WH1 Lesson 4, 5 & 6

• Egypt has been called “the gift of the Nile”
• Silt carried by the river gradually built up a marshy, triangular delta at its mouth.
• Egyptian Polytheism included the worship of animals.
• THOTH, the scribe of the gods, shown as a man with the head of the bird
• The God OSIRIS was seen as the ruler of the Nile and rich harvests who died each year and was brought back to life by his wife ISIS.
• A ruler of the Upper Egypt known as MENES conquered Lower Egypt and brought all of Egypt under his rule.
• Menes - He built the city of MEMPHIS as his capital.
• THREE PERIODS:

  1. Old Kingdom
  2. Middle Kingdom
  3. New Kingdom
• The ruler, later called PHARAOH, was more than a king.
• Pharaoh - Powerful rulers govern Egypt.
• Pyramids are built during the Old Kingdom.
• The Old Kingdom had immense pyramids built to serve as their tombs
• Standing 450 feet high, the Great Pyramid is made of more than two million stone blocks, each weighing about two and a half tons.
• The Middle Kingdom restores Egypt’s prosperity.
• About 2040 B.C Egypt again came under the control of a strong dynasty, which ruled from THEBES.
• A foreign dynasty rules Egypt. The new comers were called HYKSOS, meaning “Prince from Foreign Lands.”
• Hatshepsut was the first great woman ruler in history
• Akhenaton tries to change Egyptian religious beliefs.
• A single supreme God, ATON, who was represented by the sun.
• Amenhotep took the name Akhenaton, which means “It is well with Aton”
• The Egyptians leave written records. The term HIEROGLYPHIC comes from Greek and means “sacred carving”
• The Egyptians also wrote on paper scrolls, which they made from a reed like plant called PAPYRUS
• The Egyptians develop knowledge of medicine and astronomy.
• One of the first medical textbooks was an Egyptian work written on the diagnosis and treatment of injuries.
• Tombs provide a “home” for the dead.
• The tomb of Tutankhamen displays Egypt’s wealth.
• Howard Carter discovered the unrobbed tomb of Tutankhamen.
• This calendar was based on the sun and had 365 days.
• The treasure of “King Tut’s” tomb was the greatest single archeological find from ancient Egypt.
• About 2000 B.C people known as Aryans, began to migrate from their homeland, somewhere northeast of the Black Sea.
• Indo-European is Aryan distinctive Language
• Indo-European - it became the ancestor of nearly all the languages now spoken in Europe and India.
• The Hittites learn to use Iron.
• The Lydians introduced the use of Coins.
• Phoenician seafarers spread ideas.
• Phoenician - famous for its tall cedar trees use in shipbuilding.
• Phoenician - first to make object of clear glass.
• Phoenician - famous product was cloth dyed a deep purple.
• The Phoenicians used a writing system based on early alphabet.
• Hebrews- a small group of people yet their influence in world history was great.