Contents

Teri gets a royal invitation! 4

Cool, ancient homes 6
Dress up like an Egyptian Queen 8
Food and farming 10
Ancient science and wisdom 12
The write words 14
Preparing for the next life 16
Towering over the dead 18
Lots of work to be done 20
Time to spare 22
Children of many gods 24
End of glory 26
green lessons 28
Welcome to ancient Egypt.
Cool, Ancient Homes
Ancient Egyptians built homes
using materials available in the
region. Clay from the banks of
the Nile and sand were mixed
with straw. This was sunbaked
into bricks.
Egypt is mostly desert, and
wood was hard to find. The
sunbaked bricks were used
instead of baking bricks in a
Ours is an old wood kiln.
civilization. But we
Many houses were built
were good builders.
So there’s still on platforms. This kept
What a grand lots to see after them above floodwaters.
building! thousands of years.
Windows were built
up high. Hot air rises and
cool air descends. So the
windows drew in cool air
and let warm air escape.
The high windows
also kept out sand.
Doors were built
4 feet above the
street to keep
sand out.
Steps led
up to the
doors.
tAncient Egyptian homes
had high walls and flat
roofs. Most had a courtyard. This
is where cattle, goats, and chicken
were kept.

Buildings made of mud or clay bricks do not harm the environment when they are
destroyed. The natural materials blend with the soil.
 SMART GREEN CIVILIZATIONS

pThe typical house was square.

It had two rooms and a living
area. A backyard was used as an
outside kitchen.

Houses were whitewashed with lime to keep them cool. They were coated
with a natural paint of clay, natural colors, and a milk product called casein.
Since Egypt gets little rain, houses had flat, straw-covered roofs.
Children played on the roof. Families would go up in the evening to catch
the cool breeze or have dinner. The roofs had vents directing cool breezes
into the house.
Most homes had a millstone to grind grain. They also had a silo for
storing wheat and a hearth for baking bread.
and NOW
Natural materials were used in ancient Egyptian houses. They did not harm the
THEN

environment. Modern homes are made of synthetic materials that can harm our health. 6-7
 Could you grow food in the
desert? Did you have to buy
Food and
Farming
food from other countries like
we do today?

The Egyptians began

growing food between 10,000
B.C. and 5,200 B.C. Farming
was difficult. Most of the
land was sandy and dry. The
No, we were
perhaps the
soil by the Nile was like clay.
earliest farmers. It hardened when the water dried. So
the Egyptians learned to plow and hoe.
They grew most of what they ate.
Farmers raised grains such as wheat and barley. They grew vegetables—
onions, cucumbers, cabbage, garlic, and beans.
Trees provided shade and gave fruits such
as pomegranates and figs. People grew vines
for melons and grapes.

tAncient Egyptians
depended on farmers
for their food.
Farmers helped the
civilization grow and
prosper.

uFarmworkers used
sickle-shaped fans to
remove the husk from
the grains.

Egyptian farmers used hoofed animals to tramp seeds into the soil. This cut down
their work while planting.
 SMART GREEN CIVILIZATIONS

tThe Nile
provided the
Egyptians
with fish.

The Egyptians were probably the first to keep bees. Honey was used in
bread, cakes, and wine.
Grain was eaten as porridge, baked into bread, or fermented into beer.
Fiber crops like flax were grown for linen cloth, as well as for oil. Sesame
and castor were also pressed for oil. Using simple technology, Egyptians
grew enough for all.
The floods watered the fields for about 45 days. Then when there
was very little rain, farmers trapped rainwater in mud-brick tanks. They
studied the slope and dug canals to their fields. In dry weather, they
released water from the tanks into canals with a shaduf, or a pole with a
bucket.
People hunted with bows and arrows, spears, and nets. The Nile
provided fish. Feasts were held throughout the year.

and NOW
The Egyptians salted and sun-dried fish to eat when there were few fish to catch. They
THEN

did not add chemicals as is done in many modern food preservation processes today. 10-11
 Look carefully. These are
Egyptian hieroglyphs. We used
The Write
Words
these in place of alphabets.

Hieroglyphs were the

pictures that made up ancient
Egyptian writing. One of the
Egyptian gods was Thoth. The
Egyptians believed he was the
Is this god of learning and writing.
a secret So, modern historians call the
message?
script hieroglyphics, or
“sacred writing.”
qHieroglyphics were carved
In 1799, Captain Pierre
into stone or drawn onto Bouchard found the Rosetta
papyrus parchment.
Stone. It had the same
message in three different
ancient writing systems. This
helped historians decipher
hieroglyphs.
Hieroglyphs date back
to at least 3300 B.C.
There were more than
6,000 symbols. Not
everyone could learn
to write them. So
a group of people
called scribes wrote
everything. Priests,
however, wrote
religious texts.

Egyptians gave up papyrus when they learned to make wood pulp paper. In 1965, papyrus
was planted again in Egypt to make environmentally friendly papyrus sheets.
 SMART GREEN CIVILIZATIONS
qThe Egyptians believed
that the god Thoth invented
writing. They called the
hieroglyphic script mdwt ntr, or “god’s words.”

tThe Rosetta Egyptians painted

Stone is a hieroglyphs on the walls of
black basalt
slab. It pyramids and tombs. But most
contains of the writing was done on
inscriptions
carved in papyrus. This was a kind of
196 B.C. paper. They used reeds for
It helped
historians pens. The ink was made from
read Egyptian plants.
hieroglyphs.
This helped Hieroglyphs could be
them
understand
written from left to right,
ancient from right to left, or from
Egyptian
civilization.
top to bottom. It took a
long time to write and learn
hieroglyphs.
and NOW
Papyrus paper was made from the papyrus plant. No trees had to be cut down. Today,
THEN

about 93 percent of paper is made from trees. 14-15

Preparing How do I look in this
Egyptian costume?
for the
Next Life

You look funny! Only the

dead were mummified!

The Egyptians were led by a king, or pharaoh.

The word pharaoh means “Great House.” Because
the pharaoh was king, he lived in the largest house.
When a pharaoh died, his chosen son often became
the next king.
The pharaoh was the most important priest. He
led prayers and built temples. The pharaoh owned
the land. He collected taxes, made laws, and led
the army.
Early Egyptians buried their dead in
pits. The scorching sun, hot sand,
and dry climate dried up the
bodies into natural mummies. But
wild animals tried to dig up the
bodies. So, the Egyptians made
wooden coffins for their kings.

tThe mummy of uThe body was

Tutankhamun, the embalmed using
boy king, was placed oils and salt.
inside a gold coffin. Internal organs
It was decorated were removed
with colored glass with instruments.
and precious stones.

Crowns and headdresses have not been found in the tombs. That’s because they
were made of organic, biodegradable materials.
 SMART GREEN CIVILIZATIONS

qThe long process of embalming and drying lasted about 40 days.

The body was then wrapped in strips of linen to make a mummy.

To prevent their kings’ bodies from decaying in coffins, Egyptians

mummified, or preserved, their royals after cleaning the body.
All organs but the heart were removed. The body was stuffed with linen
and sawdust so it didn’t lose shape. The mummy was placed in a coffin. The
coffin went inside a pyramid of mud, limestone, and granite. Ornaments,
jars, clothes, and food, thought to be needed in the afterlife, were left
there too.
and NOW
Hatshepsut, the first woman Pharaoh, dressed like a man. She even wore a fake beard!
THEN

Today, many women are becoming leaders. They no longer need to dress like a man! 16-17