Along the banks of the Nile…
Egypt is an old country. People have lived there for hundreds of thousands of years. Unlike other places where people have lived for a long time, we know more about what life was life, because the Ancient Egyptians wrote things down.
That means there’s an awful lot to learn. And it’s not just Ancient Egypt either! Egypt has a modern history as well (you can see in the timeline below). It was invaded by Napoleon, controlled by the British, fought back by claiming control of a canal and had a big revolution in 2011. Quite a bit of work really…
This workbook is all about the culture, history and food of Egypt - we’re even going underwater!
This workbook has 6 different activities.
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Before you start…
You’ll need some printed worksheets to complete this workbook. Start by clicking the button below and printing out the sheets.
Get a grown up to help you if you need it.
MAKE SURE TO CHECK ‘FIT TO PAGE’ WHEN YOU PRINT
When you’ve printed out the worksheets and got a pen or pencil, then scroll down to the begin the activities.
Not sure how the workbook works? Click the button below…
Here’s a bigger map…
You can click on the red circles to learn more - it might help you later!
Do you have a younger brother or sister who wants to join in?
We’ve made some colouring in sheets for them, so they can learn at the same time as you. Just click on the picture to download 2 colouring in pages.
First Questions
There are lots of interesting things to learn about Egypt! Can you answer the questions in this quiz?
Remember, try not to guess but actually do some research to find out the answers - ask your parents, or look on the Internet to find the answers!
Activity 1: Famous Egyptians
There are plenty of famous Egyptian people - some ancient and some modern. There are famous sports people, politicians and leaders, writers and feminists.
Can you complete the names of these famous people from Egypt? You’ll need to do some research.
There are gaps on page 3 of your worksheets where you can write down the answers
One of the answers has a star - that’s the answer that should go in the Answer Grid⭐
Activity 2: Let’s travel around Egypt
Egypt is a big county, and most of it is desert. Almost everyone lives along the Nile, close to the water, although some people live in the desert near oases where there’s water from springs in the ground.
Nowadays Egypt is a mixture of modern cities and the remains of old sites. There are lots of remains of Ancient Egypt - pyramids, burial sites and temples. Many people travel to Egypt to see these ancient sites, hoping to find some bits of a mummy or an ancient tomb.
But it’s important to remember that Egypt is a modern country too. This map combines Ancient Egyptian sites and modern cities and towns. The dots in blue are modern cities and the dots in red are ancient sites.
Can you find these ancient monuments?
Below are 8 ancient Egyptian sites. They were important in Ancient Egypt, and they’re important now, especially for archaeologists, and lots of tourists visit them every year.
Read a little about each of the sites, then look at the map on page 4 of your worksheets - there are blank spots but which ancient monument goes where? On pages 5 & 6 you’ll find some more instructions.
The final destination is the answer that goes in the Answer Grid.
Abu Simbel
These 2 temples were built by Ramesses II to celebrate his victory in the battle of Kadesh. In 1968 they were picked up completely and moved to a new location to avoid flooding from a nearby dam.
Rosetta
Rosetta or Rashid is a town on the Nile Delta. The Rosetta Stone was found here, and named after the town. The Rosetta Stone allowed archaeologists to understand Egyptian hieroglyphics for the first time.
Siwa Oasis
People have lived in Siwa for 12,000 years. There are springs which come up through the ground, meaning green things grow there. It’s also sometimes called the Oasis of Amun Ra. Many Amazigh people live there.
Karnak
Karnak is a giant area of temples, chapels and buildings from Ancient Egypt. It was part of the huge city of Thebes, also called Waset, which was the capital of Ancient Egypt for a long time. It is across the river from the Valley of the Kings.
Amarna
Amarna was the capital of Egypt for a very short time. Pharaoh Akhenaten started a new religion and built palaces and temples there. Archaeologists later found important stones called the Amarna Letters.
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings is where many Pharaohs were buried in huge tombs. So far 64 tombs have been found and there are still more places to look. The tomb of Tutankhamun was found here in 1922.
The Pyramids at Giza
The pyramids standing outside Giza are the most famous monuments in Egypt. There are 3 real pyramids and several smaller ones. The pyramids are called Khufu (tallest), Khafre (middle), and Menkaure (smallest).
Temple of Edfu
The Temple of Edfu was dedicated to the god Horus, god of kings and the sky. There are lots of beautiful carvings on the walls and the temple is very well preserved, even though it’s over 2,000 years old!
The History of Egypt
Egypt has a long history, like many countries, but unlike other countries the history of Egypt has mostly been written down. That means we know much more about Egyptian history than other countries.
Ancient Egypt
There’s so much to learn about Ancient Egypt! We can’t possibly cover it all in one single workbook. So we’ve gathered together a bunch of fun learning resources about the Ancient Egyptians.
You can click on the images to go to different websites with fun Egypt content. They’re not part of the Answer Grid though so you don’t have to look at them!
Mummies & Mummification
Hieroglyphics & Papyrus
Egyptian
Medicine
The Pharaohs
of Egypt
The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb
Egyptian Pyramids
The Rosetta
Stone
Gods &
Goddesses
We’ve made a simple page with loads and loads of links to Ancient Egyptian content. Once you’ve finished with the workbook questions, maybe you’ll want to go back and do more…
Activity 3: Akhenaten’s Hieroglyphics
Akhenaten
Pharaoh Akhenaten was an unusual pharaoh. Before him, all the Egyptian Pharaohs believed in the gods of Ancient Egypt. There was Isis, the goddess of motherhood, magic and healing; Horus, god of the skies, with the head of a hawk; Anubis, with the head of a jackal, the god of the afterlife, and many more.
Instead Akhenaten decided to worship just one God - Aten, the God of the Sun. He set up a new capital city, in Amarna. He brought lots of new ideas and changed many things about Egyptian culture. His wife was called Nefertiti, which means ‘the beautiful woman has come’ and he was probably the father of Tutankhamen.
Nefertiti
But not everyone liked his ideas. After he died, people quickly went back to worshiping lots of gods, rather than just Aten. The city of Amarna was abandoned and left to disappear into the desert. Inscriptions with Akhenaten’s name were rubbed out and he was removed from the lists of the Pharaohs, or only called ‘the Criminal’.
People forgot about him for many years because there were no records of him, until 1905 when excavations discovered the city. A famous British archaeologist, Flinders Petrie worked on uncovering Amarna, and found some important artifacts called the Amarna Letters.
Tutenkhamun
Now we know a little more about Akhenaten, but not much. DNA testing shows that he was probably the father of Tutenkhamun (probably the most famous Pharaoh), although he gave Tutenkhamun a different name. Tutenkhamun changed his name after his father died, probably to show that he didn’t believe the same things as his father.
Here are some hieroglyphics discovered in the tomb of Akhenten - they’re very rare because they haven’t been destroyed or scratched out. Can you translate the hieroglyphics?
There’s space on pages 7 & 8 of your worksheets to write down the translation.
You can use the chart of hieroglyphics below, or you can use a new invention - the Hieroglyphic Typewriter, which is on a separate webpage. Both are the same!
Where should Egyptian artifacts live?
In the Victorian times in Britain and America, Ancient Egypt became very popular. Everyone wanted to travel there to find Ancient Egyptian objects, like mummies or canopic jars. Some people did this carefully and respectfully, but lots of people didn’t know how to look after old objects. Lots of things got damaged.
Many of the people who made discoveries of tombs and temples were English or American. Even though lots of Egyptians knew where tombs were located, they weren’t interested in digging them up until tourists came along. They were happy to let things be.
Many of the things found by British and American excavators were taken home with them - like found treasure. Some of these objects are in private collections and many more are in museums like the British Museum or the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Nowadays, many Egyptian people want these objects to be returned to their homeland - Egypt. They say that the objects belong to their ancestors, and were stolen so should be returned. The museums in the USA, UK and other countries say they are safer where they are and don’t want to give them back. They earn lots of money from these objects.
Who do you think is right? Should these objects stay in places like the British Museum or go back to their home in Egypt?
Activity 4: The Suez Canal
The Suez Canal is one of the two most important canals in the world. It’s in the north-east corner of Egypt, near to Cairo and the Sinai desert.
Before the Canal existed, if people wanted to travel from Europe to India, Asia or the Pacific (or the other way around), they had to sail around the whole of Africa. This took a lot of time. When the Suez Canal was dug, it saved everyone lots of time by letting them go through the Mediterranean and then the Red Sea.
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO ON THE RIGHT…
That means that whoever is in charge of the Suez Canal has a lot of power. They can stop ships from travelling through if they want, making them go the long way around Africa.
Below is an infographic about the Suez Canal, but it’s got some information missing. Can you do some research and fill in the missing numbers and words? There’s a blank version on page 10 of your worksheets for you to fill in
Remember, one gap has a star - that’s the answer to the activity ⭐
Activity 5: Diving in the Red Sea
The Red Sea is very important for Egypt, as lots of people come to visit it. The Red Sea is the saltiest sea in the world, which means that it’s very easy to float in it - more easy than in other seas.
There’s also lots of beautiful coral and fish to be seen in the Red Sea. There are rays and sharks, clownfish and lionfish and all sorts of sea anemones and even turtles.
People like to snorkel or scuba dive in the Red Sea, to look at all the beautiful fish. Want to see what the coral of the Red Sea looks like?
Lots of people who dive or swim in the Red Sea have a Spotter’s Guide, which tells them the names of all the fish they might see. Here’s one below…
This is Marya.
She’s on a scuba diving trip in the Red Sea. She’s keeping a diary of everything that she sees under the water. Except she’s forgotten her Spotter’s Guide.
Can you read her diary entries (on pages 11, 12 & 13 of your workbooks) and work out which sea creatures she’s seen?
There’s a checklist on page 13 of your workbooks where you can tick off the things she’s seen.
Look at the Spotter’s Checklist. Of the fish that Marya saw (that means the boxes with a tick in them), which fish is number 2 on the list?
_ _ _ _ _ _ fish ⭐
Activity 6: Time for dinner!
The Collins family is staying in Alexandria. They decide to go out to dinner to Mohammed’s, as they’ve heard it’s a great restaurant for real Egyptian food. Mohammed is always happy to recommend meals for people - he just needs to know a bit about what they like.
Here you can see Mohammed’s menu. On pages 14 & 15 of your worksheets are some notes Mohammed has taken on what each of the family members would like to eat and drink. Take a look at the suggestions and the menu - what should Mohammed suggest for each family member?
Fill in the answers on page 16 of your worksheet. Everyone needs an appetizer, a main, a dessert and a drink and no one wants the same thing.
You may need to use the Internet for this puzzle, or even Google Translate. Ask an adult for help if you’re not sure.
The answer to the puzzle is Josh’s starter ⭐
Congratulations!
You’ve reached the end. You should have 6 answers now. You can write them all in the Answer Grid to reveal the vertical word.
Have you heard of this before? If not, look it up on Google and find some pictures!
Do you want to check your answer?
Click the button below and type in your answer. If you’ve got it right, you’ll get a congratulations message. If nothing happens, check your answers and try again!