Early River Civilizations of Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Chapter 4 Section 1-Geography and Ancient Egypt

The Gift of the Nile

• Just like Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Nile river in Egypt, Africa provided a good place to build a civilization.

• The civilization arose around 3200 BC.

Poll

What is the climate of Egypt?

• Tropical

• Forest

• Desert

Location and Physical Features

• The Nile is the longest river in the world. It begins in the middle of Africa and runs North for 4000 miles and empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

• There were two regions-Upper Egypt was in the South and Lower Egypt is in the North. Remember the river runs down a slope to the sea so since the river starts in the South and runs North the higher elevation is Upper Egypt!

The Floods of the Nile

• The Nile floods were easier to predict than the floods in Mesopotamia.

• Upper Egypt flooded in midsummer and Lower Egypt flooded in the fall.

• Just like Mesopotamia, the silt provided rich farm land.

Civilization Develops Along the Nile

• Hunter-gatherer groups moved into the Nile Valley more than 12,000 years ago.

• They found plants, wild animals, and fish and learned to farm.

• They developed irrigation systems and collected floodwater.

• They also had an abundance of food just like the Mesopotamians.

• The Nile Valley had natural barriers that made Egypt hard to invade.

Multiple Choice

What were the natural barriers that kept Egyptians safe?

• The Red Sea

• The desert to the West

• The Mediterranean Sea

• Cataracts in the Nile

• All of these

Kings Unify Egypt

• The Upper Egypt king had a cone shaped white crown.

• The Lower Egypt king had a red crown.

• Menes united the two kingdoms and combined the two crowns into a double crown.

• Menes became the 1st pharaoh.