ANTH 210 Lecture : Ancient Egypt.docx

• School: McGill University
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANTH 210
• Professor: Henricvan Gjsohard

Document Summary

The nile is fed by violent monsoon rains that flood the surrounding area once a year- deposits rich sediment once waters recede. Several years of thin floods meant starvation. Common theme in egyptian religion: flooding and uncertainty of how much flooding will occur- pharaoh convinces people that he controls flooding and sun rising/ setting. Legitimacy of the pharaoh is questioned when floods do not happen. Sustenance relies on flooding of the nile. The new kingdom: know more about this era than others because earlier occupations are destroyed by the flooding and later periods who destroyed earlier period artifacts- occupied same area along banks of the river. Zone between arable land and desert is stark. Black land= egypt, arable land (black soil) (temet) Nilometer: calculated maximum amount of flooding within a year- calculated hwo much land each community would be capable of growing on each year- allowed kings to set a tax rate that was manageable- finances.