The Nile Valley civilization was the civilization of ancient Egypt. It developed in the fertile valley of the Nile River. The ancient Egyptians invented their own form of writing, called hieroglyphics. They also invented papyrus, a paperlike material made from the stems of reeds. The Egyptians developed one of the first religions to emphasize life after death and built great tombs to preserve their dead. The most famous Egyptian tombs are gigantic pyramids in which the kings were buried. Over the years, huge armies of conquering Egyptians expanded the kingdom's boundaries far beyond the Nile Valley. At its height in the 1400's B.C., Egypt ruled Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and part of the Sudan.
