Vocabulary: ancient egypt

Long ago, a great civilization grew up along the Nile River in Egypt. The Nile flooded every year. The flood left soft, rich mud. Farmers grew food in that mud. Egypt had kings called pharaohs. People believed pharaohs were chosen by the gods. Egyptians built huge pyramids as tombs for their pharaohs. They wrote with picture signs called hieroglyphs. A person who writes is called a scribe. Scribes wrote on papyrus, a writing material made from a river plant. Egyptians made mummies to keep bodies safe for the afterlife. Some mummies were placed inside stone coffins called sarcophagi. Special jars called canopic jars held the organs. Today we learn about Egypt from archaeologists. Archaeologists study old remains. Artefacts are objects made or changed by people. A gold mask or a painted statue tells us how Egyptians lived and what they believed.

In Africa, Egypt has a hot climate and a long river, the Nile. Long ago, the river flooded each year. It left wet, dark soil where people could grow wheat and other crops.

People built villages beside the Nile. Villages later came together, and Upper and Lower Egypt joined as one kingdom. Its king, called the pharaoh, ruled the land.

Farmers brought river water to their crops through small channels called canals. Watering fields this way is irrigation. They also used a shaduf. This tool has a long pole and bucket for lifting water out of the river.

Successful farming and strong rulers helped Egypt become one of the world's early great kingdoms.

Ancient Egyptian writing used signs called hieroglyphs. Many looked like little pictures. A sign might mean a sound or a whole word. For example, a sun sign could mean "sun."

Writers called scribes spent a long time learning these signs. They used papyrus, a material made from a plant. They also cut signs into the stone walls of temples.

Hieroglyphs could run across in rows or down in columns. A row might start on the left or on the right. Look at the people and animals in the writing. They usually face towards the place to begin reading.

Tutankhamun was a boy who became pharaoh when he was about nine years old. He died when he was still a teenager. His body was made into a mummy and placed in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb was hidden under the ground. Robbers entered it in ancient times. Later it was hidden for centuries. In 1922, Howard Carter and his excavation team found it. Howard Carter was an archaeologist. Archaeologists study ancient people by finding the things they left behind. Inside the tomb, Carter found golden treasures. He found a beautiful gold mask that covered the king's face. He found a stone coffin called a sarcophagus. He found jars and furniture. The mask, jars, and furniture are artefacts: objects made by people long ago. They help us learn how ancient Egyptians lived, worked, and believed.

Ancient Egypt was one of the first great civilizations in the world. It grew up along the Nile River. Every year the river flooded. The flood left behind rich, dark soil. That soil was great for growing food. Egypt's rulers were called pharaohs. People believed the pharaoh was part god. Some pharaohs had huge pyramid tombs built. The Great Pyramid is enormous. A body was prepared as a mummy before burial. Egyptians believed in life after death. Egyptians wrote using pictures called hieroglyphics. Few people learned to write. Trained writers were called scribes. They wrote on papyrus. Today we know about Egypt because of archaeologists. They dig carefully in the sand. They find artefacts like tools, jewelry, and statues. Each artefact is like a clue. The clues tell us the story of ancient Egypt.