Ancient Egyptian civilization developed along the fertile Nile River valley from around 3100 BCE to 1200 BCE. The Pharaoh owned all the land and farmers had to pay taxes to him in the form of a portion of the food they grew. Farming depended on the predictable annual flooding of the Nile. There were three seasons: flooding, sowing, and harvest. Egyptians developed irrigation systems and tools like the shaduf to water their crops. Settlements grew into cities as people discovered the resources of the Nile valley. The river valley was protected and provided water for survival, allowing the development of Egyptian civilization and a division of labor between farmers and specialists.

1. Ancient Egyptian Society
Revision
of Key Concepts and Words
Ancient Egyptian civilisation developed in
the fertile floodplains of the
Nile River
in Northern Africa
from about 3100 BCE to 1200 BCE

2. The Pharaohs Lands
• All the farming land along the Nile River was
owned by the Pharaoh.
• Farmers had to pay a share of the food they
grew to the Pharaoh as tax.
• Because the river was so fertile, it farmers
were still able to grow enough food for
themselves.

3. The Egyptian Seasons
The annual flooding or inundation was
essential to the farmer’s life.
There were 3 seasons:
• Akhet, from June when the Nile Flooded.
• Peret, from October, when the water levels
dropped. This marked the start of the growing
season.
• Shemu, from early March, was the harvest
season

4. Before Akhet, the farmers would build a
network of irrigation canals running from the
Nile out into their fields.
The used the shaduf – a balanced pole with a
leather bucket on one end and a weight on the
other – to lift water from the river into these
canals.

5. Development on the Nile
• Once people had discovered how many
resources the river gave, they learned to farm
animals and plant crops (neolithic society).
• As they settled down in one place, people
were able to build houses, then villages, then
cities.
• The rich mud of the river and the burning sun
gave them everything they needed to make
mud bricks for thousands of buildings.

6. Civilisation on the Nile River
• The nature of any land will affect the sort of
society that develops there.
• In the case of Egypt the desert protected the
civilisation from easy invasion.
• The River Nile made it possible for humans
to survive, and even live very well, in its
fertile valley.

7. Civilisation Develops
• Egyptians began in smaller tribes, then joined
together until the country was ruled by a King of
Upper Egypt and a King of Lower Egypt.
• King Namer finally brought them together in one
country in about 3100 BCE.
• The Egyptians found that they only needed some
people to grow enough food for everybody.
• People were able to specialise and some became
priests, scribes, architects, builders, artists and
soldiers.

8. Governing and Records
• Egypt covered a vast area and had a large
population of five million people.
• One of the secrets of Egypt’s success was a
strong, ruler, the Pharaoh, who was served by a
large number of officials who helped him rule (a
bureaucracy).
• It was important to have a way of telling people
of new laws and recording taxes paid.
• The Egyptians invented hieroglyphs (writing) and
made papyrus (paper of reed leaves) to record
and pass on information.

9. Death and Funeral Rites
• The Egyptians believed that it was possible to
survive death and to go on to the afterlife,
• The body was preserved in a process called
mummification so that the soul could return
to it.
• This belief inspired great buildings, such as the
pyramids for the pharaohs and the tombs
found in the Valley of the Kings and
elsewhere.

10. Contact - Conflicts
• Civilisations can be changed by contacts with
people who have different beliefs and knowledge.
• At first Egyptians had no respect for other
civilisations.
• They were invaded by the Hyksos in about 1670
BCE who had better technology and weapons.
• The Egyptians learned from the Hyksos to make
wheeled chariots, composite bows and to make
bronze, which is stronger than copper.

11. Contacts - Trade
• Civilisations also contact each other by trade.
• The Egyptians traded with other countries from
their earliest days which made Egypt even
wealthier.
• Egyptians traded wheat, barley and dried fish for
luxury goods like ebony, ivory, gems and the
incense myrrh.
• The Egyptians also imported camels, horses and
chickens that changed the way they lived.

12. Check out these online activities:
http://web1.beverlyhg-
h.schools.nsw.edu.au/Faculty/History/LIAKOPOULOS/Land%20of%20the%20
Pharaohs/land_of_the_pharaohs.htm