The only river in Egypt that supplies water and silt. This in turn help develop one of the first civilizations. Starts deep in Africa and is one of the few rivers that flows South to North. It flows for about 3,935 miles into the Mediterranean Sea. In time the soil filled in a large bay at the mouth of the river. This region at the mouth of the Nile is called the ADelta@ because it is shaped like the Greek letter Delta ).

Sometime after 5000 B.C. groups of farmers settled along the Nile in Egypt. The priests helped them predict when the Nile river would flood. When the waters receded, they planted seed in the muddy soil. It grew like mad!!!! This of course led to a very healthy robust society. They planted wheat, barley, and flax in their fields. Beans, peas, and onions were grown in their gardens. Fig trees and date palms were their fruit. Cattle, sheep, and goats were fed in the pastures. Fish were caught in the Nile. Grapes were raised in the vineyards. So to say the least Egyptians ate well.

From a historical standpoint their most important crop was Papyrus. It was a tall reed which grew along the Nile. They made ropes, mats, sandals, boxes and small boats. Most important of all, they learned how to make an excellent paper from the stalk of the papyrus. From this plant has come our word APaper@. Of course the Egyptians wrote on this paper which is important to Historians.

About 3000 B.C. the ruler of Upper Egypt won control of Lower Egypt, and a single large kingdom was created. This was the first Egyptian dynasty, a succession of rulers from the same family line.

Egyptian picture writing. Finally, they developed twenty-four signs to represent the sounds of letters. The Egyptians had no signs for vowels and they never completely used an alphabet. They mixed pictures of objects, pictures of words, and signs of letters in their writing.

The Egyptians developed one based on the Moon. It was created around 4141 B.C. And consisted of 12 months 30 days each. It was six hours short compared with the solar year. In the end they had a five day festival to make up the difference. Also they used three different calendars at once, each for a different purpose.

2700-2200 B.C. The unification of Egypt was followed by a great period that lasted for about 500 years. During the Old Kingdom the great pyramids were built as tombs for the pharaohs. Also during this period the vizier was developed. He was an administrator who could act for the Pharaoh in all but religious matters.

2200-2050 BC. The Old Kingdom ended when nobles seized control of various parts of Egypt. The Pharaoh remained in office, but the nobles really ran the country. During this period of about two hundred years, war often broke out among the nobles who were trying to take control of the pharaoh=s office.

2050-1800 Pharaohs had regained their power from the nobles. This was a prosperous time for Egypt. Large building projects were undertaken by the pharaohs of this period, and art, architecture, and literature flourished.

1800-1580 B.C. Again the Pharaohs in Egypt became weak and another period of decentralization occurred. There were invasions by foreign invaders who took over the government of Upper Egypt.

These were an Asiatic people who invaded Upper Egypt c. 1750 B.C. They introduced new weapons from Asia: horse-drawn chariots, body armor, and better daggers and bows than the Egyptians used.

1580-1100 B.C.

Thutmoses I led the Egyptians against the Hyksos and later re-united Upper and Lower Egypt. Life changed as Egypt became an Empire. A large permanent army became important and the number of government officials increased. Wealth poured in from various parts of the empire. Part of the wealth went to build temples to increase the power of the priests. Contacts with peoples in Asia influenced Egypt=s art, architecture, dress, and ways of living and thinking.

The empire was lost bit by bit, and by 1100 B.C. the first of a series of foreign invaders had conquered Egypt. From the tenth to the middle of the seventh century B.C., Egypt was controlled by foreign rulers. Libyan and Ethiopian dynasties were set up to rule the country. In 550 B.C. they were conquered by the Persians.

Amun-Re was the sun god of the Egyptians. Osiris was the god of the Nile or of life itself. Isis was his wife. The son of Osiris was Horus whose job it was to administer Ma >at.

Pharaoh who turned to a belief in one God. To Amenhotep IV, Aton was the one and only God in the world and the spirit of Aton was to be found in the sun. About 1348 B.C. Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhnaton, which means AProfitable to Aton.@ Soon After Akhnaton died, the belief in Aton died out in most of Egypt. But I wonder if he ever ran into Moses? Moses was born c. 1370 b.c. (Britannica) Amenhotep III died in 1353 b.c. ruling 1390 to 1353 b.c. (Britannica) Amenhotep III had at least 317 women in his harem. The chances are pretty good that he had a daughter which might have picked up a small child in a basket who later became Moses. The name Moses is very Egyptian and rare for a Hebrew. Amenhotep IV took over for his father. This puts Moses together with Amenhotep IV in the same country and at court at the same time.

Egyptian medicine was a mixture of careful observation and a belief in magic. Often medicine consisted of efforts to drive out the dark demons of sickness which the Egyptians thought had lodged themselves in a sick person=s body. On the other hand, Herodotus, a Greek historian, mentioned the great number of Egyptians who practiced medicine, not just magic. Egyptian doctors knew of the brain and called the heart the Acenter@ of the human body.

The Egyptians used mathematics in many of their activities. They made careful measurements in planning their pyramids and temples and in using and controlling the annual flood of the Nile. The Egyptians know something about astronomy They used their study of the heavens to draw up their calendar. They made use of water-clocks to record the hours of the day.