Can you find out facts about the life of Ancient Egyptians? Here are some facts to get you started.

Did you know:

• The Egyptians made paper from reeds called papyrus – it’s where we get the word ‘paper’ from! It took a long time to make papyrus, but it was easier than carrying around heavy clay tablets, which is what they did before.
• They wrote in pictures called hieroglyphics. Each picture means something so when you see a few different kinds of pictures in a row, you know what the writer is trying to say.

• The Egyptians used pictures for writing numbers too – different pictures stood for units, tens and hundreds.
• The Egyptians were very advanced at maths – they figured out how to work out tricky problems. They used lots of units of measurement including: cubits, spans and fingers.
• The Egyptians made most of their clothes from linen, which is fabric that’s made from plants. They’d use different things to colour it, such as saffron to make it yellow and indigo to make it blue.
• Egyptians would shave their heads and wear wigs instead!
• Ancient Egyptians had a huge amount of respect for cats, and for a type of dog called a jackal. They also thought scarab beetles were very important; they represented rebirth and life after death.

• Egyptians loved perfume, and would wear it in solid cones of fat on their head – the cones would melt during the day and keep them smelling nice when the weather was very hot.
• Both men and women wore make-up, black and green on their eyes and eyelashes, and red rouge for their cheeks.

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