Ancient Egypt Study Guide
The Nile River
 Longest river in the world
 Used for transportation and irrigation
 Farmers used a shadouf to scoop water for their crops
 Irrigation helped farmers to water their crops
 River flows to the delta
 Overflows and makes the land more fertile
 Begins in the mountains of eastern Africa and flows to the Mediterranean Sea
Unification – joining of separate parts into one
Menes was king of upper Egypt and he took over lower Egypt to unite the two lands and he became the first
pharaoh of Egypt.
Old Kingdom
 The time when pharaoh’s worked to build unity within the country
 Powerful leaders were governors
 Capitol city was Memphis
 Important gods: Ra, Osiris, Isis
 Pharaoh owned everything
 Craft workers were paid with clothes and food
Middle Kingdom
 Egypt had more contact with the outside world
 Egypt became an empire
 Gained control of Kush for its trade routes
New Kingdom
 Social pyramid – shape of Egyptian society where pharaoh was at the top and slaves were at the
bottom
 People lived in crowded neighborhoods
Mummification – bodies of dead royalty were preserved
Papyrus – scribes used papyrus paper to keep records and it helped government workers to communicate
over long distances.
Hieroglyphics – helped scribes keeps records of taxes, farm needs, marriage contracts
Important People
Khufu – studied the Hyksos and used their weapons to drive them out of Lower Egypt
Hatshepsut – organized a two year expedition to Punt and expanded trade beyond the Egyptian empire
Menes – unified Egypt by overthrowing the King of Lower Egypt and became the first pharaoh
Tutankhamun – ruled as a young pharaoh from age 9-19
Vocabulary words:
Delta
Scribe
Unification
Nubia
Kush
Valley of the kings
Slavery
Answer these questions:
1. How were scribes specialized? Give a specific example.
2 What are hieroglyphs?
3. Who is the head of Egypt?
4. What did ancient Egyptians believe about life after death?
5. Who was the most important god to the ancient Egyptians?
6. Why were the pyramids built?
7. How did the Rosetta stone help unlock the meaning of hieroglyphs?
8. How did Egypt change because of trade in the Middle Kingdom?
9. What was it like to live as an ordinary person in ancient Egypt?
10. Give reasons to prove that ancient Egypt was an important civilizations.