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Online Textbook for History 1111

Lesson 3: Egypt

 

Online Readings

Advice to the Young Egyptian by Anonymous

 What is a Book of the Dead?, The British Museum Blog

The Amarna Period by Dr. Kate Spence, BBC
Crash Course Video 
Lecture: Narrated PowerPoint
  

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this lesson, students should be able to:

1.Explain the impact of the geography of ancient Egypt, including the flow of the Nile River and the divisions of Upper and Lower Egypt.

2.Know the significance and major features (architecture, important persons, politics, and agriculture) of the following periods of Egyptian history:

  • Prehistory/Archaic Period
  • Old Kingdom
  • First Intermediate Period
  • Middle Kingdom
  • Second Intermediate Period
  • New Kingdom

3.Discuss Egyptian spiritual beliefs, paying particular attention to the role of the afterlife, the Egyptian pantheon of deities, and burial rites.

4.Describe the importance of writing in Egypt, offering details on hieroglyphics and their translation. 

Terms to Know

  • Ahmose I
  • Amenhotep I
  • Amenhotep IV (aka Akhnaten)
  • ba
  • Battle of Kadesh
  • Book of the Dead
  • Cartouche
  • Determinatives
  • First Intermediate Period (characteristics)
  • Great Pyramid of Cheops (aka Khufu)
  • Hatshepsut
  • Hieroglyphics
  • Hyksos
  • Ideograms
  • ka
  • ma’at
  • Mentuhotep II
  • Middle Kingdom (characteristics)
  • monotheism
  • Narmer (aka Menes)
  • Old Kingdom (characteristics)
  • Pantheon
  • Phonograms
  • Predynastic Period (characteristics)
  • Ramesses the Great
  • Rosetta Stone from Egypt—discuss history and translation
  • Second Intermediate Period (characteristics)
  • Thebes (in Egypt)
  • Thutmose I
  • Thutmose III
  • Tutankamen
  • Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt—explain the geography in relation to the Nile

Thought Questions

1. Discuss in detail the causes and results of the Amarna Revolution, giving a general timeline of its events. What happened to those involved, such as Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti? Be sure to comment on the religious significance of this event.

2. Compared to Mesopotamia, the Egyptians had a relatively positive outlook on death and the afterlife. Using the link in the PowerPoint as well as other readings from the syllabus, comment on the burial practices in ancient Egypt. Why did they matter? What facets of the Egyptians’ spiritual beliefs urged them to practice moral behaviors during their lives?

Discussion Questions

(Uses online links for reading plus PowerPoints)

1. Why does the primary source "Advice to the Young Egyptian" encourage the reader to be a scribe? What were the alternatives? Why was life as a scribe better? (see reading link in syllabus).

2. Read the commentary from the British Museum and view the short video on art in the Book of the Dead (link in the syllabus). Based on the Book of the Dead images, what behaviors did Egyptians find desirable in life? What things did they fear or look forward to in the afterlife?

3. See the link in the syllabus about the Amarna period in Egyptian history. Describe the so-called "Amarna Revolution" when the Pharaoh Akhenaten changed religion and cultural values in Egypt. Did his changes last? Why or why not?

Further Explorations

NOTE: From time to time, these web pages may "disappear." Please send an email to library@ega.edu if you find broken links, so they may be replaced.