armin socials
TRANSCRIPT
ANCIENT EGYPTBY: ARMIN
TABLE OF CONTESTS
Map
Background
Social structure
Housing
Food
Family life
Marriage
Childhood
Education
Religion
Clothing
Art, Music
Cunclision
MAP OF THE EGYPT CIVILIZATION
Ancient Egypt has a long
history which began in
about 3150 BC and
continued until 50 BC.
BACKGROUND
Ancient Egypt was located in North Africa, along the lower part
of the Nile River. They are famous for the mummies, huge
pyramids, and gods. Egypt had one of the oldest cultures in the
history. They didn’t have technology, but they could build very
tall pyramids. The slaves had to build them for free. No one
paid them any money for their efforts. Egyptians believed in
gods and thought they would get angry with them if they did
something wrong! Whoever didn’t believe in the gods would be
killed!
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
The Egyptian social structure was just like their pyramids! At the top were the most
important, gods or pharaoh. Then were the priests, government officials, and nobles.
They were not as important as pharaoh, or gods, but they were important. And at the
bottom of the pyramid were the poor slaves and servants. No one cared about them;
people could buy or sell them and be their boss! That was not a very fare social
structure. However, people with more power and money had better lives than those
who did not even have enough money to buy food for their families.
HOUSING
In ancient Egypt, people made their houses out of mud bricks. They could easily get
mud when the Nile or other rivers flooded. In those days, people could bake the mud
in a wooden mold under the sun. Poor people’s houses were only one brick thick. They
weren’t very secure, but rich people’s houses were two bricks thick. Most of their
houses had four rooms and one big central room. The room was called central room
because it was in the middle of all the rooms, and families usually spent their time in
it. At the top of the central room, there was a window, so they had to make the central
room higher than other rooms. The noblemen's houses were obviously better than
common peoples’ residences, because they were rich and could afford more luxury.
Egyptians didn’t use a lot of wood for building their houses, because they didn’t have
good quality wood to use. Therefore, they just used wood for supporting the ceilings,
stair cases, and doorways.
FOOD
Ancient Egyptians didn’t have any forks or spoons, so they had to eat
with their hands. Everyone could enjoy drinking beer and wine.
However, rich people had more variety of food than poor people. For
example, the poor only ate bread. That was something usual for
them. They could only afford to buy or make bread, onions, and
sometimes fish. People would rarely eat beef, except at rich people’s
feast. Wealthy people could easily enjoy eating various foods and
breads. The bad thing was that they didn’t have sugar, so they just
used honey to sweeten their food.
FAMILY LIFE
In Egypt, family life was really important. Women did most of the jobs. They
would go out and trade, while their husbands stayed home and wove!
However, still women had to do household duties. In other words, women
were the most important members of the family and in charge. People
would treat women very well. Young boys had to learn their fathers’ or
grandfathers’ jobs and continue with them. Children were expected to help
their mothers or their elderly parents. Boys could get their fathers’ lands and
girls could get their goods like jewels if their parents died.
MARRIAGE
In Egypt, girls who lived in villages would
usually marry at the age of 12. Boys
were a little bit older than girls when
they got wed. However, girls who were
rich would marry a few years later. Most
of the time, parents would arrange their
children’s marriages, but sometimes
their children didn’t want that! Ordinary
men had one wife, while the king had
several. Before both men and women
could marry, they had to sign an
agreement, saying that the wife would
get an allowance from her husband. The
contract also said that any objects that
the wife brought into the marriage
would be hers to keep if they divorced
for any reason. They could both have
their own land separately, but the wife
usually would allow her husband to take
care of it for her.
DIVORCE
People could get a divorce, but it
was not a common thing to do. If
a husband was mean to his wife
and treated her badly, she would
go to her family to get help. The
wife's family would try to convince
her husband to change his
actions. If his behavior did not get
better, the divorce would take
place. The divorce was simple,
making a plain statement to end
the marriage in front of witnesses.
The wife was given care of the
children and was free to get
married again.
CHILDHOOD
Children were often with pets, particularly birds. There were board games that
children and adults played. Toys were made for children. When it was warm, children
played outside. There were jumping games like leap-frog and wrestling and dancing.
Poor children helped their mothers and fathers by looking after the younger children,
and taking care of animals. Ancient Egyptians loved children and took good care of
them. Mothers nursed their babies for three or four years. In a soft sling, little babies
were carried by their mothers, so that they could feel their body heat. Infants were
probably held most of the time. Even after they began to eat solid food, young
children ate with their mothers, who always were with them and took care of them.
The names given to children also tell us of the affection parents gave them. For
example, Nakht, meant strong, was a common name.
EDUCATION
In ancient Egypt, not every boy and girl had the chance to go to school.
Most rich boys and girls went to scribal schools to learn. Hopefully, one day
they would grow up to become a famous pharaoh or an important person or
a rich scribe. If they did not want to be a scribe, they did not have to go to
school. Instead, they would become an apprentice and help other
professionals such as doctors or bakers and learn while working with them.
In other words, they didn’t have to go to school to learn something.
RELIGION
Religion was really important to ancient Egyptians. One of their most important
traditions was Divine Kingship, which meant people believed that pharaohs were not
just their kings, but were also their gods! One of their gods was named Horus, son of
Re the sun god. They believed in Osiris, the god of death, too. Ancient Egyptians
believed that if something bad had happened, it was because of pharaohs and
priests. And if something bad wouldn’t happen, it was because pharaohs and priests
had done their jobs perfectly. Egyptians’ tradition or religion was called, Polytheistic,
meaning that they had more than one god. Egyptians had about 700 hundred
different gods. They also believed in afterlife. They believed that dead people’s
spirits would need a place to be. They also mummification their dead bodies to
protect them from being destroyed. Therefore, they made pyramids, but pyramids
where a place for pharaohs’ dead bodies, not for normal people.
(1) (2)
CLOTHING
People in Egypt wore light clothes that were made of
something named Linen which is made of flax. Flax
is a type of plant that grows near the Nile River.
Women wore full length straight, pleated dresses
with one or two shoulder straps. Rich women wore
fine transparent linen and they wore jewelry and
headdresses. The men wore a skirt with a belt.
Sometimes, men wore a pleated garment. Just like
women, rich men bought see through fine quality
linen and wore jewelry and headdresses to decorate
their clothes. The children did not wear clothes until
they were about six when they began to wear the
same outfits as men and women. These people
mostly went barefoot, but wore sandals for special
events or when their feet hurt. The sandals that the
poor wore were made of woven palm. The ones worn
by the rich were made of leather.
ART, MUSIC
On the walls and ceilings of homes, temples, palaces and graves the artists
drew pictures of birds flying in sunny days, fish swimming in the water, and
beasts roaming through the forests. Sometimes, floors were painted to look like
swimming pools and ceilings looked like stars similar to the sky. There were
floral designs. There was also Egyptian sculpture and paintings which were the
best in the Oriental civilization until the time of the kingdom of China developed
their art works. When we look at Tutankhamen's tomb, we can also see
astonishing luxury of Egyptian furniture. Tables had silver in them, jewel boxes
were everywhere, and perfume baskets were located on the tables. When their
work was finished, the ancient Egyptians listened to music, played on lutes,
harps, sistrums, flutes and lyres. Temples and palaces had orchestras and
choirs. The Pharaoh's staff, a "superintendent of singing," organized players and
musicians for the entertainment of the king.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, ancient Egypt had a successful and completed civilization.
They also had a the longest recorded history between all other civilizations.
They had very strange and different traditions than we have now. They had
multiple gods and goddesses which were really weird. Egyptian even had a
very different type of life style than we do now! They didn’t have the
technology to make cool things, but we now see that they have made a lot of
things that we wouldn’t be able to do if they hadn’t done it. For example, we
didn’t now how to mummification an animal. We didn’t even know what it
was, until we read the walls of the tombs of Egyptians. Ancient Egypt is a
well known place because of its mummies, huge pyramids, strange gods
and goddesses. By now, I’m pretty sure that every one knows a little bit
about ancient Egypt!
INFORMATION BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ancient Egyptian Education - http://library.thinkquest.org/J002046F/education.htm education
Ancient Egypt, Tourism - http://egypthistorytourism.blogspot.com/2010/10/ancient-egypt.html facts about
Egypt
Brewer, Douglas J., and Emily Teeter. “Egypt and the Egyptians” (couldn’t find it!) Cambridge University Press 1995.
Egypt: Daily Life - http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.2.html family life and marriage
Factual Information About Egypt - http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210200/ancient_egypt/facts.htm Some basic and factual
information
Food in Ancient Egypt - http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/a-food.htm food
Housing in Ancient Egypt http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/a-housing.htm housing
Morley, Jacqueline. “How Would You Survive as an Ancient Egyptian?” New York. Franklin Watts, 1995.(book from
classroom)
Online Activities, Childhood - http://www.rom.on.ca/programs/activities/egypt/learn/childhood.php childhood
Painting in Ancient Egypt - http://www.love-egypt.com/painting.html Art, music
Religion of ancient Egypt - http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/religion.htm religion
The Egyptians – clothing - http://www.historyonthenet.com/Egyptians/clothing.htm clothing
PICTURES BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://scoilchaitrionajnrmsflaherty.blogspot.com/ Title page
http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/EGYPT/nilemap.html map of Egypt
http://jeremylent.wordpress.com/category/ascendancy-to-power-agriculture/ Table of contests
http://www.places-to-visit.us/games/Alexandria,_Egypt.html background pyramids
http://professortravel-egypt.com/ancientreligions2.html Background (2) god
http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/a-housing.htm housing
http://www.educationaladventures.co.uk/history/ancient-egyptian-introduction.html food
http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/daily-life-in-ancient-egypt.html family life
http://www.awakening-healing.com/Egyptian_Gods_&_Goddesses.htm marriage
http://preterhuman.net/texts/other/crystalinks/divorce.html divorce
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/egypt/clothes.htm children
http://ancientegyptmoberly.pbworks.com/w/page/12830354/bibliography education
http://egypthistorytourism.blogspot.com/2010/10/ancient-egypt.html religion (1)
http://www.egypttourinfo.com/ancient-egypt-religion.html religion (2)
http://www.love-egypt.com/clothing.html clothing
http://www.zazzle.com/ancient+egyptian+art+gifts music
http://www.love-egypt.com/life-in-ancient-egypt.html art