Ancient Egypt for Kids - Come meet the clever, creative ancient people who loved their life in the land of the Nile River!
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! Their culture was all about their afterlife, how after death they could reach that special magical place where they could live forever in eternity. 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. The ancient Egyptians believed that after you died, your Ka, your spirit, flew off to enjoy endless, perfect days along a magical Nile River. At night, your Ba, your night spirit, returned to your tomb, because even mummies need a good night's sleep. But you could not reach that magical place unless you had done a great many good deeds in your life, and because they believed that, crime in ancient Egypt was very low.
The ancient Egyptians believed in over 2,000 gods! Unlike other ancient civilizations, the ancient Egyptians were not afraid of their gods, not most of them anyway. They prayed to their gods every day. But 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. They believed in curses and omens and magical powers, all of which were an important part of their daily life and religion. They bought spells in the marketplace to increase their luck, to change their fate, and to keep themselves safe.
They believed science and magic were intertwined. They would chant a magical spell they bought in the marketplace from one vendor and swallow medicine they bought from a different vendor to solve the same problem. The thing is, 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.
Five thousand (5,000) years ago, the ancient Egyptian 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. To the ancient Egyptians cats were magical, children were cherished, and women could run a business.
Come meet the clever, creative ancient Egyptians.
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