2. Map
Ancient Egyptian civilizations
started around 3,500 BCE and
lasted for more than three
thousand years and life revolved
around the Nile river. The river
gave fertile soil for food, and was a
good source for fresh water. Most
of the styles of art and religion that
were in ancient time remain in
modern day Egypt.
3. Background
Ancient Egypt was a thriving civilization because
of its location. The cities were made right by the Nile
River on the fertile crescent. When the river flooded,
the soil around absorbed all of the minerals and made
it good for growing crops. They were most recognized
for the basically indestructible pyramids to keep the
dead pharaohs in, and the hieroglyphics. The people
of Ancient Egyptian cities built their houses out of
bricks made of mud.
4. Social Structure
Most of the people that lived in Ancient Egypt were
commoners that worked as farmers, scribes, field hands, or craft
men. Farming in ancient Egypt progressed in a huge way with
lots of workers and enormous farms. There was a small group of
nobles, like the pharaoh. The slaves were at the bottom of this
social structure pyramid underneath peasant farmers. The line
kept going up with craftsmen merchants and other trade
workers. Priests and scribes were above the trades because of
their high education. Nobles and military leaders came next,
underneath the countries leader, the pharaoh. Families taught
the children how to behave, traditions beliefs and customs of
their culture , and the laws of civilization.
5. Social Structure
Pyramid
Most
Important
This is a diagram Pharaohs
that shows how the
social structure was
in ancient Egypt Nobles and
Military Leaders
Priests/Scribes
Craftspeople
Peasant Farmers
Least
Slaves Important
6. Housing
Housing in Egypt differed depending on your social
structure. Slaves would live in the house of their owners,
but commoners would live in simple houses with their
families. These were made of adobe (sun dried mud
bricks) because of the shortage of wood in Egypt. Most
houses were two or three story town houses with a
business on the bottom and two living floors on the top.
Nobles’ homes were huge with private rooms for the man
and woman of the house, and for the children. The were
usually reception halls as well. These mansions were
made with adobe and decorated beautifully with wall
hangings.
7. Food
The type of food that ancient Egyptians ate was
plentiful and healthy, even for ordinary people. Most
common types of food were lots of vegetables, fruit,
fish, and bread. Meat was expensive, but commoners
sometimes ate pork. Raising animals just for the sake
of meat is and was very expensive, therefore it was
eaten scarcely and at special occasions. Ordinary
people and nobles would drink beer made from barley.
Meat, wine, and fowl were things added to the menu
for the rich. The food was cooked over open fires as
well as in pots made of clay.
8. Family Life
Ancient Egyptian family life was highly valued,
and children were loved and thought of as blessings.
Women traditionally raised the children, but in
wealthy families, there were slaves and servants to do
that. Young boys learned to work from their fathers
and little girls learned how to cook, clean, and other
house work by their mothers at home. When the
mothers and fathers got older, the children were
expected to take care of them. After parents death, the
daughters would acquire the jewellery and furniture,
while the son would get the land.
9. Marriage
Marriage in ancient Egypt was usually arranged
for the girls around the age of twelve. The boys were
generally a couple or few years older. Wealthy families’
daughters were married a bit older. Almost all of these
marriages were arranged by the parents, though
sometimes the spouses chose each other. Kings
sometimes had several wives while the common man
only had one. An agreement was signed by the pair
before the wedding. Divorce was not common, but it
did happen and could be issued by either side.
10. Childhood
Ancient Egyptians thought of children as blessings
and they were treated well and loved. The average
families’ children would be raised by both parents but
predominantly the mother. Children would play with
dolls, wooden horses and figures, and balls of clay. As
they got older, they learned how to work from their
parent of the same gender. Children that lived in ancient
Egypt grew up fast in a very grown-up world. Boys were
educated by their fathers, and even some families were
wealthy enough to afford to send their son to school.
Children entered the world onto birth bricks on which
the mother would be kneeling on.
11. Education
Most of the children in ancient Egypt could not go
to school. Children in rich families could afford to do
it and were therefore better set up for living a richer
life. These children were most likely to go to scribal
school in hopes to become a famous scribe or pharaoh.
If the family couldn’t send the children to scribal
school, they would become an apprentice to a worker.
An apprentice would work with a willing worker to
learn how to do the job well and correctly.
12. Religion
In ancient Egypt, the people believed strongly in the Gods
and that impacted daily life in a huge way. The people believed
this except for in the reign of the pharaoh Akenaton. Some of
the 2000 Gods and Goddesses were worshiped through the
whole country, while others were just worshiped in a few towns
and cities. Some of the Goddesses and Gods were portrayed as
half human, half animal. An example of one half animal God is
Horus, the God of the sun, who had a hawk head. The religion
believed in after life and people would spend lots of wealth and
time to prepare for afterlife. They would put things that they
needed for the second life in their tombs with them. They
believed that everything that happened in a day, like the Nile
river flooding, was influenced by the Gods and Goddesses.
13. Ra: Egyptian God of
the Sun
Ra was the ancient Egyptian God that ruled the
sun. He was created when he rose from the Nun ocean
and came onto the first land mound. The sun’s rays
shone on Ra and the light ascended showed the way to
heaven. The creation myth states that it was Ra who
created the world. His symbols are always a scarab
beetle and a sun disk, and sometimes, he is portrayed
with a falcon head and a man body. The sun disk is
over his head, and he may sometimes be wearing a
double crown.
14. Clothing
Almost all of the Ancient Egyptian clothes were
made out a fabric created from flax. This fabric was
linen. These clothes weren’t just wrapped around them,
they were actually fit them well and were sewn. They
were like long white t-shirts that went down to the
ankles of women, and the knees of men. As for foot
wear, they mostly went barefoot, but sometimes they
wore sandals made of leather or straw. Dressing up fancy
included makeup and jewellery. Kohl powder was used
to rim eyes, darken eyelashes, and paint eyebrows. The
rich and the poor wore jewellery such as earrings, rings,
and necklaces made of beads or gold.
15. Art and Music
The ancient Egyptians were one of the first cultures to
have design elements in art. Their wall paintings created
for the pharaoh had to follow strict code of rules. These
images weren’t created in what the artist saw, but what he
knew, and the images didn’t have a lot of depth achieved
with shading. People and objects were always drawn in
profile. Distance wasn’t shown with size, but the farther
away an object would be, the higher it was, yet it was the
same size as closer ones. Music was played with
instruments like flutes, harps, lutes, percussion
instruments, lyres, double clarinets, and cymbals. People
often danced along to music.
16. Conclusion
In conclusion, ancient Egypt was a developed
civilization with their ways of daily life. The location
was perfect because the Nile river provided what they
need for fertile soil to grow food, and constant source
of water. Religion was highly important in the
influence of daily life. The Gods were thought to make
everything happen because of something. This
civilization was very advanced and they developed
many technologies like papyrus, the great pyramids,
and making clothing that was made out of linen. This
ancient civilization was thriving.
17. Information
Bibliography
Books
See the World by World Book. Published in 2000 by World Book Inc., Chicago.
Ancient Peoples by Claire Forbes. Published in199 by Two-Can Publishing Ltd., USA
Ancient Worlds by Toutant, Arnold and Doyle, Susan. Published in 2000 by Oxford University Press, Canada.
Websites
Ancient Egypt by the British Museum @ http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html
Food: Bread, Beer, and all Good Things by André Dollinger; 2000 @
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/food.htm#rem4
Egypt: Daily Life by St. Petersburg Times; 1999 @ http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.2.html
Childhood by André Dollinger; 2000 @ http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/people/childhood.htm
Ancient Egyptian Education by Bartlett Elementary School @
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002046F/education.htm
Ancient Egyptian Religion by St. Petersburg Times:1999 @
http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.3.html
Sun God Ra by Linda Alchin; 2009 @ http://www.king-tut.org.uk/egyptian-gods/sun-god-ra.htm
Ancient Egyptian Clothing by Jessie, Sarah, and Courtney @
http://www.islandnet.com/~kpotter/egypt/cloth.htm
Egyptian Clothing by Dr. Karen Carr; 2011 @ http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/clothing/’
Culture of Egypt by Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Egypt#Visual_art
18. Photo Credits
Title slide - Hieroglyphs by Daniel Racovitan @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bebulaki/1457703975/
Title slide- purple pattern by “javaturtle” @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/javaturtle/135239502/
Slide 2 - map by Norman B Leventhal Map center at the BPL @
http://www.flickr.com/photos/normanbleventhalmapcenter/
Slide 3 - city by Adam Wood @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/adam_wood/1570358703/
Slide 4 - pharaoh by Richard Uzermans @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironmanixs/515926670/
Slide 6- ancient house by Ian W Scott @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian-w-scott/4099442192/
Slide 7 - hummus and pita bread by “Watch Mojo” @
http://www.flickr.com/photos/watchmojo/5424908257/
Slide 8 - family statues by Mary Harrsch @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/4119873309/
Slide 9 - married couple statue by Jim Forest @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/127063031/
Slide 10 - birth brick @ http://www.eartharchitecture.org/index.php?/categories/23-Egypt
Slide 11 - scribe statue by Wally Gobetz @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/2434734289/
Slide 12 - scribe bird God by “jefka” @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefka/3815056107/
Slide 13 - Ra god by “Gravitywave” @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/gravitywave/388362374/
Slide 14 - Women’s dress by Soshana @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoshie/5156338028/
Slide15 - Egyptian art by “karioinfo4u” @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/4460302020/
Slide 16 - pyramids by Omar A. @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/oansari/2235706594/