THE EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

Herodotus
Egypt-Gift of river Nile
Herodotus was a Greek
historian who was
born in Halicarnassus in
the Persian Empire
(modern-day Bodrum,
Turkey) and lived in the
fifth century BC ( c. 484–
c. 425 BC)
PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH
 EGYPT-THE GIFT OF RIVER NILE
HERODOTUS
• Every year ,the river would overflow its banks
• When the water receded, the river left behind a
residue of black,fertile soil along its banks
• Crops easily grew in this soil and yielded rich
harvests
• The Nile also served as a national highway and
a main transportation channel
• It enabled the Egyptians to develop trade with
other countries and it became rich
Three main periods of ancient
Egypt
1.The Old Kingdom( 3000 to 2000B.C.E.),
2. The Middle Kingdom (about 2000 to-1,700
B.C.E.)
3.The New Kingdom, which lasted to about 1600 to
1100 B.C.E.)
 Hyksos Tribes 1700-1600 BCE
From west Asia invaded
and ruled over Egypt
Upper and lower Egypt
3,200 BCE, Upper and lower Egypt were united and ruled
by Pharaohs or rulers
Pharaohs –kings of Egypt-Around 3200 BCE
,United Lower and Upper Egypt
• Cleopatra –VII
• Most famous and
popular
• Ascended the throne at
the age of 17
• Fluent in nine languages
including Egyptian
 Main characteristics of the Egyptian
Civilization
• Town Planning
• Buildings-Dwelling houses,Public buildings
• Architecture and Engineering
• Society
• Occupations
• Trade
• Religion
 Town planning
• Some Egyptian towns like Memphis and Thebes
grew organically –they were not planned and
came up based on people’s needs
• The townships near Giza are planned based on
nearness to Nile and the height of the location
above the flooding of the Nile
• There were very few broad parallel streets
cutting each other at right angles dividing the city
into blocks or grids
Buildings
Dwelling houses Public buildings
• Houses were built around • Temple districts were better
crossing of two major roads planned and surrounded by
• Made of sun baked bricks high walls
• Almost all houses had flat roofs • The temples were huge
• The poor lived in one or two structures with huge gateways
room houses without
bathrooms
• The rich had as many as thirty
rooms,bathrooms, gardens and
pools
• Royal palaces enclosed by
The temple at Abu Simbel
Architecture and engineering
• The Great pyramid at
Giza has tombs of three
pharaohs
• One of the Seven
Wonders of the ancient
world
The Sphinx
• A mythological figure
with the body of a lion
and the head of a man
• Carved out of single
block of stone
Social Structure
Upper class:Royal
family,priests,higher officials

The Middle class: Artisans,traders

,manufacturers,lower clergy

The lowest class:Farmers and

last ,slaves
CARTER AND DISCOVERY OF
TUTANKHAMUN’S TOMB
SACROPHAGUS –
TUTANKHAMUN’S TOMB
TUTANKHAMUN’S TOMB
TUTANKHAMUN’S TOMB
TUTANKHAMUN’S TOMB
TUTANKHAMUN-
A RECONSTRUCTION
TUTANKHAMUN-MUMMYAND
SACROPHAGUS
Gods-Ra and Osiris
HIEROGLYPHICS
SHADUF-IRRIGATION
PAPYRUS
 THE STORY OF PAPER
The making of Papyrus-Egypt
(3000B.C)
PAPYRUS
THE SPHINX AND TPYRAMIDS OF
GIZAH
HIEROGLYPHICS
SOCIAL LIFE
Decline of the Egyptian Civilization
• Collapse of the new kingdom(1600 to 1100 BCE)
• Egypt was repeatedly invaded by the Assyrians
Babylonians and Persians (from Iran)
• Finally,Egypt was invaded by Alexander the
Great
Alexander the Great (356 BCE –323
BCE)
• king of the ancient
Greek kingdom
of Macedon
Alexander the Great (356 BCE –323
BCE)
Alexander the Great
• Conquered Asia Minor
(Turkey), then Syria,
Palestine, and Egypt. He
then invaded
Mesopotamia (modern
Iraq), defeated the
Persians at the Battle of
Arbela
and conquered Babylon.
Ptolemy –a general of Alexander the
Great
• He served not only as
king of Egypt but also the
founder of
the Ptolemaic dynasty, a
dynasty which included
the infamous Cleopatra
VII.