Kids Project - Ancient Egypt and its Neighbors

The nation of Egypt was created in 3100 B.C. when two small kingdoms joined together and began to be ruled by a single king. The people called their king pharaoh,and believed he was a god. Pharaohs ruled Egypt for the next 3,000 years. Egypt became rich and strong, and the pharaohs demanded tributes or valuable gifts, from weaker neighboring lands.

Funeral Procession

Egyptians believed that people's spirits could only survive after death if their bodies were preserved. So they made mummies by drying bodies in salt and wrapping them in bandages. Mummies of pharaohs and other important people were carried in a procession to their tombs on funeral barges. Pharaohs mummy lay inside a casket decorated with gold. Funeral barge was sailed across the Nile, then carried to the pyramid. Chest full of treasures were carried for the pharaohs to use in the afterlife. Women mourners were paid to weep and wail.Pyramids were tombs built for early Egyptian kings.

Amazing Facts

*Not only people were made into mummies. Cats, dogs and falcons were made into mummies,too. Some were pets, mummified to go into the afterlife with their owners.*

Egypt's Neighbors

There were many powerful and rich civilizations close to Egypt. The Summerians, Babylonians and Assyrians lived in present - day Iraq. The Phoenicians, Canaanites and Hebrews lived on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. They often traded peacefully, but sometimes they fought one another for land.

TUTANKHAMUN'S TOMB

Tutankhamun was a young pharaoh who died around 1350 B.C. He was buried in a tomb full of treasure in the Valley of the kings. His tomb remained hidden for over 2,000 years, until it was discovered in 1922.

Gift Of The Nile

The Egyptians called their country "the gift of the Nile." Almost every year, the River Nile overflowed its banks, bringing fresh water and rich mud to the dry fields. The farmers needed this "gift" so that their crops would grow.