Ancient Egypt

Social Studies

Egyptian Social Classes

shaped like a pyramid; pharoah at the top, then priests and nobles then traders followed by artisans shopkeepers and scribes in the middle then farmers herders then unskilled workers at the bottom.

pyramids

Mountain-like tombs the size of several city blocks made for Eygyptian pharaohs entirely out of stone; designed to protects the pharaohs body from floods, animals and grave robbers

Upper Egypt

on a map of Ancient Egypt this would have been located in the south due to elevation

Lower Egypt

on a map of Ancient Egypt this would have been located in the north due to elevation

Hatshepsut

she was a new kingdom pharaoh that took power when her husband died leaving her the guardian of his son, Thutmose III, a young child. She was the first female pharaoh. Hatshepsut claimed the throne for herself and the kingdom thrived under her rule because she focused on trade instead of war

polytheism

belief in many gods

kemet

term meaning black land used by ancient Egyptians to describe the dark fertile land after the flood waters receded

dynasty

a series of rulers from the same family

pharaoh

title given to the kings of egypt meaning great house believed to be a king and god

great sphinx

has the head of a man and the body of a lion built as a home for the sun god ra so he could protect the pharaohs buried in the tombs

cartouche

an oval shape inside which a pharaohs name was inscribed in hieroglyphics. These are often seen on tomb walls

nile river

the river Ancient Egyptians settled around. It flows south to north into the Mediterranean Sea.

irrigation system

a way of supplying water to and area of land

natural barriers

deserts, mountains or body’s of water that create barriers from invasion

mummification

embalment and drying a dead body and wrapping it up as a mummy

gift of the Nile

eygypt was called this because It would not have existed without the nile

the Nile flooding

was a predictible event that the Egyptians used to plan their farming and calendars

hieroglyphics

an ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds

polytheistic

believing in many gods and goddesses

sahara desert

largest desert in the world ; located west of the Nile river

shadoof

a bucket attached to a long pole used to lift water from the Nile to the basins

delta

a landform where a river splits off into a number of streams that fan out over an area of fertile soil before emptying into a larger body f water

papyrus

a reed plant that grew along the Nile and was used to make baskets sandals river rafts and paper

menes

an Egyptian king who unified upper and lower egypt