Explore Ancient Egypt!: 25 Great Projects, Activities, Experiments (Explore Your World series)

98 Pages·2008·8.02 MB·English

by  Carmella Van Vleet

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Children’s Activity/Education Resource Ages 6–9/Grades 1–4 a
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Did the ancient Egyptians have pets? e
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Why were the kings of ancient Egypt buried in pyramids?
What did kids do for fun in ancient Egypt?
Pyramids, mummies, amulets, temples, and pharaohs— “An informative and
Explore Ancient Egypt! brings this fascinating witty presentation of
civilization to young readers ages 6–9 with 25 hands-on life in ancient Egypt.”
E
X
projects, activities, and games. Kids learn about ancient —Colleen Manassa
P
Egyptian homes, food, money, toys, games, makeup,
Marilyn M. and William K. Simpson L
clothes, kings, mummies, and more. Projects are easy to Assistant Professor of Egyptology, O
Yale University R
follow and require primarily common household products
E
and very little adult supervision. Activities range from

A
“. . . a wonderful job
making a scarab necklace to writing in ancient Egyptian
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of making Egyptian
hieroglyphs and making King Tut sandals. By combining
C
daily life accessible
a hands-on element with riddles, jokes, facts, and comic I
E
to younger children.”
cartoons, kids Explore Ancient Egypt! in this N
—Denise Doxey,
accessible introduction to an incredible, ancient world. T
Department of Art of the Ancient World,
E
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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Y
P
T
!
$12.95
ISBN: 978-0 9792268-3-0
Explore
ancient
Egypt!
carmella van vleet
Illustrated by Alex kim
Nomad Press
A division of Nomad Communications
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Copyright © 2008 by Nomad Press
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from
the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
The trademark “Nomad Press” and the Nomad Press logo are trademarks of
Nomad Communications, Inc. Printed in the United States.
ISBN: 978-0-9792268-3-0
Hieroglyphic alphabet on page 75 courtesy of
Colleen Manassa, Assistant Professor of Egyptology, Yale University.
Questions regarding the ordering of this book should be addressed to
Independent Publishers Group
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www.ipgbook.com
Nomad Press
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and natural resources. We elected to print Explore Ancient
Egypt! on 50% post consumer recycled paper, processed
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Contents
1
Introduction

Let’s Explore Egypt!
11
chapter 1

Egyptian Homes
21
chapter 2

Beer, Bread & Bartering
34
chapter 3

Playtime
46 chapter 4

Amulets, Clothes & Makeup
57 chapter 5

King Tut & Other
Cool Kings
67
chapter 6

Mummies & Pyramids

Let ’s
Explore
Egypt!
ou’ve probably played in sand or gone
swimming. You’ve probably also played
a board game or helped around the house.
Maybe you’ve taken care of a pet or slept
outdoors. Guess what? Kids who lived in 1
ancient Egypt did these things, too!
Where was ancient Egypt? What was it like to live there? What
did kids and their parents wear, eat, or do for work or fun? This book
is going to explore ancient Egypt, an amazing place that existed
thousands of years ago, from 3100 BCE to 639 CE!
Explore ancient egypt!
Explore Ancient Egypt! will answer many of your questions and
share some really cool facts. You’ll get to learn
about things like mummies, pyramids,
kohl makeup, and pharaohs. One of these
famous pharaohs was King Tut. Did you
know he’s called the Boy King because
2
he was just nine years old when he took
over the throne?
Along the way, we’re going to make
lots of fun projects, play games, do
activities, and hear some goofy jokes.
Ready? Let’s explore!

Where in the World Was
Ancient Egypt?
Ancient Egypt was in the northeastern part
of Africa. It was in the Sahara Desert. The
Sahara is the biggest and hottest desert in the
world. A desert is an area with very little rain.
let’s explore egypt!
Ancient Egypt’s daytime temperatures
were over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The
heat and the sand made life tough for
the ancient Egyptians. They had to be
careful about sunburn, and sand got
BCE: an abbreviation that means
into everything. It even got into the Before Common Era.
bread they baked, which caused their CE: an abbreviation that means
teeth to wear down. Ouch! Common Era, after the birth of
Christ.
But the desert also had its good
mummy: a dried and preserved
points. For example, it protected ancient
dead body.
Egyptians from enemies. Not many
pyramid: large, stone
people wanted to cross the hot, sandy
structures with square bases
land! And thanks to the desert, we know
and triangular sides where
a lot about ancient Egypt. How? pharaohs were buried.
Well, the desert sand preserved a lot pharaoh: ancient Egyptian
of ancient Egyptian buildings and kings or rulers. 3
things ancient people used. Since Sahara Desert: the largest,
hottest desert in the world.
these things are still around, we
can look at them and learn. Some Egyptologist: someone who
studies ancient Egypt.
people study buildings, art, and
everyday objects from ancient
Egyptian times. They are called Egyptologists.
Ancient Egypt was divided into two lands. One
was Upper Egypt and the other was Lower Egypt.
If you looked at a map of ancient Egypt, you’d see
something strange. You might even say, “Hey, it’s upside
down!” That’s because Upper Egypt was below Lower
Egypt on the map. There is a simple reason for this. It has to
do with the Nile River.