Essay

Describe the Social Hierarchy of the Ancient Egyptians
The hierarchy or social class of Ancient Egypt includes pharaoh, government officials-nobles, priests, soldiers, scribes, merchants, artisans, farmers, and slaves and servants. Most of these classes were held by men. Women would just take care of the house and children. The slaves and servants were at the bottom and pharaoh was at the top. The social class would be ranked like a pyramid. The highest class at the top and the lower class at the bottom.

Starting at the bottom, the slaves and servants would helped the wealthy with household and child raising duties. The farmers would raise wheat, barley, lentils, onions which benefited from irrigation of the Nile. Artisans would carve statues and reliefs showing military and scenes in the afterlife. The money/barter system was used by merchants. They might accept bags of grain for payment-later, coinage came about. Scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry, described anatomy, and described anatomy and medical treatments. Soldiers would use wooden weapons (bow and arrow, spears) with bronze tips and might ride chariots. The upper class was known as the "White Kilt Class" which include priests, physicians, and engineers. The Pharaoh was at the top, they were a religious and political leader. They hold the titles "Lord of the Two Lands and High Priests of Every Temple," they ruled upper and lower Egypt, owned all land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners.

Some women dressed like men so they can become pharaoh. The Pharaoh was all powerful, worshipped as a god, and connected to other major gods and goddesses. The pharaoh was referred to as a god-king. Pharaoh had many wives some with their own sister. They all followed under these leaders and rulers. Women weren't big in Egypt as men were, only a few wielded real political power. They weren't apart of the high social classes. Some women could inherit money and land and even divorce their husbands.


Discuss the Importance of the Nile River in the lives of Egyptians
The Nile River was a major part of the geography of Egypt. It was much revered in lore and writing. The Nile River was surrounded by Egypt. It flows South to North. It is 4000 (4258) miles long. The Nile empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Nile is for drinking, irrigation, bathing and transportation. They can also use the Nile for trade.  Every July it floods. Every October it leaves behind rich soil which can be used for farming. The top of Nile is called the delta and it is a broad, marshy, triangular area of fertile soil. Managing the river required technological breakthroughs in irrigation.

 The Nile can be a life or death feature for the Egyptians. They can use it for water, food and feed for their animals. Without the Nile River there won't be a civilization in Egypt because it is all desert. The Egyptians would keep dates of when the Nile would flood so they can keep a record and be ready for when the next flood would happen. After the Nile floods they would be able to grow crops because of the fertile ground.

Today in class we watched a video that covered what we talked about in class. The video was about Egypt. The video may have a couple facts wrong had a lot of the same info we learned. We were going to have a test today but instead we watched a video to give us more info.

Today in class we went over our notes and studied for our test. We shared our notes with anyone to see if our notes are complete and accurate. We watched the videos over again to see if our notes are complete and that we have everything important written down.

Ancient Egypt

Today in class we talked about Ancient Egypt.
Geography
The Nile is for drinking, irrigation, bathing, and transportation.
Every July it floods.
Every October it leaves behind rich soil.
The Delta is a broad, marshy, triangular area of fertile soil.
Managing the river required technology breakthroughs in irrigation.
Pyramids
The Great Sphinx of Giza
Built 2555-2532 B.C.
A recumbent lion with a human's head.
Oldest monument statue in the world.
Daily Life
Pharaoh, Government, Officials-Nobles: Pharaoh was a religious and political leader.
Holding the titles "Lord of the Two Lands and High Priest of Every Temple."
Ruler of upper and lower Egypt, owned all land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners.
Hatshepsut was a woman who served as pharaoh.
Cleopatra VII also served as a pharaoh 51-30 B.C.
Priests: upper class, known as the "white kilt class"-priests, physicians, and engineers.
Soldiers: used wooden weapons (bow and arrow, spears) with bronze tips and might ride chariots.
Scribes: kept records, told stories, wrote poetry, described anatomy and medical treatments.
Merchants: money/barter system was used-merchants might accept bags of grain for payment-later coinage came about
Artisans: would carve statues and reliefs showing military and scenes in the afterlife.
Farmers: raised wheat, barley, lentils, onions-benefited from irrigation of the Nile.
Slave and Servants: helped the wealthy with household and child raising duties.
Goddesses and Gods
Over 2000 gods and goddesses.
Sun god-Ra.
they "controlled" the lives of humans.

Egypt

Today in class we continued to talk about Egypt.
The Nile flows from South to North.
The Writing of the Word of God
The earliest Egyptian writing formed c. 3100 B.C. and were small pictures known as hieroglyphs.
They represented religious words, or parts of words, and most commonly adorned temples.
Hieratic script was a shorthand developed by scribes and priests.
Hieratic script was usually written in ink on papyrus, which was made from mashed Nile reeds.
Papyrus, the precursor to paper, was stored in scrolls and these scrolls, were the books of ancient Egypt.
Calendars and Sailboats
Egyptian astronomers, created a calendar with 365 days to make better sense of the seasonal cycles.
Egyptian doctors wrote extensively on health issues and created potions and cures for a number of common ailments because of their excellent knowledge of the human anatomy.
Wooden sailboats were constructed to increase transport ability on the Nile.
Pyramids and Temples
Pyramids were massive stone tombs, originally covered in marble but the marble was later stripped off during the Muslim conquest.
The temple of Amon at Karnak is the largest religious building in the world, also made out of huge blocks of stone.
The Rhythm of Egypt's History
Egypt's history is one of long period of unbroken stability punctuated with occasionally periods of turmoil and disruption.

Egypt

Today in class we talked about the Land of the Pharaohs and Egypt
The Nile and the "Two Lands"
Upper Egypt was 500 miles long strip of fertile land along the Nile
Lower Egypt was a wide land of the Nile delta, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea
The Nile was the major provider of life for the Egyptians and was much revered in lore and writing
3100 B.C. Egypt was united under 1 King or "Pharaoh"
Government by a God-King
Pharaoh was all powerful, worshipped as a god, and connected to other major gods and goddesses
"Maat"-Egyptians relied on a harmony and balance of the universe
Pharaohs had multiple wives even with their sisters, all routes to financial and social successes were trough the palace
Women could inherit money and land and divorce their  husbands
Only some women wielded real political power
Gods, Humans, and Everlasting Life
Gods were portrayed with animal heads or bodies
Egyptians believed in an after-life and mummified the bodies to preserve them for his post-death journey

Land of the Pharaohs: Egypt

Land of the Pharaohs: Egypt
During the Neolithic Age the people of the Nile had moved toward civilization.
The Narmer Palette-used for grinding makeup for divine images in an Upper Egyptian temple about 3100 B.C.
Egypt stretches along the lower reaches of the Nile's four-thousand-mile course from Central Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.
Egypt is divided into 2 sections called by the ancient Egyptians the "Two Lands"
Pharaohs-the rulers of ancient Egypt
The most successful of these rulers, Hathsepsut, reigned as a "king" shortly after 1500 B.C.
A book of "wisdom" (advice on the conduct of life was written about 1800 B.C.
Many Egyptian deities, tracing back from the Stone Age, were originally conceived. in the form of animals
Hieroglyphs-the earliest Egyptian writing, in which pictures stood for whole words or separate sounds of words
Around 700 B.C. an even faster shorthand, the demotic (popular) script came into use.
Papyrus scrolls (rolls) became the books of the ancient world
The Egyptians built larger boats by fastening wooden planks together to make the hulls.
By 3100 B.C. they equipped the boats with masts and sails to catch the wind
Pyramid-a massive structure with slopping sides that met at an apex, used as a royal tomb in ancient Egypt
The power of the Pharaohs first reached its height in the period as known to modern scholars as the Old Kingdom beginning about 2700 B.C.
About 2200 B.C. a series of weak pharaohs allowed local officials to gain independent hereditary power in in the regions that they controlled
Before 2050 B.C. Egypt remained in turmoil but after 2050 B.C. a dynasty from the up-river city of Thebes brought the whole country under its rule, to form the middle kingdom
Egypt was dominated in 3 different times: In 525 B.C. Egypt became a province of the empire Persia, from 333 B.C. it was ruled by the Greeks, and finally in 30 B.C. it was conquered by the Romans