By: Kate and Rachel

In 3500 BC, early

settlers moved to

the Nile River.

In 30 bc Egypt

became part of the

roman empire and

forgot all their old

beliefs.

In 642 AD Egypt

was conquered by

Arabs

The ancient Egyptians were known for many things, but the main things they were known for were their astonishing pyramids, temples, art, and architecture. Ancient Egyptians had many gods that they believed in who all took part in to bring peace to the land, for example, Ra was the god of the sun so they relied on him to bring the yearly flood that they used to grow their crops and Hathor was the god of love, joy and music

The Ancient Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh’s (kings)were a god’s in human form and they had all power over their people . So they were on top of the social structure. After the pharaoh, came the nobles, and priests, that were the pharaohs side man and overseer of royal treasure. Soldiers were next in the social pyramid. They protected the people and transported stone for the kings tomb during peace and when their was no war at the time. Next in the social structure were the scribes who had used years to learn to read and write Scribes could become accountants, priests, doctors, and government officials. One scribe, Horemhab , even became pharaoh. Then came the merchants who traded goods such as gold and papyrus for other goods such as elephant tusks and panther skins. Artists, were employed and used by the pharaoh, the government, or temples. They were used for carpentry, metalwork, jewellery, pottery, sculpture, wall painting, glass making, and weaving, they also made the blocks for the pyramids . farmers worked for the pharaoh, the government, a temple, or a rich Person. They would tend to the fields by ploughing, planting and watering the crops and had to work on the pharohs tomb each year. The lowest people in egypt were the workers and slaves who were often foreigners. They worked in the fields and on the pharohs tomb and could be sold like they were nothing.

Most Egyptian people lived in small houses. The house was built out of mud bricks, with wooden beams holding up the roof. In hot weather which was most of the time, people slept on their roof. They would use a mud brick stair case to get up there. A normal Egyptian house would have about four rooms, if you were poor you could have as few as one room and if you were rich you would have more. There was a courtyard in the front of the house. The courtyard would have had a high wall around it. In the courtyard, people cooked food ate dinner, wove things and lots more things. Egyptians would keep their live stock in the court yard. Although mud brick houses were cheap to make, they were not very strong and would begin to crumble after a few years. Most houses didn’t have a toilet and you would have to go to the edge of the city or use a chamber pot if your family had one.

Housing

The more money you had the stronger your house could be because if you were rich, you could afford to build your house out of stone. Their houses were often built around a central courtyard where they would grow flowers, fruit and vegetables.

Some rich people's houses had bathrooms and indoor toilets.

In the new kingdom, the rich generally had their own well for fresh water. Poorer people could use could use public, but many people still used water from the Nile or canals.

Fish, bread and beer were mostly an ancient Egyptians food diet. The Nile river provided lots of fish and fertile soil to grow crops in such as wheat which they made bread and beer from. They used honey to make their food sweeter. They ancient Egyptians also grew vegetables such as peas, beans, onions, garlic, leeks, lettuce, cabbage and turnips. They also favoured figs and dates which grew well in the climate. Grapes were liked to make wine and to eat as fruit for those who could afford it. The wealthy could afford coconuts and olives and meat because it was hard to raise live stock there. The poorer families could make wheat dishes and eat whatever other food they grew.

The people of ancient Egypt loved family life. They loved their children and thought they were a blessing. In the poor families, the mother would raise the children. The wealthy families had slaves and servants that helped take care of the children. Women were expected to listen their fathers and husbands but they were equal to men in many ways. They had the right to own land, and were expected to go to court cases. Women even faced the same punishments as men. Egyptian women were respected in ancient Egypt unlike some ancient places. Boys learnt to skills from their fathers. Girls worked at home with their mothers to learn cleaning etc. The rich who could afford it sent their sons to school to study religion, reading and writing when they were about seven. When the children grew up, they were expected to take care of their now older parents. when the parents died, the sons inherited the land, while daughters inherited the household things such as furniture and jewellery. If there were no sons, the daughters inherited the land.

Girls married around the age twelve, the boys were a few years older than the girls. Marriages were arranged by the parents of the child, but some young people chose their own partner. Men would usually have about one wife but a king or pharaoh would have several wives. If the wife and her husband divorced for any reason, the agreement was that the wife was to receive an allowance from her husband. It also stated that any good material that the wife brought into the marriage was hers to keep if the husband and wife were to separate for any reason. Both husband and wife could own land separate from each other but the wife would usually give her husband her land to administer along with his own.

An ancient Egyptian women would give birth while crouching or kneeling. She would be supported by a woman sitting behind her, holding her in her arms. Birth itself was dangerous both to the mother and the baby and many times a women and baby would die during labour. It is thought that only women went to the births, and mostly neighbours, friends and sisters.

Ancient Egyptians loved children and took very good care of them. Mothers looked after their babies for three -four years. Small or new born babies were carried by their mother in a sling so that they were kept warm by her body's warmth and feeling her always by their side. Sometimes older siblings wear the sling to carry their baby brothers and sisters. Scorpions and snakes were dangerous to babies who were not carefully watched by their mother or siblings. Some children who could afford it were sent to school to learn reading and writing. Children had to help with chores around the house and learn from their parents how to do house chores and how to farm. Children often played games like leap frog, wrestling and dancing. They also helped their parents by looking after younger siblings or animals.

School is different because in ancient Egypt you had to pay for school so only the most wealthy people would send their kids to school and it was only for boys. In Canada, school is free and all kids has to go to it. Chores in Canada for kids are just doing what your parents ask you to do, maybe to help clean the house every now and again but in Egypt children had to collect water and food, feed the animals and assist their parents. Children don’t get carried in slings anymore, they get pushed in prams which have been invented to do that. Games are different today because children don’t play so many games anymore because of new technology which they are always playing on now days like iPods, cell phones, psp, ps3 and computers, where as the Egyptian children played games out doors and would play with little wooden toys. Mothers are working now a day so instead of just her raising the baby, the father might help as well. Today we have toilets that dispose your body waste instead of having to carry it out in a pot every day like the Egyptian kids did. Daily chores are different because we don’t spend our time looking for food and growing it, we go to a store and buy it. We pay to get a regular supply of water instead of having to fetch it from crocodile infested water`s.

The Ancient Egyptians had schools but these were only for boys who were learning to be scribes and officials. The pharaoh's family had their own special teachers.. The subjects taught at school were reading, writing and arithmetic. These were important for priests, artists and for government officials who had to do tax. Lessons began early in the morning before the hot part of the day and finished by noon. The punishments were mostly the same as today especially having to copy something down. Mostly you had to copy out stories. Children were also beaten for misbehaving at times. If parents couldn’t afford to send their kids to school, they would teach them house chores like farming, looking after younger siblings and caring for the live stock. The poor people were taught at home. A boy would get taught from his father's trade or craft secrets and things

Religion was very important to the Ancient Egyptians. They believed that the Pharaoh was not only the King but also a god. They believed that the Pharaoh knew Horus, son of Re who was the god of the sun. Because of their beliefs, the Pharaoh had a huge amount of power. The priests in Ancient Egypt were also very powerful. When things were going well, the Egyptians believed the priest and pharaoh were doing their jobs well, when things in the country were not going well, the people believed the pharaoh and the priest were the people to blame because they had such great power. The Ancient Egyptians had many gods in their religion, scientists estimate about 700 different gods and goddesses. The Egyptians were especially famous for their belief of the after life. They believed the body had to be preserved to allow a place for their spirit to live in the afterlife. Therefore, they had to mummify the dead bodies. They believed that the brain did nothing so they would remove your brain through your nose with a hook and they would remove all internal organs except your heart because they believed your heart did everything. Mummification took about 70 days and the more money you had, the better preserved you could be. The pharaoh would be preserved with all sorts of ointments and wrapped in the best, most expensive bandaging. Jewels and gold would usually be put in between the layers of wrapping. Big pyramids were built for the pharaoh's dead body. There was usually a hole in the top to release the spirit of the dead body. They also believed that if you sinned you would have a heavy heart in the afterlife, so the Egyptians didn’t sin very much.

Ra was the ancient Egyptian sun god. To the Ancient Egyptians, the sun meant light, warmth, and growth for their crops. There fore the sun was very important to them. The suns disk was seen as the body or eye of Ra.

Ra was thought to travel on two boats called the Mandjet, the Boat of Millions of Years or the morning boat, and the Mesektet which was the evening boat. These boats took him on a journey through the sky and the through the under world. On his journey he would have to face Apophis, an enormous snake looking creature who tried to stop the sun boat's journey every night by swallowing it or by stopping it with a magic stare. In the evening and night the Egyptians believed that the Mesektet or the Night boat would carry Ra through the underworld and in the morning he would be reborn and do his journey all over again.

The ancient Egyptians wore tunics which were made to fit them. Tunics were like a long T-shirt which reached to the knees for men or to the ankles for women (if you have ever watched “Night at the Museum”, you will see when the Egyptian guy gets asked “what's with the dress”, he says “its not a dress, it’s a tunic”). They were usually made of linen or flax and were mostly white. The ancient Egyptians mostly walked around barefoot but they also wore sandals made of leather.

Men who were working outside usually wore short skirts instead of tunics.

Their clothing was practical because is was cool in the hot dry climate and the material grew along the banks of the nile so they didn’t run out, in winter they would put another layer on top to stay warm.

Art was a practical part of the lives of ancient Egyptians, it wasn't for fun. They carved and painted tomb walls for the pharaohs. The paintings and carvings on temples and in tombs were done as worship to the dead person or to the gods. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics was also an art. They often did paintings representing daily life. The sphinx was art to guard the pyramid of Khufu a famous pharaoh who had and might still have the biggest pyramid in Giza.

Music was very popular in Ancient Egypt because they enjoyed singing and used it to praise and worship in temples and to the gods. The ancient Egyptians even had a god that was for singing and dancing.

Most Ancient Egyptian festivals were for their gods or pharaohs. Festivals were huge celebrations with plenty of food to eat. The Sed Festival celebrated the thirtieth year of a Pharaohs rule and then every three years after that. There was a celebration in temples to worship the gods and food would be placed in the temples.

The Ancient Egyptians are a very interesting ancient civilization to learn about and they had great talents including art, sculpting, building, they had their own gods, celebration and kings. They had houses and a good supply of food, they had water and the Nile to grow crops on its fertile banks.Punishments and rewards, clothing, jewelry. They have left evidence for us to know that they existed and the great pyramids of Giza along with the sphinx and the valley of the kings.

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Ancient Egypt- http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html

Childhood- http://www.rom.on.ca/programs/activities/egypt/learn/childhood.php

Egypt- http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/EGYPT/people.html

Egypt- http://thecorefour.glogster.com/the-nile-civilization-of-egypt/

Egypt- http://www.fecielo.com/egypt

Egypt- http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.2.html

Egyptian architecture- http://www.lost-civilizations.net/ancient-egypt-egyptian-art-architecture.html

Egyptian art- http://www.animhut.com/articles/design-history-egyptian-art-episode-4/

Egyptian Daily Life-http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_religion_affect_the_Egyptian_daily_life#ixzz1O4eIclDI

Egyptian houses- http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/architecture/houses.htm

Egyptian housing- http://www.historyonthenet.com/Egyptians/housing.htm

Egyptian mummy- http://egypt.phillipmartin.info/egypt_mummy.htm

Games and toys- http://gamesandtoysea.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-can-i-improve-on-my-blog.html

Housing- http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/a-housing.htm

How would you survive as an ancient Egyptian

Marriage- http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/marriage.htm

Music in Ancient Egypt-http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/MIRE/Introduction/AncientEgypt/AncientEgypt.html

Private schools- http://www.mytorontoprivateschool.com/toronto-private-schools-vs-public.htm

Ra- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra

Religion- http://www.love-egypt.com/ancient-egypt-religion.html

Timeline of Ancient Egypt- http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/time/explore/main-time.html