Transcript Ancient Egypt Lesson 2

Ancient Egypt
Lesson 2
Pyramid of Khafre
Pyramid of Khufu
“The Great Pyramid”
Pyramid of Menkaure
Pyramids at Giza
Old Kingdom
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Old Kingdom – Period from about 2600 BC – 2200 BC
Time of growth, religion and when the Great Pyramid
was built. Pyramids were only built during the Old
Kingdom.
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Memphis was the capital during the Old
Kingdom
Egypt’s Religion
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Egyptians believed in many gods/goddesses (deities)
 Polytheism – the belief in many gods
 Re – main Egyptian god = sun god
 Isis – goddess who represents the loyal wife and mother & ruled
the underworld with her husband Osiris
 Hapi – ruled the Nile River
 Osiris – husband of Isis – ruled the underworld
Pyramids
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Built as tombs for the pharaohs
All entrances faced north
Farmers did most of the building during the
flood season
Built without the use of the wheel or iron tools
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Were meant to protect the pharaoh's body,
however, attracted robbers and all pyramids were
raided and robbed. This is why they stopped
building them after the Old Kingdom.
The First Pyramid
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Imhotep, King Zoser’s chief advisor, designed the first
pyramid. This was the first large stone structure in the
world. Because of its shape, it is called the Step
Pyramid
The Step Pyramid of Zoser
Imhotep – Architect of the Step
Pyramid. So influential that he
was declared a god
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Pyramids were built as tombs for the pharaohs after
they died. They were not palaces where the king lived
Explore the Great Pyramid
The Great Pyramid of Khufu
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Built for King Khufu
Largest of all the pyramids (there are 118 pyramids discovered
so far)
Tallest building in the world for over 4,000 years
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Was 481 feet tall, but now only 456 due to erosion and the removal of
stone.
Only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still
standing
How Tall?
Boston Custom House
How were the pyramids built?
Modern Pyramids
Stockport Pyramid in Stockport, UK
Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Cali.
Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, NV
Louvre Museum in Paris, France
Egyptian Advancements
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365-day calendar with 12 months (basis for modern
calendar
Written numbers based on 10
fractions
Burial Process
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Egyptians believed that if the body decayed, the spirit would die.
In order to prevent this from happening, the body is “mummified”
Step 1 - Embalming
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The body is cleaned with good smelling oils and water
from the Nile
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The organs are removed. The heart is not removed because it is
the center of intelligence and is needed in the afterlife
The brain is removed and thrown away, its use was not known to the
Egyptians
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The body is covered and filled with natron (salt) which
dries the body out
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After 40 days, the body is cleaned and rubbed with oils
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The dehydrated internal organs are wrapped in linen and returned to
the body. The body is stuffed with dry materials such as sawdust,
leaves and linen so that it looks lifelike
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early mummies, organs were not returned to the body, but keep in
canopic jars
Imsety the human-headed god looks after the liver.
Hapi the baboon-headed god looks after the lungs
Duamutef the jackal-headed god looks after the stomach
Qebehsenuef the falcon-headed god looks after the intestines.
Step 2 - Wrapping
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The arms and legs are
wrapped separately. Between
the layers of wrapping, the
embalmers place amulets to
protect the body in its journey
through the underworld.
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The arms and legs are tied
together. A papyrus scroll
with spells from the Book of
the Dead is placed
between the wrapped
hands.
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Finally, a large cloth is
wrapped around the entire
mummy.
The mummy is lowered
into its coffin. The first
coffin is then put inside a
second coffin
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It is finally place in the final sarcophagus and placed in a
tomb with the person’s favorite possessions. Why?
To have them in the afterlife
The Book of the Dead
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Contained prayers, hymns,
and magic spells
 Was buried with a person
to help them get to the
afterlife
Sections from the Book of the Dead
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Weighing of the Souls
 After a person died, a god (Anubis) would weight the person’s
soul against the “feather of truth”
 If the soul was heavy with sin (heavier than the feather), the
person would die a 2nd death with no afterlife. A soul that was
lighter would live a happy afterlife
Anubis weighing a persons heart (soul) against the “feather of truth”
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Some Egyptian
gods had the head
of an animal and
the body of a
human
Some Egyptian gods
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Amon (Amun)
Anubis
Bast
Geb
Hathor
Sekmet
Horus
Heket
Tefnut
Thoth
Sebek
King of the Gods
Head of a ram
God of Mummification
Head of a jackal
Goddess of Protection
Head of a cat
Earth God
Head of a goose
Sky Goddess
Head of a cow
Goddess of war and battle Head of a lioness
God of the Egyptians
Head of a falcon
Goddess of childbirth
Head of frog
Goddess of the rain
Head of lioness
God of wisdom
Head of an ibis bird
God of swift action Head of a crocodile
The Rosetta Stone
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Found, by accident, by French
soldiers who were rebuilding a
fort in Egypt in 1799.
Had three different languages
written on it: Greek,
hieroglyphics, and a cursive
form of Egyptian writing
Decoded by Jean Champollion
who compared the words in
Greek, which we knew, to the
hieroglyphics. Took him 20
years!
** Important because before
this, no one knew
hieroglyphics, it was a lost
language. We could now learn
much more about Ancient
Egypt