0 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT

Level: U
DRA: 44
Social Studies
Strategy:
Monitor/Clarify
Word Count: 1,473
6.4.19 Build Vocabulary
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
1413220
H O UG H T O N MIF F L IN H ARCO URT
by Joan McElroy
ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: 3 Joe LeMonnier / Melissa Turk
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover © Richard Passmore; 1 © Gavin Hellier/Robert Harding; 1 © (bkgrnd) Studio Montage;
2 © Bob Turner / Alamy; 4 © Gianni Dagli Orti / Corbis; 6–7 © Gavin Hellier/Robert Harding; 8 © bygonetimes / Alamy;
10 © Richard Passmore; 11 © Getty; 12 © Glowimages; 13 © INTERFOTO Pressebildagentur / Alamy; 14 © Bob Turner
/ Alamy; Border © PhotoDisc: Background Series
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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ISBN-10: 0-547-29917-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-29917-4
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Table of Contents
Life Along the Nile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Early History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Family Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Mummies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Life Under the Pharaoh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Pharaoh and the Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Egypt’s Great Builders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Two Famous Pharaohs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
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The Nile River flows from south to north.
Life Along the Nile
The Nile River is a ribbon of life flowing through
a hot, dry land. The river played a crucial role in
ancient Egypt. It created fertile land in the middle of
a desert.
Inevitably, the Nile would flood every year. When
it did, it watered the land. It also left a layer of rich,
dark mud along the banks. This soil was ideal for
growing grain. People settled close to the Nile River.
It was their only source of water for farming, drinking,
cooking, and washing.
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Egyptians also traded goods all along the river.
They might sail up the river to the southern kingdom
of Kush or down to the Mediterranean Sea. They
traded grain, leather, and
cloth for many kinds of wood.
Sometimes they traded for
silver, incense, or gem stones.
Early History
Egypt’s written history goes
back about 5,100 years. At that
time, King Menes united Egypt
into one country.
Egypt’s ruler was called the
pharaoh. He was the most powerful
person in the country. Below the
level of pharaoh were the priests
and wealthy nobles.
Egypt’s rulers wore a double
crown. The one shown here is
on the god Horus. It showed
the unity of the two regions
of the country. The white
part was from the south.
The red part was from
the north.
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Some people learned to read and write. They
worked as scribes and kept written records. Most
people, however, were farmers or laborers.
The pharaoh and his family lived a life of luxury
in a palace. Nobles and priests had estates nearby.
Farmers worked the land on these estates.
Egyptians used mud bricks to make most of their
buildings. This material was practical because it did
not rain very often.
Only the wealthy could afford furniture. There
were hardly any trees in Egypt, so wood was costly. To
get wood, trade missions from Egypt had to travel all
the way to Lebanon, across the Mediterranean Sea.
Family Life
Whether they were rich or poor, Egyptians lived
in close-knit families. Men held jobs outside of the
home. Women mainly took care of the home and
children. Some wealthy women served as priestesses.
Children learned skills from their parents. Only
the sons of wealthy families went to school. Boys
from rich families learned reading, writing, and some
basic mathematics. These boys grew up to work in
government or as priests.
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Religion
Religion was crucial to Egyptian culture. People
worshipped many gods in ceremonial events. Some of
the most important were the gods of the sun, the sky,
death, and rebirth.
Egyptians counted on the gods, the pharaoh,
and the Nile to be supportive of them. These beliefs
helped them to feel good about their lives.
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This painting shows Horus, the sky god. He has the head of a bird.
Egyptians believed that life could continue after
death. They buried items that might be needed in
the next life with the body. However, the body had to
be preserved so the soul could return to it. The dry
climate helped keep bodies from decaying. Egyptians
also learned ways to make bodies last longer.
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Mummies
When Egyptians preserved a body, they created what
is called a mummy. It was a costly process. So, only the
bodies of wealthy people were preserved as mummies.
First, most of the organs were taken out of the
body. The organs were dried out using a kind of salt.
Then they were stored in jars in the tomb.
Next, the whole body was covered with this salt to
dry it out. Egyptians then wrapped the body in linen
cloth. Finally, the mummy was placed in a special case.
Many mummies have been found in Egyptian tombs.
People can see them in museums around the world.
These jars were found in one of
Egypt’s ancient tombs.
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Life Under the Pharaoh
Religious beliefs affected the way Egyptians saw
the pharaoh. Egyptians believed the pharaoh was
divine, or godlike. For this reason, the pharaoh was an
absolute ruler. His word was law. He could decide if
someone lived or died.
The pharaoh owned all the land in the country.
He could demand that his subjects perform any work
that he asked. That work was often dangerous. Men
were forced to work in stone quarries or in gold mines.
They dug irrigation systems and built monuments.
The Pharaoh and the Gods
It was the pharaoh’s job to take care of the cosmic
order on Earth. He made sure everyone filled his or
her role in society. The pharaoh was responsible for
the prosperity of the land and for keeping his people
safe from enemies.
One of the pharaoh’s most important roles was to
take care of the gods. Egyptians believed that the gods
needed the same kinds of things to live as people did.
Therefore, they had to provide food, animals, clothing,
and gifts to the temples.
In the temples, the pharaoh and his priests
performed rituals to honor the gods. The pharaoh
could also ask the gods for favors for his people.
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This image shows gifts being offered to an Egyptian god.
Egypt’s Great Builders
Pharaohs wanted people to remember them.
They did this by erecting huge stone monuments.
The pyramids at Giza are the most famous. They have
lasted more than 4,500 years.
The Great Pyramid is the largest pyramid ever
built. It stood more than 480 feet high. The base was
about the size of 10 football fields! It contained more
than 2 million stone blocks. Each block weighed about
5,000 pounds.
The Egyptians did not have trucks, cranes, or
other equipment to help them build. What they did
have was a lot of workers. As many as 100,000 workers
spent 20 years building the Great Pyramid.
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Pharaohs also built temples. One of the largest
temples was at Karnak, near the capital city of Thebes.
It was dedicated to their most important god, Amen.
Artwork inside the tombs and temples reveals a lot
about ancient Egypt. Paintings and carvings on the flat
stone walls present myths of the gods and scenes from
the lives of pharaohs and nobles. The size of people
depicted in paintings showed their social status.
These monuments, paintings, and carvings
present us with fragments of what life was like in
ancient Egypt.
The pyramids at Giza
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The temple at
Karnak was the
most important
place of worship
in ancient Egypt.
Two Famous Pharaohs
Pharaohs were almost always male. Hatshepsut
(hat SHEP sut) was an exception. She was the
daughter of one pharaoh and the wife of another
pharaoh. When her husband died, she was asked to
rule with her nephew, who was a young boy. For a few
years, Hatshepsut did all the work of the pharaoh.
Then she took an unprecedented step. Hatshepsut
crowned herself pharaoh. A woman had never done
that before.
Hatshepsut set out to prove she had a valid claim
to the throne. She built a huge temple. Inside it, artists
told the story of how the god Amen chose her to
be pharaoh.
12
Hatshepsut was a good ruler for more
than 20 years. Her reign was peaceful and
prosperous. She is known for her building
projects and her daring trading ventures.
About 200 years after Hatshepsut
ruled, Ramses II became pharaoh. His
reign lasted for 66 years. Having one
ruler for so long made Egypt a more
stable country.
In his early years as pharaoh,
Ramses II went to war to expand
Egypt through conquest. However,
his skill as a peacemaker also emerged.
He signed a treaty that brought
almost 50 years of peace to Egypt.
Ramses II became Egypt’s
greatest builder. He built a huge
group of temples and tombs
at Abu Simbel in southern
Egypt. His image also
appears on many other
monuments. He is called
Ramses the Great.
Statue of Hatshepsut
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The Nile River links Egypt’s past and present.
Conclusion
Today, the Nile River still flows through Egypt.
It flows past many of its monuments. It flows past
where ancient workers likely rested. Maybe they had a
cool drink from its waters as they pondered important
issues in their lives. Just as they did many centuries
ago, the people of Egypt still depend on the mighty
Nile.
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Responding
TARGET VOCABULARY Word Builder Make
a Venn diagram with the words supportive and
helpful. How are the meanings of these words
similar? How are the words different? Copy and
complete this diagram.
Supportive
To encourage
someone else
Same
Both
require having
a positive outlook
?
Helpful
?
?
?
Write About It
Text to Self Write a paragraph explaining why
you think Ramses II wanted to be a peacemaker.
Use one word from the Word Builder in
your description.
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TARGET VOCABULARY
ceremonial
fragments
depicted
mission
divine
pondered
emerge
prosperity
erected
supportive
TARGET STRATEGY Monitor/Clarify As you read,
notice what isn’t making sense. Find ways to figure
out the parts that are confusing.
Which word can mean both a group of
people and a goal?
16
Level: U
DRA: 44
Social Studies
Strategy:
Monitor/Clarify
Word Count: 1,473
6.4.19 Build Vocabulary
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
1413220
H O UG H T O N MIF F L IN H ARCO URT