Flashcards on Ancient Egyptian Housing and Construction
Ancient Egyptian Housing and Construction: A Student Guide
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Ancient Egyptian housing
20 cards
Card 1
Question: What type of climate and landscape did ancient Egypt mainly have?
Answer: Mostly desert (the Sahara) with few trees and a hot climate.
Card 2
Question: Which river was central to where ancient Egyptians settled and built homes?
Answer: The Nile river, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
Card 3
Question: Why did ancient people settle along the Nile?
Answer: They settled along the river to access water and local building materials (river mud and papyrus) and for farming.
Card 4
Question: What materials did early Egyptians use to build walls from papyrus plants?
Answer: They wove papyrus reeds together and covered them in mud (a wattle and daub method).
Card 5
Question: What was a major problem with houses made of papyrus reeds and mud?
Answer: They did not last long; rain and Nile floods could break and wash the walls away.
Card 6
Question: How were mud bricks made in ancient Egypt?
Answer: People dug clay and sticky mud from the Nilebank, mixed it with water and straw, poured it into wooden moulds, and left them to bake in the hot sun.
Card 7
Question: Who typically made the mud bricks?
Answer: Children, servants, or enslaved people made the mud bricks.
Card 8
Question: Why were mud bricks an improvement over papyrus wattle-and-daub?
Answer: Mud brick walls lasted longer and were stronger, though they could still be eroded by rain.
Card 9
Question: What are 'tells' and how did they form?
Answer: Tells are hills formed when new buildings were built on top of crumbled mud brick walls over time.
Card 10
Question: What features did all typical Egyptian houses share to cope with heat and sand?
Answer: Flat roofs, small high windows, doors raised above ground level, and papyrus reed coverings for doors and windows.