2- ANCIENT EGYPT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST AND MOST POWERFUL CIVILIZATIONS IN THE HISTORY

OF THE WORLD.
PEOPLE SETTLED IN EGYPT AS EARLY AS 6000 B.C. OVER TIME, SMALL VILLAGES JOINED TOGETHER TO
BECOME STATES UNTIL TWO KINGDOMS EMERGED: LOWER EGYPT, WHICH COVERS THE NILE RIVER
DELTA UP TO THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA IN THE NORTH, AND UPPER EGYPT, WHICH COVERS THE NILE
VALLEY IN THE SOUTH.

3- AROUND 3100 B.C., A KING, LATER CALLED A PHARAOH, UNITED THESE TWO LANDS TO BE ONE
COUNTRY. THE PHARAONIC CIVILIZATION LASTED UNTIL ALEXANDER THE GREAT CONQUERED EGYPT
IN 323 BC.

4- HISTORIANS USUALLY GROUP THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT INTO THREE MAJOR KINGDOMS
CALLED THE OLD KINGDOM, THE MIDDLE KINGDOM, AND THE NEW KINGDOM. IT WAS DURING THESE
TIMES THAT ANCIENT EGYPT WAS AT ITS STRONGEST. THE TIMES BETWEEN THE KINGDOMS ARE CALLED
INTERMEDIATE PERIODS.
IT WAS DURING THE OLD KINGDOM THAT THE EGYPTIANS BUILT THEIR GREAT PYRAMIDS. THE BEST-
KNOWN REMAINS IN EGYPT ARE THE THREE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA, BUILT BY KHUFU, KHAFRA, AND
MENKAURE BEGINNING IN ABOUT 2550BC, DURING THE 4TH DYNASTY.

5- THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE GROUPED INTO VARIOUS SOCIAL CLASSES. THE PHARAOHS WERE THE
MOST POWERFUL, WHILE THE SLAVES WERE THE LOWEST CLASS.

THE MOST FAMOUS PHARAOHS IN ANCIENT EGYPT WERE:

RAMSES II, WHO WAS A STRONG PHARAOH AND WHO MADE EGYPT MORE POWERFUL AND SAFE
THROUGH WAR AND CONQUEST

TUTANKHAMUN, WHO WAS CALLED THE BOY KING BECAUSE HE DIED AT THE AGE OF 18

QUEEN HATSHEPSUT, WHO WAS THE FIRST FEMALE TO BECOME A PHARAOH

6- ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ASTRONOMERS CREATED A CALENDAR MUCH LIKE OURS—BASED ON THE

SUN’S ROTATION—AND ARE THOUGHT TO BE THE FIRST CIVILIZATION TO MEASURE A YEAR USING
365 DAYS. THEY WERE ALSO MATH GENIUSES: HISTORIANS THINK THAT DIVISION AND
MULTIPLICATION WERE FIRST DEVELOPED BY THESE PEOPLE.

ANCIENT EGYPT WAS ALSO ONE OF THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS TO HAVE A WRITTEN LANGUAGE USING
A SYSTEM CALLED HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING, IN WHICH SYMBOLS—NOT LETTERS—REPRESENT WORDS
OR SOUNDS. THEY EVEN CREATED WRITING SHEETS OUT OF A PLANT CALLED PAPYRUS. HIEROGLYPHS
ARE CARVED INTO MOST TEMPLES AND TOMBS TO RECORD NAMES AND DATES, DESCRIBE EVENTS
LIKE BATTLES, AND GIVE INSTRUCTIONS FOR PASSING ON TO THE AFTERLIFE.

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WORSHIPED MANY GODS. THE MAIN GOD OF THE SUN WAS RA.

7- EGYPTIANS ENJOYED LIFE SO MUCH THAT THEY BELIEVED IN AFTERLIFE. THUS, BEING MUMMIFIED
—THE PROCESS OF PRESERVING A BODY—WAS AN IMPORTANT PART OF HOW EGYPTIANS BELIEVED
THEIR SOUL WOULD ENTER THE AFTERLIFE. SO WERE TOMBS. THESE BURIAL CHAMBERS WERE FILLED
WITH THINGS A PERSON WOULD NEED THERE: FOOD, GAMES, AND EVEN CLOTHES.