NILE - THE GIFT FOR EGYPTAINS

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

AR.JIT KUMAR PRIYANKA
1542018
 EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION

 3100-2750 B.C. : EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD(Dynasties I and II)

• King Narmer united Egypt.
• Recorded his deeds on Narmer palette.

 2750-2250 B.C. : OLD KINGDOM

• First step pyramid at Saqqara.
• The Pyramids at Giza are built.

 2250-2025 B.C. : FIRST IMTERMEDIATE PERIOD(Dynasties VII

- X)
• Civilization progressed leading to introduction of Gods.
• Period of unrest and famines.
 EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION
 Pyramids Robbed 2025-1627 B.C. : MIDDLE KINGDOM (Dynasties
XI - XIII)
• Capital of Egypt moved to Thebes.
• Hyskos invade.
• Pharos stop building pyramids.
• Kings are buried in rock-cut tombs

 1648 – 1539 B.C. : SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (Dynasties

XIV - XVII)
• Nilometer for keeping track of height of river for farming.
 EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION

 1539 – 1070 B.C. : NEW KINGDOM (Dynasties XVIII - XX)

• Idea of one God(sun God) was proposed by Amenhotep.
• Temples built at Luxor.
• Tutankhamen rules. Old Gods return.
• Temples built at Abu Simbel.
 1070 - 653 B.C. : THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (Dynasties
XXI - XXV)
• Amen-Ra becomes king of the Gods. King David unites people.
 EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION

 664 – 332 B.C. : LATE PERIOD (Dynasties XXVI - XXXI)

• Libyan and Nubian pharos rule.

 332 – 30 B.C. : PTOLEMAIC PERIOD

• Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and founded city of
Alexandria.

 30 B.C. – 395 A.D. : ROMAN PERIOD

• The Roman Emperor Octavian conquered and ruled Egypt.
Why was the Nile River a gift for
the Egyptians?

 For centuries, THE NILE RIVER FLOODED THE VALLEY, enriching

the land with a thick layer of sedimentary soil. Flooding occurred from
July to September as the result of the tropical rains. The river attained its
highest level in October, then began to recede to its lowest point sometime
between April and June.
 Why was the Nile River a gift for the
Egyptians?

Geography & HEI of Egypt- CUES NOTES

 Every year flooding provided fertile farmland in the desert and deposited silt.
 Ibis, white bird, would appear before the Nile would flood then the farmers could plant
seeds.
 Nile River: longest river in the world and flows south to north.
 Built irrigation canals & flood dams .
 To expand their farmland, created a tool called a shaduf, was used to spread water across
the desert to increase farmland.
 Grew flax plants and wove its fibers into fabric called linen used for clothing.
 Domesticated animals for food and service.
 Traded surplus goods along the Nile river.
 Fished and hunted wildlife.
 Mined copper and iron for tools/weapons.
 Used gold and gems for jewelry.
 Why Nile was so important to the
Egyptains ?
 The Nile River has played an extremely important role in the civilization, life and history of
the Egyptian nation.
 As indigenous people, Ancient Egyptians make their livings from the village life: the farming
and animal husbandry. And hence Nile means the source of most of the water and fertile soil.
 Providing better climatic and habitable conditions were the major factors to
 encourage Egyptians for a development of civilisation in the Nile Valley.
 To the Egyptians, Nile was the life and the desert was the death, that’s why they choose the
Nile Valley to be settled. “Then in time it is transformed into a sophisticated pattern of river
settlements based on controlled irrigation.”
 The main fact of the common orientation in Ancient Egypt is having located with respect to
the Nile River. Therefore; the Nile acts as an axis: a great axis that ran for hundreds of miles.
 In one sense, everything along the banks was linked to everything else by the Nile axis. That
was the major highway of the country.
 The general layout of the settlements are the things ran along the Nile and right angles to it.
So the Egypt can be defined as an orthogonal city with axes, straight lines, paths and right
angles.
 Domestication of Animals
 LIVESTOCK was important to the Egyptian economy, supplying meat,
milk, eggs, hides, and dung for cooking fuel.
 Nothing was ever wasted.
 A variety of DOMESTICATED ANIMALS were raised, including cattle,
oxen, sheep, goats, pigs, ducks and geese.
 They did not eat pork (pigs).
 HERDSMEN and SHEPHERDS lived a semi-nomadic life, pasturing
their animals in the marshes of the Nile.
 TRANSPORTATION: The Nile River was the highway that joined the
country together. Up until the nineteenth century, travel by land was
virtually unknown.
SOCIAL ARRANGEMENT
 How did work and social roles affect
people in ancient Egypt?

Division of Labor & Social Class Structure

 People at the top (government and royal family) lived in palaces and ate
fine food.
 People in the middle (craft workers and scribes) were well respected and
often rich.
 The Egyptians at the bottom (majority) were poor and had to work very
hard.
 TRADE

 RESOURCES IMPORTED:
• Wood: Cedar wood, different varieties of hardwood, i.e. ebony, and fragrant wood.
• Mines: invasion with other countries increased copper and gold mines.
• Metal: Tin, Asiatic copper and bronze alloy.
• Animal products: Ivory, ostrich feathers and eggs, leopard and lion skins.
• Animal: Horses & Hyksos, a horned breed of cattle, sheep, chickens.
 RESOURCES EXPORTED:
• Agricultural produce: grain, dates.
• Raw materials like gold and precious stones artifacts.
• Sarcophagi and statues, amulets, rings, scarabs, beads, torch holders.
• Weapons, jewelry, mirrors.
 ECONOMY

 The economy of pharaonic Egypt : specialized bureaucracy.

 The wealth of the economy: natural resources.
 Agriculture: Grain, vegetables & fruit.
 Rearing of cattle, goats, pigs and fowl, in addition to fishing.
 Mining of gold, bronze and copper.
 Manufacturing of stone and wood.
 Human power and animal energy were used.
 Wind, fire and sun were additional sources of energy.
 The raw materials consumed and sold.
 Tax levied on the goods increased the income.
 Military invasions.
 RELIGION
 Egypt straddles two regions, Africa and
the Middle East.
 “Melting Pot,“ of races.
 Egyptians were neither "black" nor
"white“
 Egyptians did not make racial
distinctions but rather ethnic distinctions
based on nationality.
 Egyptians were in contact with people
of various races and nations.
 FOUR PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:
• SYRIAN
• NUBIAN
• LIBYAN AND
• EGYPTIAN.
 RELIGION
 Religion developed from pagan religions of the settlers.
 Polytheistic religion-anamorphic gods and nature spirits.
 Vast pantheon-over 700 gods.
 RELIGION
 DIVINE KINGSHIP
• Divine Kingship-Pharaoh was not only the King (political
ruler) but also a god.
• The Pharaoh was associated with Horus.
• Due to their beliefs, the Pharaoh held an immense power.
 LIFE AFTER DEATH
• Egyptians believed that a new, eternal life awaited people
after death.
• Belief stemmed from the story of Ra the sun god’s rebirth
everyday.
• Belief led to the development of elaborate mortuary cult
and extensive funerary architecture.
 THE BOOK OF THE DEATH
• Book of Coming Forth by Day
• Negative confession .
• It contained hymns to gods.
• Quality depended on buyer’s wants and capacity to afford.
How were Egyptian cities planned? Were
there any specific factors?
 The planning of a town had was based on two main factors – The nearness to a
water source and the height it was built above Nile to make sure the flooding
didn’t affect the city.
 Towns generally had a boundary wall with only one or two entrances through
the wall.
 The main street was normally placed through the centre of the town with
smaller streets coming off the main one.
 Houses were built on the edge of the streets with and the houses share walls
with their neighbouring houses.
 The streets were normally very narrow. The Ancient Egyptians built canals,
dams and dug wells to collect water. Some of the Ancient Egyptian towns were
not well planned.
 BUILDING MATERIALS
 MUD BRICKS
• Mixture of mud, straws and stones .
• Poured in wooden frames or shaped into bricks left
to harden in the sun.
 LIMESTONE
• Grades of limestone from the core to the exterior.
• Later the limestone was cut in small blocks
deducing the time of transportation and labour.
 BASALT
• Used for flooring.
 GRANITE
• Used for monolithic obelisk .
• Used on inner walls.
 Large labour workforce Believed in human power
over machinery .

 TOOLS TO CUT THE BLOCKS

• Ropes, copper pickaxes and chisels, granite
hammers, dolerite and other hard stone tools.
 TOWN PLANNING
 Ancient Egypt never developed any major cities.
 Nile valley constituted a continuous inhabitable area.
 Few places had any advantages over others.
 The cities that did emerge were wither the result of the need for effective
administration, or the clustering of facilities around an important religious
center.
 There were many specialized cities such as those based on trade. • Others,
for example, were made up of artisans, craftsmen and workers related to
various royal projects.
 SETTLEMENT PATTERNS
 Most cities grew organically around
administration, the clustering of
facilities, an important religious
center or construction site.
 • Only few of the cities were planed
and organized.
 • Planned cities were created as
tributes by the Pharaoh to the Gods or
as monuments to their greatness
 IMPORTANT CITIES
 Amarna (Akhetaten)
 Maadi,
 MEMPHIS
 Thebes
 MEMPHIS
 MEMPHIS
 City of ancient Egypt, situated on the west bank of the Nile, 25 km south
of today's Cairo.
 Memphis was strategically located at the apex of the Nile Delta and is
counted for being the first imperial city in world history.
 The necropolises further north of Memphis are the most impressive
remains from this period, involving the Pyramids at Giza and at Saqqara.
 THEBES
 THEBES
 Capital of ancient Egypt
 Thebes lied on the east side of the
Nile, in the centre of today's Egypt,
700 km south of modern Cairo,Luxor
and Karnak now lies where Thebes
once was.
 Thebes has some of the best
preserved monuments of Ancient
Egypt, even if the old settlement is
now covered by modern houses. • The
Temple of Amen-Karnak.
 Colossi of Memnon.
 The Ramesseum of Ramses ,The
temple of Ramses ,and the temple of
Queen Hatshepsut
 The necropolis.
 AMARNA(AKHETATEN)
• AMARNA(AKHETATEN)
• Capital of Ancient Egypt 1348-1336 BC.
• Akhetaten, as it was called, was built on virgin soil
• Estimated Population-20,000 to 50,000
• The layout -divided into 3 areas, with: -the main temple and
-the royal palace in the middle. -three city quarters laid out for
development.
ZONING OF CITIES THE CENTRAL
CITY
 ZONING OF CITIES THE CENTRAL CITY

 Residential areas away from the Royal Tomb Compared to the central city
suburban settlements was made organic .
 Orientation of the houses parallel to the River Nile remarkably uniform
residences.
 The residential areas consist of
• The North City or Suburb,
• The Main or South City,
• The worker's village.
 Peasants would have lived in simple mud-brick homes
 GROWTH OF THE RESIDENTIAL AREAS
• Spaces between the earliest large houses was gradually filled up with
smaller clusters of homes craftworkers lived in one- or two-storey flat-
roofed dwellings made of mud bricks.
 Types of Cities in Ancient Egyptian
Civilization.
 The ancient Egyptians divided the cities into two types, the first type and
they called it NWT, and the second type they called my blood, NUT refers
to the city which grew and formed naturally under the influence of nature
and climatic conditions.
 Demi refers to the cities that were built and settled according to predefined
planning, and examples of these cities were evident in the city of Lahoun,
Tell el-Dab’a, and Deir al-Madina. In addition to the presence of other
cities established on the planning of civilization as well.
 Tell al-Dabaa

 The Daba Hill area is one of the main cities in the early Middle Kingdom, around 2000 BC.
 It was discovered by the remains of the city located so far with an area of about 100 square
meters.
 The city streets are surrounded by a wall, each containing 10 rows of houses in each row.
 The city’s design contains a larger building than the remaining buildings, plus a gate on the
east side of the city.
 It was observed that the houses on the eastern side were divided into blocks, each containing
12 houses, 5 meters long and 5 meters long. Looking at the western side, there are at least 20
houses, where people live for at least 20 years.
 Lahoun City

 Lahoun returns to the reign of Senusert II of the Twelfth Dynasty. The town lies on the
banks of the Nile Canal on the road to Fayoum Oasis.
 The city is the home of the workers who built the pyramid of Senusret with some priests
who kept the royal rite. There are researchers who point out that the king himself lived
with them in the same city. Flinders Petrie, who discovered the city of Lahoun , said the
streets were designed in an organized manner, as well as a sewage system to transport
dirty residues outside homes.
 If we moved to the east side of town where the large buildings, where the guards and
manned facilities, in addition to the buildings have not yet reached the target.
 Deir el-Medina

 Due to the interest of the ancient Egyptians in the category of workers and peasants of the time,
who in turn contributed greatly to the construction of ancient Egyptian civilization, the village of
workers was built in the monastery of the city, which was located on the west bank of the Nile and
the city of Taiba, was first constructed under Thutmose I of the Nineteenth Dynasty, whose
purpose was to shelter the workers who had built tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
 It was found that the design of Deir Al Madina contains the main street and is surrounded by a
wall made of mud bricks. It is decorated on both sides of rows of houses connected, which is
almost a single roof.
 After many expansions of the city, the number of houses reached 120, and it has 600 inhabitants.
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