to fail, further straining
the resources of the government. The Thirteenth
Dynasty and Fourteenth Dynasty witnessed the slow
decline of Egypt into the Second Intermediate Period,
in which some of the settlers invited by Amenemhat III
would seize power as the Hyksos.
 Second Intermediate Period
The Second Intermediate Period marks a
period when Egypt once again fell into disarray
between the end of the Middle Kingdom and
the start of the New Kingdom. This period is
best known as the time the Hyksos made their
appearance in Egypt, the reigns of its kings
comprising the Fifteenth Dynasty.
 The Hyksos
The Hyksos princes and chieftains ruled in the eastern Delta
with their local Egyptian vassals. The Fifteenth Dynasty rulers
established their capital and seat of government at Memphis
and their summer residence at Avaris.
The Hyksos kingdom was centered in the eastern Nile
Delta and central Egypt but relentlessly pushed south for the
control of central and Upper Egypt. Around the time Memphis
fell to the Hyksos, the native Egyptian ruling house in Thebes
declared its independence and set itself up as the Sixteenth
Dynasty. Another short lived dynasty might have done the
same in central Egypt, profiting from the power vacuum
created by the fall of the 13th dynasty and forming the Abydos
Dynasty.
 The Hyksos
By 1600 BC, the Hyksos had successfully moved south in central Egypt,
eliminating the Abydos Dynasty and directly threatening the Sixteenth
Dynasty. The latter was to prove unable to resist and Thebes fell to the
Hyksos for a very short period c. 1580 BC.[21] The Hyksos rapidly withdrew
to the north and Thebes regained some independence under
the Seventeenth Dynasty. From then on, Hyksos relations with the south
seem to have been mainly of a commercial nature, although Theban
princes appear to have recognized the Hyksos rulers and may possibly
have provided them with tribute for a period.
The Seventeenth Dynasty was to prove the salvation of Egypt and would
eventually lead the war of liberation that drove the Hyksos back into Asia.
The two last kings of this dynasty were Seqenenre
Tao and Kamose. Ahmose I completed the conquest and expulsion of the
Hyksos from the Nile Delta, restored Theban rule over the whole of Egypt
and successfully reasserted Egyptian power in its formerly subject
territories of Nubia and the Southern Levant. His reign marks this beginning
of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the New Kingdom.
The Middle Kingdom
ended with the
invasion of a people
called the Hyksos
The Hyksos had
Chariots and superior
weapons to the
Egyptians. The
Egyptians were easily
defeated.

Possibly as a result of the foreign rule of the Hyksos during the Second
Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom saw Egypt attempt to create a buffer
between the Levant and Egypt, and attain its greatest territorial extent. It
expanded far south into Nubia and held wide territories in the Near East.
Egyptian armies fought Hittitearmies for control of modern-day Syria.

The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom took a more aggressive ruling style
Egypt became the most powerful state in Southwest Asia
Eighteenth Dynasty
Hatshepsut was the first
woman to be Pharaoh
She was the daughter of a
Pharaoh and the mother and
regent of a Pharaoh.
She took power for herself
She had to pose as a man to
cement her authority.
She built many monuments
and temples.
Akhenaton wanted Egypt to worship the god of the sun, Aton, as the only
god.

He closed all of the temples to the other gods and caused major social and
political problems. He and his wife, Nefertiti, become unpopular rulers.

After his death Tutankhamen (King Tut) restored the old ways of worship.
 King Tut:Tutankhamen
Became Pharaoh after
the death of Akhenaton.
Restored the old religious
practices
Has the only tomb to be
found intact
 Nineteenth Dynasty
Ramses II, reigned from 1279 until 1213 B.C.
One of the longest reigns in Egyptian History
He sought to increase the size of the empire and
went on many military conquests, but he was
unsuccessful. He was only able to gain the area of
Palestine.
He fathered over 100 children
Some think that he is the Pharaoh of the Hebrew
Exodus
Abu Simbel: Temple of Ramses the Great
 Third Intermediate Period
After the death of Ramesses XI, his successor Smendes ruled
from the city of Tanis in the north, while the High Priests of
Amun at Thebes had effective rule of the south of the country,
whilst still nominally recognizing Smendes as king.[26] In fact,
this division was less significant than it seems, since both
priests and pharaohs came from the same family. Piankh,
assumed control of Upper Egypt, ruling from Thebes, with the
northern limit of his control ending at Al-Hibah. (The High
Priest Herihorhad died before Ramesses XI, but also was an
all-but-independent ruler in the latter days of the king's reign.)
The country was once again split into two parts with the priests
in Thebes and the Pharaohs at Tanis. Their reign seems
without other distinction, and they were replaced without any
apparent struggle by the Libyan kings of the Twenty-Second
Dynasty.
 Decline
Egypt fell into a period of
decline and foreign invasion.

Egypt was ruled by many

different people and eventually
defeated by the Romans.

The last Pharaoh of Egypt was

Cleopatra VII, who committed
suicide rather than surrender
to the Romans.
 Daily Life
The people
had a positive
attitude
toward life.
Monogamy was
Egypt had a hierarchical the rule, and
social structure women had
more rights in
Ancient Egypt
Pharaoh than the rest
of the Ancient
Priests Nobles world.
Women could
Merchant Class own property,
business, and
request a
Peasants and Slaves divorce.
 Writing began in Egypt around 3000 B.C.

There were different types of writing for different

occasions.

Hieroglyphics were ideograms used for formal writing

Hieratic Script (Demotic) was a simplified version of

Egyptian writing.

The Egyptians carved their writing on stone, or wrote on

papyrus, a form of paper made from a reed that grew along
the Nile River.
For a long time archaeologists were unable
to translate hieroglyphics
The Rosetta Stone is a text written by a
group of priests in Egypt to honor the
Egyptian pharaoh. It lists all of the things
that the pharaoh had done that were good
for the priests and the people of Egypt.
The discovery of the Rosetta stone
allowed for the translation of
Hieroglyphics
It contained the same passage in three
languages
Hieroglyphics
Greek
Demotic
In Egyptian art the human body is usually
shown in profile or partial profile
 Egyptian Advancements in
Math and Science
The Egyptians used math to calculate area
and volume in building the pyramids and in
surveying flooded land for farming

The Egyptians developed an accurate solar

(365 day) calendar.

The practice of mummification and embalming

led to advances in medical knowledge including
how to set broken bones, wounds, and disease.
 Step Pyramid of Zoser

Obelisk of
Hatshepsut
Sphinx and Pyramids
At Giza