Highhill Homeschool: Egypt Unit Study

This is a summary of books and videos used to study Ancient Egypt. Be sure to browse the list as only some were mentioned in earlier posts.

Books

My 13 year old loves the Royal Diary series of books. Both my 8 year old and I enjoyed reading Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C. (8.2.1999) together. The story begins just before Cleopatra and her father were exiled to Rome. Told in narrative, we learned much about Cleopatra and life during her time by reading this historical fiction book.

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt jumps between how certain artifacts were discovered in Egypt and their significance to Ancient Egyptian history. All the while focusing on the lives of several great pharaohs. Hatshepsut, the first great woman known to history, her successor, Thutmose III, the great conqueror, and his son Ahmenhotep IV, the sun pharaoh, are described in great detail.

Tales of Ancient Egypt (Puffin Classics) is a chapter book for upper elementary children and older, which focus on the Gods and pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.

The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt is a historical fiction book for junior high aged children and older, set in the time of Thutmose III.

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs is a picture book perfect for small learners. It describes how the determination of a small boy led to his being the one to crack the code of hieroglyphs as an adult.

Weighing the heart against the feather of truth is the method used to determine who was telling the truth in The Winged Cat by Deborah Nourse Latimore. The illustrations in this book contain hieroglyphs and art in the traditional Egyptian style.

Punt (modern day Somalia) was a distant land the Ancient Egyptians traveled to for trade, much like Ancient China was a mystery to the Europeans. The Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Tale with Hieroglyphs based on 1800 BC hieroglyphs, describes a journey to Punt that involves shipwreck, princes and interesting foods.

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt gives kids a good introduction to the customs of Ancient Egypt.

The Egyptian Cinderella- Rodophis was a slave girl stolen from Greece and brought to Egypt. Being a slave, her life was actually better than the lives of the servants. Very loosely based on a true story, Rodophis grew up to marry one of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.

Pepi and the Secret Names: Help Pepi Crack the Hieroglyphic Code introduces children to the Egyptian philosophy of the afterlife, tomb building and hieroglyphics through a fun story. This book is good for younger children. (K-3)

Videos

Great Pharaohs of Egypt - is a four part series of videos which tells the stories of many significant pharaohs.

The Great Pharaohs of Egypt - Vol 1

(Nahmar, Djoser, Sneffru, Giza Pyramid Builders)

The Great Pharaohs of Egypt - Vol 2

(End of Pyramid Builders, Middle Kingdom, Tutmose, Hatshepsut)

The Great Pharaohs of Egypt - Vol 3

(Akhenaten)

The Great Pharaohs of Egypt - Vol 4

(Ramses to Cleopatra)

Egypt- Deities and Demons
This video describes many of the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses as well as their significance.

Egypt - Deities and Demons

Egypt Book of the Dead
The Egyptian Book of the Dead has a lot in common with the Bible. They are both religious texts which guide the reader to a happy afterlife. In addition to explaining the significance of the Book of the Dead, this video tells how one copy was found and preserved in the British Museum during the 1800's.

Egypt Book of the Dead Part One

Engineering an Empire - is a video series which details great engineering accomplishments of several different historical empires. The Egypt episode describes how pyramids, obelisks and temples were constructed.

Engineering an Empire - Egypt

Hidden Secrets of the Great Pyramid - Revealed - In the video a new revolutionary theory for the construction technique of the Great Pyramid at Giza is described in detail.