2. Introduction
Ancient Egypt was a civilization that was built along
the river Nile. It lasted from 2,800 B.C.E to 1300 B.C.E.
It’s very interesting to learn about the food, education,
writing, and roles of this ancient society.
3. Food
Ancient Egyptians ate a variety of meat and vegetables, some of which
we still eat today. Egyptians ate vegetables such as cucumber, onions,
cabbage, and lettuce. They also ate meats, including duck, beef, lamb,
goat, geese, and fish. Most Egyptians could not eat meat, though,
because it was expensive. So only rich people ate meat regularly. Poor
people could only eat fish from River Nile. Egyptians often drank wine,
beer and milk. Egyptians could not eat bananas, lemons, pears, peaches
or cherries, because in Ancient Egypt they could not grow these kinds of
fruits. In Ancient Egypt, most of people were farmers. Egyptian farmers
loved floods, because it made the soil rich. Most farmers grew grains, for
making bread and beer. Farmers used something called a plough for
farming, which was pulled by men or cows. As you can see, the Ancient
Egyptians’ diet was similar in many ways to our modern food.
4. Education
Ancient Egyptians had different types of education, depending on
gender. Girls studied weaving, dancing, and cooking at home with
their mothers. Ancient Egyptians usually only allowed boys to go to
school. (Some girls went to school if they worked as a scribe). In
Ancient Egypt, boys learnt hieratic script first. They wrote on broken
piece of stone called an Ostraca. They also had papyrus, but it was so
expensive. They studied sports, mathematics, astronomy, and
astrology. Boys also studied Ancient Egypt’s hieroglyphics as a
language. The ancient Egyptians used 2 kinds of writings. One was
hieroglyphs and the other was a simplified version of Hieroglyphs.
They used Hieroglyphs for tomb writing and temples. They used
simplified version of Hieroglyphs for normal writings. As you can see,
learning hieroglyphs was an important part of being educated in
ancient Egypt.
5. Language & Writing
Ancient Egyptian writing was based on pictures. We can only translate
Ancient Egyptians words, because archeologists found a stone called the
Rosetta stone in 1799. On the stone are 3 languages: Greek, Egyptian
hieroglyphs and Egyptian hieratic script. Archeologists used their
knowledge of Greek to understand the Egyptian language. That’s why we
can understand Ancient Egyptian’s words. Ancient Egyptians wrote on
paper called papyrus. It was made from a plant that grew beside the
river. In Ancient Egypt, there were special people called scribes. Scribes
were the only people who could write Hieroglyphs. They wrote
Hieroglyphs on the walls, like tomb walls. Hieroglyphs were very
important for Ancient Egyptians because they used them to record
historic events and write about their pharaohs.
6. Structure of Society
In Ancient Egypt, there were many levels of society. At the highest level was
someone called the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh made many decisions for the people and
could do anything he or she wanted. Next were the Nobles and Grand Viziers of
Upper Egypt. They were important people who helped to govern. A level below
these people were the artists, scribes, priests and priestesses. Scribes were special
because they were the only people who could write Hieroglyphs. The Pharaohs
relied on them to write on their tombs. Priests and Priestesses were also important
because they made the Pharaoh into a mummy after death. (Mummification means
wrapping a dead person with bandages to preserve the body for the afterlife).
Most people in ancient Egypt were farmers. They used the rich soil near the Nile to
grow food for the whole civilization. At last, there were slaves. They did most of the
work for the more important people. They had a hard life of building pyramids by
pulling heavy stones in the hot sun. Therefore, Ancient Egyptian peoples’ lives were
very different according to their level of society.
7. Conclusion
In conclusion, ancient Egypt is an interesting
civilization which is very different from modern life. It
is interesting to learn about the food, roles, writing
and ways of educating children in ancient times. The
Egyptians left many legacies for future people.
8. Reference List
Author Date Title
Jancoue Line Morley 1993 How Would You Survive as an Ancient Egypt?
Jane Shuter 1991 Ancient Egypt
Jane Shuter 1991 Ancient Egyptians
Ancita Ganeri 1999 Legacies from Ancient Egypt
Dr Gearge Hart 1995 Ancient Egypt
Date Website
25/10/12 www.historyforkids.org
25/10/12 www.ancientcivilizations.co
25/10/12 www.brainpopjr.com
