Grade 6 Main Idea
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The Impact of Print

Of all the inventions that had an impact on the Chinese culture during medieval times, the most important was printing. Before there was printing, all books were copied by hand. Books were therefore rare and expensive. The Chinese began printing in the A.D. 500s. They carved characters from an entire page on blocks of wood. They then brushed ink over a wooden page and then laid a piece of paper over the block to make a print. In 1045, a Chinese printer invented printing using moveable type; the books that were made using this process helped spread knowledge throughout China, to a degree that had not been possible before.
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Mummy Legends
Egyptian mummies have been the subject of legends for thousands of years. It was once believed that ancient Egyptians used secret spells to preserve bodies. No Egyptian writings have even been found telling exactly how Egyptians made mummies. But a Greek writer, Herodotus, visited Egypt over 2,000 years ago and saw mummies being embalmed. Thanks to Herodotus and modern research, the process the Egyptians used is no longer a mystery.
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