Ancient Egypt is one of the oldest and most fascinating civilisations in human history. It was a powerful kingdom that flourished in the Nile River Valley in northeastern Africa for over 3,000 years.

The ancient Egyptians used the natural resources of the Nile River to their advantage. They built an elaborate irrigation system to bring water to their farms, and built canals to transport goods. They also built impressive monuments and buildings, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sphinx.

The ancient Egyptians were very advanced for their time. They used mathematics and astronomy to measure time, and had a complex writing system. They were also skilled in medicine and surgery.

The ancient Egyptians were a religious people and believed in many gods. They built large temples and monuments to honour their gods and goddesses. They also believed in an afterlife and built elaborate tombs for their kings and queens.

The ancient Egyptians had a complex social structure, with a strong centralised government. They had a powerful army and a legal system. Slavery was common in ancient Egypt, and slaves often did the hard labour.

It started in 3150BC until 30 BC – so it lasted for around 3000 years!

1. They lived along the River Nile.

The Egyptians were lucky as they lived along the River Nile.

This meant that they could use the water to grow crops, to get food from and for soil.

It was also used for transportation.

2. Pyramids and tombs were used for Pharaohs.

You might have seen the big pyramids in Egypt, and also heard of the tombs.

These were built for Pharaohs and their families after they had passed away.

They believed that treasure needed to be buried with them, to help them in the afterlife.

3. They preserved bodies.

When a loved one had passed away, they believed in preserving the body which was called mummification.

The Egyptians believed that this would make their soul live on forever.

Click here to find out a recipe they used to preserve bodies with Dan on The Science Weekly podcast

4. 130 pyramids?!

The Ancient Egyptians were kept busy by building pyramids!

So far, over 130 pyramids have been found in Egypt.

Archaeologists are still looking for more!

5. Mouldy bread medicine.

Egyptians were great at coming up with things to heal the human body.

They used mouldy bread to heal wounds quickly and to stop infection and a lot of the time, it worked!

It was trial and error as they had no idea how it worked!

6. Egyptian men and women wore make up.

It protected their skin from the hot sun but they also believed it had healing powers too.

They usually wore green and black make up.

The green was made from copper and the black was lead! 

7. Egyptians invented a lot of the things we use today.

The Egyptians were great at inventing!

They invented medicine, musical instruments, paper, pens, locks , keys, cosmetics and even… toothpaste!

What would we do without them?!

8. Cats were very special in ancient Egypt.

Cats were very important and special in Egypt.

They were considered sacred.

Most Egyptian households had a pet cat, as they thought it would bring them good luck.

9. They used hieroglyphs.

Their alphabet was formed hieroglyphs.

It had over 700 of them!

The word hieroglyphs actually comes from a Greek word. It means “sacred carving”.

Ancient Egyptians believed that their language had been invented by the Gods.

10. There were over 2,000 ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses.

A lot of them were shown to have a human body with an animals head.

Some of the most famous ones were:

Osiris – The King of the Living
Thoth: God of Knowledge and Wisdom
Ra: God of the Sun and Radiance

Find out more about Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses here.

Try our quiz about Egypt!

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