VIP Class Notes (Vicki)

Vocabulary

exact – 准确的

moment – 时刻

present – right now

ancient – old

ripe – mature / cheng shu

settle – ding ju

tomb – fen mu

distant – far away

merchants – products

spice – xiang liao

ivory – the teeth of elephants

ape – big monkey

bury – mai zang

court – fa ting

priest – shen fu

silver – yin

pharaoh – fa lao

holy – 神圣的

advisor – someone who gives advice

officials – the people who have formal jobs

throne – crown – wang guan

chance – opportunity

Pronunciation

dessert vs. desert 

de’ssert [di zer t]

‘desert [de zer t]

Why do we call Egyptians ancient?

We call the Egyptians ancient because they lives such a long time ago – not because they all reached a ripe old age! The first Egyptians were farmers about 8,000 years ago. Within a few thousand years, Egypt had become one of the most powerful countries in the world.

Egypt is mostly sandy desert, where nothing grows. The ancient Egyptians settled on the banks of the river Nile, where there was plenty of water for themselves and their crops.

The Egyptians usually built tombs for dead kings on the river’s western bank, where the Sun sets. They believed that their kings went to meet the Sun god when they died.

The ancient Egyptians didn’t know about distant parts of the world. But they did explore parts of Asia and Africa. And their merchants bought wood, gold, ivory, spices and even apes from nearby countries.

Why were the Egyptians great?

The Egyptians were so good at farming that they became very rich. They built fantastic temples for their gods, and huge pointed tombs called pyramids where they buried their kings. They had armies and ships and courts of law. Their priests studied the stars and their craftspeople made beautiful things from gold and silver.

Who ruled Egypt?

The king of Egypt was called the pharaoh. The Egyptians believed that their Sun god Re was the first king of Egypt, and that all the pharaohs after him were his relatives. This made the pharaoh very holy – and very powerful! The people thought he was a god on Earth.

The pharaoh’s advisors were called the Honored Ones. There were all sorts of royal officials, too, with grand names like the Director of Royal Dress and the Keeper of the Royal Wigs.

Could a woman be pharaoh?

Although very few women ruled Egypt, there was a famous pharaoh called Hatshepsut. When her six-year-old nephew came to the throne, Hatshepsut was asked to rule Egypt for him – just until he was a little bit older. But Hatshepsut liked ruling so much that she wouldn’t let her nephew take over. He didn’t get the chance to rule until he was 30 years old!

How would you know if you met a pharaoh?

He would be wearing a crown, of course! In fact, pharaohs sometimes wore two crowns at the same time – a white one for Upper Egypt, which was the name of the south of the country, and a red one for Lower Egypt, which was the north.

Write about the first Popeye episode we watched