EO: To build an overview of world history.F: Describe the characteristic features of the past, including ideas, beliefs, attitudes and experiences of men, women and children.

How do we know what Ancient Egyptian houses were like?

Historians look at paintings from Ancient Egyptian times (paintings found on pots dug up and discovered by archaeologists for example)

They also learn about the shapes and sizes of houses when archaeologists dig up ruins and remains of them in archaeological digs.

What Were Ancients Egyptian Houses Made Of?

Almost all of Egypt is a desert, and in ancient Egypt they needed to useany fertile land for growing crops. This means that there weren’t thatmany trees for building houses. The Egyptians had to use whatever theyhad around and that included mud and reeds.

where water was accessible were amajor problem. Each year at thetime of the Nile flooding it wouldwash away the mud huts. Theydecided to start using the mud tocreate bricks, which were strongerthan just plain mud.

Early in Egyptian history, the people made huts for their houses out of mud and papyrus reeds. Houses built close to the edge of the river

What Were Ancients Egyptian Houses Made Of?

The bricks were created by mixing up mud with straw, placed in a formand then baked. Most bricks were not baked in an oven, although ifthey wanted the bricks to be extra strong, they might bake them. Butmostly, bricks were dried in the sun. When they stacked the bricks up,they could make stronger walls and homes. These dwellingsdeteriorated after time, and new ones were built right on top of thecrumbled material, creating hills called ‘tells’.

What Did the Houses Look Like?

The houses had front and back doors. Each door was built about 4 feetoff the ground to reduce the amount of sand that worked itself insidethe house. You reached the door via a ramp. Ramps, rather than stairs,were used to reach various levels in the house. Most of the houses hadthree rooms and all of the homes had flat roofs. People often slept,cooked, and ate atop their houses’ flat roofs.

The windows were cut high to keep out sand. The windows had bars onthem to keep out wild animals. They also acted to reduce theft,although crime was very low in ancient Egypt. All windows and doorshad reed mat coverings to keep flies, dust and heat out.

What Did the Houses Look Like?

Stone gateways were common and they had the ability to be locked from the inside. Archaeologists have found ancient keys that dated back to 1550 BCE.

The Cooling System and Water Supply

As the Egyptian civilization developed, they began to build houses withtwo floors. Usually the top floor was where they lived and the bottomfloor was used for crop storage. They created reed canopies to give themshade against the hot Egyptian sun. The ancient Egyptians learned tobuild their houses using a system of ‘vents’ to allow the hot air toescape and keep the inside of the homes cooler. The reed roofs helped inthe cooling process since it let the hotter air escape.

Many of the homes of the wealthy people were built so that they had acourtyard in the centre. These courtyards had areas to grow fruits andvegetables as well as flower gardens. Some of these homes had indoortoilets and bathrooms. Sewage from all of the people’s houses waseliminated by digging cess pits as well as tossing it into the streets orthe river.

The Cooling System and Water Supply

What Was the Inside of the House Like?

Inside, the rooms were small and dark, with narrow windows and low ceilings.

The centre of the house was the living room or family area. It was usually raised

up a bit from the rest of the flooring, again to reduce the amount of sand that

got into everything in ancient Egypt.

The kitchen was at the back of the house where there might be a small

underground root cellar for storage.

The inside of the ancient Egyptian homes were not furnished with furniture like

we have today. Most families had low stools and the very poor just sat on the

floor. The most common type of furnishing was a low, square stool, the corners

of which flared upwards and on top was placed a leather seat or cushion. Chairs

were rare and they only belonged to the very wealthy. Small tables were made

of wood or wicker and had three to four legs. The homes of the wealthy had beds

made of a woven mat placed on a wooden framework standing on animal-

shaped legs. The poor people had to be satisfied with sleeping on straw

mattresses or possibly a floor rug. Lamp stands held lamps of simple bowls of

pottery containing oil and a wick.

What Was the Inside of the House Like?

The ancient Egyptians did not have cupboards but used reed baskets to

store things. Chests were also used to store domestic possessions such as

linens, clothing, jewellery, and make up.

The Houses of the Nobles

The nobles lived in huge homes or villas along the Nile River. Theypainted the outside of their homes white because it kept their homescooler. The very wealthy lined the outside of their homes with whitelimestone. Limestone was expensive but it made their homes sparkle inthe sunshine.

Although the best artists were busy working on the pyramids or tombs,the walls of each villa were highly decorated by the best artists theirmoney could buy. Some walls were washed with pastel colours tobrighten, lighten and clean.

Some of these huge homes had as many as 30 rooms.

The Houses of the Nobles

The Houses of the Nobles

Beginning in the time of the New Kingdom, a number of rich people hadtheir own private wells for their drinking water. The poor people had touse shared public wells that were found throughout the towns. Othershad to use the Nile River water or water from canals. Water taken fromthe river or canals often caused health problems - epidemics were acommon part of life. Used water from baths or toilets was disposed ofeither in the river, the street, or in pits, adding to the unsanitaryconditions.

Ancient Egyptian Houses

Most people lived in villages, clustered along the banks of the River Nile.Village houses were built close together, for strength and security. Thevillages were surrounded by ditches and fields. Nearby was the bleak,endless desert; for the Egyptians this was the home of the dead.

ActivityYou can either use the worksheet provided or draw your own picture of an Ancient Egyptian riche person’s villa and poor person’s home.Label which is which and annotate each with information you have learnt from this powerpoint about each type of house.

Make sure you include information about:

How the houses were made

What type of roof they had and what it was used for

Why the windows were high up

Did they have furniture? What furniture do we know they had?

GD ChallengeWere the houses of rich and poor different? How?

You could either answer this question in a paragraph explaining your reasons or you could create a similarities and differences table to fill in.

How were Ancient Egyptian houses similar and different to our houses

today?

Other activities you could do:Make your own Ancient Egyptian house using materials from around the house (cardboard boxes etc) – you could even paint it and add hieroglyphics to the walls!

Design your own Ancient Egyptian house and draw a floorplan of it.