Tag archives for Egypt
Posted by BOOK NAME: The Egypt Game
AUTHOR: Zilpha Keatley Snyder
April comes to live with her grandmother, while her famous mother is on a tour. She moves in to her grandmother’s house, at the Casa Rosada. Also in the Casa Rosada building lives the Ross family. Melanie Ross, who is April’s age, quickly becomes her friend. They share their interests with each other, and discover that they both love ancient Egypt. They find a yard behind a store, owned by the Professor, and decide to create a secret Egypt game there, based on the customs of ancient Egypt.
Soon enough, the Egypt game has six members. They make their own hieroglyphic alphabet, and have Egyptian names. Then, when a little girl is murdered in their community and the police can’t find the criminal, all kids are told not to play outside, and the members of the Egypt game are afraid that they will never be able to return to Egypt (the yard behind the store). Soon, though, the talk dies down, the kids slowly return to play outside, and the members of the Egypt game return to Egypt.
One night, April and Marshall go to Egypt to get April’s math book. Someone grabs April, covers her mouth, and tries to drag her away. Finally, the strange person runs off. People think the criminal is the Professor, because no one really knows anything about him. Can they affirm their suspicion? Can the Egypt game continue?
I really loved this book! I love ancient cultures. My favorite character is April. She seems stuck up in the beginning of the book, but she really is nice. I recommend this book to everyone! It is definitely worth reading!
Posted by Have you ever dreamed about being an archaeologist? Visiting the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis gives you a chance to experience real archaeological discoveries as you explore the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Seti I, the terra cotta warriors excavation site in China, and Captain Kidd’s shipwreck off the coast of the Dominican Republic. The National Geographic Treasures of the Earth exhibit was created with the assistance of the National Geographic Society and opens on June 11, 2011. Watch this video to get an amazing behind-the-scenes look at the exhibit!
Egypt Protects Artifacts From Looters
During protests against Egypt’s leader Hosni Mubarek looters tried to steal precious artifacts from the Cairo’s Egyptian Museum last Friday. Looters are using the chaos in the country to try to loot historic areas, archaeological sites, and museums, and are probably looking for gold.
Civilians and police helped secure the Museum’s priceless treasures on Saturday. More citizens formed a human chain around the outside of the museum to keep additional looters from getting in. Although nothing has been stolen, some artifacts were damaged, such as two royal mummies whose heads fell off. Ordinary people have protected historic sites in other areas in Egypt, too, such as Luxor and Alexandria. National Geographic fellow Fredrik Hiebert explains that historical objects in Egypt are easier to loot than in other places. “In Iraq and Afghanistan, people [had] moved away from the archaeological sites.” Egypt is mostly desert, though, so “you can’t move anywhere–the Nile is it.”
National Geographic explorer-in-residence Zahi Hawass says that the country’s museums are now safe and guarded by the army, and should open near the end of the week.
Read more about the situation in Egypt on National Geographic News.
See pictures of what was damaged on National Geographic News.
Get the facts on Egypt on National Geographic Kids.
Read an interview with National Geographic fellow Fredrik Hiebert on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph by Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic
Posted by BOOK NAME: You Wouldn’t Want To…Series
AUTHORS: Various
In the You Wouldn’t Want To… series, there are a lot of different kinds of books, like You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on the Mayflower and You Wouldn’t Want to be a Pyramid Builder. The ones I’ve read are You Wouldn’t Want to Sail with Christopher Columbus, You Wouldn’t Want to be in a Medieval Dungeon, You Wouldn’t Want to be a Civil War Soldier, You Wouldn’t Want to be a Roman Gladiator, and You Wouldn’t Want to be an Egyptian Mummy.
In You Wouldn’t Want to be an Egyptian Mummy, the mummies are treated like they’re alive. They’re buried with famous jewels. If a thief steals one, they’d be able to sell it for a lot of money. But most of the thieves are caught, and if they are, they’re killed.
In You Wouldn’t Want to be in a Medieval Dungeon, the book shows you all kinds of different prisons, and how you could even be sent to one. It even shows what it would be like in the prisons. There are lots of bugs and diseases, it’s dirty, it’s cold, there’s nowhere to sleep. If you have to go the bathroom, then just find a corner of your dungeon.
In You Wouldn’t Want to be a Roman Gladiator, there’s barely anything good to eat, and you have to fight to the death! You’d love this one. It was my favorite.
These are cool books because they’re funny and weird. I would recommend them to maybe 5-year-olds to 12-year-olds. My brother Reed (who’s also a DogEared blogger) loves them. And so does my Dad. They have really cool pictures. It’s good because it’s written from the point of view as if you were there.
Posted by BOOK NAME: The Red Pyramid
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
Hi, it’s Mairen again. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan, has been the focus of a lot of controversy among fans. When the movie came out, there was outrage within the most avid followers, while the people who hadn’t read the books loved it.
But Riordan has burst out with a new book: The Red Pyramid. While this new novel does focus on myths and gods, the gods are not Greek or Roman, they’re Egyptian. We follow Carter and Sadie Kane as they quest to figure out what exactly is going on and what they need to do to stop the evil god Set. Set was released when their father worked magic with the Rosetta Stone, releasing the 5 major gods. Carter and Sadie grew up apart after their mother died: Carter traveled with their Egyptologist father around the world, and Sadie stayed with their mother’s parents in London. They are very different – Sadie has almost Caucasian skin, and Carter’s skin is much darker; Sadie has a British accent; and Carter is an expert on Egyptology.
As much as I loved the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, this book didn’t really do the trick for me. Sure, it was good–it just didn’t pack the punch that his first series did: it wasn’t as funny, and the characters didn’t come to life as much. It was confusing at times, and I couldn’t really get into it. While I was reading, I kept telling myself that it would get better, but it really didn’t. All I can hope for is that the next two books will be better. One of the big turn-downs for me was that the story was apparently told while Sadie and Carter were recording themselves retelling the story. This didn’t really work for me. It confused me, and while I could tell it was meant to be funny, it only served as an interruption to the actual plotline of the story.
The Red Pyramid was an okay book overall. If you’re a Rick Riordan fan, you should definitely read it. Please comment and tell me your thoughts!
Want another opinion? Read Reed’s review of The Red Pyramid.
Posted by BOOK NAME: The Red Pyramid
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
It started off when my Mom brought me home a book order from school (she’s a teacher there). I decided to get a Gary Paulsen book called Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats and The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. I wanted The Red Pyramid because it looked like it had some cool adventure. Everyday after school, I’d ask my Mom, “Did it come? Did it come?” It took a while for it to finally come because it hadn’t even been published yet! It finally came in the middle of one school day and I started reading it that night.
The story’s narrators switch off between the two main characters, Carter and Sadie. Carter and Sadie’s mom died when they were young so Sadie had to go live with her grandparents on her mom’s side of the family. Carter lived with his dad who’s an archaeologist, but they only went to visit Sadie twice a year. Carter was named after Howard Carter, who discovered King Tut’s tomb (if you want to learn more about King Tut and mummies, read Braden’s review of the book Mummies).
Carter and Sadie’s dad takes them to the British Museum in London, where they see the Rosetta Stone, a famous archaeological discovery. He tells them to stay in an office, but when they leave the office they find their dad doing something that looks like magic. It turns out to be that he’s summoning gods from the Rosetta Stone. One of the gods puts their dad into a coffin which then sinks into the ground.
The rest of the story is about how the kids, along with their uncle Amos, try to find their dad. It’s story is full of twists and turns and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
It’s really for advanced readers who are 8 and 9 and other readers who are 10-12. It’s sort of like The Lightning Thief where there are gods in modern times. You should definitely get this book. It may take you a while to read because it’s 514 pages long, but it’s definitely worth it.
Until next time…SEEYA!
BOOK NAME: Mummies (National Geographic Kids)
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Carney
Mummies is about how mummies are made, and some famous mummies and different kinds of mummies. If a person is buried in a bog, they will be protected and can turn into a mummy. A mummy’s hair color can even stay if it’s buried in a bog.
Other mummies are wrapped in linen. It’s a special kind of cloth. They put them in a giant box called a sarcophagus. They stay in there for a long long time. You can find them in deserts, caves and other places. But you mostly see them unburied in museums like in Washington, D.C.
Two hikers found a very famous mummy named Otzi. Scientists found an arrow in his back and they think that’s how he died 5,300 years ago.
The book also tells you how Egyptians made mummies:
1. You take out the organs.
2. You take out the brain with a long hook and stick it up his nose and pull his brain out of his nose.
3. You wash his body and put salt on him.
4. You let him dry for 40 days.
5. You rub special oil on the body.
6.You wrap him up with linen and then put him in the sarcophagus.
In 1922, King Tut was found in a cave. He was 15 years old when he died and he was a king 3,300 years ago. Sometimes they find special gold and money where mummies were buried. You can see King Tut in his cave where he was found.
There can also be animal mummies. There can be dogs, cats, monkeys and even crocodile mummies!
I liked this book a lot. It was a really good book for my age.
A previously unknown pyramid was found buried under 23 feet (7 meters) of sand last week in Saqqara, Egypt. It is believed to be the tomb of Pharaoh Teti’s mother, Queen Sesheshet, who lived 4,300 years ago. This pyramid may be “the most complete subsidiary pyramid ever found at Saqqara,” according to Dr. Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence. It is considered to be a subsidiary, or satellite, pyramid to the tomb of Teti.
Read more about the discovery on National Geographic News.
Read about the remains found in the pyramid on National Geographic News.
Learn more about archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Zahi Hawass on National Geographic.
