Notes for Chapter 2

1. Chapter 2, Section 1:
The Nile Valley

2. I. Settling the Nile
A. A Mighty River
a. Egypt = warm and sunny, received
little rainfall
b. Egyptians relied on the Nile River
(drank, bathed, used for farming,
provided food)
c. Believed that the Nile was a
precious gift
d. Longest river in the world (4000
miles)
e. Wild rapids (cataracts) keep ships
from using all but the last 650
miles

3. I. Settling the Nile
B. A Sheltered Land
a. Nile Valley = fertile
b. most fertile land = Nile Delta
c. Desert on either side, the ancient Egyptians
called the deserts the “red lands”
d. Egypt was surrounded by natural barriers,
and wasn’t attacked often

4. II. The River People
A. Regular Flooding
a. Nile flooded regularly and was dependable
b. “Black land” = fertile land by the Nile River
B. How Did the Egyptians Use the Nile?
a. Floods led to successful farming
b. Used irrigation and canal system to move water
where they needed it
c. Shadoof = bucket attached to long pole, to lift water
from the Nile to the basin, many Egyptian farmers
still use these today
d. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-4pUJ5fNgw

5. d. Egyptians developed geometry to survey land
e. Papyrus, a reed plant that grew along the Nile was
an important resource
f. Used papyrus to make baskets, sandals, rafts and
paper

6. C. What were Hieroglyphics?
a. System of writing that is made up of hundreds of
picture symbols
b. Some symbols stood for objects and ideas while
others stood for sounds
c. Scribes carved hieroglyphs into stone walls and
monuments but wrote on papyrus for everyday
purposes
d. Few people could read and write
e. Scribes did the reading and writing, kept records,
worked for rulers, priests and traders

7. III. A Untied Egypt
A. The Rise of Government
a. Earliest rulers were village chiefs
b. Over time chiefs led groups of villages which
eventually became kingdoms
c. By 4000 BCE, Egypt was made up of 2 large
kingdoms: Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt

8. B. Egypt’s Ruling Families
a. Around 3100 BCE the two kingdoms became one
b. Narmer united the kingdoms and ruled from
Memphis at the center of Egypt
c. He wore a double crown
d. Ruling power was passed from father to son creating
a dynasty
e. Egypt was ruled by 31 dynasties together lasting over
2800 years
f. 3 main time periods: Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom
and New Kingdom

9. IV. Early Egyptian Life
A. Egypt’s Social Classes

10. Pharaoh
Priests and Nobles
Traders, Artisans, Scribes,
shopkeepers
Farmers and Herders
Unskilled Workers
Slaves

11. A. Egypt’s Social Classes
a. Upper class made up of nobles, priests and other
wealthy Egyptians
b. Upper class was wealthy, had large homes along
river, and servants to wait on them
c. Middle class included people who ran businesses
and made goods
d. Middle class lived in smaller homes and dressed
more simply
e. Farmers made up largest group of early Egyptians,
lived in villages, ate simply
f. Many that lived in the city were unskilled workers

12. B. Family Life
a. Father was head of family, but women had more
rights than females in other ancient civilizations
b. women could own and pass on property
c. upper class women were in charge of temples
d. few Egyptians went to school, instead were taught
in the home

13. Chapter 2 Section 2

14. I. Old Kingdom Rulers
A. Old Kingdom Rulers
a. Old Kingdom began around 2600 B.C.E., lasted
until 2300 B.C.E.
b. Pharaohs (kings), lived in luxury homes and acted
as the rulers of Egypt, controlled every aspect of
Egyptian life
c. Believed the pharaoh to be son of Re, the
Egyptian sun god
d. Felt the pharaoh acted as a god on earth

15. II. Egypt’s Religion
A. Egyptian Gods
a. Egyptians worshipped many gods (polytheism)
b. Main god was Re, the sun god
c. Hapi ruled the Nile River
d. Isis was most important goddess, she
represented loyal wife and mother and ruled
over the dead with her husband Osiris

16. B. Life After Death
a. Believed life after death would be even
better than life on earth
b. the Egyptian “Book of the Dead” was a
collection of spells and prayers to guide them
c. many Egyptians spent their whole life on
earth preparing for the afterlife
d. believed that that body had to be prepared
for the afterlife, had to be protected through a
process called embalming.
e. Mummy = wrapped body prepared for
afterlife

17. C. Egyptian Medicine
a. Egyptians learned a lot about the human
body through their study of embalming
b. grew skilled at sewing up cuts and setting
broken bones
c. wrote the world’s first medical books

18. III. The Pyramids
A. How was a Pyramid Built?
a. Took thousands of people to build
b. Mostly built by farmers during the Nile floods
c. Building the pyramids lead to many advances in
science and math
d. Some stone came from 100s of miles away

19. B. The Great Pyramid
a. 2540 B.C.E. the largest pyramid was built,
“the Great Pyramid”
b. Was built for King Khufu, in Giza
c. Was the tallest structure in the world for
more than 4000 years

20. Section 3: The Egyptian Empire

21. I. The Middle Kingdom
A. The Drive for More Land
a. Egypt took control of more land, captured Nubia
b. Conquered people sent tribute (forced payment),
which enriched the kingdom
c. More money = more dams, more farm land,
stability in Egypt

22. B. The Arts Blossom
a. Painters covered walls with scenes of daily
life
b. Sculptors created large wall carvings and
statues of pharaohs
c. Architecture changed from pyramids to
tombs that were cut into cliffs, known as
“Valley of the Kings”

27. C. Who Were the Hyksos?
a. Hyksos from Asia attacked Egypt
b. Hyksos were mighty warriors, rode chariots,
used bronze weapons
c. Hyksos ruled Egypt for 150 years, until
Ahmose, an Egyptian prince took over

28. II. The New Kingdom
A. A Woman Ruler
a. Hatshepsut becomes first female ruler of Egypt
b. Expanded trade, bringing greater wealth to Egypt
c. Used wealth to build one of the biggest tombs in
the Valley of the Kings

29. B. Expanding the Empire
a. Thutmose III expanded empire through
conquest
b. Empire grew richer through trade and tribute
c. Egypt enslaved many prisoners of war
d. Slaves did have some rights in Egypt

30. III. The Legacies of Two Pharaohs
A. A Religious Reformer
a. Amenhotep introduced a new religion, got rid of
old gods and goddesses, introduced one god:
Aton
b. Amenhotep became Akhenaton “spirit of Aton”
c. Akhenaton neglected his duties as pharaoh
because he was busy with his religion, Egypt was
attacked many times and the empire shrunk

32. B. The Boy King
a. Tutankhamen, took over at age 10, died at 19
b. King Tut is famous not for his ruling of Egypt
but for his tomb
c. Howard Carter found his tomb in 1922
d. The tomb had not been robbed and was full
of treasures

37. IV. The End of the New Kingdom
A. Ramses II
a. Reigned for 66 years (!!)
b. Regained lands and rebuild empire
c. Launched ambitious building projects
B. Why Were Temples Built?
a. Built by slaves
b. Most amazing temples were at Karnak and Thebes
c. Temples served as banks, and homes of gods and
goddesses, in Egyptian religion

38. C. Egypt’s Decline and Fall
a. After Ramses II, Egypt’s power began to fade
b. By 1150 B.C.E. the Egyptians had lost their
empire and only controlled the Nile delta
c. By 670 B.C.E. Egypt was controlled by the
Assyrians