Unit 2 Test Flashcards
Egyptians domesticated…
cats and honeybees
advantages of rivers
○ Fertile soil
○ Water and irrigation
○ Trade and transportation
Resources for the Egyptians
○ Papyrus (paper) ○ Cattle ○ Honey ○ Cats ○ Figs, dates, onions, melons ○ Wheat, barley, flax
Neolithic Period
○ 5000 BC
○ Nomads settle along the Nile
○ People began to bury dead (naturally mummified), helped with afterlife beliefs (beginnings of religion) and mummy ideas
○ Tools (intellectual development)
Nomarch Jobs
○ Supervise irrigation (shaduf, upkeep of ditches) ○ Store surplus ○ Collect taxes ○ Led military ○ Chief priest of tribal god
Nome
place (like a city-state)
Nomarch
ruler of a nome
Upper and Lower Egypt Crowns
○ Lower and Upper Egypt had different crowns, combined when they combine
The Archaic Period
○ 3100-2700 BC ○ 1st and 2nd Dynasties ○ 30 Egyptian Dynasties ○ King Narmer (Menes) ○ Unifies upper and lower Egypt ○ Memphis- capital 1st dynasty
The Old Kingdom
○ 2700-2200 BC ○ 3rd-6th Dynasties ○ Pyramid age ○ Pharaohs built tombs to last forever ○ Start building your tomb when you became king
Mastaba
raised tomb, inside doorway- statue of person
Zoser (Djoser)
○ Step pyramid- start of pyramids
○ Imhotep- vizier, architect
○ 6 mastabas stacked
Pyramids at Giza
○ 3 pharaohs- Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure
○ 4th dynasty (2500)
Hieroglyphics
○ Most likely influenced by Sumerian writing
○ Pictographic and alphabetic elements
Old Kingdom Government
○ Upper and Lower Egypt united
○ Pharaohs- strong central authority, absolute power
○ Vizier- chief minister, supervised day-to-day government
Decline of Old Kingdom
○ Power struggles between Nomarchs
○ Food shortages
○ High cost of pyramids
○ Leads to 1st Intermediate Period (2100 BC)
Nome/nomarch
regions in pre-dynastic Egypt (nomes) were ruled by nomarchs
Pharaoh
Egyptians called their king the pharaoh (literally = “he who lives in the great house” – the word applies to Egyptian kings only
Vizier
The pharaoh’s assistant; he had much responsibility such as organizing the collection of taxes, overseeing irrigation, supervising construction projects etc.
Regent
an adult who serves as temporary monarch when the successor is a child. This word is not specific to Egypt.
Bureaucracy
the name given to the group of people who worked for the government administration. This would have included tax collectors, scribes, engineers and priests.
Delta
the new land formed by a river discharging sediment into the sea; its flow is reduced causing the river to deposit silt at the river mouth. Eventually this silt forms new land.
Inundation
The Egyptian term for the season of flood
Necropolis
Literally this means “city of the dead”. In Egypt it describes the Valley of the Kings and Queens, areas devoted to burial.
Mastaba/pyramid
Mastabas were the precursors of pyramids and were box-shaped tombs built above the ground. Eventually Old Kingdom pharaohs built layers on top and the idea of a pyramid was born.
Papyrus
the plant from which the Egyptians made paper, among other things
Hieroglyphics
literally “sacred writings”, the word given to Egyptian writing. Before it was translated, scholars found this writing on tombs and temples and falsely assumed that it must relate only to religious matters.
Cartouche
An oval shape inside which a pharaoh’s name was inscribed in hieroglyphics. These are often seen on tomb walls. Now people can buy cartouche jewelry with their names in hieroglyphics.
Geometry
the mathematics of measurement learned by the ancient Egyptians as they re-surveyed their property lines each year after the flood. Their mastery of this is seen in its application to pyramid construction.
Rosetta Stone
the stone that inspired the translation of hieroglyphics by Jean Francois Champollion. Sometimes the term is used metaphorically for the key to breaking any code. The original is in the British Museum.
Ma’at
This term represents both a goddess and a concept. It defies literal translation but it roughly means justice/order/ truthfulness. It was an ethical concept.
Ka/Ba
Egyptian names for after-death concepts. Ba was the physical embodiment of the dead person and was depicted on tombs as a bird with a human head. Ka was roughly equivalent to “soul” and was depicted as two bent arms pointing upward.