Pyramids on the Nile

wh10a-RSG-0102_P3 11/13/20039:04AMPage15

© McDougal Littell Inc. All rights reserved. river banks.Therethepeople ofancientEgypt f North, towardtheMediterraneanSea.It,too, tothe Nile RiverofEastAfrica.Theflows Another civilizationarosealongthebanksof W The GeographyofEgypt Na Egypt’s geography? AS YOU READ AS YOU READ BEFORE YOU Pyramids ontheNile CHAPTER 2 loods eachyear. Thewaters leaverichsoilonthe me hat its culture waslike,andhowitfell. Use thewebbelowtoshowhowEgyptwasunified,what the Nile. aboutearlycivilizationalong In thissection,youwilllearn in Mesopotamia. In thelastsection,youread aboutthecity-statesthatarose ______Date ______Date ______Menes bringsLowerEgyptandUpper w as thekey feature ofearly Unification Egypt together Section 2 ( pages 35–41) (pages 35–37) Egypt Fall: north totheMediterranean, just100milesaway. land. LowerEgyptbegan hereandcontinued delta isabroad,marshy, triangularareaofrich area ofrapids,orcataracts,totheNile Upper EgyptextendednorthfromtheNile’s first in twokingdoms,UpperEgyptandLowerEgypt. They worshipedtheNileasalife-givinggod. grew foodandbegantobuildtheirownculture. C HAPTER For manycenturies,thepeopleofEgyptlived 2E ARLY like material papyrus hieroglyphics body ispreservedafterdeath mummification kings afterdeath pyramid figure ruler isconsideredtobeadivine theocracy a god pharaoh united UpperandLowerEgypt Narmer river delta TERMS ANDNAMES R IVER Culture: Marshy areaatthemouthofa King ofUpperEgyptwho Plant usedtomakeapaper- Resting placeforEgyptian Egyptian rulerthoughtofas Government inwhichthe V ALLEY Egyptian writingsystem Process bywhicha C IVILIZATIONS delta. The 15 wh10a-RSG-0102_P4 11/13/20039:04AMPage16 between 2660and2180 Narmer, 2. mids magnificent tombs.Thetombswerehuge after theirdeath.Sothesekingsbuiltthemselves seen asadivinefigureis seen asagod.Agovernmentinwhichruleris the culture ofEgyptarose.Rulingoverthelandwas 16 Other World. To prepareforthis,Egyptianspre- weight were eatenbyabeast.Goodpeople,with each deadperson.Heartsjudgedheavywithsin life. Onegod,theythought,weighedtheheartsof Egyptians believedinmanygodsandanafter- Egyptian culture? W Control Egypt Egyptian Culture; Invaders About 3000 Who (pages 37–38) Egypt UnitesintoaKingdom 1. hat Pharaohs believedtheywouldruletheland Why didpharaohsbuildpyramids? How didtheNilecreateboundaries? pharaoh. C HAPTER made outof hearts, wouldliveforeverinabeautiful r were thefeatures of uled thekingdom? united thetwokingdoms.Inyears 2S He wasnotonlyakingbutalso B . C ., thekingofUpperEgypt, ECTION massive (pages 38–41) B . 2 C theocracy. limestone blocks. ., thebasicmarksof feather- pyra- 3. these invadersin1640 arrived inhorse-drawnchariots.Thelandfellto turies untilagroupofAsianscalledtheHyksos once againtookcontrol.Theyruledforfourcen- went throughatimeoftroubles.Thenstrongrulers Then camethemiddleclass— priests, andmembersofthegovernmentarmy. wealth whoownedlargeamountsofland,the Egyptian society. Belowthemwerepeopleof This keptthebodyfromdecaying. served adeadperson’s bodyby medicine. were famousintheancientworldfortheirideas had 12months,eachofwhich30days.They written numbersandacalendar. Theircalendar papyrus they begantomakeakindofpaperfromthe and sentences.Atfirsttheywroteonstone.Later The picturescouldbeputtogethertomakewords hieroglyphics, a wayofwriting.Intheirwritingsystem, important positions. another. Thosewhocouldreadandwriteheld People couldmovefromonerankofsocietyto peasants. Inlatertimes,theEgyptianshadslaves. ple whoworkedincrafts.Atthebottomwere The pharaohandhisfamilywereatthetopof How wasEgyptiansocietyorganized? After 2180 The Egyptians,liketheSumerians,developed plant. TheEgyptiansinventedasystemof B . pictures stoodforsoundsorideas. C ., thepharaohslostpower. Egypt B . C . merchants mummification. and peo-