Facts on engineering - Part 5 Pyramids - Information for kids

You must have seen pictures of the pyramids in Egypt.  It is spectacular buildings and what makes it more unique is the fact that it was build thousands of years ago, long time before modern technology.  The engineers that planned that must have had a lot of knowledge and plans to make that happen

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Many discoveries have been made and up to date more than a 130 pyramids were discovered.  The pyramids were built for the Pharaohs and his families to be buried.

The first Egyptian pyramid is believed to be the Pyramid of Djoser, it was built in Saqqara around 4650 years ago (2640 BC). 

Lets learn a few facts about the pyramids

• Saqqar is a huge area that is used as burial ground near the city of Memphis in Egypt
• The Great pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest pyramid of three pyramids found here.  This pyramid use to be the highest of all the pyramids, but more have been discovered and it also lost about 10 meters 
• The pyramid of Khufu is the oldest one of the ancient wonders and this pyramid is largely still in one piece
• Most of the pyramids that have been discovered are found on the west side of the Nile river
• There are many rooms (chambers) and passages that makes up a pyramid
• The bodies that were buried here, went through  process of 'mummification' and was preserved in this way 
• When these people were buried, they were buried with things that could be used in everyday life, like food and also with jewelry so that they could 'use' it in the afterlife.  Robbers that knew in later years that there were valuables in these tombs, robbed it

One tomb that was left largely intact was that of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings. Rediscovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, this famous tomb is best known for the solid gold funerary mask of Tutankhamun. 

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1. Describe Egypt thousands of year ago.
2. What is a 'world heritage site'?
3. What did ancient Egyptians believe and how were the people bury the dead?
4. What did the tombs look like in the beginning?
5. What was the name of the architect that planned and build the first 'step pyramid'?
6. Watch the rest of the video and make a summary of some facts you learned.

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