4) Egypt Flashcards
When was Ancient Egypt?
Largely unchanged culture from 3100 BCE - 332 BCE
What was the Nile like?
Regular
Benign
Navigable
How did Egyptians plant crops?
Farmer threw seeds into the soil and had livestock walk on them
How did Egyptians water their crops?
Basin irrigation:
floodwater fills empty basins and canals
Not labor intensive like other irrigation systems
What did Egyptians move up-river?
Holy metals and wood
How did the Nile shape the Egyptian worldview and culture?
Egyptians had a relatively easy food surplus
Optimistic worldview - consistent gods, afterlife just like this life (which is pretty good)
Time for large projects, like the Pyramids
When was the Egyptian Old Kingdom?
2649 - 2152 BCE
Who was the primary deity of the Old Kingdom?
Ra, god of the sun (and creation)
Began as the regional God of Heliopolis
What was the Pharaoh understood to be?
Divine incarnation of the gods
How must the Pharaoh act?
Like a god - calm, cool, benevolent
When were the Great Pyramids built?
2575 - 2465 BCE
Who were the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid built for?
Sphinx: Khefren
Great Pyramid: Khufu
What do works like the Pyramids suggest about Egyptian culture?
Government/Pharaoh had a huge amount of political and social control
Who built the pyramids?
Farmers - likely voluntarily
What is the commonly held belief about who built the Pyramids?
Slaves or peasants required to work a number of months per year
How do we know it was likely not slaves that built the Pyramids?
They had good living quarters and extensive diets
We’ve found records of how bureaucrats made sure that everyone was fed and housed
Why dedicate so much to the construction of Pyramids?
Pharaohs become gods upon death
Keeping future gods happy is good for your existence
If humans kept gods happy, gods would maintain cosmic order
Two kinds of writing used by Ancient Egyptians
Hieroglyphics - sacred texts
Demotic script - contracts, agreements, deals, etc
Two kinds of writing used by Ancient Egyptians
Hieroglyphics - sacred texts
Demotic script - contracts, agreements, deals, etc
What led to the first Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt?
Drought
Multiple Pharaohs fighting
Middle Kingdom of Egypt dates
2040 - 1640 BCE
What was different about the Middle Kingdom’s Pharaonic system?
Pharaohs were Nubian
New pantheon of gods - headed by Ammun (meaning “hidden”)
Amun-Ra
New primary deity of the Middle Kingdom
Amun means “hidden” (omnipresent)
temples built and surplus food sacrificed to Amun-Ra
How did the Middle Kingdom grow its borders?
Conquering Nubia
What led to the second intermediate period?
Egypt was conquered by the Hyksos - a Semitic people from the Levant
They used advanced military tech - bronze metal, compound bows, and chariots
What did the Hyksos do after conquering Egypt?
They assimilated into Egyptian life…
Until Egypt got their military technology and destroyed the Hyksos
New Kingdom dates
1550 - 1070 BCE
Who was the first Pharaoh of the New Kingdom?
Ahmose I
What was New Kingdom known for?
Conquest, in a search for gold and slaves
also the first known labor strike against Ramses III, as air pollution arrested plant growth
Who did the New Kingdom Egyptians have conflict with? What led to their downfall?
Assyrians
Persians
Alexander the Great
Romans
Stress caused by conflict with “Sea Peoples” led to downfall
