Papyrus

A long time ago when Egypt was growing they discovered Papyrus which is a plant they could use to make paper and write on.  I chose papyrus because we get our word "paper" from it. Discovering how to make and write on papyrus advanced civilization because they didn't have to use stones anymore.  They could start writing stories and keeping records of important things on paper and they could roll it up in scrolls and store it easily.    

To display this in a museum I would maybe have an actual papyrus plant in a pot nearby.  Next to the pot, maybe have a table with a scroll and some ink.  To make it really cool, maybe people could actually write on the scroll to see how it looks and feels.

Surveying - Division Collision

When the Nile River flooded then the Egyptians had to redivide the land because sometimes the waters moved boundary stones so they made methods of surveying to help with that problem.  Surveying is still done today all the time especially when people are building new houses and roads and bridges.

To display this I would put ancient surveying tools on display somewhere.

    

Pyramids, Palaces, Temples Oh My!

Some people think that Egypt taught the world how to build because of how they learned to build pyramids, palaces and temples.   The pyramids were built to put dead kings inside to keep them safe in the afterlife.  The pyramid's sides were smooth and did not have steps. The Egyptians also built palaces.  The palaces must have been for the kings to live in.  The temples that were built were obviously made to worship their gods.  The biggest temple is Karnak, covering 250 acres of land and is Egypt's greatest achievement.  It took a long time to build it.

To show these great buildings you could put pictures up that showed how big they actually are.  You can have a computer with a link to this cool website to see the temple of Karnak. (http://www.oup.co.uk/oxed/children/egypt/)

Karnak Temple

This picture shows the size of it next to real people down at the bottom.

Arise Of The MUMMIES!!!

The most common thought that comes to your mind when you think of Egypt, is mummies, right?  Well they didn't start off making mummies of everyone like you may think, they only mummified the pharaohs (rulers of Egypt).  They put these mummies in the pyramids to keep them safe in the afterlife.  One pharaoh decided to have his tomb underground to keep tomb robbers from stealing the jewels inside and his was the only one found with everything left in it!!  The reason I chose mummies to be in this exhibit is because we learned a lot about our bodies by making mummies so our knowledge of how our insides look and work started here!

To display this I would definitely show a remake of King Tut's tomb.  Maybe even have a real mummy enclosed in a glass case (of course) for people to see.

Controlling The Nile River

The Nile River was very important to Egypt.  I choose this because the Egyptians learned how to take control of the Nile River to help them farm their lands. They were smart and developed a calendar with 365 days to help them predict when the flood would come.  Today we still use calendars with 365 days in it so that development was very important.  Because they could control the Nile River they could grow lots of food and because they could grow lots of food they did not have to work so hard to not be hungry so then they could advance society by building things.  

To display this I would have a map on the wall of the Nile River to show how long it is.  Maybe a remake of a Nileometer that people can see and touch.

Welcome To Egypt

Welcome to the Egyptian part of this exhibit.  Be ready to learn about the 5 most important contributions Egyptians made to civilization such as how and why the Egyptians built Pyramids, who and why they mummified, how they made paper and more!  When your ready, let's begin the tour.