Language
What is the perhaps most well-known ancient civilization in history?
Everything in life is interrelated and interwoven. Who is able to use anything and anyone to accomplish His will?
God! (This is one of the most interesting and reassuring aspects of His character!!)
Did Egyptians believe that God is the one true God and that He holds all power, knowledge, and understanding?
No. They were polytheists and had hundreds of gods.
When someone died, that person’s family and friends heaped stones on top of the grave. The richer and more prominent the person was, the bigger the pile of stones. Pharoas started to build their piles even before they died. What were these piles called?
Pyramids
Can people still visit the ancient pyramids today?
Yes
What was the paper called that Egyptians used to write on?
Papyrus
Nothing in life or history is exactly what it seems on the surface. God used the Egyptians in various ways to accomplish important aspects of His plan. We see this as the story of God’s chosen people unfolds. Who were God’s chosen people?
the Hebrews / Israelites
What did Egyptians call their king?
Pharoah. Their pharoahs claimed to be gods who had more power than the other lower gods.
The greatest of these pyramids, that has a huge Sphinx “guarding" it, is called what?
The Great Pyramid
Menes (MEE-neez) was the first true Egyptian ____
king
Egyptians' writing consisted of small pictures drawn to depict a word. What was this writing called?
Hieroglyphics
In order to preserve the body, the ancient Egyptians turned a dead body into a _______
Mummy
How are we able to learn about the culture of ancient Egypt besides reading history books?
The Bible (has a lot of descriptions of the culture interwoven throughout the stories we will be studying) and archaeologists have uncovered many detailed writings of the Egyptian way of life, their belief systems, their family lines, and their influence on the world around them.
How were the ancient pyramids built?
By hand - dragged, pushed, pulled by men
Ancient Egyptians held many animals (dogs, cats, certain birds, and even a beetle called a scarab) as sacred and they worshipped them. What happened if anyone killed or abused a sacred animal?
That person could be put to death.
Where has Egyptian hieroglypics been discovered?
Why did ancient Egyptians bury their dead with their most prized possessions?
They believed that when they died, their souls stayed close to their bodies. (So they buried them with a cherished pet, their favorite furniture, jewels, money, and even food)
If you lived in ancient Egypt, could you move up to another social class? Why or why not?
No. You were stuck in whatever class you were born into.
Egyptian pharoahs were more interested in their lives after death than their lives before death. What was the most prized possession of the Egyptian pharoahs?
Their magnificent pyramid tombs
What are the first 5 books of the Bible called?
Pentateuch
Egyptians had their own form of cursive writing called what?
Hieratic script (and later, demotic script)
Why did the ancient Egyptians make mummies?
They believed the soul would return to the body on Judgment Day.
Osiris was the god of farming and the judge of the dead. What did the Egyptians think Osiris did with their heart once they died?
Weighed it on a scale. A feather (which represented truth) was placed on the other side. If a heart was heavy with sin, a monster came and ate it up
Why aren’t there any riches still found in the pyramids?
Tomb robbers broke into many of the pyramids and stole their contents as the Egyptian civilization declined in its later years.
In the past, there has been an argument that Moses could not possibly be the author of the Pentateuch because written language did not exist at theat point in history. How has this been disproven? (Give at least one example)
- Writing existed in ancient Mesopotamia long before the time of Moses
- the first four books are acknowledged by many renowned archaeologists and historians to be written by someone raised in the courts of pharoah
-these laws were written in a similar format as other law codes written around the same time period