The Ancient Egyptian society lasted for over 3,000 years. During that time, they created many different artifacts that we still study to this day.
By studying these ancient artifacts, we can figure out how their society functioned. These items also help to give us an idea of how different types of people lived during this time period.
Over the years, Ancient Egypt has been studied by many different scientists. These scientists, who are known as archaeologists, have found many different artifacts.
This includes small items, such as jewelry that Egyptians wore. It also includes large items, such as monuments and tombs.
All of these artifacts have allowed us to piece together what life must have been like during Ancient Egypt’s reign, which is why we know so much about them today.
Visitors to Egypt also had a tendency to take some of the artifacts that they found back to their home countries. This is why we have so many different artifacts in museums today.
Famous Types of Egyptian Artifacts
- Mummies – The afterlife is one of the most important parts of Ancient Egyptian culture. They cared deeply for what happened to them after their death.
They thought that if their bodies weren’t prepared properly for the afterlife that they wouldn’t be able to move on to the next world.
One of the most important steps that they followed after someone died was to mummify their body. They did this through a process called embalming, which helped to preserve a person’s body for a long time.
Embalming was an elaborate process. During this process, a person’s organs were removed. They also took out as much moisture and water from the body as they could, since water causes decay.
After the body was dried out, they used lotions to preserve the skin. Then the body was wrapped in linen.
Once the body was wrapped up, it was covered in a sheet called a shroud, and placed in a stone coffin, which is known as a sarcophagus.
The entire mummification process took about 40 days. They did their work very well, which has allowed archaeologist to study real Ancient Egyptian bodies extensively.
- Paintings – The rich and powerful of Ancient Egypt were usually buried in large tombs. These tombs would have paintings all over their walls.
These paintings were designed to help the person in their afterlife. They often showed the person that had passed away going over to the afterlife.
In these scenes, they would usually show the person happy and enjoying their new world. They could also include a person’ family members to show that they were not alone in the afterlife.
- Sculpture – Ancient Egyptians loved to make sculptures. These small statues were made as funeral masks for people, or just to show what people looked like in life.
Some sculptures were also made to depict different gods and goddesses. Some even were made so that family cats could be remembered after they had passed away!
- Statues – The Ancient Egyptians were very good at making large statues. These statues usually showed Pharaohs or gods/goddesses.
Some of these statues are really big!! One such statue, the Sphinx at Giza is over 240 feet tall!
- Relief – Reliefs are a type of sculpture that is built into the walls of temples or tombs. These were usually painted, and carved right into the walls of the structure.
- Jewelry – There are many different jewelry type artifacts that have been found that were made during the reign of Ancient Egypt.
These artifacts could be as simple as rings or bracelets. There are also many different necklaces that have been found.
More Ancient Egypt facts.