RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS
(Egypt)
I.
How do we know?
A.
Hieroglyphic writing
1.
Rosette Stone (1799)
--
hieroglyphic, demotic, Greek
2.
Jean-Francois Champollion (1822)
3.
types of writing (i.e nomes & kings)
B.
Archaeological Excavations (1858)
--
King Tutankhamen (Howard Carter, 1922)
II. What
do we know?
A.
Geography
1.
"Gift of the Nile"
2.
relatively self-sufficient
3.
shielded from invasion
B.
Chronology
1.
indigenous rule
á
unification
(3100-2660 B.C.E)
á
Old
Kingdom (2660-2180 B.C.E.)
á
"intermediate"
periods
á
2nd
Inter. = Hyksos "invasion"
á
New
Kingdom (1570-1075 B.C.E.)
2.
invasions & foreign rule
á
"Sea
Peoples" (1200s B.C.E)
á
Assyrians
(800s B.C.E)
á
Persians
(525 B.C.E.)
á
Greeks
(332 B.C.E)
á
Romans
(30 B.C.E)
C.
Egyptian Culture
1.
cities
a) formation
--
"central place theory"
--
shrine locations
b) political
capitals
c) trade
centers
d) no
walls
2.
politics & religion
a)
pharaoh
--
Legend of Isis, Osiris, Horus
--
ma'at = justice & order
--
Akhenaten (example or exception?)
b) pyramids
--
tombs for the pharaoh
--
evidence of organization & control
--
How were they built? (some theories)
--
use of wood as leverage
--
dried limestone + water
-- levitation
--
long extended ramp
--
wrap around ramp
c) mummification
-- to
preserve the body for the ka
--
How was it done?
--
brain is removed
--
canopic jars for organs
--
myrrh in cavity
--
placed in natron