Laurie had just come home from school when she heard a light hammering sound coming from Grandpa's study.
Curious, she tapped on the door. "Grandpa? Can I come in?"
"Just a second!" Grandpa answered. Laurie heard lots of shuffling. "Enter!"
Grandpa was sitting empty-handed at his desk, but there were wood shavings everywhere.
"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" he asked.
"It's over at three. What were you doing in here?" Laurie said suspiciously.
She saw something wooden poking out from underneath a book.
"Aha!" she cried, pulling the object out. "What's this?"
"Well, Miss Nosy, that's your birthday present.
But now it won't be a surprise," Grandpa said.
It was a wooden crocodile with a string attached to the top of its head so the mouth could be opened and shut.
Laurie pulled the string and snapped the crocodile's jaws.
"It's an ancient Egyptian toy," Grandpa said.
"I made this, but if you were a child in ancient Egypt, you might have something similar.
Crocodiles were a significant part of Egyptian life because the civilization was built along the Nile River, and many crocodiles lived there.
The Egyptian civilization has been called the gift of the Nile,
because the Egyptians depended on the river for many things, including irrigation and fertilizer.
It flooded every year, supplying much-needed water and nutrients to the surrounding land.
This made farming easy for the Egyptians.
The soft, wet land also made good mud for building mud-brick houses.
And the river unified the people of the area by providing a convenient highway for transportation and communication.
Ancient Egypt was an agricultural society.
Do you know what that means? It means life depended heavily on farming.
If you were a little Egyptian girl living about four thousand years ago, your father would probably be a grain farmer.
Grains were the most common crop, especially wheat and barley, which were used to make bread and beer—the most typical food and drink.
Unfortunately children didn't get to go to school like you do now.
You'd probably spend most days helping your parents.
During harvest season maybe you would bundle wheat on the farm.
Or perhaps you'd be at home, helping to cook or take care of the vegetable garden near your house.
But Egypt wasn't all farms. If you were a well-to-do Egyptian family, you might live near a city," Grandpa said, looking around his desk.
He handed Laurie a drawing of an ancient Egyptian city.
"What's this big thing?" Laurie asked, pointing to a large structure rising above palm trees.
"And what's that funny picture of a bird with a beach ball?"
"That's the temple to the sun god, Ra.
He was the most important god, as the Egyptians thought he was responsible for the rising sun,
which brought light and nourishment to their land.
Many temples were built in worship to him.
And that's not a bird with a beach ball!
That's ‘Ra' in hieroglyphics, an ancient form of writing.
Just as the sun looks different throughout the day, Ra appeared in many different forms.
But most often he was shown as a falcon carrying the great, big sun over his head.
Every morning he rose from underground and traveled across the sky in a boat.
And every evening he went back beneath the ground.
He had the most important job of all—creator of the universe.
The next most important job was that of the pharaoh, the Egyptian king.
Pharaohs were considered part god. They were in charge of politics, the military, and the welfare of their citizens.
They were also the link between the gods and humans.
Without the pharaoh, Egyptians thought, the world would end up in chaos!
But the pharaohs lived a life of luxury compared to common farmers.
They owned most of the land, lived in huge palaces with many servants, and could get whatever they wanted.
Both their responsibilities and wealth continued after death too.
When a pharaoh died, Egyptians believed he became the king of the dead and buried him in an elaborate tomb.
In order for him to be able to perform his duties properly, he had to be buried with everything he would need.
This included his body, which was preserved, and his most valuable possessions.
Inside the tomb the walls were also covered with paintings of slaves, food, and animals.
You've seen pictures of the pyramids of Giza, right?
Those magnificent structures were tombs for pharaohs!
The tomb paintings have taught us a lot about the Egyptians.
For example, one of their favorite sports was hunting.
Egyptians are thought to be the first people to hunt purely for pleasure.
The area around the Nile was full of wildlife; they hunted birds, gazelles, lions, and hippopotamuses!
Hippo hunts seem to have been particularly popular.
Hippos, you know, live mostly in the water.
Egyptians hunted them with long spears from boats.
Hippo ahead!" Grandpa cried, jumping up and pretending to spot something in the distance.
"Attack!" he yelled as he hurled an imaginary spear into the air.
"Grandpa, did they hunt crocodiles?" Laurie asked worriedly, holding the toy on her palm.
Grandpa returned from his fantasy hippo hunt and looked at Laurie.
"Well, I haven't seen any pictures of it, but hunting dangerous animals was a way to earn respect.
And crocodiles are pretty dangerous. But crocodiles were associated with the water god, whom Egyptians both feared and honored.
So perhaps your little crocodile would have been spared."
Grandpa smiled and tapped the crocodile on its head. Laurie smiled too.
"Laurie! I'm home!" Mom called from downstairs.
"Hi, Mom! I'll be right down!" Laurie hollered back.
"Thanks, Grandpa. I'll pretend I never saw this," she said, putting the crocodile back on the desk. "Until next time!"
"Until next time! Bye, Laurie!"