A Tour of Ancient Egypt Sabina Patel By Sabina Patel

Welcome to Ancient Egypt! Join me as I give you a tour of this civilization. I will show you some of Egypt's most incredible attractions. As you can see we are passing the Pyramids of Giza. Let's get a closer look at them.
Whoa! Look at all of the stones! Fun fact, according to National Geographic, this pyramid is made up of approximately 2,300,000 stones. It is the oldest of the pyramids and of the Seven World Wonders. There are a labyrinth of tunnels with gold and other valuable items in there. It is said the pyramid was built as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu when he died. Where could we go next? The Sphinx? Well then driver, off to the Sphinx!
We have arrived at the Sphinx. Look at how big it. It is 66 feet tall. Egyptian Pharaoh Khafre built the Sphinx. We are still not sure why it was built but there are many theories. A common theory is that the Sphinx represented an ancient Egyptian god, part man part lion, who guarded the temples and tombs of the Kings of Egypt. It was supposed to keep away all evil from the cemetery around the pyramids. As you can see the Sphinx does not have a nose. This was thought to be because Napoleon used it for shooting practice. Later it was discovered that the Sphinx's nose was lost long before Napoleon. I think it is time to go to one of the sights common people don't think of going to, the Abu Simbel!
Did you know the Abu Simbel is actually two temples? One temple is devoted to King Ramses II.t built to honor Rameses II victory against the Hittites. The other temple was dedicated to Queen Nefertari. The entrance 69 feet tall. It took 20 years to build the Abu Simbel. As you can see, the second statue is partially broken off. This was caused by weathering and erosion which led to it gradually breaking off. It is built close to the Sudanese border. The Abu Simbel was chosen to be built here because it represents Hathor, goddess of motherhood, love, and joy. Wow, it is getting crowded. I guess alot of people want to see The Abu Simbel. Let's go to look at Pharaohs.
Pharaohs were the most important people of Egypt. They were like Kings. Fun fact all pharaohs were male until Hatshepsut demanded she would be a pharaoh. Afterwards Cleopatra demanded to be a pharaoh as well. Pharaohs were considered to be half man half god. There were more than 170 pharaohs in the 3,000 years Egypt was a civilization. Every pharaoh, men or women, wore fake beards. Most pharaohs worried about afterlife during their lifetime. They would have start building tombs as soon as their reign began.
Karnak was considered a sacred site during the New Kingdom when it became the center of worship for Amon-Ra. Over eighty thousand servants and slaves were assigned the task of serving Amon-Ra in Karnak. The Karnak temple is the most incredible temple to be built. It has massive pillars and towering pillars that stands 97 feet tall and weighs 323 tons. With all of these crowds, I think it is time to go to somewhere more peaceful.
As we travel to our next stop let's discuss some of the other symbols of Egypt. A very well known Egyptian symbol is hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics were used to communicate. It was the Egyptians form of writing. They could record information or maybe even use it for storytelling. Some facts about hieroglyphics include you could write them in any direction, hieroglyph means "god's words" in Greek, and the word "I" could have been symbolized with the picture of an eye. Oh, we have arrived at our destination.
Sit back and relax as we drift through the Nile River. The Nile River was an important part of Egypt because of it floods which happened at the same time each year and it was not to destructive that the towns near by. The floods made fertile soil for farming and was an overall nice water source to have for any emergencies. The Nile is one of the most peaceful rivers. Oh no! I think it is time for us to go home.
As we wait, let me tell you about Egypt's culture, Although we do not know the Egyptian's religion, we do know they were polytheistic. they worshiped many gods.
We still have some time left! Let me tell you about Egypt's animal beliefs. Egyptians thought animals, cats in particular, were like a god. In fact in a book, the God, Amun Ra, even took form of a cat. Cats were an Egyptian's best friend.
We are back. I has been a joy to be your tour guide. I hope you have had as much fun as I had on this tour. Look at the Pyramids one last time. This where we started the tour and this is where we will end it. Goodbye fellow tourists!

Bibliography

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"Egyptian Pharaohs Facts for Kids." Egyptian Pharaohs Facts for Kids. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

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"National Geographic: Egypt--Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza." National Geographic: Egypt--Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

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Credits:

Created with images by jarekgrafik - "egypt ancient archeology" • kalazee - "egypt giza pyramid" • Jorge Lascar - "The Great Pyramid of Giza (Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu)" • MixPix  - "Sphinx Giza Cairo Egypt" • David Berkowitz - "Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, Egypt" • Saylah Rossman - "mummy" • jarekgrafik - "egypt ancient archeology" • amerune - "Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak" • nachoboza - "hieroglyphs egypt stone" • D-Stanley - "White Nile at Juba" • isawnyu - "Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri (V)" • Walkerssk - "giza pyramid pyramids of giza"

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