EGYPT-Gift of the Nile

 

 

This week we are studying Egypt, one of the most ancient civilizations in the world.  In Arabic Egypt is called Miṣr, and in ancient times the country was known as Kemet, or the black land, due to the alluvial soil which was deposited during the annual inundation of the River Nile.  This yearly event gave Egypt its fertile land that enabled it to expand along the length of the river, especially in the Delta where many various crops were, and still are, harvested. The Nile is the world's longest river. It is over 4000 miles long and is shaped like the lotus flower so often seen in ancient Egyptian art.

 

 

Egypt,  is often called the gift of the Nile River because the Nile River filled the needs for the civilization. Without the river the Egyptian civilization would certainly not have existed because the river filled Egypt's basic needs of transportation, religion and agriculture.

Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, inhabited since the 10th millennium BC. Its monuments, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza which is one of the Seven  wonders of the Ancient world and its Great Sphinx, were constructed by its ancient civilization, which was one of the most advanced of it s time.

Egypt's population is around 71 million. Around 62 million of them are Sunni Muslims and about 8-9 Million are Coptic Christians (Christian Egyptians).

 

The official language of Egypt is Arabic, but other languages such as English and French are widely spoken as well.

 

In ancient Egypt, children were the heart of the family. If a couple could not have a child, they adopted a child.  Children were taught to be kind and honest, to respect their parents, to help with the family business, and to care for the elder members of their family.

 

It was important that children learn to be caring. The ancient Egyptians believed in "ma'at" - order and justice. They spent a lifetime trying to be fair and just at all times.  The ancient Egyptians believed that you could only reach your afterlife if your heart was light. The only way your heart would be light is if you had spent a lifetime being kind and honest. 

Anyone and everyone, from the pharaoh on down, who made a mistake or lost their temper made up for it by doing good deeds to balance the scale. 

 

 

Over 5000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians wrote things down using a picture writing called hieroglyphics. The people who did the actual writing were called scribes. 

The scribes had a problem. The ancient Egyptians wrote everything down, absolutely everything! Although hieroglyphics were very pretty, it took time to write in pictures. 

Scribes needed a faster way to write things down. They created a new form of writing called Demotic script. The new scribes did not study the old language of hieroglyphics. They could write much more rapidly with some of the new scripts they created.

Hundreds of years later, archaeologists discovered beautiful hieroglyphic writing on the walls of ancient Egyptian pyramids and tombs. The archaeologists had a problem. They knew hieroglyphics had meanings. Although lots of archaeologists could read Demotic script, there was no one left in the world who remembered what the ancient hieroglyphics meant. 

 
 

It was only during the time of the Old Kingdom that the ancient Egyptians built pyramids to hold the royal tombs of their kings. Pyramids were huge structures. Pyramids had storage rooms, courtyards, secret passageways, and all kinds of fancy traps designed to catch robbers who tried to break into the pyramid to rob it. 

Pyramids were full of treasures. The average person created grave goods to take with them to their afterlife. Imagine the treasures a pharaoh might feel were necessary to bring along! 

The first pyramid, the Step Pyramid, was built around 2700 BCE, nearly 5000 years ago! Pyramid construction was abandoned after the time of the Old Kingdom. It was simply too easy to find a pyramid. Grave robbers knew exactly where the pharaohs were buried, and thus knew exactly where to find riches and wealth.

Sources: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/countries/egypt.html,
http://www.ask-aladdin.com/Egypt-Travel-Tips/egypt_culture.html