Author Ellen Rodger Editors Sarah Eason Kelly Spence and Kathy Middleton Editorial director Kathy Middleton Design Paul Myerscough Cover design Paul Myerscough Photo research Rachel Blount Proofreader Wendy Scavuzzo Production coordinator and Prepress technician Tammy McGarr Print coordinator Margaret Amy Salter Consultant John Malam archaeologist Written and produced for Crabtree Publishing Company by Calcium Creative Front Cover BKGD Entrance to the Luxor Temple in Egypt built during the reign of the pharaoh Amenhotep III Inset Two Egyptian rings made from gold glass lapis lazuli and carnelian inlay Title Page BKGD The Pyramids of Giza along the Nile the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Inset A statue of Hatshepsut a female pharaoh who began her reign in 1478 BCE Photo Credits t Top bl Bottom Left br Bottom Right Alamy Granger Historical Picture Archive p 15tr Richard Graulich The Palm Beach Post ZUMA Wire p 16 17 LACMA www lacma org The Phil Berg Collection p 21b Gift of Frank J and Victoria K Fertitta p 13b Shutterstock Leonid Andronov p 10 11 Antpkr p 28 29 Anton_Ivanov p 20 21 Everett Art p 6 7 p 24b Hallam creations p 8 9 Kokhanchikov pp 3 12 13 Pius Lee p 26 27 Stephen Marques p 5l Pecold p 4 5 Serge Vero p 1fg p 11b Hans Wagemaker p 14 15 WitR p 1bg p 19t The Walters Art Museum acquired by Henry Walters p 9t p 23t Wikimedia Commons Σταύρος p 24 25 Carsten Frenzl from Obernburg Derutschland p 27t Hermitage Museum p 19t Map p 5 by Geoff Ward Artworks p 28 29 by Venetia Dean Cover Shutterstock Alberto Loyo bg The Walters Art Museum acquired by Henry Walters 1929 br Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rodger Ellen author Ancient Egypt inside out Ellen Rodger Ancient worlds inside out Includes index Issued in print and electronic formats ISBN 978-0-7787-2874-0 hardcover ISBN 978-0-7787-2888-7 softcover ISBN 978-1-4271-1846-2 HTML 1 Egypt Social life and customs To 332 B C Juvenile literature 2 Egypt Civilization To 332 B C Juvenile literature 3 Egypt Antiquities Juvenile literature 4 Material culture Egypt Juvenile literature 5 Egypt History To 332 B C Juvenile literature I Title DT61 R62 2017 j932 C2016-907257-6 C2016-907258-4 Names Rodger Ellen author Title Ancient Egypt inside out Ellen Rodger Description New York New York Crabtree Publishing Company 2017 Series Ancient Worlds Inside Out Includes index Identifiers LCCN 2016058589 print LCCN 2016059919 ebook ISBN 9780778728740 reinforced library binding alk paper ISBN 9780778728887 paperback alkaline paper ISBN 9781427118462 Electronic HTML Subjects LCSH Egypt Civilization To 332 B C Juvenile literature Egypt Antiquities Juvenile literature Classification LCC DT61 R5367 2017 print LCC DT61 ebook DDC 932 dc23 LC record available at https lccn loc gov 2016058589 Crabtree Publishing Company www crabtreebooks com Copyright 2017 CRABTREE PUBLISHING COMPANY All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or be transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of Crabtree Publishing Company In Canada We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities 1-800-387-7650 Published in Canada Crabtree Publishing 616 Welland Ave St Catharines Ontario L2M 5V6 Published in the United States Crabtree Publishing PMB 59051 350 Fifth Avenue 59th Floor New York New York 10118 Published in the United Kingdom Crabtree Publishing Maritime House Basin Road North Hove BN41 1WR Published in Australia Crabtree Publishing 3 Charles Street Coburg North VIC 3058
Contents Who Were the Ancient Egyptians Digging Up the Past The Mighty Nile Pharaohs and Dynasties Daily Life in Ancient Egypt Food Feasts and Famine Science and Medicine Technology and Buildings Reading and Writing Gods and the Afterlife Trade and War Enduring Egypt Make Your Own Papyrus Scroll Glossary Learning More Index About the Author 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 31 32 32
Who Were the Ancient Egyptians The fertile lands of the Nile River in northeastern Africa were home to one of the most powerful civilizations in the ancient world Egypt was not the very first ancient civilization but its well-preserved remains architecture art and artifacts are familiar to us Even thousands of years after its fall images of pyramids mummies tomb art and papyrus scrolls come to mind when we imagine ancient Egypt What Is an Ancient Civilization Large settlements of people formed the basis of the first civilizations Through farming these settlements grew into larger cities Writing government and class systems soon developed These early settlements led to the later development of present-day cities states and countries River Civilization Like many ancient cultures Egypt was built along the banks of a river The Nile River is the longest waterway in the world and runs about 4,132 miles 6,650 km from its source in Central Africa before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea Surrounded by desert and green savannah ancient Egyptians depended on the river’s life-giving waters and annual floods The floods enriched the soil with silt from the river The silt fertilized crops and made it possible for an agricultural civilization to thrive on its banks From Scattered Villages to a Kingdom Egypt did more than survive on the banks of the Nile it flourished A ready and available food supply allowed the population to grow Villages grew up along the river eventually forming into distinct regions known as the two lands or Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egyptians developed sophisticated systems of government in which kings and occasionally queens called pharaohs ruled the land A large workforce built cities and monuments and a strong army protected the Egyptians from outside invaders Around 3100 B C E the two lands united into one powerful kingdom 4
Once home to crocodiles and hippopotamuses the Nile River was a major transportation route The ancient Egyptians built sailboats and barges to travel from city to city and beyond Key Ancient Egypt around the year 330 B C E Present-day borders Israel Mediterranean Sea Rosetta Jordan Alexandria Giza Cairo Egypt Egypt This map shows Egypt and the Nile River delta which is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea A delta is at a river’s mouth where it diverts into many branches N il e R i v e r Luxor E A S T E R Saudi Arabia Red Sea N D E S E R T T R E S RN DE E T S WE Libya Abu Simbel Sudan 5
