Ancient Egypt · Guided tour

Life on the Nile

The river, food, writing and great monuments.

Stops: 8
Time: 20 to 30 minutes
Grades: 3-9

**Your guide: Scribe** Writer with a papyrus scrollI am a scribe. I write down every sack of grain and every jar of oil, so I know how this city works. Everything here depends on one thing: the river Nile.

Stop 1
Nile sailing boat
The Nile is our highway. Boats sail south with the wind and float north with the current, carrying grain, stone and people.
Why might a river be easier to travel on than a road?
Read the full page about the nile sailing boat
Stop 2
Palm grove
Channels carry the river's water to fields and palm groves. Date palms give us fruit, shade, rope, baskets and roof beams.
How many different things can one plant give a city?
Read the full page about the palm grove · Find it on the map
Stop 3
Granary
After the harvest, grain goes into domed granaries. Full granaries mean bread and beer all year, even after a poor flood.
Why would a city store food for a bad year?
Read the full page about the granary · Find it on the map
Stop 4
Market
There are no coins here. At the market people swap goods: sandals for grain, a basket for fish.
What would be hard about trading without money?
Read the full page about the market · Find it on the map
Stop 5
Scribe school
This is where I learned to write, after years of copying signs. Scribes keep the records that keep the city fair.
Why do cities need people who can read and write?
Read the full page about the scribe school · Find it on the map
Stop 6
Hall of columns
In the temple, giant painted columns hold up the roof, like the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, which has 134 of them.
How do you think builders raised such heavy columns?
Read the full page about the hall of columns · Find it on the map
Stop 7
Obelisk
Each obelisk was cut from a single piece of granite and set up in pairs at the temple gates.
How might people have moved a stone this big without engines?
Read the full page about the obelisk · Find it on the map
Stop 8
Pyramid
The Great Pyramid at Giza, a tomb for a pharaoh, was the tallest building on Earth for about 3,800 years.
Why do you think rulers wanted such huge tombs?
Read the full page about the pyramid · Find it on the map