ANCIENT HISTORY
CEIP Santa Ana (Madridejos)
ANCIENT HISTORY: EGYPT, GREECE & ROME. Ancient History is a long period of time from writing invention (about 3500 B.C. in Mesopotamia), till the Fall of Roman Empire in 476 A.D. The most important civilizations were Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations. 1.- ANCIENT EGYPT. Egypt is in the North-East of Africa, near the Mediterranean sea. River Nile runs through Egypt from North to South. Egyptian people lived in the riversides, because these lands were very fertile, and the rest of the country was a desert. The river was also the best mean of transport (sail boats).
1.1.-HISTORY: 5.000 years ago, (about 3.000 B.C.) the first Egyptian king (Pharaoh) unified all territories next to the Nile. Egypt became a very rich country, it was invaded by other foreign civilizations, but later (about 1.500 B.C.), pharaohs organized a powerful army, and conquered more territories in the East. They created a big empire, with Tebas as the capital.
1.2.- THE PHARAOH, KING OF EGYPT. Pharaoh was the name for the Egyptian king. He was considered the son of Ra (the solar divinity), and was adored like a god. He had many councilors to run the country: nobility, priests… Scribes were people who could write and count to control the country economy. Everything was pharaoh’s property (fields, animals, crops…) scribes used hieroglyphs to draw on papyrus or on stones in the temples and monuments… Ramsés II holding his enemies, and a Cartouche with his name.
1.3.- WORK IN EGYPT. Farmers were most of the population: 9 over 10 Egyptian people work in the fields (men and women). Children also worked and helped their parents. There were craftsmen: metal-workers, potters, basketmakers, weavers… They were free people. The hardest works were done by slaves (construction, mining… ) Wheat crop in Egypt