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The man answered, "A direct democracy is where all of the citizens have an equal say in the decision making process.""That would be amazing for us," agreed some of the other people.

They paid 10% of what they earned in a year to the Church (this tax was called tithes)

What the Church got in tithes was kept in huge tithe barns;

You also had to pay for baptisms (if you were not baptised you could not go to Heaven when you died), marriages (there were no couples living together in Medieval times as the Church taught that this equaled sin) and burials – you had to be buried on holy land if your soul was to get to heaven. Whichever way you looked, the Church received money.

The Church also did not have to pay taxes.

most simply collapsed after a while as they were so poorly built.

Important cities would have cathedrals in them.

Their sheer size meant that people would see them from miles around, and remind them of the huge power of the Catholic Church in Medieval England.

However, if you were killed in an accident while working in a cathedral or a church, you were guaranteed a place in Heaven – or so the workers were told.

Bleeding and the use of leeches to draw "bad blood" from the patient were typical. Some surgeries were performed to cure patients of hernias, cataracts, for the removal of gallstones. Surgery was often more precarious than the actual problem. Folk cures and poultices made from herbs were options for the peasant class. There were those who would risk being called "witch" to provide these remedies, although many found themselves tied to a burning stake.

the Church was often called to exorcise demons and say prayers and incantations over the patient.

he first constructions in Timbuktu were designed by African architects from Djenne and later on by Muslim architects from North Africa. Trade and knowledge were at their height.

Timbuktu became a celebrated center of Islamic learning and a commercial establishment. Timbuktu had three universities and 180 Quranic schools. These universities were the Sankore University, Jingaray Ber University and Sidi Yahya University. This was the golden age of Africa. Books were not only written in Timbuktu, but they were also imported and copied there. There was an advanced local book copying industry in the city. The universities and private libraries contained unparalleled scholarly works. The famous scholar of Timbuktu Ahmad Baba who was among those forcibly exiled in Morocco claimed that his library of 1600 books had been plundered, and that his library, according to him, was one of the smaller in the city.

The booming economy of Timbuktu attracted the attention of the Emperor of Mali, Mansa Mussa (1307-1332) also known as “Kan Kan Mussa.” He captured the city in 1325. As a Muslim, Mansa Mussa was impressed with the Islamic legacy of Timbuktu. On his return from Mecca, Mansa Mussa brought with him an Egyptian architect by the name of Abu Es Haq Es Saheli.

The Emperor also brought Arabs scholars to Timbuktu. To his great surprise, the Emperor has found that these scholars are underqualified compared to the black scholars of Timbuktu

Mansa Mussa's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 had made Mali known worldwide. The great rulertook 60,000 porters with him. Each porter carried 3 kilograms of pure gold, that is, 180,000 kilograms or at least 180 tons of gold (Reference: Volume IV UNESCO General History of Africa, pages 197-200). He had so much gold with him that when he stopped in Egypt, the Egyptian currency lost its value and as result, the name of Mali and Timbuktu appeared on the 14th century world map.

The Nile is divided into sections by cataracts.  A cataract is a rocky area that creates a waterfall or rapids.  There are six cataracts in the Nile river.

 As the water level lowered, it would leave behind rich fertile soil for farmers

Fresh water, irrigation, fertile soil--this is why people called it the "gift" of the Nile.

Around 6000 BCE the climate began to change, which might explain why many humans changed from hunting and gathering to farming.  Before civilization, early humans came to the Nile River to hunt, fish, and gather food, but gradually as people learned to farm and domesticate animals (about 7000 BCE and 5500 BCE), and therefore live in permanent settlements, areas around the Nile became more crowded.

The change from nomadic hunter-gatherers to civilized living followed the same pattern as other places around the world: farming provided extra food, which allowed the division of labor, which allows the development of government and religion and creates social classes. 

Historians call them Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt

We know so much about the Egyptians because there are so many written resources and because their culture lasted so long with few interruptions

Another reason we know so much about Egypt is because they made their architecture out of stone, which has lasted for the most part. 

Religion was a the center of Egyptian life.  Egyptians believed in many Gods, so they were polytheistic.

Later Egyptians would call their kings “pharaoh”.  Egyptian people believed the pharaoh was a living God, so the Egyptians developed a theocracy, or a government ruled by religious leaders.  This is important to understanding why Egyptian people were so willing to give their grain to the Pharaoh and build him or her incredible temples—they thought the Pharaoh was a living God that would be with them forever in eternity.

The most well-known ritual was mummification.  Egyptians believed in life after death, and they wanted the body to look life-like.  Anyone could be mummified if they had enough money

Egyptians were a very advanced civilization due to their inventions and technology.  Egyptians developed a writing system called hieroglyphs that combined pictures and symbols.  Eventually, they created an alphabet from their symbols.  In 1822 CE a European explorer found what is called the Rossetta Stone (left picture)--a stone with the same message written in 3 different languages, which finally allowed historians to translate ancient hieroglyphs. Egyptians developed a 365-day calendar and used a number system based on 10. Egyptians figured out amazing ways to cut stone to use in their temples and obelisks.  An obelisk is a tall narrow monument that becomes more narrow as it goes up.  They created a writing material similar to paper called papyrus from reeds found in the Nile.  Egyptians were excellent ship builders and excelled at mathematics.  They used fractions, decimals, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and basic ideas of geometry.  Egyptian art and architecture is famous and has been reused and copied by many other civilization including Greece, Rome, and even the United States

Egyptian life depended on what social class you were a part of.

At the top of society was the Pharaoh.  Below the Pharaoh was the royal court (Pharaoh's family), high priests, government officials, and scribes and nobles (rich land owners).  Below them were doctors and engineers, craftsman, and then farmers and unskilled workers at the bottom.  Egyptians did use some slaves, but slavery is hardly mentioned in their writings.

Bread was the main food source, but they would have eaten meat during festivals. 

Egypt's history is divided into six different time periods

creating Egypt's first dynasty.  He defeated some enemies and united Upper and Lower Egypt into one civilization.

One of the first major Pharaohs of the Old Kingdom was Djoser.  His temple was one of the first pyramids Egyptians tried to build.  It was a "step pyramid" and it started the tradition of building pyramids as a burial ground for Pharaohs. Although the term "Pharaoh" wasn't used until much later, we will keep using it to refer to Egyptian kings.   

Hatshepsut was a women Pharaoh.  Her tomb is an amazingly long ramp leading to a temple that has been cut out of a mountain.  Pharaoh Akhenaten tried to start a new religious tradition of worshipping only one God.  Worshipping one God is called monotheism.  This did not sit well with the polytheistic population that has honored many gods for thousands of years.  After Akhenaten's death his monuments were destroyed and his name was removed from the list of kings. Years later he was often referred to as, "the enemy". Akhenaten's son would also become famous, thousands of years later when his tomb was found perfectly preserved. His name was Pharaoh Tutankhamen--he is known and King Tut. He became Pharaoh at age 9 or 10 and ruled for only 9 years.