EGYPT

There were deserts to the east and west of the Nile River, and mountains to the south. This isolated the ancient Egyptians and allowed them to develop a distinctive culture.

The Nile is the world's longest river. It is over 4000 miles long! It is shaped like the lotus flower so often seen in ancient Egyptian art. The ancient Egyptian called this rich soil The Gift of the Nile. Because of the annual flooding of the Nile, the ancient Egyptians enjoyed a high standard of living compared to other ancient civilizations. Without the Nile, Egypt would be a desert

Thanks to the Nile, these ancient people had fresh water for drinking and bathing. The Nile supported transportation and trade. It provided materials for building, for making cloth for clothes, and even for making paper - made from the wild papyrus weed, that grew along the shores of the Nile.

 THE PYRAMIDS

It was only during the time of the Old Kingdom (2500 BC) that the ancient Egyptians built pyramids to hold the royal tombs of their kings. Pyramids were huge structures. Pyramids had storage rooms, courtyards, secret passageways, and all kinds of fancy traps designed to catch robbers who tried to break into the pyramid to rob it.