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Ancient Egypt and the pyramids

  1. The Nile River seen from space, a green line winding through the desert Real photo

    A home by the Nile

    Imagine a girl in Egypt 4,500 years ago. Her home is by the Nile River, in Africa. Away from the river, the land is dry desert. So most people live near the Nile.

    1. 1
      The Nile floods
    2. 2Mud
      water goes down
    3. 3
      Plant seeds
    4. 4
      Harvest

    The flood

    Every year the Nile floods her family's fields. When the water goes down, it leaves rich, dark mud. Her family plants seeds in the mud. Later they harvest the crops.

  3. Huge stones
    Boats
    on the Nile

    Boats with giant stones

    One day she sees boats on the river. They carry huge, heavy stone blocks. The stones are for a pyramid. It will be a tomb for a king. A king of Egypt was called a pharaoh.

  4. The big stone pyramids of Giza in the desert under a blue sky Real photo

    The pyramid grows

    Thousands of workers build the pyramid. The work takes many years. Each side of a pyramid is a triangle. The pyramids are still standing today.

  5. A piece of stone carved with Egyptian picture writing, like an owl and a cat Real photo

    Picture writing

    Near the river, a scribe is writing. He writes on papyrus. It is made from a Nile plant. He uses little pictures called hieroglyphs. Our word paper comes from papyrus.

For parents

Goal: Your child learns how the Nile shaped life in ancient Egypt and why the pyramids were built.

  • Ask: why did most people live near the Nile?
  • Say the new words together: pharaoh, pyramid, hieroglyphs, papyrus.

Away from the screen: Find Egypt and the Nile on a globe. Then stack blocks or books into a small pyramid and count the layers.

World History · Early Cities and Big Ideas
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