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Question
Why are they called mummies?
Answer
It's nothing to do with mummies and daddies! The Arabs settled in Egypt in the seventh century AD. They looked inside some of the tombs and noticed that the bodies were covered in black sticky stuff which they thought was tar. The Arabic word for tar is ‘mummia' and so they came to be called mummies.
Who were the samurai?
The Japanese word 'samurai' means 'one who serves'. They were fiercely loyal fighters who led a simple life, full of self control. They had a constant readiness for death. The warriors were often part of the strict Zen Buddhist sect.
What jobs did the Aztec temple priests
have to do?
The Aztecs thought that the gods needed constant presents in order to keep them happy. The chief priest was called the Tlatoani. It was his job to keep these presents coming.
People would leave offerings for the gods at the temples such as food, flowers and ornaments. But to keep the sun moving across the sky, these presents were not considered to be enough.
Blood was required, the blood of sacrificial victims. So either an animal would be sacrificed, or even a person. Prisoners taken in battle would be killed, occasionally in their thousands. They were thrown over the stone altar at the top of the Great Temple in Tenochtitlan, their hearts were pierced with a special knife, then their bodies thrown down the steep temple steps.