The Nile River THE LIFELINE OF EGYPT Giver

The Nile River THE LIFELINE OF EGYPT

Giver of life ● The river was a part of Egyptian life: o Farming o Religion o Governing o Brought people together. ● Was a highway o Led to trade, Communication, and Growth

Taker of Life ●Little rainfall caused death. o Crops died ●Too much rainfall caused death o Crops died and people were washed away

Source of Innovation ● Farmers were able to predict when the yearly floods would come. o Inundation o Egyptian calendar based on it. ● Emergence o Time to plant crops o Floods went away ● Harvest o Crops were ready ● Built dams and canals ● Shaduf o Long pole with a basket for holding water. o Allows farmers to take water from the river.

Source of Religion ● Egyptians used stories about their gods to explain events in nature. ● Sun God (Re) o Born each Day o Died each night ● Believed in many gods o Controlled the floods of the Nile ● Believed in the Afterlife. o You go somewhere when you die. ● Prayers were collected in the Book of the Dead.

Unified Egypt ● 5000 B. C. – small villages appear along the Nile River. o Turned into City-States. § Capital was called a Nome. § 3500 B. C. -Joined into two large kingdoms § Upper Egypt § Lower Egypt ● 3000 B. C. Menes/Narmer conquers Lower Egypt and unites it. ● World’s First Nation State. o Lasted 3000 Years

What does living next to a river lead to? ●These are three magic words of the class.

●Trade

●Communication

●Growth