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The nile river valley
While empires flourished and fell in Mesopotamia, two other civilizations developed along the Nile River in northeastern Africa. One of them was Egypt that developed in the northern part of the Nile river, and Kush emerged in the southern part of the Nile. Although Egypt and Kush were unique civilizations, they influenced one another throughout their long histories.
the gift of the river
Thanks to the hot and dry climate, many of the ancient Egypt's structures survived. Since this region receives little amount of rainfall, ancient Egyptians depended on the Nile River for drinking and bathing. The River also supplied water to grow crops. Egyptians considered the Nile as the "creator of all goods". This river is two separate rivers: the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The Blue river starts on the snowy mountains, while the White river starts in the tropics, at the end both of these rivers come together.
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people of the river
We know that the Mesopotamia controlled the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to grow crops. They developed the technology to do so, but the unpredictable rivers constantly challenge them. In Egypt, however, the flooding of the Nile River was seasonal and consistent from year to year. So the Egyptians did not face the same challenge.
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how did egyptians farm?
During the dry season, Egyptian farmers irrigated their crops. They scooped out basins, or bowl-shaped holes, in the earth to store the river water. They then dug canals that extended from the basins to the fields, allowing water to flow to their crops. Raised areas of soil provided support for the basin walls. Egyptians gathered papyrus, a reed plant that grew along the Nile. They used the long,thin weaves to weave rope, sandals, baskets, and river rafts.
how did egyptians write?
Like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians developed their own writing system. Egyptians created a writing made up of symbols that represented objects, and then some that represented sounds called hieroglyphics. Not all men could write, some went to special schools for this. The Egyptians didn't write on stone, they wrote on papyrus or walls.
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forming kingdoms
The kingdom of Egypt needed to be organized. People had conflict on land and water, with their crops and animals. Over time, groups of villages merged to form small kingdoms. Each of these kingdoms was ruled by a king. Eventually, the weaker kingdoms fell under the control of the stronger ones. By 4000 B.C, Egypt was divided by two kingdoms, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.
who was narmer?
Narmer was the king of upper Egypt, and soon conquered lower nation. Later on, he married a princess from lower Egypt, and that was the first time Egypt had only one King. There was a city called Memphis, which Narmer used to rule upper, and lower Egypt. When he died the right passed from son, to grandson, called dynasty.
From 3100 B.C to 322 B.C, a series of 30 dynasties ruled Egypt. These dynasties were organized into three time periods: the old kingdom, Middle kingdom, and the new kingdom.
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