Civilizations

ANCIENT EGYPT

When did the Pharaohs rule?

The great Ancient Egyptian civilization arose more than 5,000 years ago among people living besides the River Nile. It lasted for 3,000 years - longer than any other civilization on Earth. What is really remarkable is that throughout this long history, the way of life and art and sculpture of Ancient Egypt remained largely unchanged.

Six famous pharaohs

Khufu

Ordered the construction of the Great Pyramid

Hatshepsut

Powerful queen who ruled Egypt for 20 years

Akhenaten

Banished the traditional gods and set up his own religion

Ramses ll

Reigned over Egypt for 67 years and built more statues than any other pharaohs

Cleopatra

One of the famous women in history, she killed herself when Egypt fell to the Romans

In Numbers

The Great Pyramid is the largest stone structure on Earth.

2.5 tonnes 

the average weight of each block used in the construction of the Great Pyramid

20

How many years it took to build

146 m

the height from ground to capstone

230 m

The length of each of the four sides

4,000

The number of workers involved in building it

2,300,000

The total number of blocks used in its construction

6,500,000 tonnes

The total weight of the Pyramid

Facts

• The king of Egypt was called the "Pharaohs" a word that originally meant "great house" or " palace" but came to describe the man who lived there.
• The pharaohs was thought to be a living god and wore a ritual false beard as a symbol of royalty.
• The Egyptian used a form of writing called hieroglyphs, made up of about 700 different pictures.
• The pharaohs Pepy reigned for 94 years - the longest reign in all of recorded history, he was only six when he came to the throne.

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ANCIENT GREEKS

Who were the Ancient Greeks?

Ancient Greece was not a single country - the Greece lived in separate city states all around Aegean sea. They were united by Greek language and writing, by shared myths and legends about gods, and by a common enemy, the Persians.

Greek gods and goddesses

Places in the Greek world 

Olympus: 

Legendary home of the Greek gods

Olympia:

Where the Olympic Games were held

Delphi:

Site of famous oracle 

the Greeks consulted about the future

Athens:

Most powerful city state, birthday of Greek democracy 

Sparta:

Warrior city state

Famous Greeks

Archimedes

Mathematician and inventor. He developed a device for pumping 

water, which known as the Archimedes screw

Aristotle 

Philosopher who studied the natural world, one of the most influential figures 

in the history of learning and science

Socrates

Philosopher who was interested in how people should behave.

He was condemned to death by drinking a deadly poison.

Alexander the Great

1. Alexander became king of Macedon when he was only 19.
2. He led a great invasion force of Greeks and Macedonians against Persians.
3. He made himself master of an empire that stretched from Egypt as far as Afghanistan and northwest India.
4. He founded more than 70 towns, naming 13 of them after himself.
5. He died suddenly at the age of 32.

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ROMAN EMPIRE

How large was the Roman Empire?

At its fullest extent, it stretched 4,000 km from Spain in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east, and from Britain in the north to Egypt in the south. Of course, this didn't happen overnight - in fact, it took more than 700 years for Rome to grow from a small village to a superpower.

Colossseum

Gladiators were trained in the art of killing

 for the entertainment of the roman crowds

 in the Colosseum. They mostly fought armed

 combats with swords, but some specialized

 in other weapons and tactics.

                                                                   

Contest between gladiators, mock sea battles,

and fights to death with exotic wild animals

drew crowds of up to 80,000 to Rome's

Colosseum.

Three Strong Emperors

Augustus

Ended the civil war (and the 

Republic) by making himself

emperor. Created a lasting

system of strong government.

Marcus Aurelius

Philosophically minded emperor

who wrote a famous book of

meditations. Biggest mistake was

to make Commodus his heir. 

Constantine

the first christian emperor who

founded the city of Constantinople

(modern-day Istanbul) as a second 

capital.

Three Terrible Emperors

Nero

A hated monster who murdered 

his own mother and fancied 

himself as a musician even though

he was awful. 

Commodus

Addicted to gladiatorial combat 

and even performed in the arena 

himself ( the other gladiators had 

blunted swords).

Elagabalus

Loved dressing up and behaving

outrageously. At one party he 

showered so many roses on his

guests that many of them suffocated. 

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OTTOMANS

Who were the Ottomans?

A Turkish dynasty of sultans who ruled one of the most powerful Muslim states in Modern history. At its height, the Ottoman Empire stretched from Hungary to Egypt and from Algeria to Iraq, putting fear into the hearts of the European powers. Over time it became weaker, but managed to survive from 1301 until 1922.


Three Ottomans Sultans

Mehmed ll

Ended the Byzantine Empire by capturing Constantinople in 1453 which he made his capital 

Selim "the grim"

After getting rid of his father and killing off all his brothers and nephews,

he extended Ottoman rule to Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Egypt

Suleyman "the magnificent"

The Ottomans Empire reached its largest extent during his 46 year reign

Ottoman Terms

Divan: 
Council
Gazi:
Warrior dedicated to fighting for Islam
Harem:
Private family quarters of palace
Pasha:
High official
Sultan:
Muslim Ruler
Sultana:
Wife or daughter of a sultan
Vizier:
royal minister


Modern states (or part of them) that belonged to the Ottomans Empire

Albania - Israel
Algeria - Jordan
Armenia - Libya
Azerbaijan
Bulgaria - Croatia
Cyprus - Egypt
Georgia - Greece
Hungary - Iraq
Ukraine - Turkey
Tunisia - Russia
Saudi Arabia
Syria - Montenegro

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