9781422278826

E G Y P T

Egypt: An Introduction

W ith one of the world’s oldest continuing civilizations and with a vital place geographically on the world map, Egypt has long been a center of the world. Everyone is probably familiar with the huge stone pyramids that symbolize the country. Built thousands of years ago tohouse the remains of their kings, known as pharaohs, these ancient monuments stand shoulder-to-shoulderwitha crowdedmajor city. Together, they forma physical symbolof thecountry’sconstant clashbetweenancientandmodern. The nation of Egypt is located in the northeast corner of Africa. A small portion lies in the Sinai Peninsula in Asia, bordering the country of Israel. Libya borders Egypt to the west, while Sudan borders it to the south. The Red Sea forms most of the eastern border. Egypt’s total land area is 384,845 square miles. It is larger than Texas (268,597 square miles) and much smaller than Alaska (663,300 square miles). Words to Understand dynasties  long periods of time during which one extended family rules a place hieroglyphics  a form of writing used by ancient Egyptians that uses pictures or symbols instead of letters

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