Ancient Egyptians

Created by Colleen Zehr 2012

Ancient EgyptiansWe'll look at:

●Where they lived●How they looked●What they did●What they ate and produced●What they believed●The making of mummies ●Their writing

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What the Ancient Egyptians Looked Like ● Men and women wore make-up including kohl eye liner that was made of a poisonous, lead-based substance.

● Royalty and high society wore colorful beaded collars and perfumed wigs.

● Much like today, gray hairs were dyed.

● They wore sandals. The rich wore leather while the poor wore grass-woven or papyrus-woven sandals.

What the Ancient Egyptians Did ● Ancient Egyptian kids liked to play games much like kids today. They had toy animals made of wood, small statues, and even board games. They wrestled and had chariot races as well.

● Ancient Egyptians liked to party. They celebrated religious ceremonies as well as having feasts to celebrate harvests.

What the Ancient Egyptians Did (Continued)

● Agriculture was important to the Egyptians because they had two types of land: the lush, fertile Black Land and the desert Red Land.

● The Nile River provided the Egyptians with fertile soil good for growing crops such as barley and wheat for food. Without the Nile's help, they'd starve.

● Ancient Egyptians had jobs such as scribes, laborers, farmers, craftsmen, etc.

What the Ancient Egyptians Produced

● Ancient Egyptians called the land near the Nile the Black Land, because every June the Nile flooded and deposited its rich soil there.

● Egyptians grew many crops including barley, wheat, beans, lentils, leeks, cabbages, radishes, lettuces, and cucumbers.

● In the desert oases, they could grow figs, melons, and dates.

● Ancient Egyptians farmed ducks, oxen, cows, sheep, pigs and geese.

What the Ancient Egyptians Ate

● Ancient Egyptians had lots to eat when the Nile flooded each year.

● The grain they grew allowed them to eat bread and brew beer for drinking.

● They would eat nuts and fruits for dessert. Sugar didn't exist yet, so they used honey as a sweetener.

What the Ancient Egyptians Believed

● Ancient Egyptians built temples in honor of their gods. Many of these can still be seen today.

● High priests were the only ones allowed into the temple. They would perform rituals on behalf of the people. They carried out offerings of incense and food. They played music and sang. Some also studied spells and astronomy.

● It is because of their religious beliefs that the pyramids and mummies existed.

What the Ancient Egyptians Believed (Continued)

● Ancient Egyptians believed their kings had the spirits of the gods within them.

● They believed if religious rituals were not followed that chaos would come to the land.

● Gods were linked to specific regions, jobs, and even interests.

● The ankh was the symbol of life. Only pharaohs and gods could carry it as a symbol of having the power to give and take away life.

AnkhAnkh

What the Ancient Egyptians Believed (Continued)

● Osiris was considered one of the most important gods. He was considered the king of the underworld or after life.

● Isis was the sister of Osiris and was considered the mother goddess.

● Horus was the son of Isis and considered the protector of the pharaoh and god of the sky. He was in the form of a falcon.

What the Ancient Egyptians Believed (Continued)

● Many Ancient Egyptians also believed in superstitions and magic.

● They believed a dead person had two parts: the ba and the ka.

Ba – The person's personality or soul● Ka – The person's life force or spirit- Mummification was performed to keep both of these intact in the afterlife. It was thought that a person would need their physical body in the afterlife.

The Mummification Process

● Ancient Egyptians became experts at preserving the bodies of the deceased through embalming.

●They believed that the body would be needed in the afterlife, so they turned the bodies into mummies to preserve it.

●The process could last up to 70 days.

Step One: Purification

● The body of the dead is cleaned by priests with water and natron, a form of salt.

Step Two: Organ Removal

● The organs of the dead are removed and placed in jars called canopic jars.

Step Three: Organ Removal

● The brain of the dead is removed with a special hook through the nose.

Step Four: The Drying of the Body● The body is then dried out completely.

● A special salt called natron was placed inside and around the body.

●The body is allowed to dry out for 40 days.

Step Five: Annointing

● The body is washed again to remove the natron.

● The abdomen is then stuffed with materials such as clay and sawdust.

● The skin is massaged with oils and perfumes to make it flexible.

Step Six: Bandaging

● The body is then covered in melted resin and prepared for bandaging.

● Starting at the head with linen strips the body was wrapped in the following order: Head, toes, fingers, legs, trunk

● The final layer is a shroud of linen covering the whole body.

Step Seven: Mask

● The face is covered by a mask that resembles the deceased.

● It was believed to help the ba spirit recognize its own body.

Step Eight: Coffin● The finished “mummy” is then placed lying down in a coffin or in several (one inside the other). This was for protection and to allow the ka spirit to rest.

● The coffin, or sarcophagus, was often covered in spells for the afterlife.

● The sarcophagus was in the shape of the deceased and made of painted wood.

Step Nine: The Last Ritual

● The Opening of the Mouth ceremony is performed.

● The coffin is placed upright while a priest wearing a mask of the embalming god, Anubis, touches the face with magical tools to enable the mummy to speak, see, and hear in the afterlife.

● The Book of the Dead, a papyrus read by priests during the last ritual is buried with the mummy.

Hieroglyphics

●Ancient Egyptians wrote in pictures called hieroglyphics.

●The meaning of these picture texts lost all meaning until a soldier found a stone called the Rosetta Stone. It was used to unlock the mystery of the hieroglyphics.

Photo by: Hans Hillewaert

Hieroglyphics

From: http://ngkids.co.uk/