Ancient Egypt: A Trip Fit For A Pharaoh!
By: Iris Wang, Emily Han, & Melissa Tjong
There are so many sites to see and so many great deals! You can cruise down the Nile or visit the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx!
Here is a preview of Ancient Egypt...
Fun Facts About Ancient Egypt Ancient Egyptians thought it important to record
information on religion and government and thus invented a type of picture writing called hieroglyphics
Later on, an easier way of writing was created, called Demotic script; this was also invented by Egyptians so they were able to preserve history, beliefs, and ideas
First to have a government system; the pharaoh had an organized army, a police force, and a huge number of ministers and government officials that helped him
Invented a decimal system that consisted of 7 different symbols
Created the idea of mummification and sending dead people to their afterlife
Fun Facts (cont.) Built pyramids that pharaohs were buried in Ancient Egypt had many skilled and trained
laborers who were often well-respected in their community and had a comfortable lifestyle; their social standing depended on their skill and experience
Egypt’s pharaohs were the most powerful people in Egypt and thus were named “Lord of the Two Lands”; they owned all land and made laws, collected taxes, defended Egypt, and was also respected as their religious leader
Today more than 70,000,000people live along the Nile’s banks
Egypt’s Geography There are deserts to the east and west of the Nile River and mountains
to the south This type of geography left ancient Egyptians in isolation which allowed
them to develop a truly distinctive culture and a natural barrier from invaders
The Nile was Egypt’s source of life; it gave fresh water for bathing and drinking, supported transportation and trade, provided materials for building, making cloths, and paper
In the spring, water runs off the mountains and floods the Nile, which after the floods receded, gave them fertile soil
Ancient Egyptians thought of Egypt as being divided into to lands, “the red land” and “the black land”
“Red land” symbolized the red barren deserts to the east and west of the Nile
“Black land” symbolized the fertile black silt along the banks of the Nile Had fertile land as well as natural resources Across the country, there were places that supplied Egyptians with
copper, gold, tin, amethyst, limestone, turquoise, feldspar, granite, alabaster, quartzite, and basalt
Walk Like An Egyptian: Family Life Ancient Egyptians highly valued family life Regarded children as a blessing In lower classes, mothers had to take care of their children while if
a noble had children, they had slaves and servants to take care of the kids
Women and girls were always expected to obey fathers and husbands although they could own land, business deals, and represent themselves in court cases
Though women were of a lesser position than men, mothers and wives could be the actual ruling power of Egypt if their sons or husbands were the pharaoh
Children looked after elderly parents Sons inherited land and daughters inherited household goods Jobs that women had include: maids, nannies, mourners, perfume
makers, farmers, acrobats, dancers, singers, and musicians; were able to be priestesses if they were noble
Most ancient Egyptians worked as field hands, farmers, craftsmen, and scribes; only a handful of people were nobles
Family Life (cont.) Girls learned how to maintain the house at 4
years old; included learning to sew, cook, keep house clean, make clothes, plant fields, and prepare food
They were married at 8-12 years old Boys’ learning was separated from the girls’ After 5 years, poor boys would help with men
jobs in the fields and their education went from age 7-16
At 16, they could work and could marry when they were 17-20
Their lifespan was about 30 years for a poor man
Households Egyptians built mudbrick homes Grew some of their own food and traded in
villages for food and goods they couldn’t produce
In their houses, there were clay ovens and open fires to bake, foil, stew, fry, grill, and roast
Their favorite food was bread and beer made from barley
They used the sun and water clocks to keep track of the time
Their calendar was based on the star Sirius Was 365 days long
Egyptian Style All hair was short Young girls had pigtails Young boys shaved their heads Everyone wore jewelry, earrings, armlets,
bracelets, and anklets; nobles wore jeweled and beaded collars called wesekhs which were made of gold, silver, and precious stones
Clothes were made of linen People mostly wore skirts Men's skirts were called kilts
Games Egyptians loved games A couple were Senet, also known
as Seega, and Dogs and Jackals Senet symbolized the passage of
the diseased through the Underworld
Dogs and Jackals had pawns with the heads of animals
Religion Egyptians believed in Polytheism Anubis was God of embalming the
dead Ra was the sun god He was the most important god Horus is known as the protector
and ruler of the earth. Temples were the homes of gods
and goddesses
Egyptian Hieroglyphics Hieroglyphics is the Egyptian language, and they are
drawings of familiar objects, simplified so they’re easier to draw.
Made up of three types of symbols; alphabetic signs correspond to a letter or sound used by that sign.
Syllabic symbols stand for sounds produced by a group of letters, a syllable.
Determinative signs relate to a specific object or idea, like man, woman, or water.
They can be read from left to right, right to left, or top to bottom.
Hieroglyphics means “sacred drawings” in Greek. The Egyptians used them from 3000BC to 300AD. After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, the Egyptians
used the Greek alphabet. They used hieroglyphs for religious things.
The Rosetta Stone A troop of French soldiers found the
stone in the city of Rosetta in 1799. The Rosetta Stone was inscribed
with a law made in 196BC, written in two forms of hieroglyphics and in ancient Greek.
A French scholar named Jean François Champollion translated the Egyptian into Greek.
Champollion also found out that hieroglyphs had originally been pictographs, but they stood for sounds in later times.
This is picture shows the alphabet in hieroglyphics
Egypt’s History Home to one of the most ancient and
earliest civilizations History was split into 3 different time
periods; Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom
Old Kingdom- this was the only time period when pharaohs were buried in pyramids
Middle Kingdom- was known as the Golden Age because it was the time when trade, art, and literature flourished
New Kingdom- Egypt’s expansion period and when pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings
Famous Landmarks Great Pyramids- a few of many amazingly
built pyramids; these are 3 of the best preserved pyramids located in Giza
Great Sphinx- a large human-headed lion that was carved from a mound of natural rock in Giza; it is guarding the pharaoh who built it, Khafre’s, pyramid
Pyramid Theories There are many theories about how
Ancient Egyptians built their pyramids. Some believed aliens helped them
build the pyramids Herodotus wrote that they used
“giant machines” The most likely theory is that about
100,000 people were employed. They built ramps and dragged the stones up where they set them into place
The Great Pyramids of Giza They are the three most well preserved and famous pyramids Named Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure Pyramids named after the pharaohs who built them and are buried
in them Built in the 4th dynasty of Egypt Construction of the first pyramid, Khufu, started in 3200 B.C. Scientists can understand the age of the pyramids because the
pottery in the pyramids look like the style of pottery from the time of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure
Also have inscriptions inside to somewhat tell us when it was built Many unique chambers in each pyramid including: Upper Grand
Galley, Lower Grand Galley, King’s chamber, Queen’s chamber, false chamber in case of burglars, and a room where all the pharaoh’s possessions were stored
In front of the Great Pyramids, stands the Sphinx guarding these tombs
Tombs for pharaohs and queens 80 known pyramids in Egypt At the top of the pyramid there would be a stone in the shape of a
pyramid covered in gold or electrum
Pyramid Khufu Also known as the Great Pyramid Construction of the first pyramid, Khufu, started in
3200 B.C. Construction was overviewed by Khufu’s brother,
Hemienu Largest pyramid from three Weighs about 6 million tons More than 2,300,000 limestone and granite blocks
were pushed, pulled, and dragged into place on Khufu.
Average weight of each block was 2.5 tons The base of this pyramid is 230 meters or 755.9 feet
on each side; covered 13 acres in all 480.6 feet tall
Pyramid Khafre Second largest pyramid in Giza Stands at a staggering height of 470.5
feet The base of this pyramid is 230 meters
or 755.9 feet Stands of higher ground, giving the
impression that it is larger than pyramid Khufu.
The entrance is 50 ft above ground level.
Has 2 passages traveling into the pyramid
Pyramid Menkaure Smallest pyramid from the three in Giza Built for and by Menkaure, Kafre’s son. Built in 26th century B.C. Was 65.5m tall when built; nowadays it
stands 62m or 204 feet Thought to have been enlarged during
building process Made of limestone and pink granite Is in the southwest outskirts of Cairo,
Egypt
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BibliographyPictures lifepsychologyandalotmore.blogspot.com http://www.idstyle.com/safari/egypt/hieroglyphics-table.jpg http://profyasser.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/sphinx2.jpg http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/t/
the_rosetta_stone.aspx http://www.ask-aladdin.com/pyramid.htm http://freestockphotos.com/EGYPT/VultureNeck.JPG http://cache.virtualtourist.com/2812290-Nile_River_at_Aswan-Aswan.jpgFast Facts & Geography http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html http://egypt.mrdonn.org/index.html www.mrdowling.com/604egypt.htmlDaily Life http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html http://www.msnu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/dailylife.html http://www2.sptimes.com/egypt/egyptcredit.4.2.html
Bibliography (cont.)Pyramids http://www.ask-aladdin.com/pyramid.htm http://www.unmuseum.org/bldpyram.htm www.ancientegypt.co.uk/pyramids/home www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/explore/Hieroglyphics http://www.mrdowling.com/604-rosettastone.html
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/literature/hieroglyphs.htm
http://www.seaworld.org/fun-zone/fun-guides/egypt/hieroglyphics.htm