By Pedro Pinho

Egypt is a big country in Africa. Egypt was called the “Gift of Nile” by ancient historians.

The river Nile is important for farming, traveling, drinking and for fishing. Without the Nile’s water Ancient Egypt would not have lasted. Each year it flooded.

Ancient Egypt began when the first people settled in villages along the river Nile around 5000 years ago. At the beginning Egypt was divided in two different parts: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.

It was Menphis.

The name Pharaoh comes from a word meaning "great house" describing a palace or kingdom. The Pharaoh's wife was called "the Great Royal Wife". The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt were the supreme leaders of the land.

Tutankhamun Ramses II Cleopatra VII

A dynasty was when one family maintained power, handing down the throne to an heir. There were 30 dynasties over the 3000 years of Ancient Egyptian history.

The Pharaohs wore a crown that had an image of the cobra goddess. Only the Pharaoh was allowed to wear it. It was said that she would protect them by spitting flames at their enemies.

The first Pharaoh was a king named Menes. He united Upper Egypt with Lower Egypt into a single country.

A pyramid is a stone structure built as a royal tomb. Less important people had smaller pyramids. Building a pyramid was a very hard work. Each pyramid took about workers and 20 years to build.

In Giza you can find the three biggest pyramids of Ancient Egypt. The biggest pyramid was build for King Khufu. It was known as the Great Pyramid. The other two pyramids were for his sons.

The Sphinx was made to protect a pyramid or a temple. A sphinx has a human head and a lion’s body.

Ancient Egypt did not use letters like we use now adays. They used pictures named hieroglyphics to represent ideas and sounds. Just the scribes knew how to write hieroglyphics.

Scribes wrote hieroglyphics on papyrus paper, stone, or paint on walls. They used brushes made from twigs and reed, and ink.

The Rosetta Stone is a black stone. There is a story on it writing in three languages: hieroglyphics, demotic script and Greek.

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