Notes on Ancient Egypt

Today in class we took notes on Ancient Egypt. I missed the first couple slides of the powerpoint because I was making up the Guns, Germs and Steel test that the whole class took like two weeks ago but because of the snow I haven't been able to do it. I thought I did pretty well on the test there were a few tough questions, but overall I felt prepared for it. Back to Ancient Egypt here are the notes below that I took in class:


Land of the Pharaohs
-Upper Egypt was a 500 mile long strip of fertile land along the Nile.
-Lower Egypt was the wide land of the Nile delta, that emptied into the Mediterranean Sea.
-The Nile was the major provider of life for the Egyptians and was much revered in lore and writing.
-Around 3100 B.C. the two lands were united under a single king or "Pharaoh"
Government by a God-King
-Pharaoh was all powerful, worshipped as a god and intimately connected to the other major Egyptian gods and goddesses.
-Egyptian relied on a harmony and balance of universe, which was called "maat"
-Pharaohs had multiple wives and all financial and social success were through the palace.
-Women could inherit money and land and divorce their husbands though only a tiny ever wielded real political power.
Gods, Humans, and Everlasting Life
- Gods were often portrayed with animal heads or bodies
- Egyptians believed in an afterlife and mumified bodies to preserve them for this post-death journey.
-All souls would need to justify themselves at a point of death and be either sent to an after-world paradise, or the jaws of a monster.
The Writing of Words of God
-Earliest Egyptian writing formed in 3100 B.C. and were small pictures known as hieroglyphs
-Hieroglyphs represented religious words, or parts of words, and most commonly adorned temples.
-Hieratic script was shorthand developed by scribes and priests.
-Was usually written in ink on papyrus, which was made from mashed Nile reeds.
-Papyrus was stored in scrolls and these scrolls were the books of ancient Egypt.
Calendars and Sailboats
- Egyptian astronomers created a calendar with 12 months and 365 days to make better sense of the seasonal cycles.
-Due to excellent knowledge, Egyptian doctors wrote extensively on health issues and created potions and cures for a number of common ailments.
-Wooden sailboats were constructed to increase transport ability to the Nile.
Pyramids and Temples
-Massive stone tombs, originally covered in marble but marble was later stripped of during the Muslims conquest
-Stone sculptures and interior painting depicted humans and gods in a series of regulated poses, often in profile, were highly effective.