Be an eyewitness to the unbelievable riches of the pharaoh's court and to everything Egyptian, from amazing jewels to tools,and from tovs to everlasting mummies.

THE PERIOD we normally think of as "ancient Egypt" is the time when Egypt was ruled by the pharaohs - after c. 3100 B.C. But who lived in Egypt before the pharaohs? In the early Stone Age people in Egypt lived on sites fairly high up on the land above the Nile from the Delta to Aswan. By about 5000 B.C., they had became farmers and began to grow wheat and barley, and to raise and domesticate cattle. They also built villages of mud huts in parts of the flood plain that seemed safe from the annual Nile flood. The farmers prospered and formed kingdoms. Recent excavation shows that by 3,500 B.C., some of them were already living in cities and had made the first steps in inventing writing. They have left behind objects such as magnificently carved ivories and slate palettes, as well as fine pots, often buried with their owners in brick-lined graves.

Egypt before the pharaohs

On the banks of the Nile

Famous pharaohs

 The royal court

Preparing for the tomb

Everlasting bodies

Journey to the afterlife

  The great pyramids

The Valley of the Kings

  Gods and goddesses

  Magic and medicine

  Priests and temples

  Sacred rituals

  Scribes and scholars

   Writing

Weapons of war

  Sailing on the Nile

  Buying and selling

An Egyptian carpenter

Hunting, fishing, and fowling

  The Egyptians at home

  Food and drink

  Song and dance

  Toys and games

From fabric to finery

  All that glitters

Adorning the body

Animals of the Nile Valley

 Egypt after the pharaohs

  Did you know?

   The pharaohs

  Find out more

    Glossary

     Index