EGYPT, “GIFT OF THE

NILE”
Herodotos- “All Egypt is the gift of Nile “
Lecturer : Mr. Rafael N. Negare
At the end of the discussion, the learners will be able
to;
 Identify the historical background, important events
and contributions of Egyptian Civilization.
 Analyze the historical events that give way to the
rise and fall of Egyptian civilization.
 Create a replica of Egyptian civilization’s
contributions to mankind .
Geography has made Egypt one of the world’s cradles of
civilization. Although the rains seldom come, it has plenty of
water for farming and other purposes. The Nile River, the
longest river in the world, gives abundant water for
irrigation, and its flood makes the soil fertile.
Egypt is divided into two parts – Upper Egypt and Lower
Egypt. Egypt is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean
Sea, on the west by the Red Sea, on the east by the Libyan
Desert, and on the south by the Nubian Desert .

GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING
About 5000 B.C., the roaming New Stone Age men in their
search of new lands reached the Nile Valley, settled there, and
established independent villages. They became the ancestors of
the ancient Egyptians.

BEGINNINGS OF EGYPTIAN
HISTORY
About 3200 B.C., Menes, a strong ruler of Upper Egypt,
conquered Lower Egypt and united the whole country for the first
time under the government. This event marked the beginning of
the Old Kingdom. To symbolize the union, he wore a double
crown representing the two kingdoms and built his capital in
Memphis, midway between Upper and Lower Egypt.
Menes founded the first Dynasty. As the first pharaoh of Egypt,
he laid the foundations of the Egyptian nation. The term
“pharaoh” came from the Egyptian word pero which means
“great house”. He was beloved in Egyptian tradition.

THE OLD KINGDOM (3200-2160 B.C.)

About 2160 BC, an Egyptian prince named Amenemhet I founded
the twelfth dynasty and established his capital at Thebes. His rise
to power marked the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.
The greatest monarch of the Middle Kingdom was Amenemhet III
(1849-1801 BC). He dug a canal to link the Nile River to the Red
Sea, promoted mining operations at Sinai, and constructed
hydraulic works in Fayum Lake. His happy reign saw the
flowering of Egyptian culture and the growth of trade and
industries.

THE MIDDLE KINGDOM (2160-1788 B.C.)

After Amenemhet III’s glorious reign, Egypt once more
disintegrated. The nomadic Hyksos (men of the desert) from the
Syrian Desert invaded the Delta. With their war chariots and
superior iron weapons, they conquered the Egyptians, plundered
the riches of the land, and burned the temples and works of art.

THE HYKSOS DOMINATION (1788-1580 BC)

In 1580 BC, a valiant Egyptian prince named Ahmose I led a
revolt and drove out the cruel Hyksos. After regaining his
country’s freedom, he founded the Eighteenth Dynasty and
reestablished the capital in Thebes. He marked the beginning of
the New Kingdom.
One of the colorful monarchs of the New Kingdom was Queen
Hatshepsut (1505-1483 BC). To please the nobles and priests,
who objected to having a young widow as ruler, she married
Thutmose III (1483-1450 BC), a son of her deceased husband by
a concubine. Possessing beauty and strong character, she proved
to be an able ruler. History hails her as the first woman ruler in
the world history. To glorify her reign, she built gorgeous temples
and obelisks in Kamak, Der-el-Bahri, and Luxor.
THE NEW KINGDOM (1589-1100 BC)
The consort, Thutmose III devoted his time and energy to warfare.
Year in and year out, he led the Egyptian armies against the
neighboring kingdoms. In a series of 19 campaigns, he conquered
Palestine, Syria, and Phoenicia. History salutes him as the founder of
the Egyptian Empire.
Thutmose III finally assumed the throne in 1483 after queen
Hatshepsut died. His first official act as pharaoh was the erasure of
Hatshepsut’s inscriptions in the monuments and temples so that her
memory would die in history. This was his revenge against her.
More than a mighty conqueror, he was a great monarch like his late
wife. He made Egypt a world power. He patronized the arts like
literature, expanded the nation’s economy, and decorated his kingdom
with magnificent obelisks and temples. With his military genius and
administrative skill, he raised Egypt to the zenith of power and glory.
One of Thutmose III’s successors was Pharaoh Amenhotep IV
(1380-1362 BC), who was more interested in religion than in
politics and war. His dream was to establish a new religion – the
worship of one God, called Aton, the creator of all things and
symbol of goodness. He urged his people to abandon the pagan
gods in favor of Aton. The priests, fearing the loss of their power
and wealth, vigorously opposed him.
Pharaoh Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaton, which
means “pleasing to Aton”. He closed all temples in Thebes and
built his capital in Tel-el Amama, which he called Akhenaton. In
this new capital, his beautiful wife Queen Nefertiti, and seven
small daughters assisted him in making public offerings to Aton.

AKHENATON’S DREAM OF ONE GOD

The gentlest and noblest of all pharaohs Akhenaton, however,
failed to realize his dream of monotheism. His neglect of the
affairs of state led to Egypt’s decline. When he died at the age of
30 in 1362 BC., his country, was on the brink of chaos. But
despite his tragic failure as a ruler, he looms high in history, for
he was the first monarch to practice monotheism (worship of one
God), a belief which follows the world’s greatest religions,
including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

AKHENATON’S DREAM OF ONE GOD

Akhenaton was succeeded on Egypt’s throne by his son-in-law.
Tutankhamen, who was a weakling. A puppet of the priests,
Tutankhamen moved the capital back to Thebes and revived the
worship of the pagan gods.
After Tutankhamen’s death in 1350 BC, Egypt came under the
rule of pharaoh Rameses II (1291-1225 BC). He conquered the
Jews and brought many of them as captives into Egypt where
they lived in bondage for many years until Moses saved them by
leading them to Sinai (Exodus 1:11-14:13). To commemorate his
military victories, Rameses built many monuments, including the
gigantic statues representing himself as Abu-Simbel.

EGYPT’S DECLINE AND FALL

By 1200 BC, Egypt’s power had faded like a waning moon. The
pharaohs after Rameses II were dominated by the priests who
became richer while the people grew poorer. Internal disorders
and foreign invasions brought about by the kingdom’s decline.

In 332 BC, Alexander the Great overthrew the last dynasty (31st
Dynasty) and annexed Egypt to his empire. After his death, his
Greek general named Ptolemy Soter seized the Egypt and ruled
her from 323 to 283 BC. The last descendant of the Pharaohs was
Cleopatra (69-30 BC). Egypt became a province of the Roman
Empire.
Society in ancient Egypt was divided into four social classes,
namely: (1) nobles and priests, (2) soldiers, (3) commoners, and
(4) slaves. The nobles included the pharaohs and his family,
aristocrats, priests, and scholars. They owned vast lands, paid no
taxes to the government, and enjoyed all the political and social
privileges. They were rich and powerful.
Below the nobles were the soldiers. They owned small parcels of
land which were cultivated by tenant farmers and slaves. Like the
nobles, they did not pay taxes. Their main function was to fight
the enemies of Egypt.

SOCIETY AND SOCIAL CLASSES

The commoners were the farmers and artisans. They owned no
land and they bore the heavy burden of taxation. The farmers
worked the fields for the share of the crops, while the artisans
labored for a daily wage.

SOCIETY AND SOCIAL CLASSES

The people’s chief means of livelihood in ancient Egypt was
farming. Farmers raised barley, millet, wheat vegetables and
other products. Their life was hard, for they were always busy
working on the fields, cleaning the irrigation ditches, preparing
the soil for planting, watching the ripening grains, and restoring
the land boundaries after every Nile flood.
The Egyptians were also expert craftsmen – goldsmiths, glass-
makers, carpenters, masons, potters, weapon-makers, and
weavers. They passed on to their sons the skills and secrets of
their crafts.

ECONOMIC LIFE
The Egyptians were among the first shipbuilders in the world.
Their ships ferried Egypt’s exports to the countries of Asia Minor
and to the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. Merchants from
Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Persia came to Egypt by ship and
camel caravan to sell their wares and buy Egyptians cereals and
manufactured goods. Trade was carried on by barter, for there
was no money.
Ancient Egypt had a theocratic form of government or the union
of church and state. Theocracy means “rule of god”. The pharaoh
was regarded as a god. His powers were absolute. He was chief
executive, legislator, judge, and military commander. He had the
power of life and death over all his subjects. He appointed his
relatives and favorites to high offices in the government. Besides,
he could declare war or peace with any foreign country.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

The ancient Egyptians worshipped numerous gods and
goddesses. Their greatest god was Amon, god of the sun.
Osiris- god of the Nile River
Isis- wife of Osiris Thot- god of wisdom
Maat-goddess of Justice Nut-goddess of the sky
Ptah- god of labor
The beetle, dog, cat, crocodile, falcon and the bull are
considered sacred.
beetle- emblem of life
Falcon-royal power

RELIGION
Before burial, the corpse was bathed, embalmed and wrapped
tightly in fine linen. The embalmed corpse is called “mummy”.
The mummies of the pharaohs were entombed in the pyramids.
Food, wines, clothes, jewelry, weapons and slaves were buried
with the dead pharaoh. The Egyptians believed that he would
need these in the next world.
“Death shall come on swift wings to him that touches the tomb of
the Pharaoh”.

BURIAL CUSTOMS
The ancient Egyptian writing was called hieroglyphics. It means
“sacred signs” because it was written by the priests.
The early Egyptians wrote on paper made of papyrus. The word
paper comes from the Egyptian term papyrus.
Rosetta Stone- A black stone, almost four feet long, containing
inscriptions in the Egyptian and Greek languages.
-preserved today at the British Museum in London.
Jean Champollion

EGYPTIAN WRITING
In ancient Egypt, the temple schools of the priests were open to
the sons of rich families. The subjects taught were reading,
writing, religion, arithmetic, and astronomy. The priest-teacher
dictated the daily lessons. The pupils copied them word for word
and memorized them. School discipline was very strict. The
pupils were whipped to make them study harder.

EDUCATION
Pyramid Text- prayers and hymns found in the pyramids.
-oldest known Egyptian literature.
Book of the Dead- contains magic rites and religious incantations
Hymn to the Sun- an ode written by pharaoh Akhenaton.

LITERATURE