Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt
Describe everyday life in ancient Egypt: many people farmed wheat and barley near the Nile, many families lived in mud-brick houses, children played games, some families had pets, and foods included bread, fish, fruit and vegetables.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe at least two things ordinary Egyptian families did in their daily lives
- Name foods that ancient Egyptians ate or crops they grew
- Identify at least one similarity and one difference between life in ancient Egypt and life today
1 · Read
Long ago, many Egyptian families lived near the Nile River. Many people farmed wheat and barley in fields. Families often lived in houses built from mud bricks. Not everyone was a farmer. People did other jobs too.
Egyptians ate bread, fish, fruit and vegetables. Wheat and barley were grains used to make bread. People caught fish in the Nile. Fruit and vegetables grew on land. Families did not all eat the same foods every day.
Here is a made-up day for a child called Neferet. She wakes in a mud-brick house and helps her mother bake bread. Then she plays with a ball. Later, she watches her pet cat nap. This is one possible day, not every child's routine.
Children played games in ancient Egypt, and some families had pets. Children today also play games, and some have pets. People ate bread then and still do now. Ancient Egyptians had no cars, phones or television. A similarity is something shared. A difference is something that changed. A comparison with both needs one shared thing and one change.
A food's first source is where it began. Grain for bread grew in fields. Fish came from the Nile. A family might grow or catch food, or get it from someone else by buying or exchanging it. Buying grain did not change where it grew.
Food plants need water. Near the Nile, farmers had water and rich soil for crops. Dry desert sand without water was not a good place to grow fruit and vegetables.
Many Egyptians farmed near the Nile. Their homes, food and games show similarities and differences between life then and now.
Lesson, questions and flashcards written for this dataset about everyday life in ancient Egypt.
Video lesson: A day in the life of an ancient Egyptian doctor, by Elizabeth Cox for TED-Ed.
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