The Original Egypt

42 0 0

by IzzySneed

by IzzySneed

The Original Egypt

By Izzy Sneed (Credit if you use me as a source)

The Nile River flows north from Lake Victoria for 4,185 miles past the Sahara Desert, cutting through limestone, until it reaches the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile floods on a yearly basis bringing fertile silt up on to the surrounding ground creating a prime area for agriculture, and the Sahara Desert creates a barrier from attack; thus making it a perfect region for civilization.

Ancient Egypt rose in approximately 3500 B.C.E. Being that they lived in a very fertile land the Egyptians depended heavily on farming. They constructed canals that brought the water from the Nile further inland for crop fields. They primarily grew reeds -which were stripped down, weaved together, than pounded out softly with a mallet to create papyrus (a form of paper)- and they were in high demand; reeds could be used to build boats, baskets, and papyrus.

Along with reeds, other items ancient Egyptians exported were pottery, linen, gold vessels, ox hides, rope, lentils, and dried fish. They would trade these items with surrounding civilizations such as Nubia (to the south of Egypt), Mesopotamia (in western Asia), and Crete (an island in the Mediterranean Sea) and in return imported livestock, gold, minerals, ebony, ivory, myrrh, incense, and timber.

A lot of the metals, especially gold, that were imported were used by craftsmen to make/ decorate their pharaoh's tomb. The Egyptians believed their king, or pharaoh, was a god among humans and were willing to do anything he/she demanded. Also, Egyptians believed greatly in an afterlife, and were buried with the necessities for life (food, gold/other means of wealth, small human figurines signifying servants, etc) because they thought their items would cross over with them.

The peoples of Egypt were inclined to obey the orders of the pharaoh, due to his/her status as a god. If the Pharaoh asked for an extremely large pyramid made out of thousand pound stone bricks so he could live peacefully in his afterlife, he got it. Though many of the workers for the pyramids were criminals or war prisoners, many common people would volunteer to feel as though they are doing their part for the gods.

The Egyptians were quite smart as well. They used astrology and the annual flooding of the Nile to recognize the time of year. Anatomy to be able to mummify the pharaoh after his death. Also, geometry to build the pyramids.

Works Cited

"Ancient River Valley Civilizations Essay | Ancient River Valley Civilizations | BookRags.com." Book Rags. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/2/3/194446/9419>.

Book, Inc. "Africa." The World Book atlas. Rev. 1990 ed. Chicago: World Book, 19901986. 95-107. Print.

Bulliet, Richard W.. The earth and its peoples: a global history. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.

Henderson. "The River Valley Civilizations." History Haven. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://www.historyhaven.com/APWH/The%20River%20Valley.htm>.

Jones, Abi, and Leah McAlister. "Ancient Nile River Valley Civilization." EHS World Studies Jackoboice. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <ehsworldstudiesjackoboice.wikispaces.com/Nile+River+Valley+Civilization+%28Ancient+History%29+2>.

"Nile River Valley Civilization." The River Valley Civilizations. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. <http://www.rivervalleycivilizations.com/nile.php>.

Silverman, David P.. Ancient Egypt. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print.

Stewart, Desmond. The pyramids and sphinx. New York: Newsweek, 1971. Print.

"Trade In Ancient Egypt." Eternal Egypt. IBM Corporation, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://www.eternalegypt.org/EternalEgyptWebsiteWeb/HomeServlet?ee_website_action_key=action.display.module&story_id&language_id=1&module_id=193&ee_messages=0001.flashrequired.text>.

Whitehouse, David, Ruth Whitehouse, John Woodcock, and Shalom Schotten. "Two." Archaeological atlas of the world. London: Thames and Hudson, 1975. 56-59. Print.

MLA formatting by BibMe.org.