PRE-DYNASTIC PERIODNot a unified state

Independent city-states cooperating with other for economic ends Short, dark, long-headed people with straight black hairProgress: Tools, weapons and ornaments from copper and gold Other achievements:

development of an efficient system of irrigation the weaving of a superior quality of linen cloth.

OLD KINGDOM About 3150 BCE: unification under Menes (known as the founder of the First Dynasty)

Nearer a theocracy than autocracy: the king was the vicar of god.

He was forbidden to marry anyone outside of his immediate family

For the Pharaoh’s son to come to the throne, he’d have to marry his own sister or half sister

OLD KINGDOMEgyptians of the Old Kingdom Work out their own

destinies Let other people alone

Land was sacred: Owned by the gods Ruled by the Pharaohs Farmed by the peasants and slaves

MIDDLE KINGDOM(2100 – 1788bCe)

Population Enjoyed privileges reserved for the few (The first democratic kingdom in history)

Era of internal chaos and foreign invasion:

Invaded by the Hyksos

Profound effects Familiarized the Egyptians with newmethods of warfare Introduced the horse and chariot into Egypt

EGYPTIAN THEOCRACYReligion Dominant role

Political power was linked with spiritual power and superhuman right.

The Pharaoh was considered to be the son of Aten

Pharaoh Khafre

Hybrid symbol of superhuman power and authority

Religion Hereafter The body will be revivified if it were still inexistence

MummificationWealthy men left food and other essentials.

More mature religion

3 stages

1. The deceased was required to declare his innocence of 44 sins, including death, murder and adultery

2. He was the made to asses his virtues:

Satisfy the needs of the gods, and that he had given “bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothing to the naked and ferry to him who was without a boat”

3. The heart represented the conscience, and it was weighed in a balance against a feather the symbol of truth.

Pharaoh Venerated as the living representative of the sun god. Their lives would join to govern Egypt eternally

Ten-week embalming procedure and the wrapped in a fine linen

Pyramids Technological wonders Symbols

Builders: Egyptians

Intended as homes for the dead

Tut-ankh-amen (his grave escaped vandalism)

After the establishment of the Empire (18th, 19th and 20th dynasties) religionunderwent a serious debasement

Superstition and magic gained the ascendancy Hyksos

Increased power of the priests Inaugurated the practice of selling magical charms

Effective in preventing the heart from betraying the deceased

Fruitless attempts to correct these abuses

AMENHOTEP IV

Drove the priests from the templesAKHENATEN

HIS REFORM DIED WITH HIM

EGYPT’S CONSERVATIVE PRIESTS AND NOBLES RETURNED THE POLYTHEISM OF THEIR FOREBEARS

BOOK PAGE 55WHICH OF ATEN’S POWERS ARE GLORIFIED IN THIS HYMN?

Achievements Doctrine of natural cause and effect. Conception of an eternal universe.

Astronomers and mathematicians:

Perfected a solar calendar, mapped the heavens, identified the principalfixed stars and achieved some success in determining accurately the positions of stellar bodies

Laid the foundations of arithmetic and geometry

Invented the decimal system, but had no symbol for zero.

Social OrderWhy do we say the social organization resembled a pyramid? Draw your conclusions.

What was the role of women in Egypt? Compare it to that of Hebrew and Sumerian women.