Ancient Egypt

BY: Geon Woo Lim (Archeologist)

IntroductionAncient Egypt was a civilization that was built along the river Nile. It lasted from 2,800 B.C.E to 1300 B.C.E. It’s very interesting to learn about the food, education, writing, and roles of this ancient society.

FoodAncient Egyptians ate a variety of meat and vegetables, some of which we still eat today. Egyptians ate vegetables such as cucumber, onions, cabbage, and lettuce. They also ate meats, including duck, beef, lamb, goat, geese, and fish. Most Egyptians could not eat meat, though, because it was expensive. So only rich people ate meat regularly. Poor people could only eat fish from River Nile. Egyptians often drank wine, beer and milk. Egyptians could not eat bananas, lemons, pears, peaches or cherries, because in Ancient Egypt they could not grow these kinds of fruits. In Ancient Egypt, most of people were farmers. Egyptian farmers loved floods, because it made the soil rich. Most farmers grew grains, for making bread and beer. Farmers used something called a plough for farming, which was pulled by men or cows. As you can see, the Ancient Egyptians’ diet was similar in many ways to our modern food.

Education

Ancient Egyptians had different types of education, depending on gender. Girls studied weaving, dancing, and cooking at home with their mothers. Ancient Egyptians usually only allowed boys to go to school. (Some girls went to school if they worked as a scribe). In Ancient Egypt, boys learnt hieratic script first. They wrote on broken piece of stone called an Ostraca. They also had papyrus, but it was so expensive. They studied sports, mathematics, astronomy, and astrology. Boys also studied Ancient Egypt’s hieroglyphics as a language. The ancient Egyptians used 2 kinds of writings. One was hieroglyphs and the other was a simplified version of Hieroglyphs. They used Hieroglyphs for tomb writing and temples. They used simplified version of Hieroglyphs for normal writings. As you can see, learning hieroglyphs was an important part of being educated in ancient Egypt.

Language & Writing

Ancient Egyptian writing was based on pictures. We can only translate Ancient Egyptians words, because archeologists found a stone called the Rosetta stone in 1799. On the stone are 3 languages: Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphs and Egyptian hieratic script. Archeologists used their knowledge of Greek to understand the Egyptian language. That’s why we can understand Ancient Egyptian’s words. Ancient Egyptians wrote on paper called papyrus. It was made from a plant that grew beside the river. In Ancient Egypt, there were special people called scribes. Scribes were the only people who could write Hieroglyphs. They wrote Hieroglyphs on the walls, like tomb walls. Hieroglyphs were very important for Ancient Egyptians because they used them to record historic events and write about their pharaohs.

Structure of SocietyIn Ancient Egypt, there were many levels of society. At the highest level was someone called the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh made many decisions for the people and could do anything he or she wanted. Next were the Nobles and Grand Viziers of Upper Egypt. They were important people who helped to govern. A level below these people were the artists, scribes, priests and priestesses. Scribes were special because they were the only people who could write Hieroglyphs. The Pharaohs relied on them to write on their tombs. Priests and Priestesses were also important because they made the Pharaoh into a mummy after death. (Mummification means wrapping a dead person with bandages to preserve the body for the afterlife). Most people in ancient Egypt were farmers. They used the rich soil near the Nile to grow food for the whole civilization. At last, there were slaves. They did most of the work for the more important people. They had a hard life of building pyramids by pulling heavy stones in the hot sun. Therefore, Ancient Egyptian peoples’ lives were very different according to their level of society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, ancient Egypt is an interesting civilization which is very different from modern life. It is interesting to learn about the food, roles, writing and ways of educating children in ancient times. The Egyptians left many legacies for future people.

Reference ListAuthor Date Title

Jancoue Line Morley 1993 How Would You Survive as an Ancient Egypt?

Jane Shuter 1991 Ancient Egypt

Jane Shuter 1991 Ancient Egyptians

Ancita Ganeri 1999 Legacies from Ancient Egypt

Dr Gearge Hart 1995 Ancient Egypt

Date Website

25/10/12 www.historyforkids.org

25/10/12 www.ancientcivilizations.co

25/10/12 www.brainpopjr.com