Lesson 4.2: The Old Kingdom

Lesson 4.2: The Old Kingdom

aka "The Age of the Pyramids"

Essential Questions:

• What did ancient Egyptians believe about their kings?

• Describe the earliest uses of Egyptian writing.

• How did the burial of Egyptians and the use of pyramids relate to ancient Egyptian religion?

Egypt Unites

• Upper Egypt wanted to control ALL of Egypt. 

• King Narmer conquered Lower Egypt and united the two kingdoms.

• Ladies and gents, we have the world's first nation-state!

• King Namar's rule also marked Egypt's first dynasty (series of rulers from the same family)

Egyptian beleived their kings were...

• Living gods, connecting the people to their gods.

• Never wrong.

• Able to control the flooding of the Nile and food supply

• These beliefs unified Egypt and helped the kings maintain power!

Multiple Choice

King Namar united the kingdoms of Egypt to create the world's first...

• country

• nation-state

• metropolis

• dictatorship

Multiple Choice

What is a dynasty?

• A series of rulers from the same family

• A king and his kingdom

• A word to describe something gross

• A powerful city

Open Ended

Egyptians had many beliefs about their kings that allowed their kings to easily maintain authority. Name one of these beliefs.

Hieroglyphs (aka “holy carvings”)

• Picture symbols – borrowed from the Sumerians

• Each glyph represented a sound or an object.

• Originally hieroglyphs were only used by scribes, who carved the symbols into the walls of temples, tombs and palaces. 

  
  

Papyrus

• Invented to allow Egyptians to keep more records.

• Papyrus plant grows in marshy areas along the Nile.

• Wrote with sharpened papyrus stalks and ink made of soot.

• Books = scrolls

Papyrus

Multiple Choice

Ancient Egyptians used what to make paper/scrolls?

• papyrus plant

• rocks

• mud

• tree bark

Building Pyramids

• Tombs for Egyptian rulers

• No one knows exactly how or why pyramids were built. 

• Kings were considered “godlike rulers” and used huge amounts of resources and the whole society to build their burial sites. 

Preparing for the Afterlife

• Believed people would need their bodies in the afterlife, so they found a way to preserve them.

• Part of the mummification process involved removing all organs except the heart.

• The heart = the home of the soul

Preparing for the Afterlife

• Pharaoh's were buried with everything they might need in the afterlife (i.e. clothing, jewelry, furniture, games, pets and servants)

Multiple Choice

Everyone in ancient Egypt was buried in a pyramid.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

During mummification, all organs are removed from the body except the _______.

• lungs

• kidneys

• brain

• heart

Open Ended

Why did Egyptians leave the heart in mummified bodies??

Open Ended

Name one thing Egyptian pharaohs were buried with.

The Book of the Dead

• A series of written spells that the Ancient Egyptians believed helped them journey to the afterlife.

• They were not actually in a book. They were written on papyrus scrolls or on tomb walls.

• The discovery of the Rosetta Stone allowed scholars to first interpret it.

"Weighing of the Heart"

• One of the most important trials depicted in the Book of the Dead

• A persons heart is weighed against a feather, which represents truth.

• If the two balance, the person earns eternal life.

• If the soul is heavier, they are fed to a monster.

Multiple Choice

The Book of the Dead was full of...

• instructions on how to mummify dead poeple

• poems to read in the afterlife

• names of people who have died

• spells to use in the afterlife

Multiple Choice

Which discovery helped scholars decode Egyptian hieroglyphs?

• Namer's tomb

• The Rosetta Stone

• The first almanac

• The Pyramid of Giza

Let's Review!

• What did ancient Egyptians believe about their kings?

• Describe the earliest uses of Egyptian writing.

• How did the burial of Egyptians and the use of pyramids relate to ancient Egyptian religion?