Historical maps are a great tool for understanding the past. This exploration is for all ages. When you look at a map of ancient Egypt you can see why people lived only along the river. Ancient Egypt was centered around the Nile, but the exact borders that were ruled by the pharaohs changed through the centuries as they conquered or were conquered in turn.
During their long history the Egyptians were attacked and conquered by Canaanites from the near east, Nubians from the south, Berbers from the west, Sea Peoples and Greeks from the north, and Persians and Assyrians from Mesopotamia.
Before you begin exploring, read a book or two about ancient Egypt. You can also make important visual connections while making maps. If the kids are coloring the pyramids, show them a picture of the Great Pyramids from a book or the internet. You could even watch a little video clip together.
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Mapping Ancient Egypt
When you color a historical map of ancient Egypt you can see the boundaries of the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms and why the older kingdoms ended at the second cataract of the Nile. You can draw on trade routes and maybe even guess at why those traders took the routes they chose.
Color the five cataracts and the Nile River light blue. Without the Nile there would be no Egypt. Farming as well as trade, drinking water, and transportation depended on the river. Look up images online of the cataracts of the Nile. The cataracts are small waterfalls or white water rapids along the Nile. No boats could sail upriver past the first cataract.
Read also: Mysteries of Ancient Egypt
The Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was a series of stable kingdoms, which were separated by periods of instability known as Intermediate Periods: the Old Kingdom (c. 2675-2130 BC), the Middle Kingdom (c. 1980-1630 BC) and the New Kingdom (c. Ancient Egypt reached the height of its power during the New Kingdom, ruling Upper and Lower Egypt, Nubia and much of the Near East. The end of the New Kingdom signalled a period of slow decline, whereby it was conquered by a number of foreign powers, including the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Achaemenid Persian Empire and Alexander the Great. The key to the long success of Ancient Egypt was the River Nile. The fertile flood plains allowed the Egyptians to produce surplus crops, which in turn sustained a larger population and led to social development and culture. Ancient Egypt has left a lasting legacy on the Ancient and Modern World.
Old Kingdom
Color the Old Kingdom lands from the Nile delta to just past the second cataract light green. Color the Old Kingdom in the key light green to match. This was the portion of Egypt that the first kings ruled from their capital at Memphis.
Color the palm trees and the water in the oases. Then color the land around the oases light green as well. Label the oases from north to south: Bahariya Oasis, Dakhla oasis, and Kharga Oasis.
Draw trade route arrows from Kharga oasis to Thebes and towards the third cataract. From the time of the Old Kingdom caravans of donkeys carried gold, ivory, spices, exotic animals and wheat along that route to and from Kush and Sudan. Draw more trade route arrows between the oases and then up to Memphis.
The Old Kingdom people built the Great Pyramids. Color the Great Pyramids brown.
Read also: Egypt-Kush Relations
Color the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea light blue. The Egyptians built sailing ships and traded across the sea with Punt, Arabia, Greece, and Crete.
Color the half circle on the Red Sea coast near Thebes light green as well. The Old Kingdom Egyptians had several ports along this coast. They took wheat, salt, and copper south to Punt and Arabia where they traded for gold, ivory, animals, exotic wood, and spices.
Middle Kingdom
Color the Middle Kingdom in the key dark green. Color the lands up to the third cataract green. The Middle Kingdom kings regained the lands of the Old Kingdom after they lost them to invaders. Then they also took a little bit more of the Nile to the south. They moved their capital to Thebes.
New Kingdom
Color the land near the Nile up to the fourth cataract brown. Color the Sinai Peninsula up through Canaan brown as well. Color the box in the key next to “New Kingdom” brown. The kings of the New Kingdom began to call themselves pharaoh and spent a lot of time and money on conquering their neighbors. They started with their capital at Thebes and then moved it to Memphis.
By the time of the New Kingdom the tombs of the old kings were sacked and raided so the New Kingdom pharaohs carved hidden tombs in the Valley of the Kings near Thebes. It didn’t work though, these tombs were raided as well.
Read also: The Language of the Pharaohs
Color the remainder of the land yellow. Except where it is fed by rivers, this part of the world is very dry.
Ancient Egyptian Landmarks and Sites
This map of ancient Egypt details the key settlements of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. Also shown are many of the important Ancient Egyptian sites and temples that remain today. The various capitals of the period are highlighted on the map in addition to the locations of the natural resources and minerals exploited by the Ancient Egyptians.
The importance of the Nile, specifically the fertility that it brings to the land through which it passes, is also a key feature of this map. To add further interest to the map, a papyrus texture has been incorporated into the map’s coloring scheme.
In addition to the main map, a number of smaller inset maps detail some of the key sites of Ancient Egypt. Plans of the temples at Karnak and Luxor are included along with maps of the Pyramids at Giza and the necropolis at Abusir.
Examples of Egyptian Maps
In ancient Egypt, maps were not as developed or commonly used as they are in modern times. However, the ancient Egyptians did have a basic understanding of geography and utilized certain visual representations to depict their surroundings. These representations were not as detailed or accurate as modern maps but served specific purposes.
One type of map-like representation used in ancient Egypt was called a “topographical list” or “descriptive list.” These lists documented important landmarks, cities, temples, and natural features along with their distances and directions from one another. They were often inscribed on temple walls or tomb reliefs and served as guides for religious or funerary processions.
Another form of representation was the “land register” or “estate map.” These maps depicted agricultural lands, indicating boundaries, fields, canals, and other relevant features. They were primarily used for administrative purposes, such as taxation and land management.
The Turin papyrus - an ancient Egyptian mining map, it is drawn on a 9 foot by 1.3 foot long, dated to 1150 BC, and was prepared for an expedition to the Wadi Hammamat in the Eastern Desert led by king Ramesses IV, searching for blocks of bekhen-stone to be carved into statues of the god-king. It’s a unique document, because it is the only known topographic and geologic map of ancient Egypt.
The fragmentary papyrus belonged to the Deir el-Medina scribe Amennakht the son of Ipuy, who is also believed to be its author. It is one of the earliest known geographical maps.
It was collected by Bernardino Drovetti in Egypt sometime before 1824 and now preserved in Egyptian Museum of Turin (Cat.
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