Directions:UsingyournotesandsummariesfromhistoryandEnglish,youmustproveinan

informativeessaythat
Egyptwasacivilization.
Youressayshouldusethecolorcodedwriting
systemtaughttoyouinMr.Daytonsclass.

ParagraphOne:Introductionmustincludeyourthesisstatement

BodyParagraphs27:Eachparagraphwillfocusononepiece(geography,socialstructure,
government,religion,economy,andculture)ofcivilizationrelatedtotheEgyptians.Theydonot
necessarilyhavetobeintheorderprovided

Example(nottheonlywaythiscanbeorganized)

TopicSentence
(thisrelatestoyouroriginalthesisstatement)
Claim
(thefirstreason)
Evidence
(adirectquotationfromorreferencetoasource)
Commentary
(connecttoyourthesis)
Claim
(anotherclaimforthefirstreason)
Evidence
(adirectquotationfromorreferencetoasource)
Commentary
(connecttoyourthesis)
ConcludingSentence
(restateyourthesisandconcludetheparagraph)

Paragraph8:Conclusion

Egyptisknownastheplacewithtallpyramidstoweringovermostbuildingsandthey
werebuiltalongtimeago,butdoyouknowwhoweretheoneswhobuiltthem?Egyptusedto
beaverypowerfulcivilizationthatwenowcallancientEgyptandtheyweretheoneswhobuilt
thepyramidsfortheirleader,thepharaoh.Acivilizationissomethingthathasallthesixpieces
thatareneededtomakeagoodcivilization.Alongtimeago,theancientEgyptianshada
civilizationanditisprovenbecausetheyleftbehindallsixpiecesofacivilization.AncientEgypt
wasarealcivilizationandtherearealotofwaystoproveit.Theyleftbehindasufficientchunk
ofeachpieceofacivilization.Usingthesepiecesleftbehind,peoplecanfigureouttheywerean
existingcivilizationalongtimeago.
Whentheystartedtomakeacivilization,theancientEgyptiansgotanamazingpieceof
landandthiswastheirgoodpieceofgeography.
Theyhadchosensomeofthebestpiecesof
landbecauseitwasverydefensiveandwouldhelpthemstaymoreisolated.
Theyhad
mountainstothesouthwhichhelpedseparatethemfromtherestofAfricaandtheyhaddesert
tothewestandeastwhichissomethingthatmostpeoplewouldntwanttocross(Donn).
They
thoughtthiswasanamazingdefenseanditisprettyeasytoseewhybecauseadesertand
mountainbothseemimpassable.
TheyalsousedtheNiletoplantcrops,travel,ortransport
materials.
Whenallthewaterfromthefloodsthathappenrecedes,itleavesbehindveryfertile
landwhichcouldbeusedtogrowcropsveryquickly(Donn).Whentheyweregettingthe
materialstobuildthepyramids,theyweretransportingthemusingtheNileriverand

boats(Donn).
Theirriver,theNileriverwasareallyimportantpieceforthegeographyofEgypt
becauseofallthethingstheEgyptiansuseditfor.
AncientEgyptianshadsomeofthebest
pieceofgeographywhichhelpedthemmakeasuccessfulcivilization.
InancientEgypt,therewasaverystronggovernmentwhichmostpeoplefollowedand
helpedmakethecivilizationstable.
Intheirgovernment,thepharaohwasattopwhilethevizier
wasrightunder.
Theirleader,thepharaohwasleadingthecivilizationwhilethevizierwas
dealingwithmostoftheproblems(Donn).Whenhewantedit,thepharaohwouldtellpeopleto
buildapyramidforhimandthevizierwouldgetallofpreparationsready(BBC).
Hisroleinthe
governmentmeantthatthepharaohwasapersonwhocouldtellsomeonetodosomethingand
theywouldlisten.Noonewouldlikelyspeakdirectlytothepharaohsincehetellstheviziertodo
thatjob.
Priestsandsoldierswerenormallypartofthegovernmentandarchitectsand
stoneworkerswerepartofitwhentheywerehelpingtobuildthepyramids.
Inthegovernment,
thesoldierswerehiredbythepharaohtohelpprotectEgyptandthepriestswoulddoreligious
practicesforthepeopleofEgyptandhelpthepharaohgototheafterlifeinsidethe
pyramids(Donn).Architectswouldhelpinmakingthepyramidsbymakingadesignforthe
pyramidandthestoneworkerswouldcarveoutthelimestonetobeusedtomakethe
pyramids(Rutherford).
Tomakethepyramids,thegovernmenthadtoallworktogetherand
cooperatewithoutanyonerebellingtocompletetheirtasksuccessfully.
AncientEgypts
governmentwassostrongthattheywereabletohavecontrolovermostofthepeoplewhich
helpedthemmakeastablecivilization.
ReligionwasabigpieceofancientEgyptbecauseitconnectedeveryoneandgavethem
athingtoallbelievein.
Theywerepolytheisticpeoplewhichmeantthattheybelievedinmany
differentgods.
SomeofthetwothousandgodsthattheybelievedinwereRa,Horus,Thoth,Isis,
andOsirisandtheywereallthegodorgoddessofsomething,anelement,oraskill(.com
Ducksters,Donn).Rawasthegodofthesun,Horuswasthegodofthesky,Thothwasthegod
ofknowledge,Osiriswasgodoftheunderworld,andIsiswasthemothergoddess(.com
Ducksters,Donn).
Withtherebeingsomuchgods,theymadesomegodsmuchmoreimportant
thanothersandthelistaboveissomeofthemoreimportantEgyptiangods.
Pyramidswerebuilt
sothepharaohwouldgetburiedinsideandgototheafterlife.
Theywouldbuildthepyramidsas
thepharaohsplacetogetburiedandtheywouldpreservehimwiththeembalmingprocessthat
tookagreatamountoftime.Intheprocess,theywouldtakeoutallthepharaohsorgans
besideshisheart.Theywouldthenwraphisbodyinlinenwithamuletsinbetweeneachlayer
forluck.Then,theywouldweighthepharaohshearttoseeifitwaslightenoughtorideRas
boatandgototheafterlifecontrolledbyOsiris.Whenhewasfinishedgettingembalmed,the
pharaohwouldhavehisbodyputinapyramidsohecouldgototheafterlife(Reid76,BBC,
Donn).
Embalmingthepharaohwouldtakealongtimetocompletebutthisshowedthatthey
reallycaredaboutmakingthepharaohgoingtotheafterlife.
AncientEgyptianreligionwas
somethingthateveryonebelievedinandmadethemcreatethepyramidswiththeirsuccessful
civilization.
SocialstructurewasabigthinginancientEgyptbecauseitmadesurethateveryone
hadanamountofpowerandcontroloverpeoplewithlesspower.
InancientEgypt,thepharaoh
wasatthetopofthesocialstructurepyramidwhilethevizierwasrightunderhiminstatus.
His
highrankmeantthatthepharaohcouldorderpeopletodosomethingandmostpeoplewould

listentohimandthepharaohappointedtheviziertodosomeotherworkthathedidntwantto
dealwithsuchasbeingthejudgeofthehighcourt.Pharaohshadalotofpowersothepharaoh
wouldtellpeoplethathewantedapyramidandthepharaohwouldgeteverythingreadyby
tellingpeoplewithlowerpowertoworkonthepyramid.Whentheywerebuildingthepyramids,
thepeopletookitasanhonortobeworkingonthepharaohspyramidbecausetheyconsidered
himagod(Rutherford,Donn).
Thepharaohandviziercouldtechnicallytellsomeonetodo
somethingandtheywouldlikelylisten.
Priestsandothergovernmentofficialsstillhadhigh
rankingsbutwereunderthepharaohandvizier,whileeveryoneelseinEgypthadalower
rankingthanthepharaoh,vizier,priests,andgovernmentofficials.
Priestswereimportantin
EgyptbecausetheyledEgyptinreligionwhichwasathingthateveryoneinEgyptbelievedin
andreallycaredabout.Theirhighrankingmeantthatthegovernmentofficialswoulddosome
stuffinthegovernmentforthepharaohsuchasconscriptpeopletoworkonthepyramidsand
canbesupervisorswhilepeoplewerebuildingthepyramids.Farmersandlaborerswereforced
toworkwhichshowedthattheydidnthavethatmuchpowerbecausetheyhadtoagree,but
theylikelywerentmad(Rutherford,Donn).
Priestsandgovernmentofficialswereprobably
respectedwhilethefarmersandlaborerswereprobablyoverlookedbymostpeopleandthisall
happensduetotheirstatus.
DailylifeinancientEgyptwasbasedonsocialstructureand
everyonehadtofollowtheirroleinordertohaveanormallifeandthissocialstructure,helped
themcreateonecivilization.
AncientEgyptseconomyisheavilybasedontradeanditusestheNileriververy
frequently.
Theytradedtheresourcesthattheyhadalot,fortheresourcesthatwerescarcein
ancientEgypt.
TheytradedmanymaterialsthatwereplentifulinEgyptsuchasgold,papyrus,
grain,andlinenforivory,ebony,cedarwood,copper,iron,andlapislazuli,whichareresources
thataredifficulttofindinancientEgypt.TheytradedbyusingtheNileriverastransportationby
usingboatstocarrymerchantsaswellastradableresources,buttheyrarelywentpastthe
mouthoftheNileriversincetheymettradersfromothercivilizationsattheNiledelta(Donn).
If
theNileriverwasntinEgypt,theirtradeandeconomywouldveprobablyhavebeenmuch
worse.
TheyalsomovedtheresourceswithintheircivilizationbyusingtheNileriverby
transportingthematerialsusedtobuildthepyramids.
UsingtheNile,theybroughtlimestone,
granite,gold,andsilverfromotherplacesinEgypt,tothesiteofwherethepyramidisgoingto
bebuilt.Insteadofcarryingthematerialsoverland,theyusedboatstotransportallthe
materialsquickly.Thisallowedthemtobuildthepyramidsquicker(Purisima).
EgyptsNileriver
wasaverygoodsourceoftransportationforeveryoneinEgyptandithelpedthemmove
resourcesreallyfast.
EgyptseconomywasmostlybasedonmovingresourcesandtheNilewas
aphenomenalsourceofmovementandthetradehelpedthembecomeacivilization.
AncientEgyptianculturewasbasedonwhattheyweredoingthatwasuniquefrommost
othercivilizations.
Buildingthepyramidsandmummifyingpeoplewerebothahugepartof
ancientEgyptianculture.
Intheirculture,theancientEgyptians,untilatime,weremakingtall
pyramidstoburytheirpharaohsaftertheyvebeenmummifiedorpreserved.Theyhavealong
processtopreserveabodyormummifythemandtheybelievedthatthiswouldmakesure
someonewouldgoontotheotherworldruledbyOsiris.Theygavethepharaohapyramidso
hecanbringhistreasureswithhimtotheafterlifeandstilllivearichlife(Donn,Purisima).
MakingmummieswasveryuniquetotheEgyptiansandthembelievingthatthereisanotherlife

issomethingthattheEgyptiansvalued.Buildingpyramidswasalsoadistinctpieceofculture
thattheEgyptianshad.
Theyalsowrotedownhieroglyphicsontheirpaperwhichismadeoutof
papyrus.
Hieroglyphicswastheiruniquewayofwritinganditwascomprisedofsymbols,butthis
wasonlythenameoftheirwritingandnotthelanguagethattheyspoke.Usingtheirresources,
thepaperthattheyusedwasmadeoutofpapyruswhichwasatreethatgrewonthebanksof
theNileriver.Theymadebookswhichwereverylongpieceofpapyrusandtheycouldcombine
theirhieroglyphicsandpapyruspapertogethertomakebookswhichwerevery
unique(Purisima,Donn).
HieroglyphicswasuniqueonlytotheancientEgyptiansbecauseitwas
theonlytimewhenitwasfrequentlyusedandtheyaresomeoftheonlycivilizationswhoused
papyrusforpaperinsteadoftraditionalwood.
Culturewasaveryimportantthinginancient
Egyptbecauseitbecameintegratedintotheirdailylivesandgavethemadistinctidentitysuch
asEgyptbeingknownforbeingthehomeofthepyramidsandtheirwholecivilizationsidentity
asawhole.
Basedonalltheseproveninformationfromeachofthesixpiecesofcivilization,ancient
Egyptwasareallifecivilizationthatexistedalongtimeago.Tohaveacivilization,youneedto
havegoodgeography,astronggovernment,areligionthatmostpeoplebelievein,asocial
structurethatrankseveryoneinwealthandpower,aneconomytogainresources,anda
culture.Tomakeagoodcivilization,theancientEgyptianschoseagoodpieceofland,hada
strongandstablegovernment,hadreligionthateveryonebelievedin,hadasocialstructurethat
rankedeveryoneinpower,hadaneconomytoearnresources,andaculturetomakeconnect
everyEgyptianandgivethemadistinctidentity.AncientEgyptwasaninterestingcivilization
whichwasthecreatorofthefamouspyramid,buttheycouldonlyhavedoneitwhentheyhave
createdatruecivilizationwhichinconclusion,provesthatancientEgyptwasarealcivilization.