Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Five great achievements from ancient Egypt.

    The ancient Egyptians were much more advanced than other  civilizations in their era. One of their amazing achievements was inventing the calendar. They invented the calendar so they could know at what time of the year the Nile River would flood. Here is a picture of their calendar compared to ours.
 
 
Their calendar isn't much different than ours. We both have 365 days and 12 months in a year.  It wasn't easy making the calendar.  The Egyptians had to use astronomy to set up the calendar. They had to track the moon and stars to get the right information.
 
Another great achievement that the Egyptians made was inventing the Nileometer.  Nileometers were very important to the Egyptians.  A Nileometer measured the rising water levels of the Nile River so the Egyptians could predict a possible flood that would endanger lives or crops. 

( These pictures will be displayed at the exhibit. ) 
 
Pyramids are a big part in the Egyptian culture. When the making of pyramids first began, the Egyptians had to become more advanced in mathematics, engineering and astronomy. The pyramids were used as tombs for the pharoahs and other important people. They held many artifacts such as statues, jewels and furniture that was important to the deceased.  You know that it took 100,000 people to build one pyramid in over 20 years?
( I would have a model pyramid on display. )  
 
 
One of the most important discoveries the Egyptians made was learning how to make things out of papyrus.
Papyrus is a plant that grows in the Nile River.
 
Papyrus is used for many different things but it is super dangerous to harvest.  In the process of harvesting the papyrus, the harvesters have to sing very loud and splash their paddles against the water to keep away the hippos, crocodiles and snakes! The most important use for papyrus was to make scrolls, which was the first paper. For the first time ever they could travel with their writing!
( I would have an actual scroll made out of papyrus on display. )
 

After the Egyptians stopped building pyramids they started building temples for religious purposes. Some of the greatest temples ever built were the temples of Karnak. The temples of Karnak were once beautiful but now some of them have crumbled over the years.


( The pictures will be displayed. )
 
 
If allowed, I would like to put an interactive display for children.  One table would have modeling clay for building small pyramids.  Another table would have paper, crayons and ribbon for writing and making scrolls. This is will be the conclusion of my exhibit.