Ancient Egypt
Ab out A ncient Egy pt
around unde d in the lands fo s wa t yp Eg nt cie An dern -day e same place that mo the River Nile, in th building e first settl ers starte d Th y. da to s lie t yp Eg ars later ars ago, and 90 0 ye citie s over 6,00 0 ye unite d the country. or g kin st fir e th ed under e and culture flourish Ancient Egyptian lif ars, over thousands of ye rs le ru nt re ffe di ny ma g built s and py ramids bein with amazing temple that Tom Some of the places y. da to nd sta ll sti at th gether y not ha ve exist ed to visits in this bo ok ma of ancient t they were all part bu e, tim me sa e th at history. Egyptian culture and
Get ready to meet . . .
To m
Gr
a n ny B e a
Di
g by t h e c at
and spot the hidden scarab beetle in every scene!
First published 2019 by Nosy Crow Ltd The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place, Crosby Row, London SE1 1YW www.nosycrow.com ISBN 978 1 78800 101 4 Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd. Published in collaboration with the British Museum. Text © Nosy Crow 2019 Illustrations © Fatti Burke 2019 The right of Nosy Crow to be identified as the author and Fatti Burke to be identified as the illustrator of this work has been asserted. All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Printed in China. Papers used by Nosy Crow are made from wood grown in sustainable forests. 135798642
Contents Page 4 - 5
Page 6 -7
Page 8 - 9
Page 10 -11
Page 12-13
Page 14 -15
Page 16 -17
Page 18 -19
Page 20 -21
Page 22-23
Page 24 -25
Page 26 -27
Page 28 -29
Page 30 - 31
Page 32- 33
Solutions
Page 34 - 38
Glossary
Page 38 - 39
Index
Page 40
Tom was an ordinary boy, most of the time. He was clever and brave and he loved adventure. Tom’s grandmother, Bea, was an ordinary grandmother, most of the time. She was clever and brave, and a little bit mischievous, and she loved adventure, too. Which was just as well, since her job was digging in the dust and the dirt to discover how people used to live. Granny Bea was an .
Granny Bea’s cat, Digby, did not like digging in the dust and the dirt. Or getting wet. Or missing his meals. In fact, Digby did not like adventure at all. Digby’s favourite thing was to find a nice soft bed and have a nap. 4
One ordinary afternoon, Granny Bea called Tom up to her study. “Here,” said Granny Bea, giving Tom a heavy cloth bag to hold. “I thought you might want to look at this,” she added, holding up something small and blue in the shape of an eye. “What is it?” asked Tom, forgetting about the bag for a moment.
Granny Bea smiled. “It’s an . Ancient Egyptians carried them to protect themselves from harm, and this protective eye symbol was thought to keep children safe.” Tom stretched out his hand to touch the amulet and . . . 5
Tom was in ancient Egypt! He couldn’t believe it. Had Granny Bea known this would happen? He was in a desert, surrounded by towering pyramids. Suddenly, Digby jumped out of the bag Tom was holding and ran off. Oh no! He must have been sleeping in there. Where had that naughty cat gone?
hi nx • AA sp a mum my ch • Tomild pretend ing to be • A worker who has tripped and • dropped his water e br ea d m eo ne eatin g so m • So gb y th e cat • Di leo pa rd sk in hi • A gh pr iest wear ing a
The pyramids were built out of heavy blocks of stone, which were brought over from nearby on boats and hauled up ramps on wooden . This is why the pyramids were built close to the River Nile.
The pyramids were designed to protect a ’s body and his belongings after he died. When a pharaoh came to power, he started planning his pyramid straight away, because they could take up to 25,000 men 20 years to build!
6
A large statue called the stood in front of the pyramids. It had the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh.
7
A funeral procession went past and a priest squinted at Tom. Uh oh! Tom needed a disguise. He found some strange clothes in the bag Granny Bea had given him. "That’s weird," he thought, as he put them on. "It’s almost as if Granny Bea knew I would need these." Suddenly, he thought he spotted Digby.
8
Ancient Egyptians believed that when someone died, they would go on a journey to the . A person could only get into the afterlife if they passed a series of tests, so a funeral was held 70 days after they died to help get them ready.
• Digby the ca • Two flute playt ers • A pr iest in a jackal mask • Tom • Someone ho • A fa lcon ld ing one blue ja r • A woman hold ing papy ru s scrolls
At a funeral procession, family and friends would walk behind the coffin with dirt on their heads, beating their hands against their arms and bodies to show how upset they were. Servants walked behind them, carrying the things that would be buried with the dead person, and priests led the way at the front.
Women sang sad songs, and pretended to be the goddesses and , who were the chief in ancient Egyptian religion, while other people played instruments.
9