The Mission to Find Max: Egypt (2 page)

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Authors: Elizabeth Singer Hunt

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 THE STALWART FAMILY              

Jack's dad, John

He moved the family to England when Jack was two, in order to take a job with an aerospace company. Jack's dad thinks he is an ordinary boy and that his other son, Max, attends a school in Switzerland. Jack's dad is American and his mom is British, which makes Jack a bit of both.

Jack's mom, Corinne

One of the greatest moms as far as Jack is concerned. When she and her husband received a letter from a posh school in Switzerland inviting Max to attend, they were overjoyed. Since Max left six months ago, they have received numerous notes in Max's handwriting telling them he's OK. Little do they know it's all a lie and that it's the GPF sending those letters.

Jack's older brother, Max

Two years ago, at the age of nine, Max joined the GPF. Max used to tell Jack about his adventures and show him how to work his secret-agent gadgets. When the family received a letter inviting Max to attend a school in Europe, Jack figured it was to do with the GPF. Max told him he was right, but that he couldn't tell Jack anything about why he was going away.

Nine-year-old Jack Stalwart

Four months ago, Jack received an anonymous note saying: ‘Your brother is in danger. Only you can save him.' As soon as he could, Jack applied to be a secret agent too. Since that time, he's battled some of the world's most dangerous villains, and hopes some day in his travels to find and rescue his brother, Max.

DESTINATION:

Egypt

Egypt is one of the oldest world. It started around 3150 BC when the pharaoh Menes united lower and upper Egypt.

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Cairo is Egypt's capital city. It is located next to the Nile, the longest river in the world.

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People in Egypt speak Arabic, although some also speak English and French.

The pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx and the tombs in the Valley of the Kings are some of Egypt's most famous monuments.

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Ancient Egyptians wrote on a paper-like material called ‘papyrus', which was made from the papyrus plant.

 

The Great Travel Guide
97
GPF FACTS: KING TUT

King Tut's original name was Tutankhaten, but he later changed his name to Tutankhamun. He was born in 1341 BC.

Tutankhamun's family was the eighteenth family to rule Egypt.

King Tut became pharaoh at eight or nine years old. He died at the age of nineteen.

King Tut's father, Akhenaten, tried to change Egyptian religion so that people worshipped one god only – Aten, the disk of the sun. When King Tut became pharaoh, he allowed people to worship many gods again, which made him popular with his people.

Nobody knows what caused King Tut's death, but scientists think he died from an infection caused by a broken leg.

King Tut is one of the most famous ‘mummies' in the world. In 1922, an archaeologist named Howard Carter discovered his tomb almost completely intact.

GPF Facts: The Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings was the burial place for the kings and nobles of Egypt from the sixteenth to the eleventh century BC.

The Valley is on the west bank of the Nile, across from the ancient city of Thebes (now called Luxor).

There are more than sixty tombs and hundreds of chambers. Only twenty kings were actually buried there; the rest are nobles.

The first pharaoh to be buried there was Thutmose I. The last pharaoh to be buried there was Ramses XI.

GPF Guide: How Mummies were made

In ancient Egypt, the body of an important person was preserved so that his or her soul could recognize it later.

The person who preserved the body was called an ‘embalmer'.

The embalmer washed the body in the Nile River and took out the person's organs. Organs were placed in ‘canopic jars'. Natron salt was used to dry out the body.

Resin-soaked linens were put inside. Make-up and a wig were added, and oils like myrrh were used to perfume it. A pine resin was brushed on top.

Finally, the embalmer wrapped the body in linen. Amulets, a mask, an identifying tab and a copy of the Book of the Dead were all buried with the mummy.

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