Ancient Egypt - The rise of

Question 1

Why was Ancient Egypt a different place?

Answer 1

They were able to easily centralize power.

Question 2

Why was Egypt able to easily centralize power?

Answer 2

The Nile river and the geography

Question 3

How did the Nile affect Egypt politically? Economically?

Answer 3

The Nile allowed Egypt to send troops up and down the river freely. Allowing them to militarize and provided fertile land that allowed for the abundance of crops. Thus, the government was able to easily tax farmers.

Question 4

How did Egypt obtain their wealth?

Answer 4

Agricultural and trade taxation

Question 5

How did Egypt’s geography affect Ancient Egypt?

Answer 5

The red lands made Egypt patriotic in the sense that they thought they were the center of the universe. They were a group apart from others and that brought the idea of membership in an elite group.

Question 6

Compare and contrast Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt

Answer 6

Lower Egypt was richer, known for their merchants while upper Egypt was more mountainous and known for their warriors. Both however, were farmers.

Question 7

What happened during the Archaic period of Egypt?

Answer 7

The unification period where King Narmer, a warrior from upper Egypt unified the two lands.

Question 8

What artifact displayed the unification of Egypt?

Answer 8

The Narmer Palette

Question 9

What were Pharaohs?

Answer 9

The mother and father of Egypt, the very essence of Egypt. God, the embodiment of centralization.

Question 10

Compare the Pharaohs and the Lugals

Answer 10

The Lugal’s were able to speak to the Gods whereas Pharaohs were Gods themselves

Question 11

What are hieroglyphics and how did the paper used affect centralization?

Answer 11

Picture writing. They used papyrus which allowed them to collect much more information and roll them up to store. Governments are information collectors.

Question 12

What are the two things that governments need

Answer 12

Information and taxes

Question 13

What is the Pharaohs property?

Answer 13

Egypt, slaves, people

Question 14

What was the society like in Old kingdom Egypt?

Answer 14

It was a hierarchy going peasants, merchants, military, priesthood, and Pharaoh. There were no labor slaves during this time just house slaves.

Question 15

The pharaoh was in control of what two things

Answer 15

Taxes and long-distance trade

Question 16

What did Ancient Egypt have to collect taxes

Answer 16

Bureaucracy to control taxation, military, and Nomarchs which were the Pharaoh’s family. They were rulers of provinces and collected taxes to send to the central government.

Question 17

How did Nomarchs affect the Egyptian government?

Answer 17

When the kingdom was weakening they kept the taxes to themselves and ruled their own provinces. They became nobility.

Question 18

What did the Pharaohs use the taxes for?

Answer 18

They used them to bolster the God-like nature of the Pharaoh’s by building. They build pyramids in which every son wanted a bigger one than his fathers.

Question 19

Who created the first pyramid?

Answer 19

The prime minister Imhotep created step pyramids which were Mastaba’s stacked on top of each other. (Mastaba is a religious building)

Question 20

What does pyramids tell us about ancient Egyptian society?

Answer 20

It tells us that ancient Egyptian society was a hierarchy. That pharaohs did not marry lower class so there was a long line of incest.

Question 21

How was technology in the Old kingdom of Egypt?

Answer 21

Not advanced at all, they lacked the wheel. But they moved pyramid stones with olive oil and tree logs.

Question 22

Who built the pyramids?

Answer 22

Peasants who were happy to do so because it makes the pharaoh greater, Egypt greater and therefore you greater.

Question 23

What caused the end of the old kingdom?

Answer 23

The desire to build bigger pyramids than their fathers, the Pharaoh doubled the tax of agriculture. A prolonged drought in which the farmers could not pay taxes.

Question 24

What were the affects of the fall of the old kingdom?

Answer 24

The priesthood demoted the Pharaohs (power vacuum), Nomarchs became nobility, The rise of Nubia, Egypt returns to upper and lower Egypt.

Question 25

What was the rise of Nubia

Answer 25

Nubia formerly dominated by the old kingdom Egypt broke free from the weakening kingdom and mined their own gold and silver. They started monotheism which moved north to Egypt and will have a tremendous impact on the Hebrews.

Question 26

What did the Nile river bring?

Answer 26

Predictable and beneficial flooding that brought silt.

Question 27

How was flooding predictable?

Answer 27

When a star lined up with the constellation Pleides.