Egypt was able to provide the Kush with Greek wine and olive oil, both sold at very high profits for the Egyptians. The Kush too resold goods from other cultures, from ostrich feathers for the clothing of pharaohs to incense, acquired cheaply via a shorter trade route with Yemen.

Egypt also traded with Anatolia for tin and copper in order to make bronze. Mediterranean trading partners provided olive oil and other fine goods. Egypt commonly exported grain, gold, linen, papyrus, and finished goods, such as glass and stone objects.

What kinds of similarities were there between the cultures of Nubia and Egypt? How did trade benefit both Egypt and Nubia? Both used trade to gain wealth and to obtain goods they could could not produce locally. How did geography shape the civilization of Nubia?

What was the effect of increased farming and trade? A complex writing system was created. An organized government developed. Geometry was developed.

Egyptians relied on agriculture for more than just the production of food. They were creative in their use of plants, using them for medicine, as part of their religious practices, and in the production of clothing.

Why did Egyptians willingly serve the pharaoh? One reason was that they believed the unity of the kingdom depended on a strong leader. The Egyptians thought their pharaoh was a god on earth who controlled Egypt’s welfare. He carried out certain rituals that were thought to benefit the kingdom.

The ancient Egyptians’ attitude towards death was influenced by their belief in immortality. To ensure the continuity of life after death, people paid homage to the gods, both during and after their life on earth. When they died, they were mummified so the soul would return to the body, giving it breath and life.

The factors leading to the decline of ancient Egypt were largely uncontrollable. A civil war coupled with invasions by the Assyrians weakened the Egyptian military allowing the Persian empire to successfully invade and take over Egypt.

embalmed

The hot, dry sand quickly removed moisture from the dead body and created a natural mummy. In order to ensure that the body was preserved the Ancient Egyptians began to use a process called mummification to produce their mummies. This involved embalming the body and then wrapping it in thin strips of linen.

Forget coffins – now you can be MUMMIFIED: U.S. firm offers 21st century version of ancient Egyptian burial rites. If being buried in a box underground doesn’t appeal to you, but you don’t want to be cremated, why not try mummification. The Ancient Egyptians mummified bodies because they believed in the afterlife.

Not everyone was mummified The mummy – an eviscerated, dried and bandaged corpse – has become a defining Egyptian artefact. Yet mummification was an expensive and time-consuming process, reserved for the more wealthy members of society. The vast majority of Egypt’s dead were buried in simple pits in the desert.

Used to bury leaders and wealthy residents in ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece, a sarcophagus is a coffin or a container to hold a coffin.

Early tombs were considered the eternal dwelling places of the deceased, and the earliest coffins resembled miniature homes in appearance. They were made of small pieces of local wood doweled together. The inside floor of the coffin was painted with Nut, Isis, Osiris, or the Djed pillar (Osiris’s backbone).

The mummies of pharaohs were placed in ornate stone coffins called sarcophaguses. They were then buried in elaborate tombs filled with everything they’d need for the afterlife such as vehicles, tools, food, wine, perfume, and household items. Some pharaohs were even buried with pets and servants.

Pharaohs were mummified with amulets and jewels inside the linen wrappings and then buried in lots of coffins inside coffins to protect the body. When ancient Egyptians were mummified, their organs were removed. The liver, intestines, lungs and stomach were placed inside special containers, called canopic jars.

Jamie Theakston and Marcelle Duprey attempt to solve the mystery of why scarab beetles were buried with mummified bodies. The scarab was an amulet or lucky charm placed on the heart to protect it on its journey to the afterlife. The heart was the only organ left in a body when it was mummified.

Every good pharaoh needed servants in the afterlife, but instead of burying a real life servant in the tomb with them, small model figurines were made called ushabti. It was thought the ushabti would come alive to serve their kings in the afterlife.

Tombs held everything a God would need in the next life, including a toilet. Even the pharaoh’s cats were mummified to keep him company. Pharaohs were buried with models of their servants. But early pharaohs were buried with real servants – knocked on the head.

Queen of Egypt

The ancient Egyptian royal families were almost expected to marry within the family, as inbreeding was present in virtually every dynasty. Pharaohs were not only wed to their brothers and sisters, but there were also “double-niece” marriages, where a man married a girl whose parents were his own brother and sister.

A man who married his own daughter and was arrested for incest has convicted after pleading guilty to a lesser charge. Court papers show that Travis Fieldgrove, 40, wed his daughter, Samantha Kershner, 22, St. Paul, in October last year.

A lot of physical problems have been found in the mummies of other pharaohs but it’s often not clear what caused them, Ramses II had degenerative arthritis for instance which could have been caused by inbreeding but there were such a huge number of pharaohs across so many dynasties they weren’t all inbred and while …