Ancient Egypt was one of the most powerful civilizations.

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.

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.

 

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