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=Document Based Research on Ancient Egypt=

OVERVIEW: ANCIENT EGYPT  Although villages existed in Egypt over 5000 years ago, the civilization that we “Ancient Egypt” began around 3100 BCE. At that time, the kingdoms of Lower northern) and Upper (southern) Egypt were combined to form a central Egyptian government. That was also the time when the first Egyptian dynasty was founded. ancient Egyptian civilization that you most commonly learn about in school can be classified into three time periods: the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BCE), the Middle Kingdom (1991–1786 BCE), and the New Kingdom (1570–1070 BCE). The Old Kingdom is perhaps most famous for being the era of the great pyramids, which were constructed for various kings.  At the end of the 6 th Dynasty, fighting between high priests and government officials weakened the kings’ power, and the Old Kingdom gave way to the Middle Kingdom. During the first part of this period, the arts and trade flourished, but later the <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">kings’ authority weakened, allowing invaders known as the Hyksos to take control of the <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">government for about 100 years. Some pyramids were also built during the Middle <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Kingdom. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Egyptian government made a comeback during the New Kingdom, when Egypt <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">became the strongest power in the world. A permanent army used horse-drawn chariots to <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">conquer lands in southwestern Asia, and Egypt also gained control of resource-rich lands <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">the south. The New Kingdom came to an end as power struggles dissolved the country <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">smaller states and attracted invaders to the once strong and centralized government. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">mentioned above, the pyramids were constructed during the Old and Middle <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Kingdoms, but primarily during the Old Kingdom. Contrary to popular myth, the <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">pyramids were not built by slaves, but mainly by farmers. Since farm work was seasonal, <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">farmers could work on the pyramids during the Nile’s annual flooding. The earliest <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">pyramids were step pyramids, which were shaped like pyramids but had giant steps rather <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">smooth surfaces. The earliest known step pyramid was built by the architect Imhotep <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">King Zoser around 2650 BCE. The first smooth pyramid was built around 2600 BCE. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">famous pyramids of Giza were constructed between 2600 and 2500 BCE. The era of <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">great pyramid building ended with the New Kingdom. However, people who lived during <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">New Kingdom often incorporated the pyramid shape into the design of their tombs. A <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">tomb entrance might therefore have had a pyramid-shaped structure above its doorway. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">While the pyramids are the best known of ancient Egypt’s architectural treasures, <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">are by no means the only architectural accomplishments that have captured the <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">interests of modern observers. The Great Sphinx, which is 240 feet long and 66 feet high, <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">grand work of sculpture as well as architecture. With a lion’s body and a human <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">head, this statue probably represented either the sun god Re or King Khafre. Perhaps the <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">known examples of New Kingdom architecture are the obelisks, which were <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">generally constructed in pairs and situated outside of temples. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman,Bold","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">

<span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Egyptian architecture clearly illustrates the importance ancient Egyptians placed <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">on burial traditions and the journey to the afterlife. This emphasis on death and the <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">afterlife is also evident in the texts that the Egyptians placed in their coffins. Excerpts <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">from the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead, for example, were often inscribed on <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">coffin interiors and exteriors. These documents contained spells intended to protect and <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">provide for a dead person in the afterlife. People would select and purchase parts of the <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">text to be placed in their coffins. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Evidence of Egyptians’ devotion to religion can also be seen in texts related to the <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Nile River. The Nile’s annual flooding deposited mineral-rich soil along its banks, <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">enabling the Egyptians to develop a stable agrarian (farming) civilization. The Nile also <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">served as the primary means of transportation between different parts of the Egyptian <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">empire. Because of its central importance to food production and transportation, <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Egyptians sometimes worshiped the river as if it were a god, and they wrote special <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">hymns to honor it. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Naturally, the lives of ancient Egyptians varied depending on their status and <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">specialized roles. Pharaohs led the country and its military, and they often had to defend <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">their kingdom from invaders. For example, Ramses II (c. 1290 to 1224 BCE) led a major <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">battle against the Hittites, who inhabited the area that is now modern-day Turkey. He <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">claimed victory and ordered a poem about the battle to be placed on the walls of five <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">temples, although it was actually unclear who won the battle. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Everyday people did not lead the nation in battle or place poems about themselves <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">on temple walls, but they did have busy lives. Artifacts from a wide variety of activities <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">(such as eating, drinking, playing, and working) have been uncovered from <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">archaeological sites in Egypt, and the Egyptians left texts and drawings to show how they <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">lived. Many of these findings can be seen in museums such as the British Museum in <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">London and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">The Egyptians enjoyed music, dance, and theater. Their favorite drink was beer, <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">and they ate bread made by women who labored for hours each day to grind the grain. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">Children played marbles and with dolls and toy animals. Adults worked at a variety of <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">jobs, such as craftsmen, farmers, or beekeepers. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";"> <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">What is perhaps most interesting about ancient Egyptian daily life is how little it <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">appears to have changed over the nearly two thousand years that the civilization existed <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">and even after that. The occupations, activities, and religious beliefs described above <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif";">continued throughout the three periods of ancient Egyptian civilization. <span style="font-family: "TimesNewRoman,Italic","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">