Ancient Egypt

Egypt was a very advanced civilization for their time.  They were able to build huge pyramids and beautiful temples.  They would fill these structures with beautiful murals of art.  As well as being able to build 150 foot tall pyramids, the Egyptians also created the very first cuneiform, Hieroglyphics.  The world would not be where it is if it had not been for the Egyptians.

The Rosetta Stone

In 1799, a French soldier turned over a block of stone and was amazed to find that it had three different sets of inscriptions on it.  The stone had Greek, Hieroglyphics, and a later form of Egyptian writing.  Until then, nobody knew how to read hieroglyphics.  Scholars were able to read the Greek and later form of Egyptian to figure out what each the hieroglyphic symbol meant.  Without this amazing discovery, we would not be able to translate all of the important text we find in tombs and temples.

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Physical Features

Egypt had many different physical features.  Egypt had one main river, the source on which all live thrived, the Nile River.  Without the Nile River, Egypt would not have been able to survive the hot and sandy landscape on which it was built.  They also had two main seas, which were perfect for trade with far away civilizations, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea.  We know that Egypt survived by using the Nile Rivers natural resources, but this early civilization probably would have lost power a lot earlier had it not been for the miles of desert that stretched out on either side.  The Nubian Desert protected Egypt from raids of neighboring civilizations.  Without these physical features, Egypt would not have been able to become the amazing civilization as it still is today.

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Religion

The Egyptians were polytheism, meaning that they believed in many gods.  The reason why the Egyptians built the huge pyramids and tombs is because they believed that there was an afterlife or life after death.  In this other world, everyone was young and healthy.  When you died, your ka , or spirit, would leave your body and fly in the sky until you were buried at your final resting place.  Pharaohs and noble men were the only people wealthy enough to have their body mummified.  Civilians did not have to worry about their ka not being able to recognize their body’s because the hot desert would preserve the body.  Your ka would then fly into your mummified body and spend its days in its tomb with all of its treasures. 

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