Ancient Egypt

Egypt Egypt is in the northeast corner of Africa, and is mostly made up of desert. There are not many sources of water. One of Egypt’s most famous landmarks is the Nile, which is the longest river in the world.

Nile The Nile is the world’s longest river, and the Ancient Egyptians depended on it for food, water and transportation. They lived on the banks of the Nile, so they could be close to water, to either drink themselves, or to water plants. The Nile is nicknamed “the gift of the Nile” because if the Nile did not exist the whole of Egypt would be desert, and nothing would survive.

Animals The Ancient Egyptians worshiped many animals for many different reasons, some which included : Jackals, because they could always find food, the domesticated cat, because of the way it hunts it’s prey, crocodiles because of it’s power, and the hippopotamus, because of their danger. All of the gods’ animal heads represented their personality.

Farming The farming year was split into three seasons: flooding season or inundation, the growing season, and the harvest. The River Nile was the Egyptian people’s saviour; without it the land would have been dry and barren. However, the river’s annual flood spread dark silt across the fields, allowing farmers to grow wheat, barley, flax, fruit and vegetables.

Gods and Goddesses Gods and goddesses were a major part of Egyptian life, each one symbolised a different aspect of their culture, such as professions like medicine and writing. Many Gods and Goddesses came in the form of animals. Here are just a few of the main ones:

AMUN-RE – King of the gods and protector of the pharaohs. THOTH – The god of knowledge, writing, medicine and mathematics. He had the head of an ibis bird. ANUBIS- The god of embalming. He was a jackal. BASTET- Represented the power of the sun to ripen crops. She was always shown as a cat. OSIRIS- The god of the underworld. HORUS- The god of the sky. Shown with the head of a falcon. PTAH- The god of doctors and healers. His symbol was a sacred pillar.

Pharaohs Pharaohs were the king or Queen of Egypt. Most pharaohs were men but some well-known pharaohs, such as Nefertiti and Cleopatra, were women. A Pharaoh was the most important and powerful person in the kingdom. He was the head of the government and high priest of every temple. The people of Egypt considered the pharaoh to be a half-man, half-god.

Mummification The Egyptians believed in life after death, so to use their bodies, they would have to be preserved. Without their bodies they would not be able to make it to the afterlife. The process required all the organs to be removed and put in canopic jars. The canopic jars had the four sons of Horus on each lid.

1. The body was washed and purified. heart remained. 3. The body was filled with stuffing. 2. Organs were removed. Only the 4. The body was dried by covering it with a substance called natron*. This substance absorbed all the moisture from the body. 5. After days the stuffing was removed and replaced with linen or sawdust. 6. The body was wrapped in strands of linen and covered in a sheet called a shroud. 7. The body was placed in a stone coffin called a sarcophagus. The mummy was now ready for its journey to the afterlife. How were mummies made?

The end!