Ancient Egypt ASPIRE Mind Map
Area
Nile
Ideas/Inventions/Culture
4000 miles long
shaped like a Lotus flower
Flood
Black rich fertile soil
Called The Gift of the Nile
Fresh water
Writing Systems
Drinking & Bathing
Allowed transportation and trade
Provided materials for building
Allowed the making:
Cloth for Clothes
Paper from wild papyrus weed
Hieroglyphics
Pictograms
Used hieroglyphs
Represented ideas
World's Longest River
Representing object depicted
Irrigation & Flooding
Grow wheat and barley
Without the floods
the fields dried, the plants would wither and die
Dug canals
Irrigated the land
Shaduf
Ideograms
Representing ideas in pictures
Also used sounds to describe hieroglyphic
Religion
Hieroglyphics were a combo between these two and sounds
Difficult to decode
Some pictograms represented more than one letter
Mathematics
Invented a decimal system
Used 7 different symbols
1-9 represented by strokes
10 represented by a hobble
1,000 being a lotus plant
10,000 by a finger
100,000 by a frog
1,000,000 by a god with arms up
Higher numbers written in front
Start reading on top if more than 1 row of #'s
The Pyramids
Great Pyramid is tomb for Pharoah Khufu
One of the 7 wonders of the ancient world
The only ancient wonder still standing
Over 450 feet tall
Constructed of more than 2 million blocks
Many blocks weighed over 3 tons
Most likely built in 20 years
Encased in shiny stone
Makes surface smooth
Sun reflecting off of it can be seen from other countries
Between 20,000 to 30,000 workers built them (spent over 80 years in total)
Not slaves, were locals and craftsmen
Ancient water-raising device
Upper and Lower Egypt
union of "The Two Lands"
Upper and Lower Egypt
a great V-shape called the Delta
Papyrus grew here
Upper Egypt is the southern part of the country, bordering on Nubia
Two parts of Egypt are very much alike.
people
language
gods
No evidence that Upper and Lower Egypt were ever two separate countries
The Afterlife & Weighing of the Heart
You went to the afterlife after you died, believed
Social Structure
The Highest Class
Pharaohs were gods
Entrusted their rulers
Responsibilities
Protection was the most important
Pharaoh directed the army
Entered the Hall of Maat
Heart weighing ceremony took place here
All laws enacted by the pharaoh
Anubis weighed heart
Farmer paid taxes in grains
If hear was light (life of good deeds) you passed
If heart is heavy (life of bad deeds) you failed
Ammut would come and eat you
Viziers and Scribes
Appointed by the pharaoh
Ammut was feared for this reason
ensured that taxes were collected
Kept government records
Could read and write
Nobles
Profited from tributes to the pharaoh
Could hold government posts
grew wealth from donations to the gods
The Middle Class
Soldiers
Skilled workers
Doctors and craftspersons
artisans and traders
merchants and storekeepers
The Lowest Class
slaves and farmers
Farmers
worked in the stone quarries
built the royal monuments
paid taxes up to 60 percent of their yearly harvest
People can move up the social pyramid
A Day in the Life of a Woman
preparing breakfast
stock up the store cupboard basics
lentils, chickpeas, lettuce, onion and garlic
Water and cleansing salts to keep insects away
Charcoal and powdered bebet-plant to kill the fleas
laundry in the river
adds soap
dry in the sun
look for reeds, straw and dried dung to fuel the fire
fills large water-pot
Afternoon
puts laundry away
light lunch
look for wild honey
makes bread
makes beer
Evening
Bread is done
honey is gathered
Makes soup
Goes to sleep
Politics
System of Government
theocracy
Upper and Lower Egypt United
Lower Egypt conquered (3100 BCE)
Mummification
Believed sun would die in the west and be reborn in east
Believed after death came delta, fertile land paradise
Believed bodies had to be preserved to reach afterlife
Must have lead a good life to reach it
Believed each person had a soul (ka)
Would live forever in afterlife if body preserved
Tried to keep bodies life-like
Process started with washing in salt solution
Internal organs removed and dried next
Brain is removed by hook through nose
Hearts are kept inside
Important due to human emotion
Important organs put in canopic jars
Buried with body
Body then filled with sand
In order to keep shape
Then placed in natron salt to dry
Natron remove after 40 days
Embalmers then gave body life-like appearance
Oils and spices rubbed on skin
Body and face packed with linen
Ears, nostrils, eyes, sewed shut
Stuffed with more natron and sawdust for shape
During embalming, priests read The Book of the Dead*
Read for guidance to afterlife
Creation Myth
Earth once covered in nun (dark water)
Mound of earth suddenly appeared
Lotus flower on earth
Ra inside this lotus
Ra
Created other gods
Created human life
Created Shu and Teftnut
Became married and had children
Those children had children: Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys
Has many forms ex. falcon headed man
Also can be depicted as human
Most important
Osiris
God of underworld
Was killed by brother Seth (jealousy)
Cut up into different pieces and scattered in Nile
Wife (Isis) and Nephthys (sister) searched for pieces
Was given burial with help by Anubis, Ra, and Thoth
Came back to life to rule underworld
Husband of Isis
Had a son (Horus)
Son avenged Osiris's murder
Symbol of life, death, and resurrection
Associated with corn and green
Associated with regeneration after Nile flood
Horus
Falcon god
Associated with sun
Living pharaoh=incarnation of Horus
Protected by mother (Isis) from Seth
Battled Seth to avenge father (Osiris)
Long battle, lost his eye
Stabbed and defeated Seth
Seth forced to live in desert afterwards
Reason why Egyptian deserts symbolize chaos and death
Eye got healed by Thoth
Eye became symbol of healing
Eye became amulet to bring health
Became king of Egypt after defeating Seth
Seth
Jealous brother of Osiris
Lived in deserts of Egypt
Not evil, but associated with destructive nature
Anubis
Jackal-headed god
God of embalming and mummification
Associated with jackal because Egyptians buried dead in desert
Protects the dead
Economy
Agriculture
Main economic activity
Main crops include: wheat barley, lettuce, beans, onions, figs, dates, grapes, melons and cucumbers
Flax also grown
Flax used for linen production
Day in the Life of Farmer
Has a morning routine (Hygiene, breakfast, getting dressed)
Some needs given to temple as payment
On the way to work stops by to have lunch
Works all day in fields and crops
Tends to cattle and ducks
Goes home once sun goes down
Eats supper and goes to bed with wife and kids
Trade
No typical money system
Products are bartered
Workers paid in wheat, barley, and craft products
Goods imported and exported along countries in Mediterranean, Red, and Aegean Sea
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Goods such as silver, iron, cedar logs, and horses imported from Levant
Ivory, copper, cattle, leopard skins, and spices imported from Nubia
Main exports include minerals, wheat, barley, and papyrus
Famous trade expedition when Queen Hatshepsut got goods down Red Sea
Crafts
Produced in small shops
Included linen textiles
Pottery
Bricks
Tools and weapons
Glass and furniture
Jewelry and perfume
Also had output of mineral products
Craftsmen liked to make things that were used to
Respected pharaohs and gods
Usually worked for wealthy
Villagers could trade crops
Did this for house presentation
Colors made of material
Black=charcoal
White=powdered limestone
Red=Ochre
Yellow=Iron Oxide
Blue=copper
Green=Malachite
Built on rules and regulations
Revolved around pharaoh
Had limitless power
Upper and lower Egypt now one
Distinctions were now acknowledged
Red on ruler crown for Lower Egypt
White for Upper Egypt
Memphis built by King Menes
Ideal site, on the two parts
Menes founded first dynasty
Menes killed but two kingdoms still functioning
Prominent Pharaohs
Akhenaten
Changed Egypt
Pushed towards new religion
Belief of one god: Aten
Cleopatra Vll
Associated with goddess Isis
Great beauty
Used to advantage
Got herself with Julius Caesar of Rome
Had affair with Mark Antony
Known for intelligence and astuteness
Hatshepsut
Ruled for twenty years
Expanded trade relations
Built impressive number of temples
Mysteriously dissapeared
Speculated that she was murdered by nephew
Khufu
Decided to build largest pyramid
Tutankhamun
Nine years old when pharaoh
Only 18 at death
Tomb very small compared to others
Ramses II
Ruled for over 70 years
Had over 100 kids with over dozen wives
Built more temples and statues than other pharaohs
Lived to be in 90s