I.  Old Kingdom

Lasted over

1000 years

1._Menes_

[united upper and lower Egypt]

2.Ra (or Re),

the Sun God,

 was special protector-god of the city of Memphis

_3.Memphis_

The pharaohs are buried in 4.__pyramids______.

Power rested with Pharoah and the priests. The government was a theocracy.

 The nation becomes divided by power struggles between the various cities, each with its own king/general who wants to be the ruler of Egypt and make their city the capital. Civil wars are common as cities align themselves with the man they think can win. No one man proves strong enough to take over the whole nation.

The Middle

Kingdom

lasted about 400 years

(c. 2100 BC-

1700 BC)

5.Amenemhet I

Many gods and each city had their own favorite. No clear “chief” of gods

Capital switched around several times

Irrigation projects & trade are big.

Power shifts from the pharaoh & the priests to the nobles and the merchants; this causes the rise of the

6. __Middle­__ class.

Invasion by the  7.__Hyksos________  (c. 1700 BC)

Read the text box on p. 49 – What man in the Bible probably came to Egypt at this time?       8.____Joseph____

This was a devastating invasion to the Egyptians.

The New

Kingdom

1545- 1200 BC

(around 300 years)

9._Ahmose I

--drove out the Hyksos

10.Amun-Ra

(the two gods became combined as one)

11. Thebes

(with the exception of Ahkenaton’s rule when the capital was moved to Amarna)

Pharaohs all buried in the 12.Valley of the Kings.

The main power is back with the pharaoh but the priests gain more & more power themselves.