An introduction to Ancient Egypt

How did the ancient Egyptian civilisation start?

A photo of the ruins of the Temple of Luxor next to the River Nile. — Image caption,
The Temple of Luxor next to the River Nile. The Ancient Egyptians lived in a hot, dry climate so being close to water was important to provide something to drink.

The Ancient Egyptian Civilisation began over 5000 years ago, It was in north-east Africa.

Around 3000BC, people began to build settlements next to the River Nile because it gave them water and they could grow crops.

This civilisation (a large group of people who follow the same rules and ways of living) lasted for around 3000 years.

Important words

Important words on Ancient Egypt.

Keyword	Definition
Afterlife	A belief that a part of a person continues to exist after their body dies.
Flax	A flowering plant used for its seeds and to make clothes.
Hieroglyphs	Pictures and symbols used by Ancient Egyptians for writing.
Mummification	The process used to preserve a dead body so it does not rot.
Papyrus	A material made from a plant, used as paper to write and paint upon.
Tomb	Special places where people were buried after they died.
Shaduf	A tool used to lift water from the river onto the land.

Watch: Introducing the ancient Egyptians

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What’s known about the ancient Egyptians?

A photo of hieroglyphics in the tomb of Ramesses IV. — Image caption,
An example of hieroglyphs from the tomb of Pharaoh Ramesses IV.

The Ancient Egyptians were experts at farming and construction because they were very inventive.

They invented a solar calendar (a calendar based on the sun).

They also created a writing system called hieroglyphs that used pictures as words and sounds.

The Ancient Egyptians were ruled by kings and queens who were called Pharaohs.

Religion was an important part of their civilisation.

They worshipped over 2,000 gods and goddesses!

A photo of the tomb of Tutankhamun. — Image caption,
The tomb was of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (1333 – 1323BC).

The ancient Egyptians also believed in a never-ending afterlife (a belief that a part of a person continues to exist after their body dies).

They thought it was more important than their life on Earth, so they spent a lot of time planning for their death.

The ancient Egyptians preserved the bodies of important people through mummification (the process used to preserve a dead body so it does not rot).

They built special tombs (special places where people were buried after they died) to be buried in, which they filled with all their favourite things.

Some Pharaohs built their tombs in the shape of giant pyramids.

What were the pyramids?

A photo of the pyramids in Giza, Egypt. — Image caption,
The Ancient Egyptians built huge pyramids around 4600 years ago as tombs for some of their Pharaohs. The pyramids were originally white when they were first built.

The pyramids are giant tombs.

Each side is triangular, and they meet in a point at the top.

The most famous is the Great Pyramid of Giza at 480 feet high made from 2.3 million large blocks of rock.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is around 4,600 years old. It was the tallest human-made structure in the world for 3,800 years.

After it was finished, it was covered in white limestone. There were three chambers and two entrances. However, the inside was looted (robbed) and nothing remains except for some large sarcophagi (coffins) of the early Pharaohs.

The Great Pyramid was part of a group of pyramids outside Giza, which also included the Great Sphinx.

Slideshow: The pyramids of Giza

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The pyramid of Khafre in Giza, Egypt. The middle of the three ancient pyramids, it was the tomb of the Pharaoh Khafre (2558−2532BC).
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An illustration of how the pyramids may have looked when they were built around 4000 years ago.
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The pyramids were built as tombs for some of the Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt, you can even step inside them and visit the tombs.

A timeline of Ancient Egypt

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Click the arrows learn more about the timeline of Ancient Egypt!
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Around 3200BC
King Narmer conquers and rules over Upper and Lower Egypt, becoming the first Egyptian Pharaoh.
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2700BC
Mummification becomes popular. Egyptians might have been preserving bodies earlier, but now they're getting good at it! They removed the organs, dried the body using salt, and wrapped them up in oil-soaked linen fabric.
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2600-2500BC
The Great Pyramids of Giza were built. It's a marvel of engineering, but it took such a long time!
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1336BC
Reign of Tutankhamun begins. One of ancient Egypt's most famous kings. He became king at only 9 years old. We learned a lot about him thanks to his tomb being so well-preserved.
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332BC
Egypt is conquered by King Alexander of Macedon (also called Alexander the Great). There wasn't a battle - the Egyptians welcomed him in to help fight against other enemies.
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51-30BC
Queen Cleopatra VII is the last independent ruler of Egypt, speaking both Greek and Egyptian. Her reign comes to an end as the Romans conquer, which is the end of Ancient Egypt.
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What was happening elsewhere?
Many other interesting periods of history happened during Ancient Egypt, find out more in our other sections on Bitesize.

Think like a historian

A thought bubble saying 'Thinking points'.

Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to the questions. You could even write it down on a piece of paper or discuss it with somebody else if you want to.

Why did the Ancient Egyptians settle near the River Nile?
The Ancient Egyptian civilisation changed the world. Can you think of any evidence that shows this?

Activities

Activity 1: Explore ancient Egyptian artefacts

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Image source, The Trustees of the British Museum
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Mummified cats
Ancient Egyptians thought cats were very special. They wanted to take their cats with them into the afterlife so they often mummified them and put them in their tombs.
Image source, The Trustees of the British Museum
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The Great Harris Papyrus
This piece of papyrus (ancient Egyptian paper) shows Pharaoh Ramesses III standing in front of the three Gods of Memphis: Ptah, Sekhmet and Nfertum.
Image source, The Trustees of the British Museum
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Beaded collar necklace
Ancient Egyptians decorated themselves with as much jewellery as they could afford. This is a ceramic glazed wide collar necklace. The seven little blue beads hanging down are made in the shape of mummies.
Image source, The Trustees of the British Museum
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Gold leaf mummy mask
This mummy mask is coated in gold leaf. It is a mask for a rich ancient Egyptian. This mask was put on top of a mummy's bandages to protect the head.
Image source, The Trustees of the British Museum
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Shabti figure
This is a blue glazed shabti figure of a pharaoh called Sety I. A shabti is a little doll that ancient Egyptians would make and put in their tombs to keep them company when they died. They often had tools so that they could do work for people in the afterlife. This one is holding a farming tool called a hoe in each hand.
Image source, Getty
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Ancient mummy
This ancient mummified body was found in a tomb in Luxor. This is the real mummy of a pharaoh from around 1500BC.
Image source, The Trustees of the British Museum
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Human mummy case
This is a painted cartonnage (mummy case) for a woman. It has a gilded face and a scarab beetle pendant. Scarab beetles were very important to ancient Egyptians - they symbolised the restoration of life.
Image source, The Trustees of the British Museum
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The Rosetta Stone
This is the Rosetta Stone. It is made from granite and it has three sets of inscriptions carved into it: Demotic, Hieroglyphs and ancient Greek. The broken top and bottom edges suggest it was part of a much bigger piece of stone.