ANCIENT EGYPTBY: ARMIN

TABLE OF CONTESTS

Map

Background

Social structure

Housing

Food

Family life

Marriage

Childhood

Education

Religion

Clothing

Art, Music

Cunclision

MAP OF THE EGYPT CIVILIZATION

Ancient Egypt has a long

history which began in

about 3150 BC and

continued until 50 BC.

BACKGROUND

Ancient Egypt was located in North Africa, along the lower part

of the Nile River. They are famous for the mummies, huge

pyramids, and gods. Egypt had one of the oldest cultures in the

history. They didn’t have technology, but they could build very

tall pyramids. The slaves had to build them for free. No one

paid them any money for their efforts. Egyptians believed in

gods and thought they would get angry with them if they did

something wrong! Whoever didn’t believe in the gods would be

killed!

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

The Egyptian social structure was just like their pyramids! At the top were the most

important, gods or pharaoh. Then were the priests, government officials, and nobles.

They were not as important as pharaoh, or gods, but they were important. And at the

bottom of the pyramid were the poor slaves and servants. No one cared about them;

people could buy or sell them and be their boss! That was not a very fare social

structure. However, people with more power and money had better lives than those

who did not even have enough money to buy food for their families.

HOUSING

In ancient Egypt, people made their houses out of mud bricks. They could easily get

mud when the Nile or other rivers flooded. In those days, people could bake the mud

in a wooden mold under the sun. Poor people’s houses were only one brick thick. They

weren’t very secure, but rich people’s houses were two bricks thick. Most of their

houses had four rooms and one big central room. The room was called central room

because it was in the middle of all the rooms, and families usually spent their time in

it. At the top of the central room, there was a window, so they had to make the central

room higher than other rooms. The noblemen's houses were obviously better than

common peoples’ residences, because they were rich and could afford more luxury.

Egyptians didn’t use a lot of wood for building their houses, because they didn’t have

good quality wood to use. Therefore, they just used wood for supporting the ceilings,

stair cases, and doorways.

FOOD

Ancient Egyptians didn’t have any forks or spoons, so they had to eat

with their hands. Everyone could enjoy drinking beer and wine.

However, rich people had more variety of food than poor people. For

example, the poor only ate bread. That was something usual for

them. They could only afford to buy or make bread, onions, and

sometimes fish. People would rarely eat beef, except at rich people’s

feast. Wealthy people could easily enjoy eating various foods and

breads. The bad thing was that they didn’t have sugar, so they just

used honey to sweeten their food.

FAMILY LIFE

In Egypt, family life was really important. Women did most of the jobs. They

would go out and trade, while their husbands stayed home and wove!

However, still women had to do household duties. In other words, women

were the most important members of the family and in charge. People

would treat women very well. Young boys had to learn their fathers’ or

grandfathers’ jobs and continue with them. Children were expected to help

their mothers or their elderly parents. Boys could get their fathers’ lands and

girls could get their goods like jewels if their parents died.

MARRIAGE

In Egypt, girls who lived in villages would

usually marry at the age of 12. Boys

were a little bit older than girls when

they got wed. However, girls who were

rich would marry a few years later. Most

of the time, parents would arrange their

children’s marriages, but sometimes

their children didn’t want that! Ordinary

men had one wife, while the king had

several. Before both men and women

could marry, they had to sign an

agreement, saying that the wife would

get an allowance from her husband. The

contract also said that any objects that

the wife brought into the marriage

would be hers to keep if they divorced

for any reason. They could both have

their own land separately, but the wife

usually would allow her husband to take

care of it for her.

DIVORCE

People could get a divorce, but it

was not a common thing to do. If

a husband was mean to his wife

and treated her badly, she would

go to her family to get help. The

wife's family would try to convince

her husband to change his

actions. If his behavior did not get

better, the divorce would take

place. The divorce was simple,

making a plain statement to end

the marriage in front of witnesses.

The wife was given care of the

children and was free to get

married again.

CHILDHOOD

Children were often with pets, particularly birds. There were board games that

children and adults played. Toys were made for children. When it was warm, children

played outside. There were jumping games like leap-frog and wrestling and dancing.

Poor children helped their mothers and fathers by looking after the younger children,

and taking care of animals. Ancient Egyptians loved children and took good care of

them. Mothers nursed their babies for three or four years. In a soft sling, little babies

were carried by their mothers, so that they could feel their body heat. Infants were

probably held most of the time. Even after they began to eat solid food, young

children ate with their mothers, who always were with them and took care of them.

The names given to children also tell us of the affection parents gave them. For

example, Nakht, meant strong, was a common name.

EDUCATION

In ancient Egypt, not every boy and girl had the chance to go to school.

Most rich boys and girls went to scribal schools to learn. Hopefully, one day

they would grow up to become a famous pharaoh or an important person or

a rich scribe. If they did not want to be a scribe, they did not have to go to

school. Instead, they would become an apprentice and help other

professionals such as doctors or bakers and learn while working with them.

In other words, they didn’t have to go to school to learn something.

RELIGION

Religion was really important to ancient Egyptians. One of their most important

traditions was Divine Kingship, which meant people believed that pharaohs were not

just their kings, but were also their gods! One of their gods was named Horus, son of

Re the sun god. They believed in Osiris, the god of death, too. Ancient Egyptians

believed that if something bad had happened, it was because of pharaohs and

priests. And if something bad wouldn’t happen, it was because pharaohs and priests

had done their jobs perfectly. Egyptians’ tradition or religion was called, Polytheistic,

meaning that they had more than one god. Egyptians had about 700 hundred

different gods. They also believed in afterlife. They believed that dead people’s

spirits would need a place to be. They also mummification their dead bodies to

protect them from being destroyed. Therefore, they made pyramids, but pyramids

where a place for pharaohs’ dead bodies, not for normal people.

(1) (2)

CLOTHING

People in Egypt wore light clothes that were made of

something named Linen which is made of flax. Flax

is a type of plant that grows near the Nile River.

Women wore full length straight, pleated dresses

with one or two shoulder straps. Rich women wore

fine transparent linen and they wore jewelry and

headdresses. The men wore a skirt with a belt.

Sometimes, men wore a pleated garment. Just like

women, rich men bought see through fine quality

linen and wore jewelry and headdresses to decorate

their clothes. The children did not wear clothes until

they were about six when they began to wear the

same outfits as men and women. These people

mostly went barefoot, but wore sandals for special

events or when their feet hurt. The sandals that the

poor wore were made of woven palm. The ones worn

by the rich were made of leather.

ART, MUSIC

On the walls and ceilings of homes, temples, palaces and graves the artists

drew pictures of birds flying in sunny days, fish swimming in the water, and

beasts roaming through the forests. Sometimes, floors were painted to look like

swimming pools and ceilings looked like stars similar to the sky. There were

floral designs. There was also Egyptian sculpture and paintings which were the

best in the Oriental civilization until the time of the kingdom of China developed

their art works. When we look at Tutankhamen's tomb, we can also see

astonishing luxury of Egyptian furniture. Tables had silver in them, jewel boxes

were everywhere, and perfume baskets were located on the tables. When their

work was finished, the ancient Egyptians listened to music, played on lutes,

harps, sistrums, flutes and lyres. Temples and palaces had orchestras and

choirs. The Pharaoh's staff, a "superintendent of singing," organized players and

musicians for the entertainment of the king.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, ancient Egypt had a successful and completed civilization.

They also had a the longest recorded history between all other civilizations.

They had very strange and different traditions than we have now. They had

multiple gods and goddesses which were really weird. Egyptian even had a

very different type of life style than we do now! They didn’t have the

technology to make cool things, but we now see that they have made a lot of

things that we wouldn’t be able to do if they hadn’t done it. For example, we

didn’t now how to mummification an animal. We didn’t even know what it

was, until we read the walls of the tombs of Egyptians. Ancient Egypt is a

well known place because of its mummies, huge pyramids, strange gods

and goddesses. By now, I’m pretty sure that every one knows a little bit

about ancient Egypt!

INFORMATION BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ancient Egyptian Education - http://library.thinkquest.org/J002046F/education.htm education

Ancient Egypt, Tourism - http://egypthistorytourism.blogspot.com/2010/10/ancient-egypt.html facts about

Egypt

Brewer, Douglas J., and Emily Teeter. “Egypt and the Egyptians” (couldn’t find it!) Cambridge University Press 1995.

Egypt: Daily Life - http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.2.html family life and marriage

Factual Information About Egypt - http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210200/ancient_egypt/facts.htm Some basic and factual

information

Food in Ancient Egypt - http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/a-food.htm food

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

Morley, Jacqueline. “How Would You Survive as an Ancient Egyptian?” New York. Franklin Watts, 1995.(book from

classroom)

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

Painting in Ancient Egypt - http://www.love-egypt.com/painting.html Art, music

Religion of ancient Egypt - http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/religion.htm religion

The Egyptians – clothing - http://www.historyonthenet.com/Egyptians/clothing.htm clothing

PICTURES BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://scoilchaitrionajnrmsflaherty.blogspot.com/ Title page

http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/EGYPT/nilemap.html map of Egypt

http://jeremylent.wordpress.com/category/ascendancy-to-power-agriculture/ Table of contests

http://www.places-to-visit.us/games/Alexandria,_Egypt.html background pyramids

http://professortravel-egypt.com/ancientreligions2.html Background (2) god

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

http://www.educationaladventures.co.uk/history/ancient-egyptian-introduction.html food

http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/daily-life-in-ancient-egypt.html family life

http://www.awakening-healing.com/Egyptian_Gods_&_Goddesses.htm marriage

http://preterhuman.net/texts/other/crystalinks/divorce.html divorce

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/egypt/clothes.htm children

http://ancientegyptmoberly.pbworks.com/w/page/12830354/bibliography education

http://egypthistorytourism.blogspot.com/2010/10/ancient-egypt.html religion (1)

http://www.egypttourinfo.com/ancient-egypt-religion.html religion (2)

http://www.love-egypt.com/clothing.html clothing

http://www.zazzle.com/ancient+egyptian+art+gifts music

http://www.love-egypt.com/life-in-ancient-egypt.html art