Ancient Egypt

Where can I find information about Ancient Egypt?

(Years 5-8)

Colour photo of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun's gold mask. — Image: Tutankhamen Gold Egypt by ArtWith Tammy on pixabay.

Entry last updated: 25/05/22

Introduction

The history of Ancient Egypt began 5000 years ago and this civilisation (way of life) lasted for 2000 years. During this time the ancient Egyptians built pyramids, developed hieroglyphics (writing), made papyrus (paper) and created many paintings and drawings. They were also famous for preserving their dead as mummies.

General websites

Here are some websites that you can use to find out all about life in Ancient Egypt.

DK Find Out!

DK Find Out! is a great place to start looking for information on many topics including Ancient Egypt. It has lots of facts and pictures and is interactive!

Select the History tile on the front page.
Go to Ancient Egypt.
Choose the topics highlighted on the map, like The pyramids, Egyptian mummies, Egyptian writing and more.

Tips: Websites that have .com in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About DKlink to find out what company’s mission and values are.

Topic Explorer

Topic Explorer is an online tool from the National Library of New Zealand. It has quality resources for school students in lots of different formats like books, images, videos, websites and more.

There are two ways to search this site:

Select the 'Filter by topic, type, or learning area' button and enter the keywords 'Ancient Egypt'.
Scroll through the topics on the homepage and select Ancient Egypt.

Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address – they have .govt, meaning they are from government organisations. They are also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.

Khan Academy

This is another website which has great educational resources for students. This site covers a range of subjects including world history.

Enter the keywords 'Ancient Egypt' into the search bar. This will bring up a range of articles and videos related to this topic.

Tips: Once you've selected a resource, you can look at the side bar to find out which topics are covered in that resource.

Britannica School

Britannica School is one of the EPIC databases and its been chosen especially for New Zealand school students to help answer questions like this. It has lots of articles, pictures and videos.

Select the Primary level.
Search for 'Ancient Egypt'.
Select the first heading Ancient Egypt.
For more detail choose reading level 2 at the top of the page.

Elementary (Gale In Context)

This is another EPIC resource with lots of easy to find information.

Enter the keywords 'Ancient Egypt' into the search bar.
This will bring up the page Ancient Egypt.
Select Keep Reading to find out more or explore resources grouped by type eg book articles or pictures.
See Related Topics to find a link about the Pyramids of Giza (Egypt).

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.