Daily Life
in    Ancient Egypt

Do you know what the ancient Egyptians believed would cure a toothache? Find out here! Read some Egyptian Tall Tales, and an original story about Ancient Egyptian Daily Life. Explore Mrs Donn's Special Section: "Deep in the Tombs of Egypt", where you can watch a short movie about mummies, learn to draw like an Egyptian, share Rosetta Stone's Pharaoh Adventure, and more! If you're in a hurry, use the cheat sheet to find just what you need! Welcome to Ancient Egypt!

CHEAT SHEETOriginal Stories, Adventure, Myths & Daily Life!

Introduction	Interesting Trivia
Egyptian Tall Tales	My Life in Ancient Egypt

Credits

Other Cultures

 

 

INTRODUCTION

The ancient Egyptians were fascinating people, and thanks to the movies, are often misunderstood. The ancient Egyptians were not in love with death, but with life! They enjoyed their life to the fullest. They worked very hard, but saved time to enjoy family, friends, music, parties, swimming, fishing, hunting, sailing, and especially their children, all of which were very important to the ancient Egyptians.

They believed in an afterlife, and believed that people enjoyed many of the same activities in their afterlife as they did in their current life. They prepared for their afterlife by filling their tombs with small and large statutes of friends and family, and with other items they might need to keep them company and to help them have a good time in their afterlife!

Animals were very important to the ancient Egyptians. Unlike other ancient cultures, whose gods looked somewhat like people, most ancient Egyptian gods had animal heads. Cats, especially, were held in high esteem. The ancient Egyptians believed that cats had magical powers. They believed cats protected their home and children from danger, and helped their crops to grow. The ancient Egyptians carefully protected their cats. Any person who killed a cat paid for that crime with their life!

INTERESTING TRIVIA
Quiz your friends!

1. What did the ancient Egyptians call the the constellation we call the Big Dipper?  Answer: The Hippopotamus
   
2. Where did ancient Egyptian women place or wear perfume? Answer: In wax cones on their heads
   
3. Used to make bread and beer, what was the major crop of ancient Egypt? Answer: Barley
   
4. When the ancient Egyptians held a party, what did they call it? Answer: A house of beer
   
5. What breed of dog was used as a hunting dog in ancient Egypt? Answer: The greyhound
   
6. Name the only wind instrument in ancient Egypt. Answer: The flute
   
7. The Christian cross was developed from what ancient Egyptian symbol? Answer: Ankh  
   
8. What was the most popular pet in ancient Egypt? Answer: A cat!
   
9. What did the ancient Egyptians believe would cure a toothache? Answer: Fried mice!
   

ORIGINAL STORY!

My Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
Written by a creative young writer, Kathryn,
a sixth-grader from Glen Burnie, Maryland, USA.

Hello! My name is Cleocatherine. My name comes from our queen, Cleopatra. I am eleven (11) years old. I have jet black hair and warm brown eyes. My skin is very tan. I work as a baker in my parents home. I have two (2) sisters who help with the shop. Atina, who is eight, and Clecatrin, who is twelve.

We all help to make enough money to keep us going. Our biggest customer is Pharaoh! He loves my recipe for tarts, so every day, I make some for him. I have to work very hard sometimes.

In the morning, I get up, get dressed, and go downstairs. I start a fire in our oven and put the bread dough in it that I made last night. Once that's done, I go down to the river to take my daily bath. When I am finished, I go back up to the house. I take the bread out of the oven and let it cool. My parents have gotten up while I was at the river, and had taken their baths with the huge basin used for washing our clothes and ourselves. My parents were already at the wheat fields, harvesting our wheat to be ground into flour. My little sister, Atina, will do most of the grinding.

When my parents were back, and when we were finished eating breakfast, it was time for me to start cooking for Pharaoh's supper. I get out the recipe for fig tarts. Figs are one of Pharaoh's favorite foods! I get a basket out and find out how many figs I will need for the tarts. Then I go to the marketplace to get the figs. Figs are very expensive, but Pharaoh pays good money for the tarts. When I get back home, I get out all the other things I'll need. My sister is still grinding the wheat into flour, and the pounding of her mortar makes a steady rhythm for me to keep time to. Soon, the batter was ready, and I carefully pour it into the molds. Then, I put them in the oven.

While it was cooking, I ate the leftovers from breakfast for lunch. Once I finished eating, I switch places with Clecatrin, so that she can help Atina grind wheat. My job at this time is to tend to the shop. This includes arranging baked goods on shelves, taking orders from customers, and helping to keep the shop clean.

Just as I started to arrange pastries on a linen cloth, Millina walked through the door. Millina is my best friend. Her family's job is jewelry making. We both have a lot of friendship jewelry that Millina makes because of this. My favorite is an armband made out of turquoise that Millina made a twin to, for herself. She says turquoise looks really good on me. The reason she was here was because she needed bread, tarts, biscuits, and a whole bunch of other things for her parents' dinner party. Her family is very well known, so they have a lot of dinner parties, one every night.

After we got Millina's orders all settled, (including how much we should make, how much it would cost, and all the other odds and ends tied up), Pharoah's tarts were done. The sun was high in the sky, yet it was past noon. I had just enough time to take the tarts to Pharaoh's. When I got to the gates, I told the guards that I had made some extra tarts for them. They knew I always had something good for them, and they thanked me as I passed through the gates.

After I got home, I started making bread for tomorrow's breakfast. My parents were already asleep when I got home because it was past sunset. I got out a roll to eat because I was hungry. Soon, I undressed and went up to the roof to get some sleep.

While I lay there, gazing into the bright, twinkling sky, I thought about everything that I had done today. I knew tomorrow would be just like it. Once I knew every day would be almost exactly alike, I relaxed and closed my eyes. The next minute, I was asleep.

ORIGINAL STORY!

Ancient Egyptian Tall Tales
Shared with us by Egyptologist Jacques Kinnaer

The Ancient Egyptians had many different ways of trying to obtain a divine intervention in their lives, or to try to take a glance at the perils or fortunes the future might have in store for them.

Friday the 13th: Similar to Friday the 13th in western culture, the Ancient Egyptians had several days per year that were considered unlucky. On such days, it was best not to undertake journeys, or to attempt to harvest. Other days, however, were particularly benevolent.

This calendar may in part have been based on some sort of experience. For instance, the last days of the year, just preceding the annual flooding of the Nile, were considered dangerous and unlucky days, because of the hot weather and the many insects that caused sickness or even death.

Tall Tales #1: Dreams were another way to try to predict the future or to solve a problem. In a story about Khaemwaset, one of the sons of the great king Ramesses II, it is told that the hero’s wife was unable to get pregnant and bear children. During a dream, however, the desperate woman is visited by the gods who tell her which potions and herbs to use to cure her problem. And indeed, after she follows the divine advice, she gets pregnant and bears her husband a son!

Tall Tales #2: Legend has it that one could actively invoke the intervention of one or more gods. In the archives of Deir el-Medina, the village of the craftsmen who built the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, a particularly interesting account of a theft has been found.

One day, one of the craftsmen found that a little statuette was missing from his house and he informed the local authorities. The resulting investigations, however, were unable to find the missing statue, so the man turned to the god Amun and asked him to reveal the identity of the thief. The statue of the god was then taken into procession through the village. Before each door, the statue was asked whether the thief resided in that house.

Suddenly, before the door of one house, the divine statue moved, as if it were nodding, thus indicating where the culprit was to be found. The accused man at first denied any involvement in the theft and asked another god to prove his innocence. But instead of proving the alleged thief’s innocence, this god too confirmed his guilt.

In the end, the man indicated by the gods was found guilty, the stolen object found, and finally returned. This thief was lucky, though, for the gods normally punish hard those who invoke their names falsely!

Tall Tales #3: One of the many texts I read when I was still a student, was found on a stela dated to the Ramesside era. It was written for a man who describes himself as an outcast, living "like a dog in a temple", because he falsely swore an oath in the name of the god Ptah. The text ends with a warning to all those who read the text to take guard of the gods and to never swear any false oaths using their name.

So beware, you all, not to invoke the wrath of the gods by using their names with less than honourable intent!

 

ALL ABOUT ANCIENT EGYPT

Thanks for visiting! Have a great year!

Lin and Don Donn