📚 VOCABULARY
A rock formation that creates churning rapids.
Cataract
The river that provided ancient Egyptians with water and fertile farmland.
Nile River
Egypt's first period of unity and wealth, lasting from about 2700 to 2200 B.C.
Old Kingdom
The female ruler who came to power around 1470 B.C.
Hatshepsut
The kingdom south of Egypt that later became a powerful civilization.
Kush
An area where a river spreads into several branches as it flows into a body of water.
Delta
The fertile material left behind when the Nile flooded.
Silt
Massive monumental tombs built for pharaohs.
Pyramids
The pharaoh who became ruler after Hatshepsut disappeared.
Thutmose III
The Kushite capital located along the Nile River.
Napata
A series of rulers from the same family.
Dynasty
The dependable natural event that helped Egyptian farmers grow crops.
Predictable flooding
The process Egyptians used to preserve bodies after death.
Mummification
The Egyptian ruler who expanded Egypt into Nubia, Libya, and the eastern Mediterranean.
Ramses II
The young pharaoh whose tomb was discovered nearly intact.
Tutankhamen
A system in which people belong to social classes with different ranks.
Hierarchy
The two regions that were united to form ancient Egypt.
Upper and Lower Egypt
The period when Egypt was reunited under rulers such as Mentuhotep II.
Middle Kingdom
The powerful people who fought Egypt before making peace with Ramses II.
Hittites
The famous stone that helped scholars understand Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Rosetta Stone
A chief official who carried out much of the day-to-day work of governing ancient Egypt.
Vizier
The ruler traditionally credited with uniting these two regions.
Narmer
The people who eventually took control of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom.
Hyksos
The group that regularly invaded Egypt during the New Kingdom.
Sea Peoples
The paperlike material made from reeds that Egyptians used for writing.
Papyrus