Welcome to Ancient Egypt for Kids
Welcome to ancient Egypt! Five thousand (5,000) years ago, the ancient Egyptians made their home in northern Africa, at the mouth of the Nile River, where the Nile runs into the Mediterranean Sea. The soil was rich. Food was plentiful and no one went hungry. They were surrounded on two sides by desert, which helped to keep them safe from intruders, while the Nile kept their world green.
The ancient Egyptians were fascinating people, and thanks to the movies are often misunderstood. The ancient Egyptians were not in love with death. They were in love with life! They loved life so much, they wanted to live forever. Their culture was all about life after death, their afterlife, and what they had to do to reach that special magical place after they died, where they could live forever in eternity. You could not reach that magical place unless you had done a great many good deeds in your lifetime. Because they believed that, crime in ancient Egypt was very low.
The ancient Egyptians believed in both science and magic. If they were ill, they might buy a magical spell from one vendor and medicine from a different vendor to solve the same problem. This often worked, although it was probably the medicine. When the ancient Greeks and then the Romans came to Egypt, they were amazed at how advanced the Egyptians were in the sciences, especially in astronomy, mathematics, and cures. But their belief in magic was an important part of daily life. They bought spells in the marketplace to increase their luck, to change their fate, and to keep themselves safe.
The ancient Egyptians believed in over 2,000 gods! They prayed to their gods every day. Unlike other ancient civilizations, the ancient Egyptians were not afraid of their gods, not most of them anyway. If their prayers were not answered, they might give the statue of a god in the temple a little whack with a reed to let the gods know they were quite disappointed.
Besides doing many good deeds, to prepare for their afterlife a popular family outing was visiting the family tomb with armloads of grave goods they had made, things they might need in their afterlife to make their eternity comfortable and fun. One of their grave goods were statues of little tiny people made out of clay. These are the people who would magically do their chores for them in their afterlife, while their Ka, their spirit, flew off to enjoy endless, perfect days along a magical Nile River. At night, they believed their Ba, their night spirit, returned to their tomb, because even mummies need a good night's sleep.
Come meet the clever, creative, ancient Egyptians, who had their own unique (and sometimes quite funny) ideas of daily life and what was practical and possible.
Our first feedback (Wow! Thank you!):
"Your units are exactly what I had hoped for
--readable, interesting topics that fit my curriculum objectives
with lots of structured activities to bring it alive.
World History will be the class we all look forward to every day."
Mr. Donn and
Maxie's Ancient History PowerPoints Series
Written by Lin & Don Donn,
illustrated by Phillip Martin, Published by Good Year Books
Mr. Donn and
Maxie's Always Something You Can Use Series
Written by Lin & Don Donn, Published by Good Year Books