Ancient Egypt

Geographic Location

Egypt is located on the continent of Africa.

Written Language

[hieroglyphics chart]

 The ancient Egyptians invented an early writing called hieroglyphics . It is made up of two types of picture symbols. 
  • Ideograms are idea-signs where each picture stands for an object, or for some idea closely connected with the object.
  • Phonograms are signs used to write the sounds like we use letters.

Inventions

  The ancient Egyptians made contributions that still affect us today.  
Three of these inventions were:
Paper made from Papyrus


The papyrus plant grows along the Nile River.  The ancient Egyptians used this plant to make the first kind of paper.

  the 365-day calendar

The first working calendar was the ancient Egyptian calendar, which was made over 4,000 years ago. 
They used the sun to keep track of days throughout the year. They divided the year into three seasons of four months. Each month had 30 days. Their year had 360 days. The calendar that we use today is based on this first Egyptian one.

 the clock

[clock]

The ancient Egyptians used shadow clocks. The first ones were obelisks.  The moving shadows formed a kind of sundial to help tell time. 

Architecture

 The ancient Egyptians built giant pyramids in the desert.   They were made of big stone blocks which were dug up and cut, then moved by sliding them along wooden rollers.   It took many years and thousands of men to build these pyramids.

Climate

The climate of ancient Egypt was hot and dry. 

Land

  The land of ancient Egypt included:
 Deserts

the Nile River

map of Egypt

 Flooding

Nile River in flood; CMC S97 10679; PCD 2001-272-052

Plant Life

 Plant life in ancient Egypt included grasses along the Nile River.

Ways They Adapted to Their Environment

greenofnile.jpg (16097 bytes)

 The ancient Egyptians farmed and irrigated the land near the Nile River.

Much of this information was taken from Ms. Cook's Second Grade Time Travelers Website.

Facts about Ancient Egypt.

Write your name in hieroglyphics.

Egyptian Name Translator.