📚 VOCABULARY
A system in which people belong to social classes with different ranks in society.
Hierarchy
The first period of unity and wealth in ancient Egypt, lasting from about 2700 to 2200 B.C.
Old Kingdom
The Egyptian belief that life continued after death.
Afterlife
The period of ancient Egyptian history that followed the Old Kingdom.
Middle Kingdom
The group at the bottom of the Egyptian social hierarchy.
Unskilled laborers and enslaved people
The preserved body of a pharaoh or other powerful person in ancient Egypt.
Mummy
The structures that were built to house the dead rich and powerful members of Egyptian society.
Pyramids
The Egyptian god believed to weigh the hearts of the dead.
Osiris
The ruler whose reign marked the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.
Mentuhotep II
People who made goods by hand, such as pottery, furniture, and jewelry.
Artisans
A massive monumental tomb built for a pharaoh.
Pyramid
The group of people for whom the largest monumental tombs were built.
Pharaohs
The reason Egyptians preserved bodies after death.
To provide a body for the spirit
A period of disorder that ended when Mentuhotep II reunited Egypt.
Civil war
People responsible for buying and selling goods.
Merchants
The process used to preserve a body after death.
Mummification
The famous group of enormous pyramids built near the ancient Egyptian capital.
Great Pyramids
The ancient Egyptian collection that served as a guide for the journey after death.
Book of the Dead
The group of people who eventually took control of Egypt.
Hyksos
People whose main job was producing crops.
Farmers
A social group with a particular level of power or importance.
Social class
The ancient Egyptian capital located near the pyramids of Giza.
Memphis
The process through which Egyptians prepared bodies for burial.
Embalming
The military advantage that helped the Hyksos conquer Egypt.
Horse-drawn chariots
The group of educated workers responsible for reading and writing important records.
Scribes