A short history of ancient Egypt

Egypt started as a bunch of villages lining the Nile river. Over time, the villages joined together to form larger communities. By around 3100BC, there were two separate kingdoms, called Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. If you look at a map of ancient Egypt, you will see that Lower Egypt is on the top of the map and Upper Egypt on the bottom. The Nile river flowed north, which, on a map, is up. But the Egyptians thought that the river flowed to the bottom of the world. If you flip the map upside down, you will see the world the way the Egyptians saw it.

The two kingdoms were enemies, and they fought many battles. In one final battle, the king of Upper Egypt defeated the king of Lower Egypt. The king of Lower Egypt wore a red crown, and the king of Upper Egypt wore a white crown. After the battle, the king of Upper Egypt (King Menes) took the red crown and placed it overtop of his own crown. This symbolises that the king of Upper Egypt is now king of all Egypt.

The history of ancient Egypt is split into three periods, the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. During the Old and Middle Kingdoms, the Egyptians built huge pyramids as tombs for their pharaohs (kings). The largest pyramid is the Great Pyramid of Giza, which was built for a pharaoh named Khufu. It is 147m (482ft) high and contains over two million stone blocks. There are over 30 pyramids in Egypt.

The Egyptians believed that life went on after death, so the pharaoh's body went through a process called mummification. First, the brain and other organs were removed and put in jars called canopic jars. But the heart was wrapped in bandages and put back in the body, because the Egyptians believed that the pharaoh would need it in the afterlife. Next, the body was covered with a salt, called natron, to dry it out. Then, the insides were stuffed with linen, natron, sawdust and sweet-smelling spices. After this, the body was wrapped in bandages. Lucky charms, called amulets, were placed between the layers. Lastly, the body was placed in a number of coffins.

Egyptian pharaohs were buried with tons of wealth and anything they might need in the afterlife. But pyramids were often robbed, and when archeologists found a pharaoh's burial chamber, there was barely anything left. Some pyramids were built with false passages and dead ends to confuse tomb robbers, but that wasn't enough. So in the New Kingdom, pharaohs were buried in a hidden valley called the Valley of the Kings. But tomb robbers found those tombs as well. The tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun was the only one that escaped.

The Egyptian empire lasted from 2686 to 30BC, which is more than 2600 years. It was one of the most powerful empires in the ancient world.