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Ancient Egyptian Homes
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The ancient Egyptians built homes of sun-dried bricks, made of mud and straw. To make the bricks, the ancient Egyptians invented brick molds. A mix of mud and straw was placed into the molds. Then, the molds were left out in the sun to dry. The desert heat dried the bricks for them. They could make a huge number of bricks easily.Their homes were huge. Homes had flat roofs. People often sat outside on their roofs in the evening to watch the sunset and catch the evening breeze.
Nobles lived in huge villas along the Nile. Some were front with white limestone, which made the walls sparkle. A few homes were even built with stone. But stone was difficult to cut and use. Most homes were made of sun dried brick. Each villa had 25-30 rooms. Most rooms had a purpose. Some were guest rooms, some were bathrooms!
Homes had front and back doors. Each door was built about 4 feet off the ground to reduce the amount of sand and dust. Each door was reached by a ramp. Ramps led from one level to another inside the house.
A peasant's home was tiny by comparison. Still, it was very nice. Each peasant family had their own home. When you opened the door, you entered a courtyard. Inside the courtyard, a ramp led up to the front door of the house. Some homes had two stories, some had three or more. Ramps were used to move from level to level. One ramp led up to the flat roof. People often slept on their roofs. It was cooler, and quite lovely sleeping under the stars.
Some peasants homes were huge, especially in the country. Nobody cared how big you built your home as long as you did it yourself in your own spare time. Since bricks were easy to make, and materials needed to make the bricks were freely found along the shores of the Nile, it was really up to each individual how big of a home they wished to have, especially in the country.
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