Ancient Egyptian houses were built out of mud-brick then plastered and whitewashed to reflect the sun. The Egyptians built their houses with the walls sloping inwards to make them strong enough to resist floods or earthquakes.

Houses had tiny windows to keep them cool and shady and to keep burglars out. The homes of wealthier families had their inside walls plastered and decorated with brightly-coloured paintings or hangings. Some even had vents on the roof to send cool breezes through the house - an ancient kind of air conditioning!

Houses in towns were built close together, but in the countryside there was room for people to have gardens. There were huge differences between the homes of the rich and the poor.

The enormous villas of the rich were set in great estates. They had many rooms, and separate stables, storerooms, workshops and kitchens, while most houses just had a small yard at the back with a clay oven and a grindstone. Wealthy homes even had bathrooms and toilets, but most people had to wash in the river.

There was very little furniture but most houses had built-in benches to sit and sleep on.

Filed under: Egyptian