Pages from the Lives of the Pharaohs

Our customs today are no different from those of our ancestors forty centuries ago. Despite all the developments, we still maintain our ancient glory. We can see this when we look at life in the city of Thebes (Luxor), which was the ancient capital of our country. This similarity is clearly evident in the type of dwellings in which the ancient Egyptians lived, and in which we live today. Excavations have shown that the ancient Egyptian city was very similar to the Egyptian city of today. The city system was similar to the village system we see, with its narrow streets and closely packed houses built of mud bricks, often covered with white or colored lime, and containing one or two stories. In the tomb of a scribe named "e;Thothenefer"e;, who lived around 1450 BC in ancient Luxor, there is a realistic description of his two-story house, accessible by stairs not unlike ours today.