Chapter 3 - Early Africa and Egypt Flashcards
- Afro-Asiatic speakers - Akhnaton - Amun-Ra - Bantu speakers - Hathor - hieroglyphics - historical linguists - Horus - Hyksos - ka - Kerma - Khoisan - Kush - Maat - Meroe - Middle Kingdom - monotheism - New Kingdom - Niger-Congo speakers - Nilo-Saharan speakers - nomes - Nubia - Old Kingdom - pharaoh - Punt - Tutankhamen
Timeframe for Egypt’s Old Kingdom? What were its achievements?
3,100 to 2,200 B.C.E..
- Constructed Gize pyramids.
- Art, architecture, stability, prosperity
Timeframe for Egypt’s Middle Kingdom? What were its achievements?
2,100 to 1,650 B.C.E..
- Extended Egyptian influence further south
- Increased trade, religion was more democratic.
- Laboring conditions worsened, middle class appeared.
Timeframe for Egypt’s New Kingdom? What happened during this period?
1,550 to 770 B.C.E.., also known as the Empire.
- Egypt expanded and fought lots of wars
- Would eventually fall to the Kushites, Assyrians, and Persians.
Who experimented with monotheism?
Akhenaton, once the pharaoh of Egypt.
The writing system of Ancient Egypt?
Hieroglyphics
5 Climatic Zones of Africa:
- Rain Forest
- Savanna
- Sahelian/Sudan
- Desert
- Coastal
How many dynasties ruled Egypt?
31
God of the Underworld:
Anubis
Administrative districts in Egypt are called…
Nomes
After 5,500 BCE, Afro-Asian migrated where?
Along the Nile Valley
Who was Tutankhamen?
Tutankhamen was once the king of Egypt but died young - at just 18 years old. He had not really done anything of consequence during his short reign, but he was made famous after his tomb was discovered around the 1920s.
Who was Amun-Ra?
The god of the sun, who came to represent the embodiment of all gods.
What did Akhenaton do?
Attempted (but failed) to force the people of Egypt to worship only one god - that was Aton, who was a monotheistic cult of the sun god.
Who was Hathor?
Hathor was a goddess, and the protector of women during pregnancy.
What was Punt? Describe it.
Punt was the term used by the Egyptians to refer to the Arabian peninsula.
What was Kush? Describe it.
Kush was the land south of Egypt and higher up the Nile. They were influenced by Egyptian civilization.
What is monotheism?
Monotheism is the belief in one god.
What was Maat?
Maat was a goddess who weighed the hearts of people who had already passed away against her feather. The heart was to be weighed to determine if they could go on to a good afterlife, which they believed in.
Who were the Hyksos?
The Hyksos were foreign invaders who invaded Egypt during the second intermediate period of Egypt, from around 1,600 B.C.E..
4 Language groups of Africa (and the subgroup):
The Khoisan, the Nilo-Saharan speakers, the Afro-Asiatic speakers, and the Niger-Congo speakers. The subgroup is the Bantu languages.
What were Egypt’s most important achievements?
- Egypt built great monuments, especially the Great Pyramids, which was a great feat of engineering for the people of that time.
- Egypt developed a good form of government system which was generally pretty efficient, and in some cases, women held powerful positions in government.
- Egyptians also developed a form of writing, using Hieroglyphics, which the priests and other important officials used to keep records.
- Ancient Egypt made good developments in agriculture, which can be partly due to a good climate and geography along the Nile.
Describe the ancient Niger-Congoans:
These people were farming yams and rice around 5,000s B.C.E. They moved southward into Savana and were skilled boat-builders.
Who are the Semites?
Many of the Nilo-Saharan speakers and the Afro-Asiatic speakers who reached the Sinai Peninsula around 10,000-11,000 B.C.E., and migrated into the Near East.
When was the food-producing revolution in Africa?
c. 8,000 to 3,000 B.C.E.
What and when was the “wet Sahara?”
In the period 11,000-3000 B.C.E., Africa had higher rainfall than today.
- More grassy steppes, woodlands
- Lakes and rivers covered the “wet” Sahara
- Supported a variety of foods
What is known about the Bantu speakers?
- Niger-Congo sub-group
- Spread south and east from West Africa to the Congo Basin.
- There is little trace of them left behind, and knowledge of them comes from linguistic analysis.
The flooding of the Nile River was…
predictable.
Who is the Pharoah, and how was this person able to keep his (or her) position?
The ruler of Egypt.
- People believed in the divinity of rulers.
- Believed pharaohs were the gods.
- Climate/geography made agriculture abundant.
When were the pyramids of Egypt built?
During the Old Kingdom.
Where and what was the Kingdom of Kush? Describe it:
- Located in Nubia
- Engaged in maritime trade
- Influenced by Egypt, culturally and religiously
- Capital was “Meroe”
- Traded mostly gold and slaves, as well as ivy and spices.
