THE ARTS

Most of the best information we have today about the daily life of the Egyptian people comes from the paintings on the walls of their tombs. These paintings were not decorations.

Unlike artists today, the painters of ancient Egypt did not make a name for themselves. Instead all their work was done for the king and the gods.

A BETTER CALENDAR

The Babylonians created a lunar calendar which as based on the moon.

The Egyptian people also invented a calendar, but it was based on the moon and a star. The Egyptians had observed the appearance of Sirius which is the brightest star in the sky. They noticed that it was invisible for several months, but then it appeared each just at the time of the flooding. Their calendar was much more accurate than the one that the Babylonians had, corresponding almost exactly to the seasons.

THE EGYPTIANS AT HOME

Houses in ancient Egypt were built from mud bricks, the mud was from the Nile. People collected the mud in leather buckets and took it to the building site. The workers then added pebbles and straw to the mud to make it stronger. Then they pour the mixture into wooden frames to make bricks. They would leave it out to dry in the hot sun. When a house was built, its walls would be covered with plaster and the inside would often be painted with just designs or scenes from nature. Inside, the houses were cool because the small windows let in only a little light. Rich families had large houses. Beyond the hall would be bedrooms, private apartments and stairs to the roof. The kitchen was a little distance away from the living rooms to keep the smell away. The Egyptians held parties in their houses which the children enjoyed as much as their parents.