Human world
Here you can find out what it was like to live in ancient Egypt. This part of the gallery brings to life fascinating facts about living as an Egyptian including their domestic life, clothing and religion.
In this video, a pharaoh tells us about his forthcoming marriage. To view subtitles please select the full-screen option, shown by the four arrows icon. Read a transcript for this video here. To view the video, you must have Flash Player.
A must-see object in this part of the gallery is the vividly-coloured belt of the last great pharaoh, Rameses III. This remarkable piece, dating from 1180 BC, would have been wrapped several times around the waist as part of the king’s military uniform.
The ancient Egyptians had a rich and tasteful style of living that we admire today. They hated to be away from Egypt and believed their way of life was better than any other. It was so successful it lasted 3000 years.
You can learn a lot about ancient Egyptians, just by looking at their drawings. Artists drew peasants with messy hair and few clothes. They drew important people larger and wearing beautiful costumes. Status was so important that artists even drew powerful people wearing their best clothes when out hunting.
If you visited an ancient Egyptian city, you’d see that the temples were the largest buildings. Here many priests worked every day, caring for the gods. They also celebrated festivals when the pharaoh might visit. People liked festivals because they could eat some of the food offered to the gods.
The pyramids at Giza are the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and are the only one of the seven left. Pyramids are the greatest monuments the ancient Egyptians created. The pyramids were built as pharaohs' tombs. There are more than 80 in Egypt. Giza is just part of a vast cemetery, or necropolis, near the ancient city of Memphis. Inside the pyramids carved texts describe how the dead pharaohs ascend to the sky along the sun’s rays. The pyramids may represent ramps reaching to the heavens.
'Rameses Girdle'. Dynasty 20: reign of Rameses III (about 1185 BC). Accession no. M11156.