Growing up in ancient Egypt: what was life like for Egyptian kids in the days of King Tut?

What kinds of games did kids in ancient Egypt play? What subjects did they study in school? To find out, let's journey back about 3,000 years, to the period that historians call the New Kingdom (see time line below). Egypt's Pharaoh is a teenage boy named Tutankhamen (TOOT-ahngk-AH-muhn), known today as King Tut. Tut became Pharaoh at about age 9. It is thought that he died around 1339 B.C., at about age 18.

Tut's reign was unremarkable. But the discovery of his tomb in 1922 sparked worldwide interest, making him Egypt's most famous Pharaoh. Archaeologists found a huge collection of artifacts, including a golden death mask (see "Tut Unmasked," p. 14). Such treasures have taught us a great deal about life in ancient Egypt.

Your journey back to Tut's time takes you to Thebes (THEEBZ), a major city and capital of the Egyptian empire (see map). There you meet Seneb *, a boy of 12, and Kawit, a girl of 13. In Seneb's family, nearly everyone works to help cover household expenses. Kawit's father is a well-off government official.

Rise and Shine!

In the morning, both families' homes are abuzz with activity. Extended families live together: children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Seneb's large household consists only of family, but Kawit's household includes two slaves.

Everyone starts the day with a bath--large jugs of water poured over the head and body. Adults and older children dress for the hot weather, in clothing made of lightweight linen. Young children usually go naked.

Many people have shaved heads. Grown-ups often wear wigs when they go out, but a bald head is cooler when one is hard at work. Children are bald, too, except for a long lock of hair on one side of the head. Some men and women wear black or green eyeliner. It cuts the sun's glare (like eye-black worn by today's football players) and helps prevent eye infections.

Most homes, rich and poor, have an open courtyard where activities such as cooking and eating take place Seneb's family has breakfast there. This morning's meal is bean stew, with a hard, gritty bread made from barley. (Many Egyptian mummies' teeth are badly worn from chewing bread.) Across town, Kawit is eating melon, wheat bread sweetened with honey, and figs. Her family has a baboon trained to pick figs for them.

Words for the Wise

Many boys of Seneb's age work with their fathers. They farm or learn a trade, such as metalwork, pottery, or carpentry. Some become priests or soldiers. Seneb's family isn't rich, but can afford to do without his labor while he attends school. He is learning to be a scribe, someone who earns a living with his writing and reading skills. It is an honored profession.

Some scribes write letters for people who are unable to read and write. Others are record keepers or teachers. A smart, hard-working scribe might be employed by the rich and powerful, or become rich and powerful himself.

Becoming a scribe takes at least five years of schooling. About 1,500 years earlier, Seneb's ancestors used hieroglyphics. By Seneb's time, Egyptians have developed symbols that are easier to write, but still difficult to learn. Seneb is also taught how to make ink, and paper from the papyrus (puh-Py-ruhs) plant.

Before starting their lessons, Seneb and his classmates pray to Thoth, the god of writing and learning. The ancient Egyptians have many gods, each with an area of power and influence. Meanwhile, at her home, Kawit prays to Hathor, a goddess who protects women.

A Woman's Place

Few Egyptian girls learn to read and write. Instead, most are educated at home in other skills. Kawit is learning to sing and play a harp. Sometimes, she goes on outings with her mother and younger siblings. Which activity would you enjoy most: Swimming in the family's garden pool, taking a boat ride on the Nile, or going duck hunting?

Seneb's family can't afford to be idle. Seneb's sisters spend the day learning their mother's trade. The girls and their mother, Neferet, weave fabric that they trade for other goods. A successful businesswoman, Neferet has her own stall in the marketplace.

In Egypt--unlike in most ancient cultures--women have many of the same rights as men. Elsewhere, everything a woman has belongs to her father or her husband, but in Egypt, women can own property. Some work outside the home and keep what they earn. Seneb's aunt is a professional mourner, hired to honor the dead at funerals. Some women are priestesses; others are professional musicians, singers, or craft workers. A woman can supervise slaves, run farms, and--on occasion--even rule the nation.

About a century before King Tut, a woman named Hatshepsut (hat-SHEP-soot) was Pharaoh. She broadened the empire's connection to the outside world by sending traders, diplomats, and explorers beyond Egypt's borders. She also ordered the construction of great monuments and a grand temple in the Valley of the Kings (see map and time line).

Life After Death

Only Pharaohs and the wealthy have grand tombs, but everyone wants to be properly cared for when they die. Egyptians believe that a person's spirit lives as long as the body lasts. Seneb's father, Bek, is an embalmer. He preserves bodies by turning them into mummies. Bek removes the internal organs, dries the body thoroughly with chemicals, and then wraps it in strips of linen.

The dead are buried with objects that they will use in the afterlife. The wealthy take jewels, statues representing servants, and other luxuries with them to the grave. Rich and poor alike are buried with food, clothing, and even games. Mummification is not for people only. Beloved pets--including monkeys, dogs, and birds--are mummified, too. So are animals considered sacred, such as cats and crocodiles.

Outside Bek's workplace, some young children are spinning tops or playing with dolls and toy animals. Others play tug-of-war, leapfrog, or senet, a popular board game. (King Tut was buried with a senet board.)

Bek stops to talk with his cousin Bata, a farmer. Bata is happy that the Nile is flooding, as it does every year. When the water recedes (flows back), it will leave rich soil perfect for farming. Most Egyptians live in that fertile area, which they call the Black Land. Beyond it, for hundreds of miles east and west, is what they call the Red Land--desert that is difficult to cross. Mountains also form barriers. These natural defenses against invasion enable the ancient Egyptians to devote more time and energy to cultural development.

Back to the Future

For the evening meal, Kawit's family has bread, fruits and vegetables, and meat, which they can afford every night. Duck, goose, and gazelle meat are favorites. Seneb's family is having bread and stew made with lentils and onions grown in their small vegetable patch. Occasionally, they have pigeon or duck, or fish from the Nile.

Outside, it grows dark. Egyptians believe that Nut (noot), the sky goddess, swallows the sun. When Ra, the sun god, is reborn daylight returns.

Kawit wishes you happy dreams, an important blessing. Ancient Egyptians believe that dreams reveal the future. For you, the future is today--more than 3,000 years later.

ANCIENT EGYPT: INVENTIONS & ADVANCEMENTS

The civilization of ancient Egypt lasted from about 5500 B.C. to 395 A.D. This time line focuses on some important achievements of the empire's early periods--from c. 4236 B.C. to c. 1070 B.C. (c. is for circa, meaning "approximately"). The intermediate periods are stretches of time with no clear line of kings in power. Dates used by historians vary slightly.

Early Periods: before 5500 B.C. to c. 2686 B.C.

First solar calendar c. 4236 B.C. * First national government, when Upper Egypt (Nile Valley) and Lower Egypt (Nile Delta) unite c. 3100 B.C.

* Hieroglyphics developed c. 3000 B.C.

Old Kingdom: c. 2686-c. 2181 B.C.

First pyramids (built as tombs for kings) c. 2650 B.C. * Great Pyramid at Giza built c. 2600 B.C. * Mummification process developed by c. 2600 B.C.

1st Intermediate Period: c. 2181-c. 1991 B.C.

Middle Kingdom: c. 1991-c. 1786 B.C.

First known schools * Period of great art, literature, and architecture * Egypt conquers part of Nubia, c. 1991 B.C., expanding Egypt's size, wealth, and power.

2nd Intermediate Period: c. 1786-c. 1554 B.C.

New Kingdom: c. 1554-c. 1070 B.C.

Height of Egypt's power * Elaborate temples and tombs (including Hatshepsut's and Tutankhamen's) built in the Valley of the Kings c. 1550 B.C. to c. 1100 B.C. * Earliest known tapestries woven.

Tut Unmasked

What did King Tut really look like? With the help of new technology, researchers have recently unmasked the world's most famous mummy. First, scientists took CT scans (short for "computed tomography") of the Boy King's body. CT scans provide three-dimensional images of the skull, bones, and tissue. Then, using the scans, artists reconstructed Tut's head. The reconstruction doesn't quite match the golden mask discovered in Tut's tomb in 1922. The new model has a longer, thinner head and an overbite (projection of the upper teeth over the lower).

Teams from Egypt, France, and the United States did separate reconstructions. The three versions are quite similar, but the Egyptian team's Tut has a stronger chin. (The French model is shown above.)

For the first time in more than 25 years, the treasures of Tut, "the King of Bling," are on display in the U.S. The latest research is included, as are artifacts from other pharaohs' tombs. For more on the exhibit, see kingtut.org.

Words to Know

artifacts (AHR-ruh-fakts): objects from a particular period in history. hieroglyphics (HI-uh-roh-GLIHF-iks): a writing system in which pictures or symbols are used to represent words or sounds.

Pharaoh (FAIR-oh): King.

Your Turn

WORD MATCH

1. Pharaoh         A. a person who
                      writes and reads
                      for a living
2. artifacts       B. a system of writing
                      that uses
                      pictures
3. scribe          C. objects from a
                      period in history
4. hieroglyphics   D. a person who preserves
                      dead bodies
5. embalmer        E. a ruler of ancient
                      Egypt

THINK ABOUT IT

1. How are Seneb's and Kawit's lives
different from each other?

2. Was anything about Seneb's or
Kawit's day similar to yours? Explain.

* Seneb, Kawit, and their family members are imaginary characters, used to illustrate facts known about life in ancient Egypt.

ANCIENT EGYPT

www.ancientegypt.co.uk