Ancient Egypt for kids

Time: 500BC - 30BC

Who were the Egyptians?

Ancient Egypt stretched out along the Nile Valley. Villages grew as the land was good to farm along the Nile River because every spring the snow would melt from the mountains and in July the river flooded. After a few months, the water would leave the land with rich, fertile soil which was excellent for growing onions, garlic, leeks, peas, beans, cucumbers, grapes melons, pomegranates, figs and dates.

Over time the villages along the river joined together and became two kingdoms, called Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. The two kingdoms fought a battle. King Menes of Upper Egypt won and the two kingdoms joined and a capital city was made called Memphis.

Egyptian Facts

Children's University - Ancient Egypt
Explore Ancient Egypt and the Egyptian timeline.

The British Museum
Ancient Egypt infomation with artifacts from Egypt, mummies, Pharaohs and more.

Primary Homework - Ancient Egypt
Great resourse for homework covering everything you need to know about the Egyptians and Ancient Egypt.

Mr Donn - Ancient Egypt
This website is full of interesting facts about the Egyptians covering every topic you can think of.

Duckssters - Ancient Egypt
Learn about their culture, the people and the history of the egyptians.

What are Hieroglyphs?

The first Egyptian kings arranged to sell the food they could grow throughout Egypt. To communicate and keep records of this they invented hieroglyphs which was a language using symbols. They would write hieroglyphs on walls and paper scrolls.

Hiero-Writer
Find out what your name would look like in Hieroglyphics.

Why did the Egyptians build pyramids?

The Egyptians built huge pyramids as tombs for their kings or pharaohs when they died. There are over 30 pyramids in Egypt, but the most famous ones are at Giza, where three pharaohs and their chief wives are buried. The largest pyramid is called the Great Pyramid built for Pharaoh Khufu. It is 147m high and is built with over two million stone blocks. You have to remember that there were no cranes or machinery in Ancient Egypt so building a pyramid of this size by hand is a truly amazing and incredible.

Google Maps - Pyramids of Giza
Visit the Pyramids of Giza with this virtual map from Google

Science Kids - Egyptian Pyramids
Engineering Facts on how these ancient wonders were built.

What is mummification?

The Egyptians tried to stop dead bodies from decaying. They believed that if they mummified a body and protect it in a pyramid the person would live forever in the afterlife. They did this by removing all the internal organs and brain. The inside of the body was dried and stuffed with linen, natron, sawdust and sweet-smelling spices. The body was then wrapped in bandages and a mask was put over the mummy's face.

The body would then be put into two or three human-shaped coffins, one inside the other. These were brightly painted and placed inside the tombs.

Inside the tombs rich Egyptians where filled with everything the dead person might need in their next life. There were such amazing treasures, robbers soon broke into the tombs and stole the treasure. This is why today so little treasure has been found.

The Mummy
Read about Basma & Hossam who are visting the Pyramids near Cario in Egypt.

What is the Valley of the Kings and who is Tutankhamen?

Later in time the pharaohs and kings were buried in tombs cut deep into the rock in a hidden valley, called the Valley of the Kings. Even though these were hidden tombs they were still found by robbers who stole the treasures from the tombs. The famous tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamen was the only one that escaped and in 1922 a team of British archaeologists (a scientist who studies human history by digging up human remains & artefacts) discovered this tomb with all the treasures almost intact. What a find! They say he died when he was only 18 years old but they still don't know why.

Tutankhamun Exhibiton, Dorchester, UK
See a spectacular recration of Tutankhamun's tomb and treasures in Dorchester.

Tutankhamun facts!
Check out our ten fun facts on the famous pharaoh, King Tutankhamun.

The Egyptian Empire

Egypt was attacked by a group of people called Hyksos. The Hyksos people won as they had horses and chariots and the Egyptians were just on foot. The Egyptians quickly learnt from this and drove them out of their country. Then with their new power they attacked nearby lands and grew a large empire.

The Egyptian Pharaohs made the Egyptians battle many times. Pharaoh Tuthmosis III took his army to war 17 times! When he was king the Egyptian Empire was at its largest.

Pharaoh Ramesses II fought against their biggest enemy the Hittites for over 30 years. The two countries did make peace in the end and Pharaoh Remesses II married a Hittite princess!

Ancient Egypt Information
A huge array of informative topics staring from the orign of Egypt to the every day lives.

DK Find Out - Ancient Egypt
View this Ancient civilization lasting for more than 3,000 years.

What happened to the Egyptians?

The last pharaoh was Ramesses III. After he died the Egyptian Empire became weaker. War broke out between the Egyptian people (civil war). Then they were invaded again and again. The Egyptian Empire was weaker and weaker still. Finally Rome went to war with Egypt. The Romans won and Queen Cleopatra the ruler of Egypt at the time killed herself. Egypt was then part of the Roman Empire.