Dates: 3100 B.C. to 30 B.C. Writing: Hieroglyphics, a writing system that uses pictures; hieratic, a quicker type of "cursive"; and demotic, a written short-form script Ancient Egypt's gods ...

Child: Ancient Egypt is so different from the Egypt of today. Why did they stop building pyramids and huge statues and temples? Abdul: Things have changed a great deal these last 700 years.