Ancient Egypt was an absolutely wonderful era in History. Many inventions that we still use today come from Ancient Egypt. 

Around 4500 years ago, the three great pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure were built in Giza. The Great Pyramid of Khufu was the biggest. It took 20 years to build!

The Pyramids were full of treasures, and a stone statue was built to guard the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was a sphinx. It had to body of a lion, and the head of a man.

The Ancient Egyptians worshipeed more than 1000 gods. The most important was Ra, the sun god. Later, Ra became Amun Ra, the king of the gods. 

Thousands of workers had to cut blocks of sandstone to the right shape, and then drag it to the pyramid. The stones were pulled up a ramp to get to each stage of the pyramid. 

Ancient Egyptians mummified the dead. They took out the internal organs and the body was dried and salted. The body was then. oiled and rapped in bandages. The Ancient Egyptians believed in the after life, so they buried the mummy with all their things so they could use it in the afterlife!

Mummies were kept in a case. A pharoes' case was beautifully decorated, but a common mans' was just a plain case. 

The food grown in the desert was all harvested every year in July, when the Nile flooded the dry fields. The water brought rich soil with it, which was spread on each side of the river and sowed. Barley, Dates, figs, melons, cucumbers onions leeks and lettuce grew well in this soil. Wheat was also grown to make bread.

Doctors, high priests or priestesses and government had the best jobs. So did viziers who helped the pharoah (like an advisor). 

Next came the traders and craftsmen, and labourers and farmhands had the poorest jobs. In ancient egypt the man was the head of the family. The property and riches was given to the eldest son. Women could also own land and get good jobs. 

Rich Egyptians lived in large villas. Villas often had several storeys. Some had walled gardens and a fish pond. Poor families often lived in one room. Egyptians cooked their food in clay ovens. Others cooked on open fires. 

Egyptian houses were also built with bricks. Mud from the Nile was shaped into brick shapes and dried. Trucks from trees held up roofs. 

Sometimes, men and women would shave their hair off. It was believed that this kept them clean. They also wore black kohl, which worked as eye-liner. Red colouring was used on lips and cheeks. 

Rich Egyptians wore wigs that were kept on stands or boxes. They also used hair dye. Girls plaited their hair into pigtails and boys wore a pigtail on one side.

Rich women wore the best linen cloth with beads. The cloth was dyed in pale colours, which were made into long dresses and cloaks. 

Most Egyptians were laboureres who worked on sculpting for buildings across Egypt. They were also carpenters, potters, jewellers and shoemakers. 

The Egyptians used symbols for writing, which were known as Hieroglyphs. Some Hieroglyphs stood for words, some for sounds. School children had to learn around 700 Hieroglyphs!

The Egyptians wrote on a paper like thing called "Papyrus" which was made from reeds close to the Nile. Papyrus lasts for a long time. Some sheets lasted for 3000 years!

The Last Egyptian Pharoah was Cleopatra, who was sometimes portrayed as a man in many ancient sculptures!

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I hope you enjoyed reading this article. If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment. - Shikha

Source: My First Question and Answer Book: Chapter 13

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