Egypt Flashcards
Akhenaten
Akhenaten- pharaoh, original name was Amenhotep, radical change converting Egypt temporarily monotheistic, unpopular, King Tut brought polytheism back
Nile and geography of Egypt
predominantly desert, “Gift of the Nile”, longest river in the world about 4,000 miles long, flooded like clockwork, helped Egyptians make accurate calendar, gave Egyptians a positive look on afterlife, gave security/barrier to invaders, helped Egypt last a long time
Delta- north of Egypt (Lower Egypt), where Nile empties into Mediterranean Sea
Vizier
advisor of the pharaoh, organized entire bureaucracy
Battle of kadesh
Ramses II vs. Hittites, oldest recorded peace treaty
Khufu
Great pyramid of Giza
Giza
site of Great Pyramid, Old Kingdom was pyramid age, pyramid served as a tomb for the pharaoh
Book of the dead
spells, hymns, and incantations, holy book, read excerpts when someone died to ensure faithful journey into afterlife
Ka
soul, looked forward to death because it was a new beginning and their soul would have a new paradise life, why pharaohs were buried with their possessions for the afterlife, sometimes even with servants
Mummification
wanted to preserve dead for afterlife, put organs in canopic jars, ensure soul makes it into afterlife
Black land and red land
black land turned black when silt deposited, fertile place where farming occurred, red land was right next to the black land very abruptly, had to create advanced irrigation
Valley of the kings
much more south than Giza, started burying pharaohs in a more discrete way, made chambers underground
Upper and lower Egypt
Upper Egypt is actually south and Lower is north, because of elevation
Menes
first pharaoh to unify Upper and Lower Egypt, defeated king of Upper Egypt and unified crown, established capital in Memphis
Son of Re
Pharaoh took the title of Son of Re, Re was a sun god, pharaoh claiming he is divine
Osiris
god of the dead, weighed heart, if not lighter than a feather could not go into afterlife
Isis
Osiris’s wife, put him back together after his brother chopped him up, why he became the god of the underworld
Anubis
god of embalming, oversee embalming
Double diadem- when Menes combined 2 crowns (unified Upper and Lower Egypt).
He put the red (Lower) and white (Upper) crowns together.
Rosetta Stone
Discovered by Nepolian’s army
The key to unlocking all of Egyptian history.
Deciphered hieroglyphs because 3 languages were on it including Greek.
Jean Champollion
French who cracked the code of Rosetta Stone
Ramses
The pharaoh of the New Kingdom who most likely was not willing to let Isreali people leave (Raised Moses).
Is credited for signing the first peace treaty with the Hittites.
Sudanic sunday
The foundation of Egyptian Society.
Bantu migrations were part of Sudanic people who moved throughout Africa.
Sahara was green, but climatic changes caused the desert to form and Sudanic Migrations.
Monotheistic, single divine force that was source of good and evil. Rain association.
Religion changed to polytheistic due to Pharaohs declaring themselves divine.
Kush
The most successful part of Nubia.
Strong kingdom.
They controlled Egypt after Assyrians and helped culture stay alive.
In Kush there was evidence of several female rulers.
Kerma
The capitol of kush
King kashta
He was one of the rulers of Egypt (During 100 years when Kush controlled Egypt
Harkhuf
He was an Egyptian explorer who realized Nubia was a gold rich region
Nubia
Nubia- South of Egypt
During the Middle Kingdom, Nubia was occupied by Egypt, which lead to Egyptian Golden Age.
Had a lot of money to work with which lead to Egyptian Golden Age.
Amon-Re
Was a combination of two separate gods that was associated with the sun (Most Powerful in Egyptian Religion).
Meroitic writing
Nubian Script that borrowed from Egyptian hieroglyphs, but also had their own unique culture.
Assyrians
They invaded and conquered Egypt. They were in control until the Kush Empire overran them.
King tut +Howard carter
King Tut was a Pharaoh who died when he was young, who is famous because he is the first Pharaoh not raided.
Howard Carter tried to find King Tut’s tomb. Lord Carnarvon of England funded his expeditions.
He begged Lord Carnarvon for one more expedition and finds door that says King Tut…
There was an inscription, “Whoever shall disturb the peace of the king, shall die.”
Many of the people on Carter’s team died.
He restored the belief from Monotheism to Polytheism.
Great pyramid of Giza
Great Pyramid of Giza-
Is the pyramid, tomb, and resting place for King Khufu.
Is the only of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World still standing today.
Old kingdom
(aka the Pyramid Age) Built everything from the ground up.
Self sufficient
Pharaohs were created and viewed as gods for the first time.
Middle Kingdom
Was considered a golden age
With gold from Nubia they were able to make advances in many things(art, literature,architecture)
Had extensive drainage systems built
Got taken over by the Hyksos in the end, but it also helped them make advancements in technology they adapted from them(chariots)
Pharaohs of the middle kingdom had less power than the pharaohs from the new and old kingdoms
Women in egypt
Women en in Egypt had more equality than other civilizations
They could propose marriage and divorce
Social classes: Pharaohs, priests/nobles, merchants, farmers
Hieroglyphics was the Egyptian form of picture writing
Hieroglyphs translate to holy inscriptions in Greek
New kingdom
Egypt became the most imperialistic (expanded all the way to Mesopotamia)
This made them interact with others and cultural diffusion occurred but this also led to the decline of the new kingdom
Hatshepsut took power and to ensure that people respected her as a pharaoh she wore a false beard to show her authority
She expanded the kingdom and expanded the amount of arable land that the Egyptians had access to