Ancient Egypt Inside Out

Ancient Egypt Inside Out — page 3
Who Were the Ancient Egyptians The fertile lands of the Nile River in northeastern Africa were home to one of the most powerful civilizations in the ancient world Egypt was not the very first ancient civilization but its well-preserved remains architecture art and artifacts are familiar to us Even thousands of years after its fall images of pyramids mummies tomb art and papyrus scrolls come to mind when we imagine ancient Egypt What Is an Ancient Civilization Large settlements of people formed the basis of the first civilizations Through farming these settlements grew into larger cities Writing government and class systems soon developed These early settlements led to the later development of present-day cities states and countries River Civilization Like many ancient cultures Egypt was built along the banks of a river The Nile River is the longest waterway in the world and runs about 4,132 miles 6,650 km from its source in Central Africa before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea Surrounded by desert and green savannah ancient Egyptians depended on the river’s life-giving waters and annual floods The floods enriched the soil with silt from the river The silt fertilized crops and made it possible for an agricultural civilization to thrive on its banks From Scattered Villages to a Kingdom Egypt did more than survive on the banks of the Nile it flourished A ready and available food supply allowed the population to grow Villages grew up along the river eventually forming into distinct regions known as the two lands or Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egyptians developed sophisticated systems of government in which kings and occasionally queens called pharaohs ruled the land A large workforce built cities and monuments and a strong army protected the Egyptians from outside invaders Around 3100 B C E the two lands united into one powerful kingdom 4