Ros Channel

If you entered "slave", you made an assumption that is often made about the people who built the pyramids. In reality historians now believe that the workers of ancient Egypt were usually peasants and were quite well treated. Archaeological evidence attests to this.

The scribes also prepared inscriptions for tombs and sculptures. Learning to write was the only way really for a boy from a farming background to improve his status. It would take 12 years to learn all the symbols but a scribe was respected and admired for his skill.

Steel was not produced efficiently until the 17th century AD. The lute was a Renaissance instrument in Europe. Ebony, wood and gold were imported, not exported. Potatoes, cocoa beans and tomatoes originated in the Americas and were not available to the ancient Egyptians.

Women in ancient Egypt actually had more rights than women in ancient Greece. This is true even though in ancient Athens the first attempt at democracy was made. It was however only a democracy for men - and a very specific group of men, the citizen class.

Only the wealthy would have been able to eat a lot of meat. The poor would have had fish but would have survived on bread as their staple food with some vegetables. Beer was commonly drunk, even by children. Honey was used as a sweetener and it is thought that the Egyptians were the first to domesticate the honey bee.

Ancient Egyptians wore very little clothing and what they did wear was white linen to reflect the sun. The richer you were, the finer the linen. They often shaved their body and head hair and the wealthy often wore wigs, partially as protection from the sun.

The river actually rose about 8 metres during a typical flood. All years had poor rainfall. The mud of the river bank, when mixed with straw, was used to create mud-bricks, the standard building material for houses.

Animals were deeply loved by ancient Egyptians (especially cats). Their gods often had animal heads. Their most important god was Re (later called Amon-Re), the sun god. Actually they didn't know that the brain was so important; they thought the heart was the centre of thought and emotion. After all, your heart beats faster when you feel happy or afraid...