Egypt was ruled by kings they called pharaohs.  Pharaohs were highly respected and honored because the Egyptians thought they were gods.  The pharaoh got to make all the decisions.  He had special helpers and trusted advisors, but he had the final say.  People did not get to vote or have any rights.  This type of government is called a monarchy or absolute monarchy.  

When the pharaoh died, his oldest living son became pharaoh.  If he did not have a son, his brother would be in charge if he had one.  Women could also help run the kingdom.  Many pharaoh's wives helped with important decisions.  Some even proclaimed themselves Queen of Egypt and ran the entire government.  

Most of the Ancient Egyptians believed in many gods which is called polytheism.  They actually worshiped over 2000 gods.  Most Egyptian gods had animal heads.  The Egyptians built temples to honor their gods and people prayed to them when needed.  If the gods didn't listen, the Egyptian might give the gods' statue a whack to let them know they should be listening.  Mostly, the Egyptians were not afraid of the gods.  Each of the gods had a special job.  Ra was the sun god and considered the most important.  The Egyptians also believed the pharaoh was a god and the son of Ra.  The Egyptians mummified (or preserved) bodies to send them to the after-life.  In the after-life, the Egyptians thought the dead mummy got to keep living. 

Economy deals with all the jobs and items the Egyptians had that were worth something.  They did not have paper money like we do today.  They traded for everything they wanted or needed. 

Most of the Egyptians were farmers.  They produced a surplus or an extra supply.  Some of the extra crop went to the pharaoh as a tax.  However, they also used the extra to trade for other items they needed or wanted.  Some Egyptians had specialized jobs and made things like:  clothing, tools, jewelry, bowls, etc.  Remember, they traded because money did not exist.  No matter what you specialized in or made, all items made in Egypt were taxed.  Everyone had to give the pharaoh part of what they made.  This tax was sometimes called tribute.  The pharaoh used these items to trade with other civilizations.  These items also made the pharaoh very rich. 

Everything in Egypt was taxed, even a person's time.  Therefore, they had to spend time helping the government or pharaoh.  Many helped build pyramids, irrigation, and other projects for the pharaoh.

The Egyptian writing was called hieroglyphics (hi-row-glyph-ics).  Hieroglyphics were pictures that stood for sounds or words.  They wrote these on papyrus, which was what they used for paper.  Papyrus was made from reed plants that grew along the Nile.  Scribes were the people that learned to write.  They went to school for many years to master hieroglyphics and they kept important records like laws, crops, and songs.  Only boys could attend scribe school and they started training at age 10.  It was very hard to learn because hieroglyphics used about 800 pictures.  Eventually experts figured out what they said. 

Pyramids were large buildings with special rooms inside called a tomb.  There are many theories about how pyramids were built in ancient Egypt.  One thing is for sure, it would have been difficult work without modern technology.

The pyramids were built by pharaohs to honor themselves.  They used the pyramids as a tomb for when they died.  The pharaohs or kings were buried inside the pyramid in a tomb.  A tomb was just a special room for the pharaoh's coffin with his dead body.  All the supplies he would need for the after-life were placed inside his tomb like clothing, furniture, jewelry, and food.  Egyptians mummified or preserved the pharaohs body before placing it in the tomb.  Most pyramids built were gigantic and protected the dead pharaohs' mummified body from grave robbers, wild animals, and flood waters.  

It took thousands of workers and many years to build a pyramid.  It was mostly done by farmers during the flood season.  In fact, all Egyptians were required to work on building projects for the pharaoh each year.  Some estimates say over 100,000 people worked on the pyramids just not all at the same time.  

The Great Pyramid is one famous pyramid.  It is almost 500 feet tall and covers the area of nine football fields.  It took more than 2 million stone blocks.  They worked on it for over 20 years.  The Egyptians did that without the help of the wheel.  It is still standing today and visited by many tourists.