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Researched by Alex H. |
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Research
Summary
Introduction
Ancient Egypt was one of the greatest cultures to ever
exist. In this report I will explain how life was, how they
grew crops, the ways of the Pharaohs and so much more.
Who Were the Ancient Egyptians
Many years ago the Greeks called them the Aigyptos, but the Romans
called them the Aegyptus. Egypt is a giant desert covered with
hot sand through which the River Nile flows. Ninety-six percent
of Egypt’s population lives on that same exact strip of land.
Ancient Egypt was one of many of the first civilizations. Some of
the remains from the art and construction from Ancient Egypt are
visible. People can learn a lot about Ancient Egypt just by their
writing.
The World of the Pharaohs
Egypt was ruled by pharaohs for about 3,000 years. To the Ancient
Egyptians the pharaohs weren’t thought of only as kings but as living
gods as well. The pharaoh was believed to be a living god, he was
the one who led the army. If someone committed a crime the Pharaoh
would judge them and decide their punishment or if there would be any.
He (or she) decided what was to be done with the treasury. He was
the one who represented unity.
The Age of Pyramids
For about 1,000 years pharaohs were buried in special places called
pyramids. Today there are about 90 known pyramids. The
pyramids that are best preserved are at Giza, near Cairo, the current
day capital of Egypt. The pyramids at Giza were built about 4,500
years ago.
They were built during the reigns of Khufu, Menkaure, and
Khafare. Khufu’s pyramid was the largest. Over two million
limestone bricks were used to make his pyramid. It was the
tallest building at the time. The first of the Seven Wonders of
the World are the Giza pyramids. About 6,000 years ago Egyptians
were buried in pits.
The Great Step Pyramid
The Great Step Pyramid was most likely the first big stone building
that was built by humans in history! They were built for Djoser
who was the Pharaoh around 2650 B.C. They were designed by the
architect Imhotep; he even became more famous than the pharaoh!
The pyramids were made of six rectangular layers one on top of another.
The Pyramids of Giza
The word Pyramid means "Great House." The Great pyramid is called
"Khufu is one belonging to the horizon." Another one is called
"Menkaura is divine." The last one is called "Great is Khafra."
They are all named after Pharaohs.
The Great Pyramid
The Great pyramid at Giza was the largest monument ever
made. It was built for King Khufu in 2589 B.C. It is
also is guarded by the sphinx.
The Sphinx
The sphinx has guarded Khafra’s pyramid at Giza for about 4,500
years. They were carved out of huge blocks of limestone.
They were carved with the head of a pharaoh and the body of a
lion.
Gods and Goddesses
There were many Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Egypt these are a few.
• Amon was the state god of Egypt (1550-1070 B.C.) at
Luxor in Thebes. Amon was portrayed as a handsome young man.
• Anubis was the god of the dead. He supervised
mummification. He was said to have the head of a jackal.
• Anukis was a goddess who was shown with a
tall-feathered headdress. She’s said to be associated with the creation
of mankind.
• Atum was a creator god. He was shown as a man.
• Sometimes Basset was a war goddess, or a protector
of pregnant women.
• Geb was the Ancient god of the earth. He was
represented as a man or a man with a goose on his head.
• Hapi represented the Nile. He was shown as a fat
man.
• Hathor was the goddess of the sycamore, which was
thought to be sacred. She was shown as a woman with cow horns on
either side of a sun disk or a cow.
• Horus was worshiped in Ancient Egypt as the sun
god. He was said to have the head of a Falcon. He was also the
son of Osiris and Isis.
• Isis was the sister and wife of Osiris. Horus
was their son.
• Ma’at was the goddess of truth. She was shown as a
woman with a feather on top of her head.
• Osiris was the god of the dead; he was shown as a
wrapped mummy. He was the one who was said to weigh a dead
person’s heart, if the heart was weighed equal to the goddess Ma’at
they would enter the afterlife, if it didn’t weigh equal, the body
could not.
• Re’ was worshiped as the sun god. He was shown as a
man with a falcon head.
• Sekmet fought Re’s enemies and once almost
destroyed mankind. She was the lion headed goddess.
• Thoth was the god of wisdom. Thoth was shown
as a man with the head of an ibis or by a baboon.
• Seth (sounds like set) was the god of chaos and
destruction.
Careers
There were many careers in Ancient Egypt; Farmers planted crops and
worked in the black land. It’s called the black land because it’s near
the River Nile so the soil is a blackish color from the water flooding
up on the land. The black land is good farming land because there is
such rich soil.
There was the job as a Pharaoh, who ruled all of Ancient Egypt.
If someone was a child pharaoh, most likely the high priest and maybe
the army leader helped rule until he came of age and could rule the
country by himself.
There was the job as the high priest. The high priest helped the
pharaoh decide people’s fate sometimes. The high priest helped
young pharaohs rule until they were old enough to rule on their
own.
The Book of the Dead
The book of the dead was a collection of magic spells. The book
of the dead was popular in the New Kingdom was later called “Reu nu
pert em hru.” The spells allowed the dead to state themselves as
looking like gods. There is or was no papyrus that has all of the
spells. Egyptians believed in magic and the cultural power of
gods.
Horus Eye
The eye is the symbol of Horus’s battle because of his father’s
death. It’s also called the wadjet. Wadjet means healthy
eye. Horus lost his eye in a fight with his brother Seth and Isis
restored his eye.
Shabti
Ancient Egyptian funeral figurines were designed to be with the dead
person to go through the many levels of the underworld.
Papyrus
Papyrus used to be a common plant in the Nile Valley but is now
becoming rare. They were used for religious documents and
texts. Papyrus reeds were used for scribes to write on.
Festivals
Festivals were celebrations in Ancient Egypt. Most of the
celebrations were based on local temple traditions.
Mummification
and the Mummification Process
It was really hot, smelly, and covered with flies in an embalmer’s
tent. The Ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife. The
body had to be preserved. Many important ceremonies had to be
performed before going to the afterlife. They took out the brain
through the nostrils! Here are the basic steps.
Step #1: Wash the body, and shave it.
Step #2: Take a long rod, stick it up the nose, move it around in the
skull, and let the brain run out into the bowl.
Step #3: Cut a hole in the side of the body and take out the liver,
lungs, intestines, and stomach and put them into canopic jars.
The only thing they left in was the heart.
Step #4: Cover the body in natron (salt) for forty days which will make
the body thinner darker, and very dry.
Step #5: Stuff the cavity that was made in step #3 with linen and
herbs.
Step #6: Send for a make up artist to put on the make up and fit the
wig.
Step #7: Place a golden plate decorated with a wadjet eye over the
cavity in the side.
Step#8: Wrap the body in linen and in between bandages put amulets and
charms.
Step #9: The ceremonial mask has to be fitted.
Step #10: Last The Book of The Dead must be put into the ceremonial
coffins. Those are the steps to mummification.
Boats on the Nile
The Nile River was very important to the Ancient Egyptians. They
depended on the Nile for many things, such as drinking water, bathing
water, transportation, and the yearly flooding that provided water for
crops. The flooding of the Nile was supposedly brought by the
Pharaoh and if it did not flood on time the Pharaoh was blamed.
Boats were taken up the Nile. Some of the boats were built
stronger than others and they were made with a special kind of wood.
Early Dynastic Egypt
Around 3100 B.C.E. (Before Common Era) Egypt became a joined
state. According to legend Egypt had previously changed over time
into two major kingdoms. Upper Egypt is in the South, and Lower
Egypt is in the North because the River Nile starts in the South and
flows to the North. A powerful ruler, referred to in an ancient
document as “Menes king-Menes god,” from Upper Egypt, finally defeated
Lower Egypt and joined the two lands into one kingdom. The
unification process of Upper and Lower Egypt probably took longer than
ancient artwork said it did. In the third century B.C.E., a
priest named Manetho used some temple records to put together a list in
order by age of Egypt’s rulers from the beginning of Egypt’s
civilization. He sorted the kings into families and included the
period of each king’s reign.
Funeral Boats
They made funeral boats to put in the tomb with the other treasures so
that the pharaoh would have a boat in the afterlife. Real boats
were sometimes buried in a pit near the pharaoh’s pyramid.
King Khufu owned the most famous boat.
Tools
Egyptologists have found tools around great temples, pyramids, and
tombs. Some of them were either broken or lost. They
believed that some of the sacred buildings had a spirit. The
tools have changed over many centuries.
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