Social Studies: Egypt Test

Why was the Nile River important to the ancient Egyptians? How did the Egyptians use the Nile River?
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Why was the Nile River important to the ancient Egyptians? How did the Egyptians use the Nile River?
It gave fertile soil for growing crops
Good defense (cataracts)
Good natural resources
Helped with trade and travel
How did the ancient Egyptians depend on the Nile River to grow their crops?
Floods were predictable which allowed them to irrigate and take advantage of the fertile soil left behind (silt). They built the shadoof to help irrigate crops
How did Egypt become united?
Weaker kingdoms fell under control of more powerful ones
Through trade
Narmer eventually unified Upper and Lower Egypt
Why was Egypt a suitable place for people to settle and develop a civilization?
It had good defenses (deserts, Nile River & cataracts, Mediterranean Sea)
Good trade routes along the Nile and Mediterranean
Good natural resources
River Valley
List two ways Narmer changed Egypt.
He unified Upper and Lower Egypt
Established a new capital at Memphis
He created the idea of dynastic succession
How did the Egyptians use writting?
They wrote on papyrus, tomb walls
Most writing was religious (hieroglyphs = sacred carvings)
Other scripts were developed for political and economic use.
Why did Egypt need an organized government?
Organized govt was especially important for trade and farming
Also oversaw public works projects and irrigation
Also needed to oversee grain distribution
To help maintain ma'at
How did the Egyptian form of writing advance beyond the use of symbols to represent objects and ideas?
They created symbols to represent sounds, ideas or whole words
They created additional scripts for use beyond religious texts
How was ancient Egypt governed?
Monarchy (1 ruler) / Theocracy -- government based on religion
Governed by pharaohs who were political and religious leaders
Lots of bureaucrats and viziers (government officials) to oversee
What kind of religion did ancient Egyptians practice? How did it affect their daily lives?
Polytheism
Gods controlled everything
Lots of time was spent preparing for the afterlife
Many jobs (ex: embalmers, scribes to write the Book of the Dead) were based on religion and preparations for the afterlife. (Also impacted the economy)