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The Nile is divided into sections by cataracts.  A cataract is a rocky area that creates a waterfall or rapids.  There are six cataracts in the Nile river.

 As the water level lowered, it would leave behind rich fertile soil for farmers

Fresh water, irrigation, fertile soil--this is why people called it the "gift" of the Nile.

Around 6000 BCE the climate began to change, which might explain why many humans changed from hunting and gathering to farming.  Before civilization, early humans came to the Nile River to hunt, fish, and gather food, but gradually as people learned to farm and domesticate animals (about 7000 BCE and 5500 BCE), and therefore live in permanent settlements, areas around the Nile became more crowded.

The change from nomadic hunter-gatherers to civilized living followed the same pattern as other places around the world: farming provided extra food, which allowed the division of labor, which allows the development of government and religion and creates social classes. 

Historians call them Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt

We know so much about the Egyptians because there are so many written resources and because their culture lasted so long with few interruptions

Another reason we know so much about Egypt is because they made their architecture out of stone, which has lasted for the most part. 

Religion was a the center of Egyptian life.  Egyptians believed in many Gods, so they were polytheistic.

Later Egyptians would call their kings “pharaoh”.  Egyptian people believed the pharaoh was a living God, so the Egyptians developed a theocracy, or a government ruled by religious leaders.  This is important to understanding why Egyptian people were so willing to give their grain to the Pharaoh and build him or her incredible temples—they thought the Pharaoh was a living God that would be with them forever in eternity.

The most well-known ritual was mummification.  Egyptians believed in life after death, and they wanted the body to look life-like.  Anyone could be mummified if they had enough money

Egyptians were a very advanced civilization due to their inventions and technology.  Egyptians developed a writing system called hieroglyphs that combined pictures and symbols.  Eventually, they created an alphabet from their symbols.  In 1822 CE a European explorer found what is called the Rossetta Stone (left picture)--a stone with the same message written in 3 different languages, which finally allowed historians to translate ancient hieroglyphs. Egyptians developed a 365-day calendar and used a number system based on 10. Egyptians figured out amazing ways to cut stone to use in their temples and obelisks.  An obelisk is a tall narrow monument that becomes more narrow as it goes up.  They created a writing material similar to paper called papyrus from reeds found in the Nile.  Egyptians were excellent ship builders and excelled at mathematics.  They used fractions, decimals, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and basic ideas of geometry.  Egyptian art and architecture is famous and has been reused and copied by many other civilization including Greece, Rome, and even the United States

Egyptian life depended on what social class you were a part of.

At the top of society was the Pharaoh.  Below the Pharaoh was the royal court (Pharaoh's family), high priests, government officials, and scribes and nobles (rich land owners).  Below them were doctors and engineers, craftsman, and then farmers and unskilled workers at the bottom.  Egyptians did use some slaves, but slavery is hardly mentioned in their writings.

Bread was the main food source, but they would have eaten meat during festivals. 

Egypt's history is divided into six different time periods

creating Egypt's first dynasty.  He defeated some enemies and united Upper and Lower Egypt into one civilization.

One of the first major Pharaohs of the Old Kingdom was Djoser.  His temple was one of the first pyramids Egyptians tried to build.  It was a "step pyramid" and it started the tradition of building pyramids as a burial ground for Pharaohs. Although the term "Pharaoh" wasn't used until much later, we will keep using it to refer to Egyptian kings.   

Hatshepsut was a women Pharaoh.  Her tomb is an amazingly long ramp leading to a temple that has been cut out of a mountain.  Pharaoh Akhenaten tried to start a new religious tradition of worshipping only one God.  Worshipping one God is called monotheism.  This did not sit well with the polytheistic population that has honored many gods for thousands of years.  After Akhenaten's death his monuments were destroyed and his name was removed from the list of kings. Years later he was often referred to as, "the enemy". Akhenaten's son would also become famous, thousands of years later when his tomb was found perfectly preserved. His name was Pharaoh Tutankhamen--he is known and King Tut. He became Pharaoh at age 9 or 10 and ruled for only 9 years.

taking part in this, believers symbolically shared in the victory paid for – and won by - Christ over the power of sin (known as the atonement).

Celebrating mass

Everyone

sermons that people learnt Bible

few laypeople had direct access to the text of the Bible.

Sermons had several functions:

The idea of purgatory was based on the obvious fact that most people are neither extremely good nor extremely evil.

To educate people about the Christian faith and the Church’s rituals and practices To make known the contents of the Bible, the Church’s interpretations of the Bible, and also the lives of saints To help people understand the system of confession and to prepare for their confession to their parish priest in a careful way To explain about sin and virtues.

Venial sins were relatively small faults and shortcomings. The individual could confess these privately to God Mortal, or ‘deadly’, sins were wrong acts committed consciously and deliberately. They therefore placed the soul in serious danger and the Church taught that, in normal circumstances, they could only be forgiven through the sacrament of penance and by confession to a priest.

believed that being too absorbed in the life of the body and material things was bad for the soul.

The simple food monks and nuns were supposed to keep to The regular fasting periods that all Christians observed during the Church year.

repentance means the person wants to turn away from undertaking wrong behaviour and actively decides to do so henceforward.

The priest would hear the confession and talk to the penitent to ascertain that they truly repented and resolved to do better in future. The priest then pronounced absolution, declaring that Christ forgave the sins of the truly repentant.

Penance  This means an action which demonstrates that someone has repented of their sins. The priest might order a penitent, for example, to do one of the following for a period: Go on pilgrimage Fast (abstain from food) Donate alms to the Church or the poor.

knowledge of the Christian faith came, above all, from preaching and teaching, week by week from parish priests.

people,

would not go straight to heaven after death either. Instead, they would spend a period in the spiritual state of purgatory where they could ‘pay for’ / atone for sins committed on earth

It was believed that, whilst still alive, people could undertake deeds that would speed either themselves (in the future) or a dead friend or relative through this process

Going on a pilgrimage was also the only way a poor person could see some of the world

Pilgrimage sites in Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem were important landmarks of places where significant events occurred in the Christian narrative. There were many holy places throughout Europe for those who could only make shorter pilgrimages.

Christian authorities either destroyed these sites or replaced them with Christian significance.

they sanctified the former places of idol worship and encouraged the common people to continue making pilgrimages to these places

The masses often worshipped pagan idols and had many shrines and sacred places which were associated with those idols

Crusaders returning from the Holy Land brought back many relics that were placed in churches throughout Europe.

Many Christians of the late Middle Ages had a great fear of demons and devils, and were terrified of ending up in hell. Mortality rates were high and life was very uncertain due to disease, accidents, childbirth and wars. Luther shared those fears and his first years in the monastery he was tormented with the idea that all men were hopeless sinners in the sight of God and unworthy of salvation.

reason, he was sent to teach theology at the University of Erfurt, and in 1511, at the University of Wittenberg, where he received his Doctorate in Theology. In Wittenberg he was also the parish priest assigned to minister to the citizens of the town.

A major source of church funding during this period was the sale of indulgences. An indulgence was a "get out of purgatory card" that could be obtained for oneself or others by paying a certain sum to the church.

The Pope was selling offices and indulgences to get money for an ambitious building program which included the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. The Pope's representative, the Dominican Father Tetzel, encouraged people to buy the indulgences with the jingle, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings The soul from Purgatory springs"

telling them their loved ones were crying out to be released from suffering.

He was shocked by the lack of morality and piety of the local clergy and by the luxurious lifestyle of the Pope Leo X, a member of the Medici family. Pope Leo was known for his expensive tastes and was fond of hunting, gambling and carnivals. The papacy was at a low point in its history and others had been calling out for reform prior to Luther.

He came to the conclusion there was no evidence in the Bible for believing the Pope had power to release souls from Purgatory.

He wrote out a list of his objections to the practice; he named 95 issues he wished to dispute.

On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his ninety-five theses, or points of discussion, on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The document was in Latin and invited other scholars to debate the statements set out.

The 95 Theses were translated into German and widely distributed throughout Germany, courtesy of the printing press.

There is no question, however, that Luther wrote the list and sent a copy of it to Prince Albert of Mainz.

The reaction of the Church initially was to try and suppress the attack on indulgences by suppressing Martin Luther.

The protest against the indulgences set off a conflagration which, step by step, resulted in most of Northern Europe breaking away from the authority of the Catholic Church.

It was clear by this time that there could be no coming together on these issues, since the very authority of the Pope was called into question.

The Church did act to curb the worst abuses of indulgences, but it was too late.

Luther was given safe conduct to attend the meeting and defend his positions. At the Diet of Worms, Luther was shown a table with a pile of his books and other writings. He was offered the opportunity to recant, but refused. Luther's reply was written down as he spoke it: "Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason -- I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other -- my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen." The printed document released after the Diet of Worms also contained the famous words, "Here I stand, I can do no other."

but he was now considered an outlaw.

declaring Luther a heretic and ordering his death.

He spent nearly a year there, writing furiously and fighting depression and numerous physical ailments. It was in a small study in the castle in 1522 that he translated the New Testament from Greek into German and profoundly influenced the form and standardization of the German language.

in Luther's absence numerous leaders had sprung up, each with his own interpretation of doctrine, and most having far more radical views than Luther.

Priests wore ordinary clothing and grew their hair, services were performed in German, monks and nuns were leaving the cloisters and getting married. Some groups were smashing images and statues in the churches and dragging priests away from the altars.

He convinced a couple of the more radical preachers to stop preaching or leave town.

twelve who had been smuggled out in herring barrels.

However, he impulsively announced he was marrying Katharina von Bora, to the great surprise of his friends.

Many were inspired by Martin Luther's challenge to the authority of the Church to challenge the secular powers as well.

Martin Luther wrote an appeal to the aristocrats to restore order by force.

Both sides were angry with Luther: the nobles blamed him for stirring up the people and the peasants blamed him for encouraging the nobles to use violence against them.

Luther wrote to and met with other leaders of the Reformation, such as Zwingli, to try and produce a unified statement of belief for the reformed church, but nothing came out of it because they were not able to agree on many of the doctrinal issues.

The soil is not very good for growing things, there are a lot of mountains that make it hard to walk from one place to another, and there is never enough fresh water.

what Greece does have is a lot of coastline

No part of Greece is more than about forty miles from the sea: a couple of days walking

in Greece, they were sailors

Greeks have always spent a lot of time sailing on the ocean.

place where travelers could stay during

helped to feed the poor, take care of the sick, and provided education to boys in the local community.

day in the Middle Ages was spent praying, worshiping in church, reading the Bible, and meditating.

different jobs depending on their talents and interests.

Abbot - The Abbot was the head of the monastery or abbey.

A part of this vow was that they were dedicating their life to the monastery and the order of monks they were entering.

They were to give up worldly goods and devote their lives to God and discipline. They also took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Monks and nuns were generally the most educated people during the Middle Ages. They spent much of their day in silence.

A scribe may spend over a year copying a long book like the Bible.

However, there is no denying that Alexander changed the world.

When he finally came home, his dad got him a job in the royal court in nearby Macedonia as a tutor to the young prince Alexander.

They taught him the art of war. Artistotle taught him to admire and respect the Greek culture. Artistotle was only Alexander's tutor for 3 years, but he had an enormous affect on the young prince, so much so that Alexander soon convinced himself that his father, King Phillip II of Macedonia, was not his real father at all.

Alexander was 19 years old, his father (King Phillip II) was assassinated. Alexander took over as king of Macedonia in 336 BC. Alexander quickly pulled together all of Macedonia under his leadership.

Alexander turned his attention to the massive Persian Empire.

By the time Alexander was 25 years old, against incredible odds, and in only six years, Alexander had become not only the king of Macedonia, but also the leader of the Greeks, overlord of Asia Minor, pharaoh of Egypt, and the great king of Persia.

Alexander led his army a further 11,000 miles, founding over 70 cities and creating an empire that stretched across three continents, and covered around two million square miles. The entire area from Greece in the west, north to the Danube, and south into Egypt, and as far to the east as the Indian Punjab, was linked together in a vast international network of trade and commerce. This network was united by a common Greek language and culture."

As a scholar, Alexander felt it was his mission to spread the Greek culture.

schools everywhere he went to teach Greek philosophy and the Greek language.

Alexander adopted many of the customs of the local people he conquered, blending their culture with the Greek culture.

established hospitals, built fortified cities, and created the largest library in the ancient world at Alexandria.

but he never lost a battle.

I solemnly promise so to do.Archbishop. Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgements?Queen. I will.

Archbishop. Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England? And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England, and to the Churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?

Queen. All this I promise to do.

The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God.

Since most wrongs could be atoned for by the payment of a fine

he court did not act in the public interest, as with us, but waited until the plaintiff requested service. Moreover, until the case had been decided, the accuser and the accused received the same treatment. Both were imprisoned; and the plaintiff who lost his case suffered the same penalty which the defendant, had he been found guilty, would have undergone.

not require the accuser to prove his case by calling witnesses and having them give testimony. The burden of proof lay on the accused, who had to clear himself of the charge,

Feudal Justice - The Ordeals

Ordeals, however, formed a method of appealing to God, the results of which could be immediately observed.

A form of trial which especially appealed to the warlike nobles was the judicial duel - a trial by combat. The accuser and the accused fought with each other; and the conqueror won the case. God, it was believed, would give victory to the innocent party, because he had right on his side.