Transcript Ancient Egypt - Fitzmaurice Primary School

Ancient Egypt
Egypt
Egypt is in the northeast corner of Africa, and is mostly made
up of desert. There are not many sources of water. One of
Egypt’s most famous landmarks is the Nile, which is the longest
river in the world.
Nile
The Nile is the world’s longest river, and the Ancient Egyptians
depended on it for food, water and transportation. They lived on the
banks of the Nile, so they could be close to water, to either drink
themselves, or to water plants. The Nile is nicknamed “the gift of the
Nile” because if the Nile did not exist the whole of Egypt would be
desert, and nothing would survive.
Animals
The Ancient Egyptians worshiped many animals for many different
reasons, some which included : Jackals, because they could always find
food, the domesticated cat, because of the way it hunts it’s prey,
crocodiles because of it’s power, and the hippopotamus, because of their
danger. All of the gods’ animal heads represented their personality.
Farming
The farming year was split into three seasons: flooding season or
inundation, the growing season, and the harvest. The River Nile was the
Egyptian people’s saviour; without it the land would have been dry and
barren. However, the river’s annual flood spread dark silt across the fields,
allowing farmers to grow wheat, barley, flax, fruit and vegetables.
Gods and Goddesses
Gods and goddesses were a major part of Egyptian life, each one
symbolised a different aspect of their culture, such as professions like
medicine and writing. Many Gods and Goddesses came in the form of
animals. Here are just a few of the main ones:
AMUN-RE – King of the gods and protector of the pharaohs.
THOTH – The god of knowledge, writing, medicine and mathematics. He had the head
of an ibis bird.
ANUBIS- The god of embalming. He was a jackal.
BASTET- Represented the power of the sun to ripen crops. She was always shown as a
cat.
OSIRIS- The god of the underworld.
HORUS- The god of the sky. Shown with the head of a falcon.
PTAH- The god of doctors and healers. His symbol was a sacred pillar.
Pharaohs
Pharaohs were the king or Queen of Egypt. Most pharaohs were men but
some well-known pharaohs, such as Nefertiti and Cleopatra, were women.
A Pharaoh was the most important and powerful person in the kingdom. He
was the head of the government and high priest of every temple. The people
of Egypt considered the pharaoh to be a half-man, half-god.
Mummification
The Egyptians believed in life after death, so to use their bodies, they
would have to be preserved. Without their bodies they would not be
able to make it to the afterlife. The process required all the organs to
be removed and put in canopic jars. The canopic jars had the four sons
of Horus on each lid.
How were mummies made?
1. The body was washed and purified. heart remained.
3. The body was filled with stuffing.
2. Organs were removed. Only the
4. The body was dried by covering it with a substance called natron*. This substance
absorbed all the moisture from the body.
5. After 40 - 50 days the stuffing was removed and replaced with linen or sawdust.
6. The body was wrapped in strands of linen and covered in a sheet called a shroud.
7. The body was placed in a stone coffin called a sarcophagus.
The mummy was now ready for its journey to the afterlife.
The end!