Egypt Notes: Journey Across TIme

1. Chapter 2, Section 1:
The Nile Valley

2. I. Settling the Nile
A. A Mighty River
a. Egypt = warm and sunny, received
little rainfall
b. Egyptians relied on the Nile River
(drank, bathed, used for farming,
provided food)
c. Believed that the Nile was a
precious gift
d. Longest river in the world (4000
miles)
e. Wild rapids (cataracts) keep ships
from using all but the last 650
miles

3. I. Settling the Nile
B. A Sheltered Land
a. Nile Valley = fertile
b. most fertile land = Nile Delta
c. Desert on either side, the ancient Egyptians
called the deserts the “red lands”
d. Egypt was surrounded by natural barriers,
and wasn’t attacked often

4. II. The River People
A. Regular Flooding
a. Nile flooded regularly and was dependable
b. “Black land” = fertile land by the Nile River
B. How Did the Egyptians Use the Nile?
a. Floods led to successful farming
b. Used irrigation and canal system to move water
where they needed it
c. Shadoof = bucket attached to long pole, to lift water
from the Nile to the basin, many Egyptian farmers
still use these today
d. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-4pUJ5fNgw

5. d. Egyptians developed geometry to survey land
e. Papyrus, a reed plant that grew along the Nile was
an important resource
f. Used papyrus to make baskets, sandals, rafts and
paper

6. C. What were Hieroglyphics?
a. System of writing that is made up of hundreds of
picture symbols
b. Some symbols stood for objects and ideas while
others stood for sounds
c. Scribes carved hieroglyphs into stone walls and
monuments but wrote on papyrus for everyday
purposes
d. Few people could read and write
e. Scribes did the reading and writing, kept records,
worked for rulers, priests and traders

7. III. A Untied Egypt
A. The Rise of Government
a. Earliest rulers were village chiefs
b. Over time chiefs led groups of villages which
eventually became kingdoms
c. By 4000 BCE, Egypt was made up of 2 large
kingdoms: Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt

8. B. Egypt’s Ruling Families
a. Around 3100 BCE the two kingdoms became one
b. Narmer united the kingdoms and ruled from
Memphis at the center of Egypt
c. He wore a double crown
d. Ruling power was passed from father to son creating
a dynasty
e. Egypt was ruled by 31 dynasties together lasting over
2800 years
f. 3 main time periods: Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom
and New Kingdom

9. IV. Early Egyptian Life
A. Egypt’s Social Classes

10. Pharaoh
Priests and Nobles
Traders, Artisans, Scribes,
shopkeepers
Farmers and Herders
Unskilled Workers
Slaves

11. A. Egypt’s Social Classes
a. Upper class made up of nobles, priests and other
wealthy Egyptians
b. Upper class was wealthy, had large homes along
river, and servants to wait on them
c. Middle class included people who ran businesses
and made goods
d. Middle class lived in smaller homes and dressed
more simply
e. Farmers made up largest group of early Egyptians,
lived in villages, ate simply
f. Many that lived in the city were unskilled workers

12. B. Family Life
a. Father was head of family, but women had more
rights than females in other ancient civilizations
b. women could own and pass on property
c. upper class women were in charge of temples
d. few Egyptians went to school, instead were taught
in the home