Lesson video

Hello everyone and welcome to your first lesson on ancient Egypt.

My name is Mrs. Tipping and in this lesson we're going to tackle the question, who ruled ancient Egypt? In this lesson, we will learn about the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms of Egypt and the pharaohs who ruled, so let's get started.

In this lesson, it's a good idea to make sure you are sat somewhere comfortable without any distractions, so you can capture all the knowledge from this lesson.

All you need are three things, an exercise book, or paper, a pencil or pen and your fantastic brains.

So if you haven't got those things, go and get them now.

Okay, well done, that was quick.

So let's have a look at the lesson structure, first, I'll share some key words with you, and then we're going to talk about where modern Egypt is compared to ancient Egypt.

The next question looks at when the ancient Egyptian civilization began and then we'll talk about the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. Finally, we'll talk about some of the pharaohs who ruled Egypt and we'll finish with our end of lesson quiz, which we will do at the end of every lesson.

So let's start with some key words.

The first word is Pharaoh.

My turn, your turn, Pharaoh.

A Pharaoh is a ruler of ancient Egypt, like a king or queen.

Let's have a look at the second word.

The second word is Kingdom.

My turn, your turn, Kingdom.

A Kingdom is a country or territory run by a king or queen or in Egypt instance, it would be a Pharaoh.

The third word is conquer, my turn, your turn conquer.

Conquer means to take control of a place and the final word is irrigation.

My turn, your turn, irrigation.

Irrigation means to use channels, to move water from a river to land or crops, to help them grow.

So these four words on the screen now, are going to pop up as important words throughout our lesson.

So let's start with where modern Egypt is.

So we're learning about the ancient Egyptian civilization.

The ancient Egyptians were around for thousands of years.

Now, before we get into learning about ancient Egypt, let's look at Egypt today.

Now this is a modern map of the world.

This is where we are in the United Kingdom.

So you can see the circle there that's popped up on the screen.

Now, can you locate Africa on the world map? Have a good look, can you spot the continent of Africa? You could point to the screen or circle it there.

Okay, so there it is.

That is the continent of Africa.

Now Egypt is in Africa, let's zoom in, Can we spot it? Can you spot Egypt? Look closely.

Good job, if you spotted Egypt here, in the North Eastern corner.

Okay, so now we know that Egypt is in Africa, thousands of years ago Egypt may have looked slightly different, but the ancient Egyptian civilization could still be found in North Eastern Africa.

Today, Egypt is 90% desert, with hot dry summers and moderate winters.

The two main deserts in Egypt are the Libyan desert on the West and the Arabian desert on the East and these are split by the river Nile.

The capital of Egypt is Cairo.

Cairo is also the largest city in Egypt.

The main language that is spoken in Egypt is Arabic and the main religion is Islam.

So let's pause now and have a little think, on which continent can we find Egypt? Is it A Asia? B South America? C Africa? or D Europe? Have a little think, you could point to the screen or write down your answer, which continent can we find Egypt? And the answer is, Africa, good job if you remembered that.

Now let's find out when the ancient Egyptian civilization began.

The ancient Egyptian civilization began around 3000 BCE.

That's a long time ago, so let's have a quick look at what else was going on in other parts of the world at that time.

In what is now the UK, we were still in the Stone Age, Stone Age people are hunter, gatherers and they moved around a lot, looking for food and shelter.

The ancient Sumerian civilization was located in Mesopotamia, which is now modern day Iraq in Asia.

And they were building major cities, inventing a rising system and developing a system of government.

and these weren't all the people around at this time.

So let's take a little pause to look at this statement.

The ancient Egyptian civilization was the only civilization around in 3000 BCE.

Is this true or false? Have a little think.

You could either say your answer out loud, point to the screen or write it down.

Is it true or false? It is false, well done if you got that, there were many other civilizations including the ancient Sumerians around at the same time as the ancient Egyptians.

Now let's explore the Kingdoms of Egypt.

The ancient Egyptian civilization was ruled by many Pharos, historians often refer to different periods of Egyptian history as the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom.

Now there are periods in between these kingdoms, but we are going to focus on what was happening during these three kingdoms. How many kingdoms were there? Is it A five? B six? C two? or D three? How many kingdoms were there in ancient Egypt? Have a quick think, write your answer down or shout it out.

It is D, there were three kingdoms the old, middle and new.

Long before the Old Kingdom, Egypt was split into Upper and Lower Egypt and the first Pharaoh Menes, united them as one single civilization.

During the Old Kingdom, the great pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx were built.

Here is a picture of them here.

The pyramids were built as tombs for earlier pharaohs.

The 500 years, the Old Kingdom lasted, was a time of success when it came to sculpture and stone building.

However, it ended in decline and many Egyptians were unhappy.

Please pause the video to complete this task, complete these sentences by filling in the gaps.

Okay, so hopefully you paused your video and here are the answers.

During the Old Kingdom, the great pyramids were built and they were tombs for earlier pharaohs.

Good job, if you got those correct.

Now, the Middle Kingdom was a time where the Pharaoh Mentuhotep the second, reunited the two parts of Egypt under one rule, after fighting with Lower Egypt.

The Egyptians also started to use an irrigation system to move water from the Nile to their crops.

They did this by digging channels in the earth from the river to the farm.

Part of the river would flow into the channels and would water the crops.

So which answer best describes an irrigation system? Is it A moving water to crops? B taking water from crops? or C draining the river? Have a little think which one is the best answer? You are correct if you said A, it's moving water to the crops to help water them.

The New Kingdom was a time of greatest wealth for the ancient Egyptian civilization.

During this time, the Pharaohs conquered many kingdoms, and the Egyptian empire reached its peak.

The construction of pyramids stopped and Pharaohs preferred to be buried in the Valley of the Kings in rock tombs, instead of in the pyramids, you can see the picture here of the Valley of the Kings.

During this time, the horse and chariot was used as a mode of transport for the most powerful people in ancient Egyptian society.

So please pause your video to complete this task.

Which kingdom do you think was most successful? You could start your answer with I think the, and then choose Old, Middle, or New Kingdom was most successful because and then give your answer why.

Okay, so you could justify that any of the kingdoms were the most successful.

You might have said that the Old Kingdom was the most successful, as they built the great pyramids and Egypt was united.

You may have said the Middle Kingdom, because they were able to develop an irrigation system to improve growth of crops.

Or you may have said the New Kingdom because the Pharaohs had conquered many kingdoms and were very wealthy.

Now let's look at three of the pharaohs that ruled ancient Egypt.

The rulers of ancient Egypt, are known as Pharaohs and they were seen as gods on earth.

They were responsible for enforcing laws, keeping their citizens safe and making sure that Egypt's land was peaceful and providing crops.

Now pause the video to complete this task.

The Pharaohs eldest son would often inherit the throne but not always.

The youngest Pharaoh was six years old.

Write an answer to these questions.

Do you think there should be an age limit on when you become Pharaoh? What would you do if you became a Pharaoh? Okay, hopefully you paused the video and completed this task.

Now let's look at the great Pharaoh, Ramesses the second.

Ramesses the second was called Ramesses the Great, as he built more statues and monuments than any other Pharaoh.

He ruled Egypt for 66 years.

Ramesses the second tried to ensure his legacy would live on by building temples like Karnak and Abu Simbel, which are among Egypt's greatest wonders.

His memorial temple, the Ramesseum contain a massive library of some 10,000 papyrus scrolls.

Papyrus is a type of paper the ancient Egyptians used.

The boy King, Tutankhamun, Tutankhamun became King of ancient Egypt at the age of nine, during his reign, he was supported by powerful advisors to restore the traditional Egyptian religion and art, both of which had been ignored by the Pharaoh before him.

Tutankhamun unexpectedly died at the age of 19.

How he died is unknown, some historians believe he might've caught malaria, a deadly disease or suffered from an infected injury.

Some believe he may have been murdered.

He was buried in a tomb that was poorly prepared in the Valley of the Kings.

Ay was responsible for Tutankhamun's burial and he became Pharaoh following his death.

The last Pharaoh Cleopatra the seventh, when her father Ptolemy the 12th died, Cleopatra the seventh became co-advisor to her ten-year-old brother, Ptolemy the 13th, who became Pharaoh.

They were married as, this was Egyptian tradition.

She was a highly intelligent woman and a very clever politician.

She brought wealth and peace to Egypt, but she was sent away, she was exiled by her younger brother as he wanted more power.

The Roman army helped Cleopatra return to Egypt and she became the last ruler of ancient Egypt.

But it said that she committed suicide when her kingdom finally fell to Rome.

So please pause the video to complete this task, order the pharaohs from the most, to the least impressive and explain your reasons.

So the pharaohs we looked at were Tutankhamun, Ramesses the second and Cleopatra the seventh.

Order them from most to least impressive and explain your reasons.

So that's the end of our lesson, we covered a lot so well done and for working so hard.

Thank you for joining me and I hope to see you in the next lesson on Ancient Egypt soon.

Goodbye.