Ancient Egyptian history spans thirty centuries and throughout this time the country was ruled by kings called pharaohs. The people believed that the pharaoh was a living god and so it was very important to keep him happy. The pharaohs had huge monuments built for them so that they would always be remembered. Ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife and thought that by saying the name of a dead person, you could make them live forever. Another way to achieve immortality was to preserve the body of a person once they had died, and wrap them up in linen bandages. This process is called mummification.