Ancient Egypt

Essential Question

• How did ancient civilizations (Ancient Egypt) along the Nile become models of a well organized society?

Egypt’s Gift

• Nile created silt

– Silt: rich soil

• Allowed farmers to grow enough food to support communities

• Because everyone didn’t need to be farmers to feed themselves, it allowed other people to perform other jobs

Social Classes and Jobs

• Pharaohs: wealthy Egyptian rulers who used their power to build strong government

• Priests and government officials: carried out pharaohs orders, enforced laws, made sure society ran smoothly

Social Classes and Jobs-cont.

• Craftspeople/Traders: made items and traded goods

• Farmers: fed and supported society through food grown and taxes paid

• Slaves: built pyramids

Religion

• Believed in many gods

• Believed pharaohs were god-like

• Believed in afterlife

Decline of Ancient Egypt

• Foreign invaders conquered the kingdom and ended the power of the pharaohs

What do you think???

• Farmers

• They fed people of kingdom and through their tax enabled the wealthy to live well and government officials to focus on running a smooth society.

What do you think??

• Egyptians believed that people needed things in the afterlife so they were buried with tools and treasures.

Vocabulary

• Delta: area of land at the mouth of a river made by deposits of silt and sand carried by the river

• Pharaohs: wealthy Egyptians rules who used their power to build strong government

Vocabulary

• Social classes: people who do a variety of jobs

• Pyramids: huge stone tombs built for pharaohs to store their treasures for the afterlife

• Nile River Valley: valley on either side of Nile River with some of the richest farmland in the world

Vocabulary-cont.

• Hieroglyphics: writing system in which pictures and symbols are used to represent words and sounds

– Used by the Ancient Egyptians

• Nile River Valley: valley which contains some of the richest farmland in the entire world

EQ Answer

• Ancient Egypt was a well organized society. It had social classes, a government, laws, leaders, and a tax system. Religion was also an important aspect of the Ancient Egyptian society.