Ancient Egypt

The Open Door: Generosity and Shelter in Ancient Law

In the days of old, before the walls of mighty cities rose high and the roads grew crowded with travelers, the law of the Lord commanded kindness and mercy toward the stranger and the wayfarer. It was written, “You shall open your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land” (Deuteronomy 15:11). Thus, generosity was the pillar ...

Read More

The Manners & Customs of Ancient Egyptians

Full Text of "The Manners & Customs of Ancient Egyptians" by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson...

Read More

Education in Ancient Egypt

In ancient Egypt, parents would instill in their children various educational principles, moral attitudes, and views of life from a tender age. They would receive their basic education in the bosom of the family. This was about all of the schooling that girls would get; for boys it would be supplemented by proper training in whatever line they chos...

Read More

Life in Ancient Egypt: Daily Life

To understand the everyday life of ancient Egyptians, archaeologists draw on many sources. The most valuable sources include tomb paintings, reliefs, and the objects included in tombs that the Egyptians used in their daily life. Artifacts from the few towns that have been excavated and hundreds of documents written by the ancient Egyptians shed add...

Read More

Childbirth and Childcare in Ancient Egypt

By Marie Parsons, Children were considered a blessing in ancient Egypt. Sons and daughters took care of their parents in their old age. They were often called "the staff of old age," that is, one upon whom the elderly parents could depend upon for support and care. The scribe Ani instructed that children repay the devotion of Egyptian mothers: "Rep...

Read More

Life in Ancient Egypt: Funerary Customs

Much of our knowledge about ancient Egyptian culture comes from archaeological evidence uncovered in tombs. Objects, inscriptions, and paintings from tombs have led Egyptologists to conclude that what appeared to be a preoccupation with death was in actuality an overwhelming desire to secure and perpetuate in the afterlife the "good life" enjoyed o...

Read More

Burial Customs in Ancient Egypt

Too often 'ancient Egypt' is treated in general books as a monolithic block, nowhere more so than in coverage of funerary archaeology. There is no such phenomenon as 'the ancient Egyptian burial' as a general type: burial customs evolved continuously throughout Egyptian history. Studying the developments allows us to separate the history of these c...

Read More

Aspects of Life in Ancient Egypt

One of the most astonishing facts about Egypt is how little everyday life changed over the millennia. The rhythm of Egyptian life was the rhythm of the Nile until a few years ago, when the Aswan dam was erected. Even today one can find the ancient shadoof, oxen pulling ploughs and houses made of mud bricks. The gods are gone, so are the pharaohs, t...

Read More

Egypt: Daily Life

Ancient Egypt was a narrow strip of land along the Nile River. Each year the river flooded its banks, leaving behind a fertile fringe of soil they called "the Black Land," while the desert all around the Nile valley was called "the Red Land." It was here the Ancient Egyptians built their homes. The people of ancient Egypt highly valued family life....

Read More

Medicine and Health Care in Ancient Egypt

External injuries like wounds and fractures were often obvious. The Egyptian concept of the human body was seen as a series of interconnecting canals, likened to the Nile and its tributaries, in which air, blood, urine, faeces and semen flowed. They therefore believed that the precondition of good health was the free flow of these canals, and that ...

Read More