Ancient Egypt: pharaohs, pyramids and hieroglyphs quiz game: what children learn
Ancient Egypt is one of the earliest civilisations. It began about 5,000 years ago, when people built villages along the River Nile in north-east Africa. The Nile flooded every year and left rich soil behind, so farmers could grow crops in the middle of a desert. Egypt was ruled by pharaohs, who were buried in great tombs such as the pyramids at Giza and, later, in the Valley of the Kings.
The National Curriculum asks Key Stage 2 pupils to learn where and when the first civilisations appeared and to study one of them in depth. Many schools choose Ancient Egypt. This game checks the key knowledge: the Nile, pharaohs, pyramids, mummies, hieroglyphs, papyrus, the Rosetta Stone and the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922.
This topic covers a Key Stage 2 statutory requirement in the National Curriculum in England (Subject content): pupils should be taught about “the achievements of the earliest civilizations – an overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer, The Indus Valley, Ancient Egypt, The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China”. The programme of study sets this for the whole of Key Stage 2, so schools choose when to teach it; we have placed this game in Year 3 (ages 7–8). This game covers the Ancient Egypt depth study.
There is no direct equivalent in the US Common Core State Standards.
How to play
Answer 10 questions before the clock runs out. Tap an answer, or press 1 to 4. Each game has 10 multiple-choice questions and a 150-second timer. A wrong answer shows the correct one before moving on. You earn up to three stars depending on your score.
Step by step
- Start with the river. Find Egypt and the Nile on a map. Ask why people would choose to live next to a river in a desert.
- Meet the pharaohs. Pharaohs were kings and queens. People believed they were close to the gods. Their tombs were filled with treasure for the afterlife.
- Learn how we know. Hieroglyphs, papyrus, tomb paintings and objects tell us about Egyptian life. The Rosetta Stone helped experts read hieroglyphs again.
- Tell Tutankhamun’s story. A young pharaoh, buried in the Valley of the Kings, whose tomb Howard Carter found almost untouched in 1922.
- Compare with Britain. While the Egyptians were writing hieroglyphs, people in Britain were building Stonehenge and had no written records.
Worked examples
Example 1: Why were the pyramids built?
Working: Pyramids held the bodies and treasures of the most important people in Egypt, ready for the afterlife.
Answer: As tombs for pharaohs.
Example 2: What did the Egyptians make paper from?
Working: A tall reed grew along the Nile. Its stems were pressed into sheets, and our word “paper” comes from its name.
Answer: Papyrus.
Example 3: Which stone helped people understand hieroglyphs again?
Working: It has the same message written in hieroglyphs and in Greek, so experts could compare them.
Answer: The Rosetta Stone.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Thinking Tutankhamun was buried in a pyramid. He was buried in a rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The great pyramids are much older.
- Thinking hieroglyphs are just pictures. Many hieroglyphs stand for sounds, like letters, as well as whole words.
- Mixing up Egypt with Ancient Greece or Rome. Egypt is in Africa and is much older. Put all three on one timeline.
Activities to try at home
- Write your name in hieroglyphs using an alphabet chart.
- Build a pyramid from sugar cubes or building bricks and count how many you need.
- Look at photos of Tutankhamun’s mask and talk about what it is made of.
- Print the game sheet and play it after reading about Ancient Egypt.
Ideas for the classroom
- Make a giant Nile on the floor and place farms, towns and pyramids along it.
- Look at Egyptian objects in a museum collection online and ask what they tell us.
- Write a class “newspaper” reporting Howard Carter’s discovery in 1922.
- Use the quiz at the start and end of the unit.
Free printable game and worksheet
The free printable starts with a game sheet, such as a colour-by-answer picture, an answer maze or a secret-code joke, followed by a worksheet. Both use the same checked questions as the online game, and the answers are on the last page. Print it, or save it as a PDF from your browser’s print menu.
Open the free printable game and worksheet
Frequently asked questions
Were the pyramids built by slaves?
Historians now think most pyramid builders were paid workers and farmers who were housed and fed, rather than slaves.
Why does the game ask about the Nile and Africa?
The curriculum asks where and when the first civilisations appeared, so knowing that Egypt grew up along the Nile in Africa is part of the topic.
Does the game cover other early civilisations?
Not yet. It covers Ancient Egypt, the most common depth study. Sumer, the Indus Valley and the Shang Dynasty are the other choices.