10 Pyramids were built

Why do we call Egyptians ancient? We call the Egyptians ancient because they lived such a long time ago not because they all reached a ripe old age! The first Egyptians were farmers about 8,000 years ago. Within a few thousand years, Egypt had become one of the most powerful countries in the world. Why were the Egyptians great? The Egyptians were so good at farming that they became very rich. They built fantastic temples for their gods, and huge pointed tombs called pyramids where they buried their kings. They had armies and ships and courts of law. Their priests studied the stars and their craftspeople made beautiful things from gold and silver. Will people be studying us in 5,000 years' time? What will they think about the way we live now? The Egyptians usually built tombs for dead kings on the riverk western bank, where the Sun sets. They believed that their kings went to meet the Sun god when they died. Egypt is mostly sandy desert, where nothing grows. The ancient Egyptians settled on the banks of the river Nile, where there was plenty of water for themselves and their crops. The ancient Egyptians didn't know about distant parts of the world. But they did explore parts of Asia and Africa. And their merchants bought wood, gold, ivory, spices and even apes from nearby countries.

为什么我们称埃及人为古代？ 我们称埃及人古老是因为他们生活在很久以前，而不是因为他们都达到了一个成熟的年龄！最早的埃及人是大约8000年前的农民。 在几千年的时间里，埃及已经成为世界上最强大的国家之一。 为什么埃及人伟大？ 埃及人非常擅长农业，因此他们变得非常富有。 他们为他们的神建造了奇妙的庙宇，还有被称为金字塔的巨大尖墓，埋葬了他们的国王。 他们有军队、船只和法庭。 他们的祭司研究星星，他们的工匠用金银制造美丽的东西。 五千年后人们还会研究我们吗？ 他们会怎么看待我们现在的生活方式？ 埃及人通常在日落的河西岸为死去的国王修建陵墓。 他们相信他们的国王死后会去见太阳神。 埃及大部分是沙漠，那里什么都不长。 古埃及人定居在尼罗河岸边，那里有充足的水供他们自己和他们的庄稼使用。 古埃及人不知道遥远的世界。 但他们确实探索了亚洲和非洲的部分地区。 他们的商人从附近国家购买木材、黄金、象牙、香料，甚至猿猴。

Who ruled Egypt? The king of Egypt was called the pharaoh. The Egyptians believed that their Sun god Re was the first king of Egypt, and that all the pharaohs after him were his relatives. This made the pharaoh very holy and very powerful! The people thought he was a god on Earth. Could a woman be pharaoh? Although very few women ruled Egypt, there was a famous pharaoh called Hatshepsut. When her six-year-old nephew came to the throne. Hatshepsut was asked to rule Egypt for him—just until he was a little bit older. But Hatshepsut liked ruling so much that she wouldn't let her nephew take over. He didn't get the chance to rule until he was 30 years old! How would you know if you met a pharaoh? He would be wearing a crown, of course! In fact, pharaohs sometimes wore two crowns at the same time a white one for Upper Egypt, which was the name for the south of the country, and a red one for Lower Egypt, which was the north. The pharaoh's advisors were called the Honoured Ones. There were all sorts of royal officials, too, with grand names like the Director of Royal Dress and the Keeper of the Royal Wigs. When she was pharaoh, Hatshepsut had to wear the badges of royalty. These included a false beard, made of real hair.

谁统治埃及？埃及的国王被称为法老。 埃及人相信他们的太阳神Re是埃及的第一个国王，在他之后的所有法老都是他的亲戚。 这使法老非常神圣，非常强大！人们认为他是地球上的神。 女人能当法老吗？虽然很少有女性统治埃及，但有一位著名的法老叫哈特谢普苏特。 当她六岁的侄子继承王位时。 哈特谢普苏特被要求替他统治埃及——直到他稍微长大一点。 但哈特谢普苏特非常喜欢统治所以她不会让她的侄子继承王位。 他直到30岁才有机会统治！你怎么知道你见过法老？ 他当然会戴上王冠！事实上，法老有时会同时戴两顶王冠，一顶白色的上埃及，代表埃及南部，一顶红色的下埃及，代表埃及北部。 法老的顾问被称为尊贵的人。 还有各种各样的皇家官员，他们的名字都很响亮，比如皇家服装主管和皇家假发管理员。 当哈特谢普苏特还是法老的时候，她必须佩戴皇室的徽章。 其中包括用真头发做成的假胡子。

Who was the crocodile god? In old paintings and carvings, most Egyptian gods and goddesses have animal heads. The water god, Sebek, was shown as a crocodile. Thoth had the head of a bird called an ibis, while Taweret looked like a hippo! Osiris and Isis were luckier. They were shown as a great king and queen. Who was the goddess Nut? Nut was the goddess of the heavens and she was usually shown covered in stars. Many gods and goddesses were linked in families. Nut was married to Geb. Isis and Osiris were their children. The Egyptians loved to wear lucky charms. Their favourites were scarabs. The scarab beetle was sacred to the Sun god, Re. The ancient Egyptians worshipped as many as 2,000 gods and goddesses! Being a priest was a part-time job. Most only spent 3 months a year at the temple, and lived at home the rest of the time. Priests had to wash twice during the day and twice at night, to make themselves clean and pure for the gods.

谁是鳄鱼神？ 在古老的绘画和雕刻中，大多数埃及的神和女神都有动物的头。 水神塞贝克（Sebek）被描绘成一条鳄鱼。 透特长着一种叫朱鹭的鸟的头，而塔韦莱特看起来像河马！奥西里斯和伊西斯更幸运。 他们被描绘成伟大的国王和王后。 谁是坚果女神？坚果是天上的女神，她通常被描绘成满天繁星。 许多神和女神都有家族关系。 努特嫁给了格布。伊希斯和奥西里斯是他们的孩子。 埃及人喜欢佩戴幸运符。 他们最喜欢的是圣甲虫。 圣甲虫对太阳神来说是神圣的。 古埃及人崇拜多达2000个神和女神！当牧师是一份兼职工作。 大多数人一年只在寺庙呆三个月，其余时间都住在家里。 祭司们必须白天洗两次，晚上洗两次，使自己洁净，献给神。

Why did the Egyptians bury their mummies? A mummy is a dead body which has been dried out so it lasts for thousands of years. The Egyptians believed that the dead travelled to another world, where they needed their bodies. And they didn't want any bits missing! Why were mummies brainless? The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the most important part of the whole body. They thought that the brain was useless. So when they were preparing a mummy, they took out the brain—by pulling it down through the nose! Why were mummies wrapped in bandages? Wrapping the dead body helped to keep its shape. After the insides were removed, the body was dried out for 40 days in salty stuff called natron. Then it was washed, rubbed with ointments, and tightly bandaged. Some poorer families had their nearest and dearest mummified, but it was an expensive business. Only the rich could afford a really good send-off. The mummy was placed inside a series of wooden coffins. These were put in a big stone case called a sarcophagus. Monkeys, crocodiles, cats and other sacred animals were often mummified, too!

为什么埃及人要埋葬他们的木乃伊？ 木乃伊是一具干燥的尸体，可以保存数千年。 埃及人相信死人会去另一个世界，在那里他们需要他们的身体。 他们可不想少一点！为什么木乃伊没有大脑？ 古埃及人认为心脏是整个身体最重要的部分。 他们认为大脑是无用的。 所以当他们准备木乃伊的时候，他们从鼻子里取出了大脑！为什么木乃伊要用绷带包裹？ 包裹尸体有助于保持其形状。 取出内脏后，尸体在一种叫做泡碱的咸味物质中干燥40天。 然后洗干净，涂上药膏，紧紧地包扎起来。 一些较贫穷的家庭将他们最亲近的人制成木乃伊，但这是一项昂贵的业务。 只有富人才付得起盛大的欢送。 这具木乃伊被装在一系列木棺材里。 这些被放在一个叫做石棺的大石棺里。 猴子、鳄鱼、猫和其他神圣的动物也经常被制成木乃伊!

Why were the pyramids built? The pyramids were huge tombs for dead pharaohs and other very important people. No one knows exactly why the pyramids were shaped this way. Some people think they were built to point towards the Sun and stars, so that the dead person's spirit could fly to heaven like a rocket. The Great Pyramid at Giza was built more than 4,500 years ago. This is what it looks like today. Pharaohs were buried with all their finest clothes and jewellery, so tombs were given sneaky traps to catch out robbers. There are other, smaller pyramids at Giza, and over 80 at other places in Egypt. Some have stepped sides and bent tops This is what the Great Pyramid looks like inside.

为什么要建造金字塔？ 金字塔是法老和其他重要人物的巨大坟墓。 没有人确切地知道为什么金字塔是这样形状的。 有些人认为它们的建造是为了指向太阳和星星，这样死者的灵魂就可以像火箭一样飞向天堂。 吉萨大金字塔建于4500多年前。 这就是今天的样子。 法老们被埋葬时都有他们最好的衣服和珠宝，所以坟墓里有隐蔽的陷阱，可以抓住强盗。 在吉萨还有其他更小的金字塔，在埃及的其他地方有80多个。 有些有阶梯状的侧面和弯曲的顶部，这就是大金字塔内部的样子。

Who liked to get knee-deep in mud? Egyptian farmers loved mud—it has all the water and goodness that plants need to grow well. The most important time in a farmer's year was when the Nile flooded and dumped rich, black mud on the dry fields. A good flood meant a good harvest. A bad one meant people went hungry. Which was the fastest way to travel? The quickest route in Egypt was the river Nile. Egyptian boats were made from river reeds or wood. They were the only way to get from one side of the river to the other—unless you swam and liked crocodiles! Priests watched the Moon and stars to work out a calendar of the months. This told them when the floods would come and when to plant crops. The only farm land in Egypt is near the river Nile. It used to be called the Black Land, because the mud left by the floods was black. The rocky desert was called the Red Land. Juicy grapes and fresh green vegetables were grown in the rich Nile mud. Golden ears of wheat and barley were harvested and stored in granaries. The big question each year was: "How deep is the flood?" Notched stones were used like giant rulers to measure the rising water. The stones were called nilometers. Farmers dug ditches to carry water to their crops when the Nile wasn't in flood. They used a clever machine called a shadu to lift water out of the river into the ditches.

谁喜欢陷在没膝深的泥里？ 埃及农民喜欢泥土，因为泥土中含有植物生长所需的水分和养分。 农民一年中最重要的时刻是尼罗河泛滥，将肥沃的黑泥倾倒在干燥的田地上的时候。 好洪水意味着好收成。 糟糕的天气意味着人们会挨饿。 哪一种是最快的旅行方式？ 在埃及最快的路线是尼罗河。 埃及的船是用芦苇或木头做的。 它们是从河的一边到另一边的唯一途径——除非你喜欢游泳和鳄鱼！牧师们通过观察月亮和星星来制定月份的日历。 这告诉他们什么时候洪水会来，什么时候种植庄稼。 埃及唯一的农田在尼罗河附近。 它过去被称为黑土地，因为洪水留下的泥土是黑色的。 这块岩石沙漠被称为“红土”。 多汁的葡萄和新鲜的绿色蔬菜生长在尼罗河肥沃的泥土中。 小麦和大麦的金穗被收割并储存在粮仓里。 每年最大的问题是：“洪水有多深？”有缺口的石头被用作巨大的尺子来测量上涨的水位。 这些石头被称为“毫米计”。 尼罗河不泛滥的时候，农民们挖沟渠把水引到庄稼里。 他们用一种叫“提水机”的聪明机器把水从河里提到沟渠里。