Egypt

Egypt is known for it's pyramids, pharos, deserts, art, and most of all mummies. More is known about the ancient Egyptians than the ancient Greeks or Romans. This is because of the great number of buildings and objects that were made by the Egyptians. Egyptologists and archaeologists study these buildings and objects.

People who study Egypt are called Egyptologists.

Archaeologists are people trained to carefully dig up buried objects to find information about the past.

In the past much information was lost because people just took objects from sites and gave them to museums. Now archaeologists take very careful notes about everything they discover. They are trained to know that every piece of information is important in putting together stories from the past. Many things that are old tend to crumble and fade, but scientists can now preserve objects that have been underground for thousands of years.

When Egyptians painted pictures, they weren't trying to show what people and animals really looked like. Each picture was like a diagram. The pictures told a story.

Mummies

When you think of a mummy what comes to mind? Most of us usually picture an Egyptian mummy wrapped in bandages and buried deep inside a pyramid. While the Egyptian ones are the most famous, mummies have been found in many places throughout the world, from Greenland to China to the Andes Mountains of South America.

A mummy is the body of a person (or an animal) that has been preserved after death. Normally when a person dies, bacteria and other germs eat away at the soft tissues (such as skin and muscles) leaving only the bones behind. Since bacteria need water in order to grow, mummification usually happens if the body dries out quickly after death. The body may then be so well preserved that we can even tell how the dead person may have looked in life.

Mummies are made naturally or by embalming, which is any process that people use to help preserve a dead body. Mummies can be dried out by extreme cold, by the sun, by smoke, or using chemicals such as natron. Some bodies become mummies because there were favorable natural conditions when they died. Others were preserved and buried with great care.