Back to: West Bengal Board Class 6th English Guide and Notes
Table of Contents
Characters
- Ishan: A young boy who goes to Egypt with his mother.
- Ishan’s mother: She wins a sponsored trip to Egypt in a singing competition.
- The Sphinx: A rock statue with a human head and a lion’s body.
Introduction
Land of Pharaohs is a graphic story about ancient Egypt. The civilization we call Egypt flourished about 5000 years ago when the rule of the Pharaohs began. They made Egypt a rich and powerful nation, admired throughout the ancient world.
Summary
Pyramids and Pharaohs
This chapter is about a boy named Ishan who went for a visit as a tourist to Cairo, Egypt. The first place they went was to see three great pyramids. Ishan wanted to know more about the pyramids as he had no idea what it was. Ishan’s mother explained that a pyramid is a huge, triangular, monument and the burial ground of Pharaohs. Egyptian Kings are called Pharaohs, they lived around five thousand years ago.
Ishan was excited to visit these interesting places and wished his father would’ve come with them. Ishan’s mother had won a trip to Egypt as a prize in a singing competition which entitled only two for a sponsored tour of Egypt.
The Sphinx
The Sphinx is a rock statue with a human head and a lion’s body. It represents intelligence and strength and guards the pyramids. Ishan’s mother after explaining all these got hungry and went to fetch some sandwiches and water from their car as it was going to be a long walk in the sun. Ishan out of no when heard his name being called, when he looked up it was the Sphinx calling out his name. Ishan looked around but his mother was already gone. The Sphinx knew everything about Ishan and wanted to show him the history of this place.
Ishan didn’t like studying history as he couldn’t remember dry facts. The Sphinx promised to show him something he will never forget and asked him to close his eyes. When Ishan opened his eyes he was standing by the river Nile. Egypt is the gift of the river Nile. Then again when Ishan closed and opened his eyes he was in the past when five thousand years ago a great civilization flourished in Egypt, mainly led by Pharaohs. The kings were wise and the soldiers were brave.
The mummy
Ancient Egypt was also a land of prosperity and festivals. Ishan wanted to know about the pyramids from Sphinx. The pyramids were funerary edifices of the pharaohs. The biggest pyramid is Pharaoh’s pyramid. Before the burial of the bodies of royal persons, they had to go through mummification. The Egyptian priests found a way to preserve the dead bodies using spices, chemicals, and oils.
Ishan then sees Queen Nefertiti, the most beautiful queen of Egypt. He also sees king Tutenkhamun who died in his teens and body was preserved as a mummy. Howard Carter discovered Tutenkhamun’s tomb in 1922.
Ishan’s mom comes back with the sandwiches and water. Ishan comes back to reality and tells his mother about the history of Egypt. The mother was surprised as Ishan didn’t like history and suddenly, he is familiar with the history of Egypt. Ishan had started to like history after all.
Conclusion
Ishan didn’t like history. It was very hard to remember history for Ishan. But after he met with Sphinx he learned about the mysteries of the Pyramids, Pharaohs, Mummy, and Egyptian culture. It was very interesting to him and he began to like history.
