Egypt Old Kingdom Flashcards
2686–2182 BC
Old Kingdom
3100–2686 BC
Early period;Egypt united under Menes 3100
2650 BC
First pyramid built
2200–2055 BC
First Intermediate period, four competing kingdoms, no central Pharoah
2100 BC
Peasants’ revolt
The pyramids give us a lot of
Information about the Old Kingdom
Why do the pyramids give us so much info?
Buildings in the Nile Valley were built over pulled down ones because of little space. Pyramids were built on the edge of the desert where people didn’t live so they were not pulled down
Primary source info about Pharoahs of Old Kingdom comes from
Pyramid texts
”——” written inside pyramids
Spells concerning the king’s afterlife
Spells found in pyramids at ——
Saqqara
Mummification
A process of slowly drying a dead body to prevent it from rotting
Bureaucracy
An administrative organization with officials and regular procedures
Vizier
The “steward of the whole land”
Pharoah
Ruler of Egypt, originally meant “great house” or “palace”
Dynasty
A family of rulers whose right to rule is passed on with the family
The pyramids are examples of ——–
Monumental architecture
Pyramid texts
All magic spells read at the king’s funeral for hope of bringing him back to life, oldest Egyptian religious texts
Pharoah is considered a —– and once they go to the afterlife they are a full —— (—–)
God
God
Divine right
Menes
First Pharoah to unite Egypt
Immortality is something you expect from
The Pharoah
You can tell from the Pyramid Texts that…
Pharaoh considered a god
Pharaohs are all powerful
Pharaoh owned everything
Pharaoh was responsible/worshipped for
Making crops grow and the world work
Kings ruled by
Divine right
Pharaoh’s help
Bureaucracy
A vizier was
At the top of the bureaucracy
—- and —– were beneath the vizier
Priests and scribes
Hieroglyphics
Egyptian writing system that was used until late 300s AD
Hieroglyphics has symbols for —– or ——
Entire words
Single letters
Symbols of single letters roughly correspond to the
26 letters of the American alphabet
Egyptian social stratification
Pharaoh
Government officials:viziers, priest, noble
Soldiers
Scribes
Merchants
Craftsmen
Peasants
Slaves
Pyramids are just for
Pharaoh
Herodotus called Egypt……….. Because…….
“The gift of the Nile” b/c the Nile was the basis of the Egyptians’ way of life
How often does the Nile flood and what does it leave behind?
Once a year and it leaves behind silt
Silt
Rich black soil that allows Better farming
Describe the flooding of the Nile
Predictable and less destructive than Tigris and Euphrates
Officials thy work at the pyramid
Apart of the Pharaoh’s bureaucracy (bureaucrats)
Bureaucrats collect
Taxes and peasants
Pyramid gangs are
20 people
A block is laid every
2 minutes
Very few people in Egypt can
Write
Scribes are associated with —- class and —- —- class
Upper
Upper middle
Social stratification
Creates social structure
Social structure in Egypt
Church, class, government
Did Pharaohs know how to write?
Yes
everything happens because of the
Gods
Kemet
Dark, fertile land, black land
The Red Land
Desert
Professional mourners
Paid to mourn for Pharoahs
The Great Pyramid of Cheops was built for —-
Khufu
Khufu is from the ———– of the Old Kingdom
4th dynasty
Khufu ruled for
23 years
Average stone size
127x127x71 cm
———– was the kind of stone used
Limestone/granite
There are — pyramids in Egypy
30
—– were the most important method or transportation for Egyptians
Boats
Were there major roads in Egypt?
No
In —–, Pharaohs need a boat
Death
Real —- were buried in the tomb too
Boats
Khufu’s boat may have been apart of a giant
Funeral procession, or orderly march and ceremony into the pyramid (not sure what it looked like)
People wearing royal robes were definitely
Professional mourners
