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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:13:07 GMT
The afterlife was incredibly important to the Egyptians. They believed that by preserving a dead person's body - which they did through the process of mummification - their soul would live on in the after-life forever.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:13:44 GMT
The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. This incredible structure weighs as much as 16 Empire State buildings!
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:14:15 GMT
Both Egyptian men and women wore makeup. The eye-paint was usually green (made from copper) or black (made from lead). As well as offering protection from the sun, the Egyptians believed makeup had magical healing powers, too!
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:14:42 GMT
Unwrapped, the bandages of an Ancient Egyptian mummy could stretch for 1.6km. Yikes!
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:15:20 GMT
The Egyptian alphabet contained more than 700 hieroglyphs!
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:15:49 GMT
Ancient Egyptians believed in more than 2,000 deities! They had gods for everything from, dangers to chores! Each had different responsibilities and needed to be worshipped so that life could be kept in balance
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:16:17 GMT
Cats were considered to be a sacred animal by the Ancient Egyptians. It's thought that most families kept a cat as a pet, which they believed would bring the household good luck!
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:16:51 GMT
Love playing boardgames with your pals? Well, gang - so did the Ancient Egyptians! One popular game was 'Senet', which was played for over 2000 years! The game involved throwing sticks (in the same way we throw dice) to see how many squares to move your piece forward on the board.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:17:16 GMT
The Ancient Egyptians invented lots of things we still use today, such as paper, pens, locks and keys and - believe it or not - toothpaste!
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:18:17 GMT
Cleopatra was not Egyptian.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:18:39 GMT
Along with King Tut, perhaps no figure is more famously associated with ancient Egypt than Cleopatra VII. But while she was born in Alexandria, Cleopatra was actually part of a long line of Greek Macedonians originally descended from Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s most trusted lieutenants. The Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C., and most of its leaders remained largely Greek in their culture and sensibilities. In fact, Cleopatra was famous for being one of the first members of the Ptolemaic dynasty to actually speak the Egyptian language.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:19:03 GMT
The ancient Egyptians forged one of the earliest peace treaties on record.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:19:29 GMT
For over two centuries the Egyptians fought against the Hittite Empire for control of lands in modern day Syria. The conflict gave rise to bloody engagements like 1274 B.C.’s Battle of Kadesh, but by time of the pharaoh Ramses II neither side had emerged as a clear victor. With both the Egyptians and Hittites facing threats from other peoples, in 1259 B.C. Ramses II and the Hittite King Hattusili III negotiated a famous peace treaty. This agreement ended the conflict and decreed that the two kingdoms would aid each other in the event of an invasion by a third party. The Egyptian-Hittite treaty is now recognized as one of the earliest surviving peace accords, and a copy can even be seen above the entrance to the United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:19:59 GMT
Ancient Egyptians loved board games.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 9:20:21 GMT
After a long day’s work along the Nile River, Egyptians often relaxed by playing board games. Several different games were played, including “Mehen” and “Dogs and Jackals,” but perhaps the most popular was a game of chance known as “Senet.” This pastime dates back as far as 3500 B.C. and was played on a long board painted with 30 squares. Each player had a set of pieces that were moved along the board according to rolls of dice or the throwing sticks. Historians still debate Senet’s exact rules, but there is little doubt of the game’s popularity. Paintings depict Queen Nefertari playing Senet, and pharaohs like Tutankhamen even had game boards buried with them in their tombs.
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