Download Egyptian Achievements

Achievements
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 People remember
Egyptians for their
cultural achievements:
 Art
 Writing
 Architecture
Inventions Page 1
Egyptian Calendar
Egyptian Clocks
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The Ancient Egyptians created the first
known 365-day Calendar. They created
it in order to mark the passage of years
and to record special or significant
events.
Their calendar was originally based on
the phases of the moon until they found
the Sirius star (“Dog Star”) rises up every
365 days. This was also about the time
the Nile river flooded the Egyptian
valley.
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Obelisks (slender, tapering, four-sided
monuments) had moving shadows that
created an almost sundial, allowing
Egyptians to split the day in half, morning
and afternoon. This clock showed the
year's longest and shortest days by how the
shadows moved. Markers around the base
of the Obelisks helped show more division
of time during the day.
Inventions Page 2
“Papyrus”
Egyptian Paper
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Papyrus means two things. First, it is the plant
that is grown in Lower Egypt near the Nile River.
Second, papyrus is the paper that is made from
the papyrus plant.
•
Papyrus paper was made by laying the reads of
the plant in two layers and pressing them
together.
•
The Egyptians pressed several of these pages
together to create scrolls.
Writing
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 3300 BC.- One of the first writing
systems in the world, the Egyptians
developed Hieroglyphics.
 They were first carved in stone or
other hard materials.
 Later Egyptians learned how to
make papyrus, a long lasting,
paper-like material. Scribes used
them to write using brushes and
ink.
 This writing system used 600
symbols!
 You could write it in a very flexible
way: from left to right; right to left;
up and down… making it a
nightmare to the reader.
Written Language
Hieroglyphics
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The Ancient Egyptians loved to write and draw. With that
love, they created their own written language using
pictures. The official language of the Ancient Egyptians
was Hieroglyphics. This language is made up of pictures or
hieroglyphs that represented words, letters, or a
combination of letters.
In 1799, a stone called the Rosetta Stone was found by the
French in Northern Egypt. On each side of this special
stone there were three different languages telling the same
story. One of the languages was Hieroglyphics. The other
two languages were Demotic and Greek. People could still
read Greek and so they compared the Greek words with
the Hieroglyphic symbols and began to understand what
each picture meant.
Ancient Egyptians wrote Hieroglyphics on the walls of
their homes, pyramids, tombs, and on papyrus scrolls.
Back then, children could write on their walls and not get
in trouble with mom.
Original Hieroglyphics started out very simple. If there
was a picture of a bird it meant bird. But over time, that
simple bird picture became the letter M.
People started to get confused about what pictures mean
what. Over time, no one could remember what the
pictures meant.
In 1822, Jean Fancois Champollion began study
Hieroglyphics and he figured out that some of pictures
were for letters, some were for words and some were for
ideas. His work helped Archaeologists read the walls and
works of the Ancient Egyptians and learn more about this
time in history.
Egyptian Texts
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 Papyrus did not decay in
Egypt’s dry climate, that is why
many texts still survive.
 These texts talked about:
 Historical and government
records, science texts, medical
manuals.
 Literary texts also survive, such
as the Book of the Dead, which
tells about the afterlife.
Architecture - Pyramids
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Journal
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When most people think Egypt, they think
Pyramids.
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The Egyptians built two types of Pyramids, the
“Step Pyramid” and the true “Pyramid”
The Pyramids were built as tombs. They were
places to burry the Kings and Pharaohs of
Ancient Egypt.
They were built to protect the Pharaoh’s body.
Inside the Pyramids were mazes and dead-ends
in order to protect the Pharaoh’s body
somewhere in the Pyramid.
Buried with the Pharaoh, there were all of his
treasures that he/she wanted to take in the
afterlife.
The Egyptian Pyramids are hand-made. They
are made of huge blocks made of sand, clay and
stone.
“The Great Pyramid” or “Khufu” is the largest
pyramid ever built. It is over 450ft high.
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Temples, Tombs & Art
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 The walls of their tombs and temples were covered with
impressive paintings and carvings.
Great Temples

 Other than the pyramids, Egyptians
also built massive temples, which the
believed to be the home of the gods.
 Some of them shared similar features
like:
 Rows of sphinxes (imaginary creatures
with the bodies of lions and heads of
other animals or humans).
 Huge gates.
 Obelisks (a tall four-sided pillar that is
pointed on top).
Temples: Inside
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 Huge columns rose to support the roofs on the temples, and walls
were beautifully decorated.
 Statues of gods and pharaohs often stood along the walls as well.
Art
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 Ancient Egyptians were
masterful artists.
 They painted on papyrus,
canvas, pottery, plaster and
wood.
 The temple art was dedicated
to the gods, while tombs’
artwork were meant to be
enjoyed during the afterlife.
 Subjects were:
 Historical events such as
crowning of kings and
founding of temples.
 Every day life!
Art
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 Paintings had a distinctive style:
 People’s head and legs were
always seen from the side. Their
upper bodies and shoulders
straight on.
 People do not always appear the
same size: important figures such
as pharaohs appear huge in
comparison to others.
 They were also skilled
stoneworkers, metalworkers and
jewelers. With these materials
they made:
 Huge statues
 Necklaces, collars and bracelets.
Ask Yourselves

 Analyze:
1. What were some advantages of using papyrus?
2. What would It be like to use a language that could be written either up
or down, right or left; or left to right?
3. Why do you think builders would place obelisks at the entrance of the
temples?
4. Why do you think many Egyptian temples had rows of sphinxes
leading to the entrance?
5. Choose one achievement of the ancient Egyptians and compare it to
something that you remember the Sumerians created. How is the
achievement from Egypt similar to that from Sumer?
 Identify:
 What is a sphinx?
 Recall:
 What are the two types of large structures created by the Egyptian
architects?
 Give two examples of common subjects of Egyptian paintings.