Literacy and History: The Egyptians by Teacher Superstore

RIC-6290 5.4/317

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Foreword Literacy and history – The Egyptians is one title in a series of four books designed to develop students’ literacy skills in the areas of comprehension, vocabulary and spelling and to enhance their academic skills and historical knowledge. The books are designed to strengthen the links between the subjects of language and history. Each book deals with an ancient society and contains 12 units which deal with different aspects of each society and the people who lived in them. Each unit covers a wide variety of topics and includes a range of fictional texts based on historical fact. Each unit has a comprehension section, a cloze procedure section, a word study section and a cross-curricular section, which provides activities from other areas of the curriculum such as history, geography, science and mathematics. Titles in the series:

Literacy and history – The Romans Literacy and history – The Greeks

Literacy and history – The Egyptians Literacy and history – The Celts

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Teachers notes......................................................................................... iv – vii Glossary.................................................................................................. viii – xi

Unit 1: An embalmer’s assistant describes his first experience................2–9 Teachers notes................................................................................................2–3 Reading — Nakht describes his first week............................................................ 4 Comprehension questions.................................................................................... 5 Cloze exercise..................................................................................................... 6 Word study exercises........................................................................................... 7 Cross-curricular activities.................................................................................8–9

Unit 7: A priest gives a eulogy at Tutankhamun’s funeral......................50–57 Teacher notes..............................................................................................50–51 Reading — Neferhotep speaks at the burial ceremony of the pharaoh.................. 52 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 53 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 54 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 55 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................56–57

Unit 2: An Egyptian farmer’s wife describes her life...............................10–17 Teachers notes............................................................................................10–11 Reading — Meryt-Re speaks a prayer to the god, Khnum.................................... 12 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 13 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 14 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 15 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................16–17

Unit 8: A vizier to the Pharaoh Ramesses gives advice..........................58–65 Teachers notes............................................................................................58–59 Reading — Paser has a difficult dialogue with his pharaoh................................... 60 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 61 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 62 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 63 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................64–65

Unit 3: An Egyptian detective solves a case............................................18–25 Teachers notes............................................................................................18–19 Reading — Crime report.................................................................................... 20 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 21 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 22 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 23 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................24–25

Unit 9: A doctor in the royal court describes one of her cases...............66–73 Teachers notes............................................................................................66–67 Reading — Dr Iti writes her medical case notes.................................................. 68 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 69 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 70 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 71 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................72–73

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Unit 4: A pyramid worker describes the Great Pyramid..........................26–33 Teachers notes............................................................................................26–27 Reading — Letter for Sennefer by his brother, Ahmose........................................ 28 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 29 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 30 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 31 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................32–33

Unit 10: The lighthouse keeper at Alexandria writes to his brother.......74–81 Teachers notes............................................................................................74–75 Reading — Kenamun complains to his brother in a letter..................................... 76 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 77 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 78 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 79 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................80–81

Unit 5: The Keeper of the Royal Wigs gives an interview........................34–41 Teachers notes............................................................................................34–35 Reading — Meryt’s tabloid newspaper interview................................................. 36 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 37 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 38 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 39 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................40–41

Unit 11: The tutor to the pharaoh’s daughter writes his report..............82–89 Teachers notes............................................................................................82–83 Reading — Hapu writes Seshen’s school report.................................................. 84 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 85 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 86 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 87 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................88–89

Unit 6: The Chief Scribe gives his last interview.....................................42–49 Teachers notes............................................................................................42–43 Reading — Khety’s final interview...................................................................... 44 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 45 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 46 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 47 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................49–49

Unit 12: Queen Cleopatra’s servants gossip about their queen..............90–97 Teachers notes............................................................................................90–91 Reading — Neferet and Wabet have a dialogue about Cleopatra........................... 92 Comprehension questions.................................................................................. 93 Cloze exercise................................................................................................... 94 Word study exercises......................................................................................... 95 Cross-curricular activities.............................................................................96–97

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes Literacy and history – The Egyptians contains 12 units, each with six pages: Teachers notes Reading Comprehension questions Cloze exercise

Each unit has a teachers notes section, which provides additional information for the teacher. The teachers notes page contains six sections, designed to assist teachers in presenting the worksheets to their students. Each teachers notes section contains: Indicators Background information

Word study exercises Cross-curricular activities

Worksheet information Answers

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Indicators:

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The second indicator states the objectives for the word study exercises page. The third indicator states the objectives for the crosscurricular activities pages.

Background information: Presented in bullet points, this section identifies the type of text used and provides a definition of the type. A wide variety of styles have been included in the book including letters, dialogues, reports and interviews. More bullet points provide detailed historical background information to help teachers and students understand the content.

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The first indicator states the objectives for the reading/ comprehension/cloze pages.

Presented in bullet points, this section includes background information that may be required by the teacher before students complete the questions and activities in the worksheets. There are also some suggestions for websites relevant to the theme of the unit.

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Answers:

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This section provides the answers for all questions where applicable. Answers are always given for literal and deductive questions where appropriate. Evaluative and open-ended questions and activities will require the teacher to check the answers during or following class discussion. This is indicated by ‘Teacher check’.

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o c . c e r Cross-curricular activities: h er o t s super Presented in bullet points, this section provides suggestions for extra activities linked to the theme of the particular unit. There are also suggestions for relevant websites for further research.

Curriculum links: Presented in table form, this section illustrates how the activities in each unit match curriculum subjects such as Society and Environment, Science and Health.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes Each unit has five student pages, which are structured in the following way: Exercise A: Reading Exercise B: Comprehension questions Exercise C: Cloze exercise Exercise D: Word study exercises Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities Example:

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Unit 1: An embalmer’s assistant describes his first experiences as a young trainee

Page 4: Exercise A: Reading. Talk given by Nakht, an embalmer

This page contains a short talk given by Nakht, a young assistant embalmer to newly arrived trainees. Students should read the extract carefully as, in order to complete exercises in this unit, they may need to refer back to this text. Other units include texts such as dialogues, letters, reports, interviews and medical case notes.

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Page 5: Exercise B: Comprehension questions

This page contains a series of questions for students to answer. This exercise requires students to read the text in Exercise A carefully and answer questions related to the text. These questions require students to move between literal answers, deductive answers and evaluative answers. There is an assortment of question types, each designed to help students to think and to prepare for tests and examinations. The order in which questions appear do not necessarily follow the order of the information as it appears in the text, providing an additional challenge for students. Students may find the answers to some of the comprehension questions in the footnotes underneath the text.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

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This is a cloze procedure exercise which requires students to search for the correct word and develop their vocabulary and spelling skills. In all units there is a word bank provided above the exercise. There is some variety of presentation to encourage creativity and the development of language skills such as spelling and decoding. In some units, a number of dashes indicate the number of letters in the missing words to help students. In other units there are no dashes provided.

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Page 6: Exercise C: Cloze exercise

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Page 7: Exercise D: Word study exercises This page contains a range of word study exercises, each designed to help students develop their reading, writing and spelling skills. The exercises include: selecting and/ or circling correct words, matching the beginning and endings of sentences, arranging the correct order of sentences in a paragraph or passage of text, correcting misspellings, completing word searches, completing sentences, identifying true and false items of information and using matching and decoding skills to find correct answers. Students are encouraged to engage in dictionary work to assist in the completion of these exercises.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes

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These pages contain activities and suggestions for further cross-curricular activities linked to the subject matter and theme of the unit. Activities include decoding, unscrambling and matching exercises, selecting correct answers and studying the meanings and uses of keywords and phrases found in the units. There are also suggestions for further research activities and discussion points appropriate to the unit’s theme and text. Students are encouraged to develop their research skills by using the library and the Internet, if they wish. Suggestions on websites relevant to the theme of the unit and linked to the subject matter of the activities have been included in the Cross-curricular section of the Teachers notes at the start of each unit. There are activities related to the subjects of Society and Environment, Mathematics, Science and Art.

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Pages 8/9: Exercise E: Crosscurricular activities

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There are discussion points included in some of the cross-curricular sections, designed to encourage students to reflect on some of the topics raised in the unit, to expand their knowledge and to develop informed opinions on the topic.

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Glossary A

abundance—a great supply and a degree of plentifulness

beacon—a fire or light used to guide or warn ships in dangerous waters

concave—curving in an inwards direction

Actium—site of a naval battle between the armies of Mark Antony and Augustus, who defeated him

Bent Pyramid—a large pyramid built at Dahshur by Khufu’s father, Sneferu

confidence—a belief in one’s own abilities

Book of the dead—a scroll containing spells, prayers and hymns to protect the deceased

cylindrical—shaped like a cylinder

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Aegyptiaca—a history of Egypt composed in the 3rd century BC by a priest called Manetho

Akhenaten—pharaoh who ruled Egypt from 1353 BC to 1336 BC

amulets—lucky charms thought to protect the wearer from harm in life and in death Amun—Egyptian god of the wind and ruler of the air Ankhesenamun—the wife of Tutankhamun

Caesarion—son of Julius Caesar and Queen Cleopatra

canopic jars—jars, decorated with the heads of gods, used to store body organs capstone—the vital top stone of a structure, also called ‘keystone’ caution—care and forethought in the face of threat or danger

demotic—Simpler script developed by scribes and used instead of hieratic from 600 BC

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afterlife—the new life that ancient Egyptians believed people were reborn into after death

cymbal—a thin, circular piece of brass which vibrated when clashed with another cymbal or stick

diadem—a light, jewelled royal crown diagnosis—identification of a disease from an examination of the symptoms divinity—the nature of a god or the state of being a god

dynasty—a dynasty was a family of © R. I . C.Publ i cat i on rulers in s which power passed down through the generations astringent—a strong, harsh substance • f o rr evi ew pur posesonl y• with antiseptic qualities anteroom—a room leading to a much larger room

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antibiotics—chemical substances capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of microorganisms Anubis—Egyptian god of embalming

Anuket—a goddess of the Nile, usually shown with a papyrus sceptre and wearing a tall, plumed crown

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anxious—worried and tense because of possible misfortune or danger

earthquake—a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust, resulting in destructive seismic waves Egyptologist—a person who studies the archaeology and language of ancient Egypt

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Aten—Egyptian god of the sun disc, revered as the means by which the sun’s light entered the world autopsy—the dissection and examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death

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aromatic oils—perfumed oils made from herbs, plants and spices

Cleopatra—One of the reasons Cleopatra is famous is because she loved Julius Caesar, the Roman general and leader of Rome, and bore him a son called Ptolemy Caesarion in 47 BC. Julius Caesar (100–44 BC) was a Roman general who defeated his rivals to become dictator of Rome. In 44 BC, on the Ides of March (in the Roman calendar, 15 March), his enemies, who felt that he had become too powerful, stabbed him 23 times, killing him on the floor of the Roman Senate in Rome. After his assassination, Cleopatra allied herself with Mark Antony, another Roman general, whom she also loved and who gave her military support. The rulers of Rome were unhappy with their leader’s association with Cleopatra. Antony’s rival for power in Rome, Octavian, defeated him at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. Antony and Cleopatra both committed suicide after this defeat and Egypt became a province of Rome in 30 BC. Cleopatra was born in 69 BC and died in 30 BC at the age of 39. She was the last of her dynasty to rule and the last pharaoh to rule Egypt. She was a brilliant linguist who spoke seven languages fluently, including Egyptian, unlike others from her dynasty, the Macedonian (Greek) Ptolemies.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

emmer—one of the main grain crops grown on the Black Land—the fertile land of Egypt eulogy—a speech made to praise a certain person, usually during a funeral ceremony

F faience—crushed quartz of a bluegreen colour used in jewellery and other artefacts felspar—green semiprecious stone used in Egyptian jewellery

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Glossary Field of Reeds—the Egyptian idea of heaven—a sunny land with golden wheat and fruit trees, ruled by Osiris, the god of life, death and fertility four cardinal directions—the directions of north, east, south and west funeral procession—the public journey of the mummified body to its final resting place

hieroglyphics—picture writing or ‘the divine word’ of the ancient Egyptians Hittites—an ancient people from modern-day Syria

lethal—able to cause death lighthouse—a structure with a tower containing a light visible to sailors to warn them of danger Lower Egypt—name given by the ancient Egyptians to the fan-shaped Nile delta, a flat area at the entrance of the river to the Mediterranean Sea

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funerary mask—elaborate masks placed over the mummified heads of the dead

Giza—according to the Egyptians, the ‘Land of the Dead’, located on the left bank of the Nile

Herodotus—ancient Greek traveller and historian whose works are a valuable source of information on ancient Egypt Horus—falcon-headed god of the sky and son of Osiris

malachite—a bright green mineral, associated with copper deposits and used in Egyptian jewellery

marine archaeology—exploration and excavation by archaeologists beneath the sea

images—pictures of persons or things represented in paintings and in sculpture incense cones—a cone of incense mixed with fat and placed on top of a wig

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funerary priestesses—female priests who took part in funerals, making offerings and involved in rituals

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hieratic—simpler form of writing used by the Egyptians for business, letters and stories

Mark Antony—a talented Roman general who died by suicide in 30 BC mastaba tomb—a type of ancient Egyptian tomb medical instruments—precise implements or tools used by a doctor in surgery

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Mediterranean Sea—the sea between instruct—to direct someone or to Graeco-Roman Period—period of •Roman f or vi e wsomeone pur poseso nl y •North Africa and southern Europe, teach Greek and then rule r ine Egypt south-west Asia ‘God’s wife’—the title given to the pharaoh’s wife as a person of god-like status and power

inflict—to impose unwelcome pain or damage on someone or something

from 332 BC to 30 BC

Great Pyramid of Khufu—largest pyramid ever built, built around 2589 BC by the pharaoh Khufu

Julius Caesar—Roman dictator who was assassinated on 15 March 44 BC

Great Sphinx— huge stone statue with the body of a lion and the head of a man

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Memphis—the ancient royal capital city of Egypt, 25 kilometres south of Giza

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granite—a light-coloured, coarsegrained igneous rock used for building

menat—a sacred necklace associated with the goddess Hathor and worn when playing the sistrum mortuary temple—a temple built next to a king’s tomb where offerings were made to the gods

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harp—a large, triangular plucked stringed musical instrument Hathor—Goddess of love and motherhood and the most widely worshipped female goddess

henna—a red dye obtained from the powdered leaves of the plant Lawsonia inermis

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Khesbed—Egyptian name for lapis lazuli, a dark blue semiprecious stone

Khnum—ram-headed Egyptian god of creation and of the Nile flood.

lapis lazuli—or khesbed, as the Egyptians named it, was the most highly prized of all the semiprecious stones. A dark blue stone, it was used for jewellery and also for amulets and figurines. Four ancient quarries in Afghanistan exported lapis lazuli to Egypt and to other parts of Africa, as well as to parts of western Asia

mummification process—the process by which a dead body was embalmed and mummified mummy—a dead body that has been naturally or artificially preserved from decay

N natron— moistureabsorbing salt, found in dried lake beds, used to dry out bodies

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Glossary Q–R Necropolises—burial sites or cemeteries Neferet—name meaning ‘beautiful woman’ Nefertiti—wife of Akhenaten, famous for her portrait bust by the sculptor Tuthmose

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relief—a feeling of optimism that follows the removal of anxiety or distress

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World—seven ancient sites of great size and splendour

relief picture—a carving on a piece of stone, which has a three-dimensional aspect

shaduf—mechanism by which land was irrigated during the dry seasons by raising water from the Nile

ritual ceremony—a religious ceremony with an established pattern

sidelock of youth—Egyptian children, especially boys, shaved their hair off except for a sidelock

politically

Rome—the greatest city of the Roman Empire, founded, according to legend, in 753 BC Rosetta Stone—large black basalt slab inscribed with Egyptian and Greek writing

octagonal—having eight sides and eight angles

sistrum—a metal rattle used as a musical instrument, sacred to the cat goddess Bastet

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Nile—The world’s longest river (6695 km) stretching from East Africa to the Mediterranean Sea or

Senet—a popular board game in ancient Egypt, played by two players and used seven pieces

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niche—a recess in a wall, especially one that contains a statue or statues

nobility—a socially privileged class

regent—the ruler of a country during the absence, incapacity or childhood of its monarch

Sobek—the crocodile-headed god of the Nile who ruled over fertility and water Sopdet—the Egyptian word for Sirius, the North Star

coffin or tomb, Step Pyramid—probably the first sometimes bearing sculpture ori © Rsarcophagus—a . I . C . P u b l c a t i onbuilt saround 2650 BC, for the pyramid, inscriptions pharaoh Djoser Opening of the Mouth ceremony— Satet—a goddess who was the wife submerged—hidden obscured • rr ev i ew p u r p oofse sonl yor• ceremony in which the ‘ba’f oro personality the god Khaum and associated with the beneath the surface of water Old Kingdom—period from around 2649 to 2150 BC when the pyramids were built

fertility of the Nile

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papyrus—paper made from the papyrus plant, a reed that grows on the banks of the Nile

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personal servants—every pharaoh had many personal servants who looked after their every need

tambourine—a drumhead of skin stretched over a circular wooden frame and hung with metal discs

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pharaoh—the ruler of Egypt who was also believed to be a god

scrolls—rolls of parchment, paper or papyrus inscribed with writing

prescriptions—written instruction from a doctor stating the form, dose and strength of medicine

Season of Flood—season, called Akhet, when the Nile River flooded, lasting from June to September

prosperous—the state of being rich, affluent or wealthy

Season of Growth—season, called Peret, when crops were planted, from October to January

Ptolemies—Dynasty of Macedonian kings and queens who ruled Egypt from 332–30 BC pyramid—a tomb monument, built of stone, with four triangular sides meeting at a point

Superior—higher in rank or status

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is returned to the body

Season of Harvest—season, called Shemu, when Egyptian farmers harvested crops, lasting from February to May

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

tjesem—Egyptian dogs with curved tails and floppy ears Thoth—Egyptian god of writing and wisdom, shown with a ibis or a baboon head

U underworld—the world after death, also known as Duat or ‘the next world’

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Glossary Upper Egypt—the name given by the ancient Egyptians to the Nile valley

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vitality—physical or mental vigour or energy vizier—a chief minister and adviser to the pharaoh in ancient Egypt

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winnowing—the process by which grain is separated from chaff

X–Y–Z

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 1: An embalmer’s assistant gives a talk Indicators Student reads text about the techniques of embalming and beliefs about death and the afterlife in ancient Egypt; completes comprehension and close exercises based on the text. Student learns keywords, completes word study exercises and develops spelling, vocabulary and dictionary skills.

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Student learns about the Sahara Desert, the largest desert on Earth.

Background information

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This text is an informal talk given by a young assistant embalmer to newly arrived trainees. Talks dealing with work or vocational issues are primarily informative. There are degrees of formality in such talks, ranging from a formal speech or lecture to a more informal talk to colleagues, such as in this text. Nakht is trying to reassure the young trainees and uses an informal tone when he speaks to them, telling them about his introduction to the embalming process. The Egyptian civilisation probably began around 5000 BC. Two kingdoms emerged, the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt. The period from around 5000 BC to around 3000 BC is known as the Predynastic Period. Around 3000 BC, the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united into one kingdom and Memphis, a city located near the modern capital of Egypt, Cairo, became the capital of this new united kingdom. This period, from 3000 BC, is known as the Dynastic Period. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and what is known as the Graeco-Roman Period in Egyptian history began. This period lasted until the death of Queen Cleopatra in 30 BC, when Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.

The ancient Egyptians believed that after death people continued to live in the afterlife and their spirits needed their bodies in order to do this. They believed that they would live in the kingdom of Osiris, which was a sunny land containing the Field of Reeds where people, surrounded by golden wheat and fruit trees, could eat, drink and be forever happy. They believed that it was not easy to reach the Kingdom of Osiris because they had to survive a dangerous journey through the Underworld. The Egyptians believed that their pharaohs did not go to the Field of Reeds but ascended into the skies to join the other gods.

The Egyptians believed that when they died their hearts were weighed against a feather called the Feather of Truth. If a heart was heavy with evil, a monster called the ‘Devourer of the Dead’ ate it. Those who had lived a good life could proceed to the Field of Reeds. The Book of the Dead was a famous book of spells, designed to help people face the dangers of the underworld. Wealthy people were buried with a scroll of this book in the hope that they could protect themselves on this journey.

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Worksheet information

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In order to complete Exercise B, students may find it helpful to study the British Museum website on ancient Egypt, which has images and information on mummies and embalming at <http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk>. Students may need to use a dictionary in order to complete Question 5 in Exercise E.

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Students completing Questions 3 and 4 in Exercise E may find it useful to visit the website <www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/ ontheline/explore/nature/deserts/sahara.htm>, which has information on deserts in general and on the Sahara Desert.

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A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians in this particular unit is provided here for teacher reference. Many of them appear in Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

afterlife — the new life that ancient Egyptians believed people were reborn into after death

Anubis — the Egyptian god of embalming

canopic jars — jars, decorated with the heads of gods, used to store body organs

Field of Reeds — the Egyptian idea of heaven—a sunny land with golden wheat and fruit trees, ruled by Osiris, the god of life, death and fertility

Graeco-Roman Period — period of Greek and then Roman rule in Egypt from 332 BC to 30 BC

Horus — falcon-headed god of the sky and son of Osiris

mummy — a dead body that has been naturally or artificially preserved from decay

natron — moisture-absorbing salt, found in dried lake beds, used to dry out bodies

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Teachers Notes

Answers Exercise C............................... page 6 seventy, embalmers, supervised, god, amulets, body, returned, disinfectant, skull, sweet-smelling, organs, separate, drying, table, natron, growth, cavity, spices, perfumed, placed, layers, openly, arms, first

9. unbandaged 10. impractical 2. (a), 9; (b), 12; (c), 11; (d), 2; (e), 5; (f), 10; (g), 1; (h), 8; (i), 3; (j), 6; (k), 7; (l), 4 Exercise E...........................page 8–9 1.–2. Teacher check. 3. 1,C. 2,D. 3,A. 4,G. 5,H. 6,E. 7,F. 8,B. 4. 1,B. 2,C. 3, D. 4,A. 5. 1. irrigated, 2. stock, 3. location, 4. protected, 5. stinging, 6. their, 7. camels, 8. trails, 9. sites, 10. severe

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Exercise D............................... page 7 1. unhappy 2. uncertain 3. unskilled 4. impossible 5. immoral 6. incomplete 7. disadvantage 8. disagreeable

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Exercise B............................... page 5 1. Four years 2. Menna, the Pharaoh’s chief embalmer; the beginning of the embalming of the body of Mereruka, the Pharaoh’s cousin and his vizier 3. Teacher check 4. Teacher check 5. Preparing Mereruka’s pet cat for embalming. 6. The intestines, the stomach, the lungs and the liver; the human brain was not stored as it was regarded as worthless 7. His new career was not going to be easy; Teacher check 8. (a), (c) and (f) should be ticked

Cross-curricular activities

Other civilisations also believed in the afterlife and mummified their dead. As early as 4000 BC, the people of Paloma, Peru, in South America, were using salt to stop decay in human corpses. The Inca civilisation in South America was based along the Andes Mountains and bodies buried there were preserved by being freeze-dried in the cold. Students will find it beneficial to research worldwide archaeological sites where mummies have been found. A good website is <www.mummytombs.com>. Mummies of animals have been discovered in Egypt and in other areas of the world. The Egyptians mummified cats and dogs. A good website, with information on animal mummies, is produced by the Cairo Museum at <www.animalmummies.com>.

The ancient Egyptians were not the only ancient people to mummify their animals. Around 2000 BC in Siberia, the Pazyryk, a nomadic people, learned to ride horses and use them to pull heavy loads. They regarded horses as being so important that they buried them with their dead. Some of these horse mummies have been excavated in Siberia. Students can visit a website showing some of the items buried by the Pazyryk at <www.hermitagemuseum.org> which is the official site for the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Students will find more information on animal mummies and the reasons why they were mummified at <www.animalmummies. com/project.html>.

Curriculum links State

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Nomadic people were people who moved from place to place to find pasture and food. Students should make a list of the nomadic groups left in the world today and where they live. Information on nomads and nomadic life in the desert can be found at <www. calacademy/exhibits/africa/exhibit/sahara/tuareg/index.html>.

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Society and Environment

English

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

LL 4

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

LTS 3.3

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

SCBS 0401, SCB 0502

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

LL 4.3, LL 5.3

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

4.5

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Science

Exercise A: Reading Read the talk given by Nakht, an embalmer.

‘Good afternoon. The chief embalmer1 has asked me to speak to you about my first experiences here. I know that you are just about to start your training and I want to begin by saying that I wish you well. I started my training with Menna, the pharaoh’s chief embalmer, four years ago. My first week was full of interesting experiences. I remember clearly that Menna told me to learn by observing carefully. He told me to watch what he did and to try to remember all of the steps that he took.

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On my very first day, he started work on the embalming of Mereruka, who was a cousin of the pharaoh and had been his chief vizier. Firstly, he prayed to the god Anubis2. Then he showed me and the other new assistants the four canopic jars that he was going to fill with the body’s internal organs. He had a large jar of natron (the salt used to dry out bodies) beside him too. He told us to listen carefully to his words. I remember them well: “There are four canopic jars, which are special types of containers. They include designs of the heads of the four gods who were the sons of Horus, our great god of the sky and the protector of the pharaohs. Qebhsenuef, with the head of a falcon, looks after the intestines. Duamutef, with the head of a jackal, looks after the stomach. Hapi, with the head of a baboon, looks after the lungs. And finally, Imsety, with a human head, looks after the liver. I will begin my work today by removing the brain, which, as you know, we do not preserve as we regard it as worthless. Watch me carefully as I insert my hook up through the nostrils to begin the process of removal to assist Mereruka in his journey to the afterlife and into the Field of Reeds.”

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go outside and sit in the sun for a while until I felt brave enough to return. I sat outside wondering if I had made the right choice by wanting to be an embalmer. After a while, Menna came out and sat beside me. I thought he might be angry with me but he smiled and said, “The first time I came here to the embalming room, I was working with my own father and not only did I faint, I also knocked over some of the canopic jars and smashed them! Luckily they were empty. My father understood that I needed time to learn the skills of embalming. He was patient with me, so I will also be patient with you and give you time. I will ask you to do just one task for me at the end of this week and we will be able to see how much you have learned. You will observe our work here very carefully for the next four days and on the fifth day you will begin work on Mereruka’s pet cat3, which the Pharaoh has ordered to be embalmed so he can accompany his master into his new life. I will be asking you to remove his organs and begin the process of embalming his body. You must show what you have learned from me this week”. When I first heard this, I was relieved. At least my first task would not be with a human body! But then I began to think about our pet cat at home and I concluded that it was not going to be easy to become an embalmer. This is what I wanted to say to you today: Don’t be afraid if you find your first few weeks to be difficult and you begin to wonder if you have done the right thing. It took me almost a year before I really got used to it all. Be confident. You will get used to it too!’

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With that, he began to remove the brain. I suddenly felt faint. I hadn’t fully realised just what my work was going to involve. I cannot describe to you the colours and the smells that were beginning to dominate the embalming room. I took some deep breaths, but when Menna begin to remove the lungs in order to put them into the canopic jar of Hapi, I immediately felt sick and almost fainted. I felt so stupid and foolish, especially as none of the others seemed to be feeling like me. When Menna noticed this, he said to me “Nakht, I do hope that you are going to get used to your work or you’re not going to make a very good embalmer!” He told me to 4

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. How long does Nakht say he has been working as an embalmer? 2. Who did he start his training with and what he witness on his very first day?

3. What do you think was responsible for causing Nakht to feel weak and sick?

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4. Do you think that the Chief Embalmer was a kind man? Give two reasons why/why not.

5. What was the task that the Chief Embalmer set for Nakht to do on the fifth day?

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6. What organs were stored in the four canopic jars? What did the pharaoh’s chief embalmer say about the human brain?

7. What conclusion did Nakht reach about his new career during his first week? Do you agree with him?

(a) The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife. .....................................................

(b) Before starting an embalming, prayers were offered to the god Amun-Re. ............

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(f) Animals, such as pet cats, were embalmed by the ancient Egyptians. ..................

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(d) Hapi, with the head of a baboon, looked after the stomach. .................................

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8. Read the following statements and tick those that are correct.

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(e) The ancient Egyptians preserved the human brain. .............................................

1. Embalmers were very important members of Egyptian society. The ancient Egyptians believed that when a person died, their body and their vital organs should be specially preserved for their journey to the next world. This process was called embalming and the whole process could take as long as two months. Firstly, a salt called natron was rubbed into the body after the soft organs had been removed and stored in special jars called canopic jars. During the next stage, the body was packed with sawdust, perfumed unguents, oils and spices. Finally, the body was wrapped in linen bandages and a picture mask was placed over the face. 2. Anubis was the god of the dead, closely associated with the processes of embalming and mummification. He is usually portrayed as having the head of a jackal and being a black colour. Black represented the black fertile soil of the Nile, which was associated with rebirth and regrowth. According to Egyptian myth, Anubis had wrapped the body of the dead Osiris and he was associated with the embalming process. 3. Natron was a salt used in purification and mummification rituals.

4. The ancient Egyptians also embalmed favourite animals. The mummies of cats and dogs have been found inside Egyptian tombs. A cat-headed goddess, Bastet, was worshipped by the Egyptians. They made bronze statues of her to worship in their homes. The jackal-headed god, Anubis, was the god of the dead. There were over 750 gods and goddesses worshipped by the ancient Egyptians. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank embalmers

first s weet-smelling organs growth returned

body drying spices god

placed table amulets cavity

arms seventy perfumed separate

disinfectant natron layers

openly supervised skull

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The ancient Egyptians had a strong belief in the afterlife and preserved the bodies of the dead. This was called embalming and the process of embalming took

days and consisted of many rituals and spells performed by the

He wore the mask of the jackal-headed

the mummification.

, Anubis. A famous Greek historian, Herodotus, interviewed

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. The Overseer of the Mysteries, a special priest,

Egyptian embalmers about their work. He discovered that there were several different mummification methods. If a wealthy man died, his body was fully preserved with spices, person’s

, bandages and canopic jars. However, a poorer

would simply be dried with natron, a kind of salt, and

unbandaged to their families.

The first stage in the process of full preservation was the washing of the body with water and natron, a salt found on the shores

,. but it also had u a ritual to purify the n souls of the dead. Next, a rod was © R. I C .P bpurpose l i ca t i o pushed up through the nose, which punched a hole in the through which the brain was pulled out. •andf o rr vbee’s i ewax wandpur poses nl y• oils It was then thrown away a mixture ofe resin, - o of lakes. It was a

were poured into the empty skull. The next stage involved making an incision in the side of the body and removing the internal

preserved in

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canopic jars.

The second stage involved the covered in piles of and prevent the

to the body. The body’s

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. The heart was saved and returned to the body later. The intestines, stomach, liver and lungs were

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of the body. It was put on an embalming

, including linen bags filled with natron which were placed inside the body to dry it out

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of bacteria. After forty days, the body was washed again and the heart was returned was stuffed with linen bandages, natron and

including myrrh, cinnamon and cassia.

The third stage involved the final preparations. The skin was rubbed with

oils to keep it soft.

The nostrils, ears and mouth were plugged with spices. A gold embalming plate, decorated with the eye of Horus, was on the incision. The body was wrapped in linen bandages, while amulets were put on the neck, the upper body and inside the

of linen because they were believed to give the person magical

protection as they journeyed into the afterlife. While mummification took place, professional female mourners would grieve , throwing dust on their heads, waving their

, scratching their

cheeks and crying and wailing. During this process, a priest wearing the mask of Anubis re-enacted the legend of the very embalming, that of Osiris by Anubis. 6

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. A prefix is a word part that is added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning; e.g. ‘happy’ becomes ‘unhappy’ when the prefix ‘un’ is added. Rewrite the following sentences, deciding which of the prefixes provided need to be added to the words in bold so each sentence makes sense.

mis-

dis-

in-

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(e) The Egyptians believed that it was moral not to show great respect to their gods.

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(d) In ancient Egypt, it was possible for a slave to be buried like a pharaoh.

un-

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under-

im-

(b) Mummification was very expensive and sometimes poorer Egyptians were certain if they could afford it.

al-

(a) The ancient Egyptians did not feel happy about death as they believed they would live again in the afterlife.

trans-

(f) The embalming process was complete until sacred amulets were placed inside the wrappings of the mummy.

(g) If you wanted to be an embalmer in ancient Egypt, it was a great advantage if your father had not been one.

(i) The bodies of the poor were left bandaged, unlike the bodies of the wealthy.

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(j) Embalmers began the process of mummification soon after death as it was practical to wait.

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2. The following stages in the embalming and mummification process have been mixed up. Number them in the correct order.

(a) The body was stuffed with linen bandages, natron and spices...........................................

(b) Amulets were placed inside the layers of linen..........................................................

(d) The brain was removed using a hook inserted through the nostrils........................................

(e) More natron was rubbed into the body and it was left to dry.............................................

(g) The body was washed with water and natron...

(h) The heart was returned to the body.................

(i) The internal organs were removed through an incision.....................................................

(j) A mixture of resin, bee’s wax and sweetsmelling oils were poured into the skull............

(k) Linen bags of natron were put inside the body........................................................

(l) The internal organs were put into canopic jars..

(f) An embalming plate was placed on the incision....................................................

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms and their explanations and use each in a sentence.

(a) afterlife: The new life that ancient Egyptians believed people were reborn into after death.

(b) Anubis: The Egyptian god of embalming. (c) canopic jars: Jars, decorated with the heads of gods, and used to store body organs.

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(d) Field of Reeds: The Egyptian idea of heaven, a land with wheat and fruit trees.

(f) mummy: A dead body that has been naturally or artificially preserved from decay. (g) natron: Moisture-absorbing salt, found in dried lake beds, used to dry out bodies.

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(e) Horus: The Egyptian god of the sky.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons 2. The ancient Egyptians ensured that a dead person had everything they needed when they reached the afterlife. A •f o ritems r eincluding vi ew pu po se so nl ycombs, • sandals, typical tomb contained many headrests, wig r boxes, blankets, stools, folding beds, board games, food, drink and religious statues.

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Imagine that you are an ancient Egyptian servant and you have been told to choose five items for your master’s tomb for his use when he reaches the afterlife. List the five items, ensuring that they are appropriate to the time, and say why you have chosen them. Item chosen

Name and description

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Your reasons for choosing this

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3. The Sahara Desert was called the ‘Red Land’ by the ancient Egyptians. It is the largest desert in the world. The

following table contains information about the Sahara Desert, but the information has been mixed up. Match each statement with its correct ending. 1. The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world

(a) which have now become main roads.

2. The Sahara is mainly a plateau

(b) of dried-up rivers exist beneath the desert surface.

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4. Cave paintings show that 4000 years ago there

(d) with a central mountain range.

5. Temperatures in the Sahara can rise as high as

(e) is the longest river in the world.

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3. In the past, the desert had routes used by caravans

(f) areas where water is found at or close to the surface.

7. Oases are fertile patches that form in low-lying desert

(g) were running rivers and rich animal life in the desert.

8. Satellite observations have confirmed that a pattern

(h) 55° C during the day.

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6. The Nile River brings water to this dry, arid area and

4. The following descriptions are of animals and plants that live in the Sahara Desert, but their descriptions and their titles have been mixed up. Read the descriptions and match them to their correct titles.

© R. I . C .Publ i cat i ons Description 1. Scorpions (a) These are found near oases in the desert and have grown there for •f orr evi ew pu pproviding ose sfoodofrom nl yfruits• thousands ofr years, sweet their and rope from their Title

leaf fibres.

3. Dromedary (single hump) camels

(c) This creature’s habit of rolling a round ball of dung, in which its eggs were embedded, reminded the ancient Egyptians of the sun god and they used its image in their sacred amulets to protect against evil.

4. Date palm trees

(d) Originally from Arabia, these animals have been used in North Africa for thousands of years to transport ivory, salt and gold across the desert. They can travel for two weeks without needing to drink water.

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(b) A relative of the spider, this creature survives in the desert by avoiding the daytime sun, hiding under rocks and in sandy burrows. Its body has a waxy coating to stop it from drying out in the heat of the desert.

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2. Scarab beetle

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5. Nomads are groups of people who have no fixed homes and wander from place to place in search of food and water. In the past, nomadic people lived in the Sahara Desert, travelling from oasis to oasis with their animals. There are 10 misspelt words in the following passage about nomads. Circle each one and write it correctly on the back of this sheet. You may use a dictionary if you wish.

One group of nomads living in the Sahara were called the Tuareg. They raised crops on irigated land near oases or they tended flocks of goats, sheep or camels. They found grass for their stocke along the desert’s edge. They lived in tents so they could move locasion easily when the grass was eaten. They wore long robes called ‘barracans’ which proteced them from the hot desert sun and the stingeing sandstorms. They wore turbans to protect there heads from the heat and sandals to protect their feet. They ate dates from the oasis palm trees and cheese made from the milk of goats and kamels. Their trales, known as caravan trails, have now become roads. Airports have been built on the sights of the main oasis towns. Today, increased urbanisation and seveer drought in the Sahara has caused many of the remaining Tuareg to abandon their nomadic lifestyle.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 2: An Egyptian farmer’s wife describes her life Indicators Student reads text on Egyptian farming and completes comprehension and cloze exercises. Student completes exercises on keywords, selects correct words and linking phrases in sentences and uses apostrophes and negative prefixes. Student learns about the importance of the Nile, the relocation of the temples of Abu Simbel, the construction of the Aswan High Dam and the importance of good nutrition for good health.

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Background information

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This text is a prayer. Meryt-Re prays to the Egyptian god, Khnum, asking for his help in ensuring that the next Season of Harvest on her farm will be a good one. The tone of this prayer is sincere and respectful because Meryt-Re believes that Khnum has the power to ensure that her harvest will be plentiful. Farmers were ancient Egypt’s most important workers. They produced enough food to feed Egypt’s population. They were respected and valued as important members of society because they fulfilled this vital need. Egypt did not need to import food as it produced enough for all of its people. During Egypt’s early history, the only items imported into the country were items wanted by the pharaoh’s household, such as honey and cedar oil to be used in the embalming process. Later in Egypt’s history, more goods were imported, such as semi-precious jewels and incense. Egypt’s farming year was divided into three seasons: Akhet, the Season of Flood; Peret, the Season of Growth; and Shemu, the Season of Harvest. Each season lasted for four months of 30 days. At the end of Shemu, the harvest season, five extra days were added to make up the year. These five days were days of ceremonies and festivals. The Egyptians were the first civilisation to design the calendar in this way and their design influenced our calendar today. They planted cereals such as barley and emmer, which was their main cereal crop. The season of harvest took place in April and May, before the river flooded again. To irrigate their crops during the other seasons, Egyptian farmers used the shaduf, a long wooden pole with a water bucket at one end and a counterbalancing weight at the other, which took collected water from the Nile and diverted it to their crops. Fruit and vegetables were easy to grow in this fertile soil. Grapes were grown and turned into wine or dried as raisins. Dates, figs, pomegranates, melons, onions, beans and lettuce were also grown. Scribes kept records of how much grain was produced and a proportion of the harvest was paid as taxes to the pharaoh. The most important animal in Egyptian farming was the cow, which was used for work on the farm and as a source of meat and milk. Sheep and goats provided wool and hides and pigs were kept for their meat. Some farmers also raised geese, ducks, pigeons, quails and chickens. Egyptian cooks prepared bread and cakes sweetened with dates or honey. They prepared elaborate meat and poultry dishes.

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Egyptian women took an active role in farming. They worked on the land as labourers, sowing and harvesting crops. Wealthier women organised and ran their farms. On larger estates, like Meryt-Re’s, farmers’ wives had their own servants and oversaw their workers on the farms and in the workshops. In the fields, men and women worked together tending the crops. Legal rights, responsibilities and status were divided according to class lines rather than gender in ancient Egypt. Some Egyptian women therefore enjoyed rights and privileges, along with responsibilities, that were more extensive than in other comparable ancient societies such as the Greeks or the Romans. Within the land and property-owning classes, a woman could acquire possessions, property and debt, separate from her husband, through her own work or through inheritance. The Greek historian, Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BC, was deeply shocked to find that Egyptian wives were engaging in trade and attending the markets while the Egyptian men stayed at home and did the weaving. As Meryt-Re is the wife of a wealthy estate owner, she oversees the farms and workshops on her estate. She has her own servants to attend to her and her own scribes to record the work, crops and taxes due. She enjoys sharing the responsibilities of running the estate with her husband. If her husband dies before her, she will inherit one-third of the estate.

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In other areas of society, women were free to seek employment outside the home. Many women became priestesses, serving the gods and goddesses in the temples. Women worked in the bakeries, baking fresh bread every day to ensure that no-one went short of food. Women worked as dancers and musicians in the temples. There were many festivals celebrated with music and dance to honour the gods. Women also worked as professional mourners at funerals. This work could be very profitable as such women were in high demand. Some women owned, operated and managed their own businesses, such as in perfume manufacturing. Egyptian women could also become doctors, specialising in the management of childbirth and in the area of women’s health.

Worksheet information Students may find it beneficial to find out more information about the construction of the Aswan High Dam in order to complete Question 3 in Exercise E by researching the topic at <www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/aswan_high.html>. Students completing Question 4 in Exercise E can find out about the ongoing environmental issues connected with the Aswan High Dam at <www.teacherlink.usu.edu/tlresources/units/byrnes-africa/KAYMUR/LINK.htm>. A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians in this particular unit is provided on pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear on Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms. 10

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes

Answers middle, seeds, harvested, cut, walked, supervised, proportion, main, chickens, adorn Exercise D............................. page 15 1. (a) couldn’t (b) weren’t (c) wasn’t (d) didn’t (e) wouldn’t (f) mustn’t (g) can’t (h) needn’t (i) shouldn’t (j) hadn’t 2. (a) three (b) June (c) cow (d) emmer (e) pharaoh (f) black (g) Red (h) all 3. (a) irregular (b) impossible (c) irresponsible (d) illiterate (e) immortal (f) impassable (g) invisible (h) irreverence

Exercise E.......................page 16–17 1. Teacher check 2. (a) because (b) as (c) so that (d) but 3. Constructed in the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam was the largest of the dams built across the Nile. This caused a huge lake, called Lake Nasser, to form. The waters of Lake Nasser rose behind the dam and threatened the area of Nubia. Nubia is sometimes called an open-air museum because of its many ancient monuments. A salvage project, organised by UNESCO, was mounted, funded by governments and individuals from all over the world. The two temples of Abu Simbel were carefully cut into pieces and moved onto higher ground where they were reassembled. This project took four years and cost 40 million US dollars to complete. 4. A.4. B.3. C.8. D.7. E.1. F.9. G.10. H.6. I.2. J. 5.

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Exercise C............................. page 14 import, three, five, Nile, flood, washed, name, fertile, began, ploughed, sight, households, bread, bakers, fifty,

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Exercise B............................. page 13 1. To ensure that her harvest is good this year. 2. The ears of corn are cut off with a sharp flint blade. The ears are then tossed up into the air to separate the husks, which are blown away by the wind. The corn is collected in baskets. Finally, the animals walk over the ears to separate the grains. 3. Teacher check. 4. Last year, her workers found the work difficult and she is afraid they will return to her exhausted and worn out. 5. It is the beginning of the Season of Flood, so they will have to wait until the Season of Growth arrives. 6. They had to calculate how much grain her farm produced so that they pay the correct amount of grain to the pharaoh for taxation purposes. 7. She saw Sopdet just above the horizon early one morning. 8. (b), (d) and (e) should be ticked

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Students will find it beneficial to study hydro-electric power and other alternative sources of energy being developed in the world today. A useful link to this subject can be found at <www.schoolscience.co.uk> which has links to a number of scientific sites for students, including <www.energychest.net/energy_sources/index.html>. Students should compare and contrast the food and drink of the ancient Egyptians with our diet today. Students should research issues about healthy food. A good website is <www.kidshealth.org>. Students can draw up a menu for a dinner, that uses the food, drink and cooking methods available in ancient Egypt. A website with information on ancient Egyptian food is <www.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/food/egyptfood.htm>.

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Curriculum links State

Society and Environment

English

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the prayer offered to the god Khnum by Meryt-Re, an Egyptian farmer.

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My Lord, Khnum1, lord of creation and of the fertility of the Nile, I offer to you some grain and fruit. I appeal to you and to the goddesses, Satet2 and Anuket3 to protect my family as we look forward to the Season of Growth, which will follow the flood. Please listen to my prayer and help us to have a good harvest this year. It is the season of Akhet and our life on the farm is hard. There is always more work to be done and my workers grow more restless and difficult as the Season of Flood4 approaches. They must leave to work for Kenna, the pharaoh’s chief tax accountant. Our work on the farm here will have to wait until the Season of Growth arrives. I knew the flood was close when I saw the star Sopdet5 shining bright early one morning just above the horizon. The priests have already begun their ceremonial thanksgiving and festivals of prayers and ceremonies of thanksgiving are being held all over my area. But last year our harvest was poor and I am appealing for your help this year.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons I spent last week overseeing my farm workers harvest the last of p the o cereal crops. After this, we could no longer • f o r r e v i e w p u r s e s o n l y • work on the land as the river would begin to flood. They had to complete the process of winnowing . The cereal 6

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ears had to be cut off with the sharp flint blades of sickles. My workers had to toss the ears in the air so that the unwanted husks could be blown away by the wind. Then the labourers had to put the ears into baskets. Next, our donkeys and our oxen had to walk over the ears to separate the grains. My scribes had to record how much grain we produced so we could calculate how much of our harvest we must pay in tax to the pharaoh7. I am worried that we will have to pay a lot to the pharaoh and we will be left short for ourselves. I pray to you, Great Creator, to protect us from this threat and ensure that we have enough cereal to fulfil all of our duties.

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Now my workers will soon have to begin the work for Kenna, who has lands near mine. He wants a new house built for his new third wife and we have to build it for him. At least he provides the materials! But my workers are already grumbling at the prospect of having to work for him. Last year, during the Season of Flood they, had to build a new garden for his second wife and it was absolutely dreadful! Every day she came to criticise what they were doing and to make new demands on them. If his new wife is the same, I am worried that my workers will return to my farms exhausted and unwilling to begin the planting that must take place as soon as the Season of growth begins. It is vital that we begin planting emmer and barley as soon as the Season of Growth begins. The seeds must be scattered over the soil and our farm animals must be led over the soil to trample the seeds into the ground, burying them out of sight of hungry birds. I appeal to you again, my Lord, to ensure that my workers are not too exhausted to begin the planting in the fertile soil that you have created for us here on our farms. Your powers of creativity and fertility are so great that you bring great prosperity to the land of Egypt. I pray to you to bring prosperity to my farms. Please, great god of Egypt and of creation, hear my prayers. 12

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. What is the main purpose of Meryt-Re’s prayer to the god Khnum and the goddesses Satet and Anuket?

2. List the four stages of the process of winnowing as described by Meryt-Re.

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3. Based on her description, do you agree with Meryt-Re when she says that life is hard on the farm? 4. Why is Meryt-Re so worried about working for the pharaoh’s chief tax accountant?

5. Why can her labourers no longer work on the land in the coming weeks?

6. What did Meryt-Re’s scribes have to calculate for her and why?

8. Read the following statements and tick those that are correct.

(b) The Egyptian god, Khnum, was a god of creation and the Nile...................................

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(a) There were at least five seasons in the ancient Egyptian calendar..............................

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(d) Egyptian women could work as farmers...................................................................

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(e) Egyptian men could have more than one wife...........................................................

1. The Egyptian god Khnum was a ram-headed god who ruled creation and oversaw the flooding of the Nile. He was believed to control the fertility of the Nile. He is depicted as having corkscrew horns, which extend outwards and are typical of the first type of ram domesticated in ancient Egypt. 2. Satet: a goddess who was the wife of the god Khaum and associated with the fertility of the Nile. 3. Anuket: A goddess of the Nile, usually shown with a papyrus sceptre and wearing a tall, plumed crown. 4. In mid-June, the Nile River began to flood its banks. Its floodwaters contained fine silt washed from the mountains located far south. In October, when the flooding subsided, the Season of Growth began when the farmers planted their crops in the soft, black mud left behind. 5. Sopdet was the ancient Egyptian word for the star we call Sirius or the North Star. 6. Winnowing is the process by which grain is separated from chaff (the husks).

7. The pharaoh’s officials controlled the economy of ancient Egypt very carefully, ensuring that taxes were paid when they were due. People’s taxes included their labour and some of the food and goods they produced. Money was not used in Egypt until the reign of the Ptolemies (332 BC–30 BC). Grain collected as tax was stored in huge warehouses and was given to the people when needed; e.g. after a poor harvest. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank

fifty adorn fertile name

Flood chickens ploughed five

bakers sight bread import

middle three cut households

harvested Nile supervised

walked seeds main

proportion washed began

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Farmers were ancient Egypt’s most important workers. Enough food was produced by them to feed Egypt’s entire population and because of them, Egypt never had to

food for its people. The farming year was divided into

extra days were added to make up the year. These days were days of ceremonies and festivals. River dictated the seasons.

The Season of

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seasons. Each season lasted for four months of 30 days each. At the end of the harvest season,

, or Akhet, occurred when the river flooded its banks in mid-June. The floodwaters

contained fine silt

from the mountains located in the south. This silt was thick and black, inspiring

the ancient Egyptian’s

for their country, Kemet, or ‘Black Land’. The barren desert never reached

by the Nile’s

floodwaters was called Deshret, or ‘Red Land’, as its sands seemed to glow red at

dawn in the light of the rising sun.

© R. I . C.Pub l i cat i ons as soon as the flood waters subsided. Farmers planted crops such as emmer, kind wheat, and barley. The soilp wasu seeds •af oofr r e v i ew r posesoandnl ywere •scattered The Season of Growth, called Peret,

over the fields. Farm animals trampled them into the soil, burying them out of

of hungry birds.

Everyone ate bread as it was the staple diet of both rich and poor. At first bread was baked by women at home or by servants in . From around 2000 BC onwards,

was baked in bakeries

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in towns, villages and temples and people began to work full-time as

. Loaves of bread have been

found in Egyptian tombs where they were placed as offerings. Bakers produced as many as

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wealthy

types of loaves. Some were baked with hollows in the

to hold servings of beans. Others were

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shaped like triangles and some were wafer-thin, like crackers, and flavoured with honey, sesame

dates, eggs and herbs which were added by the bakers.

The Season of Harvest, called Shemu, was a busy time for farmers. They

their crops in April and

May before the Nile flooded again in June. The ears of the cereal were put into baskets and taken to the farms where donkeys or oxen

off with sharp flint sickles,

over them to separate the grain.

Officials, called nomes,

farming and scribes were employed to keep detailed records of how much

grain was produced. A

of each harvest had to be paid in taxes to the pharaoh. The most important

farm animal in ancient Egypt was the cow, as it was a source of milk and meat and was the animal used on the farm for transporting things. Sheep and goats provided wool and hides and pigs were kept for their meat. Egyptian farmers also raised geese, ducks, pigeons, quails and meat and provided feathers, used to 14

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

. These birds gave the Egyptians clothing and to decorate elaborate headdresses. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. Apostrophes are inserted into words when they are shortened and letters are left out; for example, when ‘is not‘ is shortened or abbreviated it becomes ‘isn’t’. The apostrophe is put into the word to replace the letter ‘o’.

The following sentences about Egyptian farmers and farming need to have some words shortened and apostrophes inserted. This is indicated by the words in bold. Write the correct word for each sentence, choosing from the word bank provided. can’t

shouldn’t

weren’t

wouldn’t

hadn’t

couldn’t

mustn’t

needn’t

(b) The farm workers were not able to work on the land during the Season of Flood.

(d) The ancient Egyptians did not have tractors, so they used oxen to pull their ploughs.

(e) The pharaoh would not allow his tax collectors to let the farmers avoid paying taxes.

(f) Egyptian farmers were told that they must not go on holidays during the Season of Flood.

(g) The pharaoh’s tax collectors announced, ‘You can not avoid working for free for the pharaoh’.

(h) The ancient Egyptians knew that they need not worry about food as the Nile flooded every year.

(i) Egyptian farmers believed that they should not anger the god Khnum in any way.

(j) The ancient Egyptians had not considered that the Earth travelled around the sun.

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© R. I . C Pu b l i c a t i o n s of words to change their 3. . Prefixes are word parts added to the beginnings in the following sentences. meaning. The prefixes ‘in’, ‘im’, ‘ir’, and ‘il’ all mean ‘not’. For example, word ‘logical’ can s be changed to ‘illogical’ (meaning f o rr evi ewthe p u r po eso nl y • ‘not logical’) by (a) The• ancient Egyptian calendar adding the prefix ‘il’. Choose from these four prefixes to change the bold

2. Circle the correct words/phrases

contained three/four/five seasons in a year.

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words in these sentences.

in-

im-

ir-

(a) The seasons in Ancient Egypt were not regular.

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(b) The Nile began to flood its banks in mid-April/May/June.

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(a) Egyptian farmers could not avoid giving some of their harvest in taxation to the pharaoh.

wasn’t

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didn’t

(e) The Egyptians believed that their gods were mortal and would live forever with Osiris.

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(d) The main crop grown by farmers in ancient Egypt was barley/rice/emmer.

(e) A proportion of every crop had to be paid in tax to the priests/pharaoh/vizier.

(f) The Nile River contained thick, fertile silt, which was black/ grey/brown in colour.

(g) The barren desert was called the Pink/Red/Orange Land by the Egyptians.

(h) Bread was eaten in ancient Egypt by rich/poor/all people.

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(b) It was possible to work on the land once the Nile flooded.

(f) The Sahara Desert can be passable for travellers when the temperature reaches 55 ° C.

(c) It was considered responsible for Egyptian farmers not to pay their taxes (g) The Season of Flood would to the pharaoh. not start while the North Star remained visible. (d) The farmers were literate, so (h) Egyptians could be arrested they had to employ scribes to for showing reverence record their harvests. towards the pharaoh. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Keywords/terms. Read these keywords/terms and use them in sentences.

(a) emmer: One of the main grain crops grown on the Black Land (the fertile land of Egypt).

(b) Herodotus: Greek historian who travelled to Egypt in the 5th century BC and wrote about its culture.

(d) Nile: The world’s longest river (6695 kilometres), stretching from East Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.

(e) Season of Flood: The season, called Akhet, when the Nile flooded, lasting from June to September.

(f) Season of Growth: The season, called Peret, when crops were planted, lasting from October to January.

(g) Season of Harvest: The season, called Shemu, when Egyptian farmers harvested crops, lasting from February to May.

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(h) shaduf: Mechanism by which land was irrigated during the dry seasons by lifting water from the Nile.

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2. Choose the correct linking words/phrases and rewrite the sentences correctly.

For example: Egyptian farmers planted during the Season of Growth because the Nile River had deposited it’s rich, fertile mud. but so that because as

(a) Egyptian farmers prayed to the god Khnum the flooding of the Nile.

(b) The Season of Flood was very important to the Egyptians river onto its banks.

(d) The farm workers stopped working on their farms during the flood, they had to volunteer to work for the pharaoh or one of his officials.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

he was the ram-headed god who ruled over it spread the fine fertile silt of the a proportion of it could be paid in tax to the they couldn’t rest as

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3.

In the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam was constructed to harness and control the power of the Nile River. It was not the first dam to be built on the Nile. Amenemhat III had built an irrigation scheme, using dykes and sluices to control the water level of the Nile. The building of the Aswan High Dam placed one of ancient Egypt’s greatest architectural treasures at risk. The following sentences describe the project to save the temples of Abu Simbel, built for the pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC. However, the sentences have been rearranged so they are in the wrong order. Can you rewrite them in the correct order? The waters of Lake Nasser rose behind the dam and threatened the area of Nubia.

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The two temples of Abu Simbel were carefully cut into pieces and moved onto higher ground where they were reassembled.

This project took four years and cost 40 million US dollars to complete.

Constructed in the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam was the largest of the dams built across the Nile.

Nubia is sometimes called an open-air museum because of its many ancient monuments.

This caused a huge lake, called Lake Nasser, to form.

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A salvage project, organised by UNESCO, was mounted, funded by governments and individuals from all over the world.

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4. Over three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Of all the rain that falls onto land, over one-third runs off into rivers and is returned to the sea. The process of harnessing the power of rivers to create electricity is called hydro-electricity. The Aswan High Dam began to produce hydro-electric power in 1967 and allowed many Egyptian villages to be connected to an electricity supply for the first time. However, there have been disadvantages as well as advantages as a result of the construction of the dam and the hydro-electric power it produces. The following sentences have been mixed up. Match each sentence with its correct ending. (a) The damming of the Nile caused a number

1. nutrients no longer flow down the Nile into the sea.

(b) The area known as upper Nubia was

2. fertilisers to nourish their crops.

3. flooded and 90 000 people were displaced.

(d) The fertile silt, which made the floodplain fertile and

4. of environmental issues.

(e) Fishing in the Mediterranean has declined because

5. has increased, affecting outflow into the Atlantic Ocean.

(f) The Nile delta (land made of sediment where the river splits into several streams) is no longer renewed by the fertile silt which was brought

6. water from Lake Nasser, an artificial lake formed by the dam.

(g) There is significant erosion (wearing away) of coastline due to the lack of sand, which was

7. was deposited in the yearly flood, is now trapped behind the dam.

(h) Valuable archaeological sites were flooded by

8. delta mud, has been severely affected.

(i) Egyptian farmers now need to use artificial

9. by the annual flood of the river.

(j) The salinity (salt level) of the Mediterranean Sea

10. once brought down the Nile and deposited along the Mediterranean coastline.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 3: An Egyptian detective solves a case Indicators Student reads text relating to a theft and completes comprehension and cloze exercises. Student completes word study exercises on keywords, using suffixes, spelling skills, unjumbling sentences and dictionary skills. Student learns about scientific tools used in archaeological research, the forensic investigation of crime and the training of dogs for modern police work.

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Background information

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This text is a crime report that is written to inform. Informational text is clear and concise. This crime report has a clearly defined structure; beginning with a description of the crime, followed by details of interviews carried out and evidence gathered at the scene and finally giving the conclusions of the detective investigating the crime. The detective presenting this report, Paneb, has been investigating the disappearance of a special roll of papyrus text. He has solved the crime and is presenting his crime report to his superior, the Chief of Police, Mahu.

Papyrus is a reed-like plant that grows in marshy land on the banks of the Nile River. Paper was once made from the pith (inner core) of the papyrus stems. The Nile is 6695 kilometres long and is the longest river in the world. It brought vital water to the hot, dry land of ancient Egypt. Ninety percent of the country was desert and ten percent was the Nile. The river is and always has been essential for the country. It flows from East Africa in the south to the Mediterranean Sea in the north of Egypt. The land around the north of the river was known as Lower Egypt and the land around the south of the river was known as Upper Egypt. The papyrus plant provided the ancient Egyptians with other uses as well as paper. The earliest boats were made from the stalks of the papyrus plant. Fishermen fished in the river in small canoes made from papyrus reeds, using spears and harpoons to stab the fish as they swam past. Egyptian dancers wore tall headdresses made from papyrus reeds. Ropes were made from the papyrus plant. The ancient Egyptians also made sandals from papyrus.

One of the most important Egyptian legends concerns the death of Osiris, who fought with his evil brother, Seth, and was murdered by him. Seth cut his brother’s body up and scattered the pieces across Egypt. Isis, the wife of Osiris, collected the pieces and buried them at Abydos. Osiris rose from the dead and became king of the underworld, while his son, Horus, became the king of Egypt and the god of the pharaohs. Every Egyptian king believed he was the living embodiment of Horus, the falcon-headed god, and that after his death, he would become Osiris. Every Egyptian believed that if they lived a good life, after death they would live again in the kingdom of Osiris, a beautiful paradise.

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There were two types of crime in ancient Egypt. Civil crime, which was dealt with by local courts, and criminal crime, which was much more serious and was dealt with by government officials who had to report to the vizier, the pharaoh’s chief minister. Civil crimes included petty thefts, such as stealing donkeys. Punishments included fines and beatings. Evidence of these local courts has been found at Deir-el-Medina, at the site of the village of the workers who built the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Criminal crimes included stealing treasure from tombs, non-payment of taxes and threatening the life of the pharaoh, the most serious crime of all. The government officials had the right to arrest, detain and question anyone accused of a serious crime. Suspects could be tortured during questioning. For those who threatened the life of the pharaoh, the punishment was death. It was every Egyptian’s duty to prevent or report crimes and to go to the aid of a person if they were in danger. To not do this was considered a crime in itself.

o c . Worksheet information che e r o t r s super In order to answer Question 2 in Exercise D, students may wish to use a dictionary.

In order to answer Question 2 in Exercise E, students may find it useful to read about forensic scientists and the tools used in crime scenes at <www.scienceyear.com/whodunit/go/Default.html>. A glossary of keywords and terms, relating to the ancient Egyptians is provided on pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear in Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes

Answers Exercise B............................. page 21 1. To investigate the theft of a papyrus scroll of the Book of the dead 2. Teacher check 3. She wanted to ensure that her husband would be protected by powerful spells when he entered the underworld 4. Teacher check 5. three members of the family and four servants 6. Teacher check 7. Teacher check 8. (a), (b) and (c) should be ticked

(d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. (a)

helpful Finding changing increasing recognition quickly main serious beatings threatening pharaoh Government detain accused safety immediately The Book of the dead was a collection of spells, prayers and hymns. (b) One of the most important Egyptian legends is about the death and rebirth of Osiris. (c) Every Egyptian believed that if they lived a good life, they would be reborn after death. (d) Robbing a tomb was a serious crime in ancient Egypt and was punished severely. (e) Minor crimes, called civil

crimes, were punishable with fines and beatings. Exercise E.......................page 24–25 1. Teacher check 2. (a) fight (b) track (c) breeds (d) sniffer (e) search (f) trained (g) people (h) used (i) ignore (j) cameras 3. 1, f. 2, d. 3, h. 4, a. 5, b. 6, g. 7, c. 8, e. 4. (a) ampel probe (b) scene of crime case (c) scalpel (d) measuring tape (e) angled mirror (f) tweezers (g) fingerprint kit (h) camera (i) chalk (j) shoe-covers

Exercise D............................. page 23 1. (a) attention (b) discussions (c) solved

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Exercise C............................. page 22 phase, sky, tomb, died, Field, sickness, mummified, magically, body, information, copied, person, Osiris, weighing, god, heart, Truth, outweighed, organ, placed, contained, protect, Earth, share, broken, police, borders, tomb-robbers

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©R . I . C.Publ i cat i ons Cross-curricular activities

•f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

Students can investigate famous crimes in history; e.g. the mysterious death of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun, and outline their own solution to these mysteries. A useful website dealing with the theories of Tutankhamun’s death is <www.civilization.ca/civil/ egypt/egypt_e.html>.

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Students can draw their own plan for training a modern police dog, outlining all the skills that such a dog would need in today’s world. A useful website on the history of training dogs to work with the police is <www.btp.police.uk/History%20Society/ Publications/History%20Society/The%20history/The%20Police%20Dog%20Pioneers.htm>. Students can find more information on how current police dogs are trained and used at <www.police.govt.nz/service/dogs/>. Students can research the ongoing development of modern technology in forensic science at <www.cyberbee.com/whodunnit/ crime.html>.

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Curriculum links State

Society and Environment

English

Science

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

LL 4

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

LTS 3.3

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

SCBS 0401, SCB 0502

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

SS 4.1, SS 5.1, SS 5.3

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

4.5

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the crime report.

Crime Report for the attention of Mahu, Chief of Police, on the 23rd day of the Season of Growth.

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I was called to the home of a widow called Wabkhet to investigate the theft of a papyrus scroll of the Book of the dead1. It was about to be placed on the mummy of Ipuy, her recently deceased husband. When the family looked for it this morning, it was gone. I found three members of the family in the house, along with four servants. I made a preliminary examination of the house and noted that there was no obvious evidence of a break-in. I interviewed all those present.

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Wabkhet, the widow, was in a very distressed state as she had to postpone the funeral. ‘I kept the scroll in the main room of the house. I had ordered it months ago when the doctors told me that my beloved husband would not survive this illness. I wanted to ensure that he would enter the underworld2 protected by powerful spells and be able to proceed to the Field of Reeds3. Because I can not write, the local scribe copied it and I added my prayers.’

I interviewed her two sons, who also seemed distressed by the theft. Both of them had been with their mother the previous evening. They said that they had seen the scroll in the main room of the house. I interviewed the servants. The cook was upset, as she had served the master for 30 years. She claimed that she had not seen the scroll but had heard her mistress talking about it to her sons the previous evening at dinner. Next, I interviewed the cook’s assistant, Imui, who had just arrived the previous week to train in the household. She said, ‘I swear by the god Sobek4, I know nothing about the scroll. I had no idea that it was even in the house. I am sorry about the master’s death but the whole thing is nothing to do with me’.

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amongst which there are three Tjesem5, or as we sometimes call them, three Egyptian greyhounds. They said that they knew absolutely nothing about the missing scroll and were very puzzled about the theft. I asked them why they were so puzzled and they told me that the Tjesem, who are favourites of their mistress, always slept in the house and would have heard something if a thief had broken in during the night. They said, ‘Tjesem are great watchdogs and their hearing is fantastic. Not even a mouse could have entered that house last night without them barking’. This confirmed my suspicions that the scroll had been taken by someone in the house. Before I had finished interviewing the two servants, I asked them where they slept and they told me that they always slept outside in an outhouse. This eliminated them from my list of potential suspects. I had an idea about who the thief was, but I had one final check to make in order to confirm my suspicions.

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I went into the kitchen and found the cook and her assistant working there. I asked the cook to wait outside while I spoke to Imui. I spoke softly, ‘You have had a death in your own family recently, haven’t you, Imui?’ She looked at me with eyes full of pain and her words came tumbling out. ‘My baby died recently and I could not afford to get him a scroll. I wanted him to go to the Field of Reeds. I didn’t mean to cause any pain to the mistress but I ...’ With that, she burst into tears. I asked her to get the scroll from wherever she had hidden it. She handed it to me and said, ‘I was going to put it close to my baby the next time I visited his grave’. I then took her gently by the arm and brought her to face her mistress. She has lost her job but should I go ahead and prosecute? Her mistress has left it up to me. She is a heartbroken child, aged 16. I will consider what to do and explain my decision in my final report on this case, which I intend to complete soon. Paneb, Chief Detective.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. Why was Chief Detective Paneb called to the home of Wabkhet?

2. Why do you think that the information given by the two male servants confirmed Paneb’s suspicions?

3. Why did Wabkhet, Ipuy’s wife, order the Book of the dead when she realised her husband was dying?

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4. Why, in your opinion, did Paneb speak softly to Imui in the kitchen?

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5. How many people did Chief Detective Paneb interview in relation to this theft?

6. From your reading, what would you say was the ancient Egyptian attitude to death and the afterlife?

7. Do you think Imui’s reference to the god, Sobek, may have helped him? Why?

(a) The Book of the dead contained spells which allowed a dead person to enter the Field of Reeds.........................

(b) Sobek was an Egyptian god............................................................................................................................

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(c) Egyptian greyhounds were excellent watchdogs............................................................................................... (d) Egyptians believed that only pharaohs could enter the Field of Reeds................................................................

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(e) All ancient Egyptians could read and write.......................................................................................................

1. The Book of the dead was a collection of spells, prayers and hymns which were supposed to protect a person as they travelled in the underworld and tried to find their way to the Field of Reeds in the afterlife. Copies of the Book of the dead were written on scrolls of papyrus and placed with the body of the deceased in their coffin or in some part of the mummy‘s chamber. The Book of the dead was added to by each generation and was copied and recopied for a period of 5000 years. Every Egyptian, rich and poor, was familiar with it and based their hopes of reaching eternal life on the power of its prayers and spells. 2. The ancient Egyptians believed that, immediately after death, a person travelled to the underworld, also called Duat, where their heart was weighed against the Feather of Truth. 3. The Field of Reeds was a perfect version of Egypt, a sunny land with fruit trees and abundant wheat fields. 4. Sobek was the crocodile-headed Egyptian god of the Nile who ruled over water and fertility.

5. Egyptian greyhounds or tjesem were dogs with curved tails and floppy ears. They appear to have been popular in Egypt from very early times up to the Graeco-Roman period. There are numerous drawings of these dogs on the walls of Egyptian tombs. Pictures of the tjesem show them relaxing under the chairs of their owners and often their names are written in hieroglyphics next to their picture. Some of the names that have been used are ‘The Brave One’, ‘Good Herdsman’ and ‘Reliable’. Tjesem were used for hunting, as guard dogs and as police dogs. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank

organ tomb-robbers Field broken weighing borders outweighed placed copied heart contained person

police died god information protect share sky sickness magically mummified Earth body Osiris phase Truth tomb

The ancient Egyptians believed in life after death and they saw death as a temporary

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between this life and

the afterlife. They believed that, after death, the pharaohs would spend their days soaring through the

. They believed that ordinary Egyptians who had

with the sun god and return at night to a well-stocked

and, if found to be worthy, would go to the kingdom of

lived good lives would be judged when they

of Reeds. The Field of Reeds had no

the plentiful crops. Bodies needed to be stable and enduring in order to live this new life so people them by embalming and preserving them. The ancient Egyptians believed that the mummy would would last for eternity.

come back to life and this new and perfect

and no pests to eat

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Osiris to live in the

The Book of the dead was a scroll containing spells, prayers and hymns, which provided the dead person with and advice that they would need for a successful passage into the afterlife. The Book of the dead

was

many times by scribes and new spells and prayers were added to it. It was buried close to the

so they would be able to find it when they needed it. They believed that © R . I . C .Publ i cat i ons , they needed to travel through the underworld, sometimes called Duat, which to reach the kingdom of was a dangerous and difficult place. •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• mummified body of the dead

of the heart. The jackal-

At the end of this journey, they would still have to face the ceremony of the

of mummification, was associated with this ceremony. He weighed the

headed god, Anubis, who was the

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of the dead person against the Feather of Truth. If they had led an honest life, their heart would be and they were allowed to go into the kingdom of Osiris by Thoth, the ibis-

lighter than the Feather of

the Feather of Truth, it was eaten by Ammit,

headed god of wisdom. If their heart was too heavy and

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a crocodile-headed monster and they were cast into darkness forever. The heart was the only

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in canopic jars or disposed

be put back into the body after mummification. The other organs were

of. The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was where human intelligence lay and that it

person’s moral being. A magical amulet in the shape of a scarab beetle was placed over the mummy’s heart in order to it as it travelled through the underworld.

in order to enter the kingdom of Osiris after

Many Egyptians believed that they had to live a good life on

of law-breakers. We know

their death. However, evidence points to the fact that Egyptian society had its

into and ransacked by tomb-robbers. There is evidence that a group

that a great number of tombs were of officials who formed what might be termed a basic

force existed in ancient Egypt. One half of this

group performed the duties of guarding and patrolling, while the other enforced justice and inflicted punishment. For example, a special group of policemen was employed to patrol the desert incursions. Another group of policemen guarded the temples and tombs against

with their dogs to guard against -

Egyptian policemen also enforced the tax laws of ancient Egypt. 22

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. Suffixes are letters attached to the end of words; e.g. ‘find’ with the suffix ‘ing’ added becomes ‘finding’. Read the

following sentences and choose words from the word bank provided so that the sentences make sense. The words have suffixes added to them.

quickly

helpful

discussions

recognition

Finding

investigating

(a) A detective must pay close attention to the clues when he/she is

(b) A team of crime investigators must meet regularly to hold

(d) Some witnesses to a crime can provide

(e)

(f) In the modern world, the nature of crime is

(g) Internet fraud is now

(h) Detectives can use voice

(i) The owner of a stolen car can be

increasing

changing

a crime.

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on their progress.

a case.

information.

important clues can make a detective’s job much easier.

due to new technologies.

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solved

as a type of crime.

techniques to identify a particular human voice. identified by its registration number.

2. There are 10 misspellings in the following passage. Circle each one and write it correctly in the spaces provided. You may use a dictionary if you wish.

Crime existed in ancient Egypt. There were two mane types of crime. Civil crime, which was dealt with by local courts, and criminal crime, which was much more series and was dealt with by government officials. Civil crimes included petty theft and the punishments included fines and beetings. Criminal crimes included stealing treasure from tombs, non-payment of taxes and threatining the life of the pharaoh. Goverment officials had the right to arrest, detane and question anyone who was acused of a serious crime. Anyone who threatened the life or safty of the pharaoh and his family was executed immediatly.

10.

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6. 9.

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3. Unjumble the following sentences so they make sense.

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(a) spells, collection The of dead was a of, and Book prayers hymns. the

(b) of One important Egyptian Osiris. the the and of most about is death legends rebirth

(c) if Egyptian that lived good believed reborn they a would life, they be after Every death. (d) punished in Robbing a serious was tomb crime a ancient was Egypt and severely. (e) punishable Minor with civil crimes, were fines and beatings. crimes, called R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms and use them in sentences.

(a) Book of the dead: A scroll containing spells, prayers and hymns to protect the deceased.

(b) Egyptian greyhounds: Tjesem were Egyptian greyhounds and had curved tails and floppy ears.

(c) Lower Egypt: The name given by the ancient Egyptians to the fan-shaped Nile delta, a flat area at the mouth of the river where the main river flow splits into streams.

(e) Sobek: The crocodile-headed god of the Nile who ruled over fertility and water.

(f) spells: Verbal formulae (sets of words) believed to have magical power and force.

(g) Underworld: The world after death, also known as Duat or the ‘Next World’.

(h) Upper Egypt: The name given by the ancient Egyptians to the Nile valley.

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(d) Mediterranean Sea: The sea between southern Europe, North Africa and south-west Asia.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons this reason they are useful allies for the police and are used in the fight against crime. Police forces throughout the •f o r evdogs i etow r os e so nonl y •Dogs are world have developed ways ofr training chasep andu hold ap suspect and release them command.

2. Dogs have a vastly superior sense of smell to humans as they have over a million smell receptors in their noses. For

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also trained to sniff out drugs and explosives. The following sentences about police dogs are missing some words. Choose the correct words from the word bank provided and use them in the sentences. More information about police dogs is available on the Internet. (a) Dogs have been used in the against crime for over a hundred years.

during (h) Dogs are also murder inquiries to locate the victims’ bodies.

(b) At first, bloodhounds were used by the police to

(i) Police dogs are trained to loud noises such as gunfire.

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down criminals.

(d) At ports, dogs are trained to inspect vehicles for illegal substances such as drugs.

(e) At airports, dogs are used to baggage holds for suspicious suitcases.

(f) In some countries, specially beagles are used to search for illicit fruit and meat.

(g) Specially trained dogs can be used to locate

(j) Sniffer dogs can wear special harnesses with

attached to allow their handlers to see into search areas they cannot fit into.

ignore people

sniffer fight used search breeds track trained cameras

lying injured beneath collapsed buildings.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities Forensic science is the technique of using scientific methods to solve crimes. Scientific techniques are also used in the analysis of precious artefacts from the past. Match each term to its correct explanation. You will need to be able to research the answers. Title

Description

1. CT scanning

(a) Method of analysing a chemical, deoxyribonucleic acid, found in all living things and things that were once alive which can be used to trace family relationships.

2. Laser reconstruction

(b) Method of dating organic material; e.g., charcoal, wood, bones, plant and shells, which can calculate the dates of objects up to 50 000 years old

3. Facial reconstruction

(c) Method of scanning by use of magnetic resonance imaging, which uses magnetism, radio waves and a computer to produce images of body structure.

4. DNA analysis

(d) Method of using laser technology to assist in the reconstruction of a human face from skeletal remains

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(e) Method of radioactive dating used to date pottery and burnt objects which gives the date on which the pottery was fired or the flints burned

6. Dendrochronology

(f) Method of using computed tomography which uses a computerised X-ray procedure to produce detailed cross-sectional images of the body.

7. MRI scanning

(g) Method of dating wooden objects based on the annual growth rings of new wood on trees.

8. Thermoluminescence (TL)

(h) Method of reconstructing a human face from skeletal evidence by making a cast of the skull, which can also yield information on the possible gender, height, age and indigenous grouping of the person.

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5. Carbon 14 dating

4. The most important people in the investigation of a new crime are the SOCOs or the Scene Of Crime Officers. They are the first officers to arrive and seal off the scene of a crime to begin the search for clues to be sent to the forensic science laboratory for examination. They use a number of tools to assist their investigations. Read the following descriptions and see if you can identify the correct forensic tool. Choose from the word bank provided. camera

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shoe-covers chalk

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ampel probe

This tool is used to collect very small pieces of evidence.

(h) This tool is used to film relevant evidence left at the scene of the crime.

(d) This tool is used to measure the breadth of blood spatter at the scene of the crime.

(g) This tool is used to reveal any fingerprints that may have been left at the scene of the crime.

(f)

measuring tape scene of crime case

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(b) Provides an area in which to collect and preserve evidence of a crime.

scalpel fingerprint kit

(a) This tool is designed to enable officers to search suspects or their property without risking personal injury.

tweezers angled mirror

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(i)

(j)

(e) This tool is used to see behind and under objects without touching or disturbing them.

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This tool is used in murder cases to mark the outline of the body.

Items worn by officers to prevent foreign materials being introduced to the scene of the crime.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 4: A pyramid worker describes the Great Pyramid Indicators Reads text of a letter and completes comprehension and cloze exercises. Completes word study exercises and develops skills in keywords, matching, sequencing and unjumbling words and terms, and spelling. Learns about building techniques, surveying sites and GPS navigation systems and spelling.

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This text is a letter. Letters are written conversations sent from one person to another. They usually begin with a greeting, contain the information to be related and conclude with a farewell signed by the writer. This letter is a personal letter. A personal letter is one that is usually written to someone known to the writer and is informal in tone. The pyramids of Egypt are the oldest stone buildings in the world. They may be over 5000 years old and will probably still be standing in another 5000 years. There are at least 96 pyramids scattered along the banks of the Nile River, ranging from very large pyramids such as the Great Pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu to unusually shaped pyramids such as the Step Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid. The pyramids are monumental tombs, built to house the bodies of the pharaohs and protect them from the outside elements and from thieves. The pharaohs of Egypt were probably the first real kings in the world because they ruled over an entire country and not just a city, province or tribe. They were very powerful and it was very important to them that after death their bodies should be preserved and protected in a building suitable for their status in society. They clearly considered that the pyramids were suitable for this purpose.

The earliest pyramids were called mastabas and were built around 2630 BC. The Step Pyramid was built by placing six mastabas of decreasing size on top of each other. The pyramid shape may have evolved because it was the easiest way in which to build a large, tall building at the time. Or it may have been based on one of Egypt’s religious cults, which saw the pyramid as a ramp representing the rays of the sun upon which the dead pharaoh would climb to heaven and be reborn as a god. Such spectacular buildings did not escape the attention of grave robbers who regularly broke in to steal the treasures buried inside them. About 3500 years ago, a pharaoh called Tuthmosis 1 decided to cut his tomb deep into the wall of a hidden valley. Other pharaohs followed his example and this valley became known as the Valley of the Kings.

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The Great Sphinx, with the body of a lion and the face of a king, guards the royal pyramids at Giza. It is 20 metres high and 73 metres long and is made from a single block of stone. Erosion has caused the ceremonial beard and the uraeus (a serpent-image of kingship) on the brow to decay completely. Only the pharaoh’s headdress remains today. Rising ground water and air pollution are still causing damage. The Sphinx was originally regarded as the protector of the pyramid complex at Giza, then as the embodiment of the sun god and later feared as the ‘Father of Horror’. The Sphinx continues to be one of the most mysterious monuments on Earth, even centuries after it was built. It has been the subject of many legends and stories. One famous legend concerns the Greek hero, Oedipus, who was condemned to be murdered by his father, Laius, after it was prophesied at his birth that he would kill him and marry his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus escaped death and, on his travels, met the Sphinx, who set him a famous riddle. The Sphinx asked Oedipus to tell her what has four legs in the morning, two at midday and three in the evening. Oedipus realised that the answer was a human being who crawls when a baby, walks as an adult and uses a stick when old.

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The ancient Greeks were responsible for the idea of the Seven Wonders of the World. They popularised the idea of there being seven wonders, although the list sometimes varied. However, the Great Pyramid has almost always appeared on every list. Pyramids always lined up with the four cardinal directions, north, south, east and west. The first task of the planners planning Khufu’s pyramid would have been to find north and mark a north-south line on the ground to form one side of the pyramid’s square base.Tools used by the pyramid workers included picks (a tool with a sharp pointed end, used to break rock or compacted earth), chisels (tools with a sharp cutting edge, used to chip at stone), levers (long wooden bars, used to help lift heavy loads) and mallets (hammers with a large head made of stone, wood or metal, probably used to hammer chisels). The Great Pyramid is the biggest pyramid ever built. When it was first built, its height was 146 metres. Today it is nine metres less, partly because robbers stole the original outer stones and because some of the stones have disintegrated due to age. It is also called ‘Akhet Khufu’, which means ‘the Horizon of Khufu’, because the Egyptians believed that the sun god, Re, travelled across the sky each day, sailed back under the earth at night and re-emerged in the morning on the eastern horizon at sunrise. They believed that the dead Khufu would also re-emerge as a god in the same way. The ancient Egyptians believed that the human person was made up of several distinct parts, including the ‘ba’ and the ‘ka’. The ba could be described as the personality of the human being and the ka was his or her life force or spirit. They believed that the ka was reunited with the body after the embalming period, which could last for 70 days. The ancient Egyptians believed that Khufu would be reborn as Osiris, the god of the dead.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes

Answers 2.

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The collection also contains rich examples of objects illustrating daily life, from earrings to wooden mallets. 6 Some of these objects, from daily life in the Nile Valley, date from 6000 years ago. 7 The highlights of the Petrie collection include examples of the earliest linen clothing, which are over 5000 years old. 3. The Landsat system. (c) 4. Gunter’s chain. (d) 5. steel tape. (e) 1. sonar device (a) 3. magnetic compass (b) 2. 4. 1. collection 2. back-up 3. designed 4. constantly 5. their 6. receivers 7. compare 8. satellites 9. position 10. maps

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Exercise C............................. page 30 pyramid, tombs, gods, forever, twenty, workers, permanent, vital, Flood, Nile, feed, Tura, scribes, heat, wooden, buried, Great, Egyptians, offerings, were, white, time, originally, coffin, roof, guard, body, pharaoh Exercise D............................. page 31 1. 4, 3, 6, 2, 5, 1

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Exercise E..................... pages 32–33 1. Teacher check 2. 1 The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, in London, contains about 80 000 objects. 2 They were collected by William Flinders Petrie, who spent over 50 years excavating material in Egypt. 3 He is thought to have discovered over a million objects during the course of his archaeological career. 4 The collection contains typical Egyptian objects such as mummy cases and death masks.

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Exercise B............................. page 29 1. They finally placed the capstone on top of the Great Pyramid. 2. It was a struggle and he was afraid something would go wrong. 3. Khufu is the pharaoh, the Great Pyramid is his tomb. 4. Priests, officials, courtiers and architects 5. He talks of how Khufu will become a god and deserves a great tomb. 6. They celebrated with a feast; the building project took over 20 years; Teacher check 7. Two temples, three mastaba tombs, one small pyramid 8. To honour the pharoahs 9. (a), (b), (d) and (e) should be ticked

R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Worksheet© information

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To complete Question 2 in Exercise E, students will find it beneficial to research the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, which contains 80 000 objects founded by the archaeologist William Flinders Petrie, at <www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk>. A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians is provided on pages pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear on Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

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Cross-curricular activities

Students may wish to do further research on the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at <www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk>. Students may like to find out more about pyramids around the world. Pyramids were built between the 3rd and 9th centuries AD in Central and South America. A good site with information on these pyramids is <www.geocities.com/linksatlantis/ greatamericanpyramids.htm>.

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o c . che e r o t r s super Curriculum links Information on Aztec and Mayan Mexico can be found at <www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/childrenscompass>.

The Mayan civilisation built the Great Pyramid of Palenque, which contained the tomb of their ruler Lord Pacal, who ruled in the 7th century AD. Further information on the Maya can be found at <www.mayankids.com/mkintro.htm>.

State

Society and Environment

English

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the letter dictated to a scribe.

The worker’s town1 at the foot of Akhet Khefu, on the 60th day of the Season of growth.

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Greetings to you, Sennefer, my dear brother. I hope you and all of your family are well. I am dictating this letter to one of the scribes2 who is resident here in order to record the work for the pharaoh’s vizier. Today we finally put the capstone on the pyramid. It is such a great feeling of achievement after working here for so many years3. I know that there is still a lot to be done. We still have to smooth all of the stones and dress the casing stones. We have to dismantle the great ramp that we had to build in order to bring all of the huge stone blocks up the pyramid. We will then have to remove all of the debris left behind. Still, it felt so good to finally position that capstone on the top of the pyramid. In order to do this, we had to build a small stone stairway on one side of the pyramid. We had to pull the capstone up the stairway on a wooden frame. This was difficult and many times I feared something would go terribly wrong. Next, we had to lever the stone into position very carefully. As we struggled to do this, I could feel the sweat pouring off my face. I almost lost my footing and fell, but finally, thanks to Amun4, it was done and we all sighed with relief. We were too exhausted to cheer, but the others who were watching cheered so loudly the gods must have heard. A message was sent immediately to our pharaoh to inform him of the event. Later that day, the priests held ceremonies and made offerings to the gods. The officials and courtiers bowed towards the pyramid during this ceremony. Even the architects who had spent years overseeing this building project bowed towards it, holding up their plans written on papyrus rolls. The pharaoh’s officials ordered that we be given a feast of fine food and drink later that day. We had a great party with dancers and wrestlers. There were musicians playing until the early hours of the morning, banging their rattles and tambourines. We danced and ate to our heart’s content, so happy that at last, after over twenty years, the main building phase of the Great Pyramid was complete. I don’t think any of the workers slept at all that night. I remember seeing the sun rising, and as it did, the pyramid was revealed in all it’s magnificence. I felt proud of all of our hard work over the years here. I know that Khufu will join the gods when he goes to the afterlife and I am satisfied that his tomb will be a fitting one for him. He is currently the god Horus, but when he dies he will become Osiris—god of life, death and fertility. His pyramid has two temples, one alongside the pyramid and another at the entrance. To the east, south and west of the pyramid there are low mastaba tombs which will house Khufu’s officials and other relatives. We have also built a tiny satellite pyramid, which will house his ka which will be reunited with his body after death. I believe with all my heart that our lord, Khufu, will be happy with our work here5. As I have already said, I have more work to do, but I hope to be able come home with my wife and children to see you in about two years or so. So until then, may Horus protect you. Farewell for now, your brother, Ahmose.

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1. At Giza, the pyramid workers had their own town. They were free men, paid by the pharaoh for their hard work. The Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote that there were thousands of workers working there on the Great Pyramid. There were mud-brick houses for the permanent workers and their families, and buildings similar to dormitories for the temporary workers. Reed mats covered the floors and air vents kept the houses cool. There was an area where food was stored (granaries) and prepared (bakeries). Tools and pottery were made in workshops. Amun was the supreme god of the Egyptians, whose temple at Karnak is one of the best surviving religious temple complexes. It contained chapels and obelisks dedicated to the god. It also had granaries, which supplied the breweries, and bakeries for those that lived there. There were weaving workshops, which produced the linen for the temple shops. 28

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. What did Ahmose and the other pyramid workers achieve today that made him so happy?

2. Why did Ahmose sweat so much and almost lose his footing when doing this?

3. Who is Khufu? Why was a message sent immediately to him when they finished this job?

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4. List the four groups of people who were involved in the ceremonies later that day.

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5. From your reading of Ahmose’s letter, do you think that he respects and reveres his ruler? Why?

6. Describe what happened to the workers later that day. How long had this building project been going on? Why do you think such projects took so long to complete?

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9. Read the following statements and tick those that are correct.

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(b) Some Ancient Egyptians worked as architects......

to build............................................................. (d) Smaller pyramids were built close to the

Great Pyramid...................................................

(e) Egyptian musicians played rattles and tambourines......................................................

2. Scribes recorded every stage of the work for the pharaoh’s officials and wrote letters for the workers. Most people in ancient Egypt were unable to read and write. 3. The biggest and the oldest pyramid at Giza is the Great Pyramid of Khufu, which took more than 20 years to build. Many thousands of Egyptians worked on its construction and over two million stone blocks were used in its construction. It was built by the pharaoh, Khufu (also known by his Greek name, Cheops), who came to power in 2589 BC. Khufu’s father, the pharaoh Sneferu, was the first to build smooth-sided pyramids and he built pyramids close to the city of Memphis. Khufu chose a new building site for his pyramid, north of Giza. It is the largest stone structure on Earth. It was named as one of the seven wonders of the world by the ancient Greeks. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World and the only one that has survived intact. 4. One of the main gods worshipped in Egypt, whose temple at Karnak can still be visited today. He is shown with a distinctive double-plumed headdress. 5. Khufu, who is also known by his Greek name of Cheops, had the ambition to build a bigger pyramid than his father and he needed two things to achieve this. Firstly, a wide, solid mass of rock for its foundations and, secondly, a good source of building stone. He found both of these at Giza. There were thick layers of limestone there, which meant that the pyramid workers could carve out huge blocks of stone. Each block of limestone or granite could weigh as much as 2.75 tonnes.

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(a) The Ancient Egyptians used ramps to help

them build the Great Pyramid.............................

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8. Why do you think the ancient Egyptians built such elaborate and massive tombs?

(f) Egyptians believed that Khufu would be reborn as a ordinary person after death.........................

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank o fferings vital roof body Great forever

wooden buried Egyptians pharaoh gods permanent feed Flood scribes originally

were Nile guard

white Tura twenty

time heat tombs

coffin pyramid workers

The Great Pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu, also known by his Greek name of Cheops, was built in the 3rd century BC. His

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father, the pharaoh Sneferu, was also a

builder and built the first smooth-sided pyramid

in Egypt. The pharaohs often began to have their

built shortly after they came to the

throne. They believed that death was only a temporary phase until they were reborn as

to show the world what a glorious

pharaoh he had been. He spent at least

years having it built at Giza, a new town north of the city

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the afterlife. Khufu wanted to build a tomb that would last of Memphis.

Thousands of

were employed by the pharaoh to build his new pyramid. They lived close to the construction

site in a town which had both

and temporary accommodation for the workers. The permanent workers

lived with their families. They were skilled stonemasons who were

for the success of the project. There

were also thousands of labourers who, every year, carried out their work as a tax obligation to the pharaoh during the Season of

©hadR . I . C.Publ i cat i ons flooded its banks and work on the farms to cease. •f or ev i e w pthere ur o s esonl y•the workers As well as the actual workers, there werer many other people brought to p provide the stone, the

. Every Egyptian had to work for the pharaoh during this season as the

River

and transport the blocks of stone from the quarry to the site. Stone was brought to the site from Aswan, and Giza. The pharaoh’s officials and

were also present to oversee and record all the details of the building.

Working in the intense

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meant that workers needed a constant supply of water in order to be able to

continue with their work. There were boat pits which held

vessels that were, when he died, designed to

carry the pharaoh’s mummy up the Nile River to his pyramid. The boats were buried with the pharaoh.

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Two of King Khufu’s boats have survived. One is still the

and the other is on display in a museum close to

Pyramid. It is thought that the ancient

believed that their pharaoh might

need the boat in the afterlife. A mortuary temple was built close to the pyramid as a place where

could

be left to the gods and prayers could be recited for the dead pharaoh’s soul as he travelled to his next life. Three smaller pyramids built for the pharaoh’s three queens when they died. Originally, the Great Pyramid was covered in sunshine. This has eroded over

limestone cladding, which would have made it gleam in the . The capstone would have

been covered in gold.

Internal corridors inside the pyramid led to the pharaoh’s burial chamber, where his sarcophagus or be laid. The king’s burial chamber was built with a reinforced pyramid above it. A large monument, called the Sphinx, was built to of a pharaoh and the of the Sphinx may be that of the 30

would

in order to support the massive weight of the the pyramids at Giza. It has the head

of a lion. The Sphinx was built at Giza by Khufu’s son, the pharaoh Khafra. The face Khafra and is built facing towards the rising sun. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. Pyramid building was divided into different stages. Number the six stages below to show the correct time order.

Step

: The workers transported the stones by land and by water to the site of the pyramid.

Step

: The stones were quarried.

Step

: The workers spent years building the pyramid.

Step

: The plans for the pyramid were completed.

Step

: The stones of the pyramid were shaped and carved at the site of the pyramid.

Step

: The site of the pyramid was chosen and surveyed.

2. Complete the word search.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu

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afterlife Step Pyramid directions Akhet Sneferu Amun shadow Bent Pyramid cardinal

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Word Bank

X N U B U H E U P I A P © R. I . C . P ub l i c at i o n s O A O I P E T B P Z H R T M M robbers Greeks • f o r r e v i e w p u r p o s e s o n l y • E F F I H O F P O A G I C I E riddle

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Cheops pyramids directions pharaohs name four

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Giza Oedipus granite Memphis Great Sphinx limestone Herodotus Khufu

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1.

Read these keywords/terms and use them in sentences.

(a) Bent Pyramid: A large pyramid built at Dahshur by Khufu’s father, Sneferu.

(b) four cardinal directions: The directions of north, east, south and west. (c) Giza: According to the Egyptians, the ‘Land of the Dead’ located on the left bank of the Nile.

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(d) Great Pyramid of Khufu: Largest pyramid ever built; built around 2589 BC by the pharaoh Khufu.

(f)

Memphis: The ancient royal capital city of Egypt, 25 kilometres( 15 miles) south of Giza.

(g) pyramids: A tomb monument, built of stone, with four triangular sides meeting at a point. (h) Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: Seven ancient sites of great size and splendour.

Step Pyramid: Probably the first pyramid, built around 2650 BC, for the pharaoh Djoser.

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(i)

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(e) Great Sphinx: Huge stone statue with the body of a lion and the head of a man.

2. Williams Flinders Petrie (1853–1942) was called the ‘Father of Egyptian Archaeology’ because he was the first scientific archaeologist to work at the Giza site. He carried out a detailed survey of the site in the 1880s and carefully measured the passages and chambers of the Great Pyramid. He is said to have collected over 80 000 objects in the course of his archaeological career, which spanned 50 years.

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The following nine sentences describe him and his work are in the wrong order. Number them in the correct order so it reads like a paragraph. Information on the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology is available on the Internet.

(a) Some of these objects, from daily life in the Nile Valley, date from 6000 years ago.

(b) The collection contains typical Egyptian objects such as mummy cases and death masks.

(e) The collection also contains rich examples of objects illustrating daily life, from earrings to wooden mallets.

(f) They were collected by William Flinders Petrie, who spent over 50 years excavating material in Egypt.

(g) The highlights of the Petrie collection include examples of the earliest linen clothing, which are over 5000 years old.

(c) The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, in London, contains about 80 000 objects. (d) He is thought to have discovered over a million objects during the course of his archaeological career.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3.

When choosing a site for a new pyramid, the ancient Egyptians had many important factors to take into consideration. For religious reasons, the Egyptians always chose the west bank of the Nile, where the sun sets, to build their pyramids. The site had to be close to the river as the stone arrived by boat, but had to be high enough to avoid flooding. The pyramid also needed a very solid base of rock to support its enormous weight. Modern surveyors have modern technology to help them decide where to build and to predict the potential difficulties of a site.

Match each modern method below with its correct title and description. You may use a dictionary or the Internet if you wish. Title

Item

Description

(a) acoustic projector

1. Used to measure short distances up to 61 metres in length.

(b) Instrument invented by the Chinese in the 12th century that uses magnetism to find true north and south.

2. Used to determine direction.

3. This projector generates an underwater soundwave that spreads outwards and is reflected back by a target object.

sonar device

(d) 20-metre long chain

4. This US satellite system provides data to ground stations around the world.

magnetic compass

(e) measuring tool

5. Chain, which is 20 metres in length, used to measure distances up to 1.6 kilometres.

The Landsat system Gunter’s chain

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steel tape

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4. When the ancient Egyptians began the building of the Great Pyramid, they held a ceremony called the ‘Ceremony of the Pendulum’ during which they calculated the direction of true north. Today we find our position on Earth by relying on new systems of technology, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system.

The Global Positioning System is a system that consists of a collecion of 27 satellites that orbit the Earth. Twenty-four of these satellites are active and three are for bak-up. Their orbits have been desined so that there are at least four of them visible at any time from any point on Earth. They constantely broadcast signals that indicate thier position. These signals can be picked up by devices called GPS recievers. These devices compair the information from the satelites in their own line of sight and, from this information, they work out their own latitude, longitude and altitude and pinpoint their posicion on the globe. GPS technology can be used in cars by linking the receiver to a computer that stores data such as street mapes. This means that an in-car system can plot the best route to a particular location.

1. 4.

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There are 10 misspelt word in the following passage about the GPS. Circle each word and write it correctly in the space provided. You may use a dictionary if you wish.

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3. 6.

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10.

In the modern world today we have built a number of remarkable buildings. In a small group, discuss whether you think our modern buildings will be remembered thousands of years in the future just as we remember the Great Pyramid? Will they stand the test of time? Consider the following issues in your discussion and jot some notes on the back of this sheet. What modern buildings would you nominate today for the seven wonders of the modern world and why? What is the future of architecture as it adapts to modern environmental concerns? Why is it so important that future buildings cause minimal environmental damage? What new building designs and techniques may evolve in the future to improve the design of buildings?

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 5: The Keeper of the Royal Wigs gives an interview Indicators Student reads text and completes comprehension and cloze exercises.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok Background information u S Student completes word study exercises on keywords, matching words, spelling correction and unjumbling words. Student learns about ancient Egyptian trade and trade routes, and climate and climate change.

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This text is a newspaper report. In this example, it is a tabloid newspaper report which focuses on the sensational aspects of what is being discussed. Tabloid newspapers present news in short, easily read segments. This report is about the controversial pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut, who dressed as a man and ruled the Egyptians as their divine ruler. The Keeper of the Royal Wigs has given an interview to a tabloid reporter and, foolishly perhaps, has divulged information about the queen’s latest orders to this reporter.

Queen Hatshepsut was not the first woman to rule Egypt. During the 2nd Dynasty, officials decided that a woman could rule and there is evidence that several female rulers ruled over Egypt. One such ruler was called Sobekneferu, who ruled from around 1799 BC to 1795 BC. Her rule marked the end of the 12th Dynasty, which was one of the most successful periods in Egyptian history. Dividing Egyptian history into dynasties may have been devised by an Egyptian priest, called Manetho, who in the 3rd century BC composed a history of Egypt called the Aegptiaca. He wrote about 31 dynasties, stretching from the earliest times in Egypt to the time of Alexander the Great. For wealthy women, and especially for royal women such as Hatshepsut, wigs would have been important symbols of their status and importance in Egyptian society. The Egyptians preferred to cut their hair very short or to shave it off completely. Wigs were woven from human hair and were padded underneath with vegetable fibre. They sat away from the bare skull of their wearer on this padding and felt much cooler than hair in the intense, scorching heat of Egypt, where temperatures often reach 50° C. Wigs looked attractive and disguised greying hair and baldness, features which the ancient Egyptians considered unattractive.

Egyptian servants were trained to style the hair of their masters and mistresses. Hairstyles changed a lot during the course of Egyptian history. During the time of the Old Kingdom, women wore their hair very short. This changed during the Middle Kingdom when shoulder-length hair was popular amongst wealthy women. Sometimes hairstyles could show a woman’s status in Egyptian society. Different hairstyles existed for married and unmarried women and for servants.

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Egyptians of both sexes used make-up. Men, women and children accentuated their eyes with black kohl. They considered this to be pleasing to the gods but there was also an extremely practical reason. Viral trachoma, a common source of blindness, was transmitted eye to eye by the Nile’s plentiful flies. The kohl protected the eyes from these disease-bearing insects. It also had the added benefit of protecting the eyes from the glare of the sun. A green eye paint made from malachite also had a practical purpose. It is now known that it contained medicinal properties and may have helped to ward off eye infections, possibly in the same way as kohl.

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Henna, used by the ancient Egyptians as an astringent and to heal wounds, was also used to dye hair, nails, the soles of feet and the palms of hands orange-red. The make-up used by Egyptian women was handmade by their servants. A favourite look was to use dark grey on their eyebrows and their upper eyelids, using galena or lead ore, and green on their lower lids, using malachite. These were minerals, pounded finely by the servants and mixed with animal fat or vegetable oils and applied with a wooden or ivory stick. Powdered haematite, a red ochre, was used to apply a blush to the cheeks and colour to the lips. Gold was the most valued metal and was considered to be the metal of the gods because it did not go dull and was thought to be divine. The Egyptians mined gold ore in their mines and heated it in furnaces where it reached temperatures of over 1000° C causing the liquid gold to run from the ore into moulds. Once the jewellers had extracted the gold, they beat it into gold leaf (wafer thin sheets of gold) and applied it over wooden statues, coffins and items of furniture. These then appeared to be made of solid gold. Gold was also cast into items of jewellery so loved by all Egyptians, such as rings, amulets and masks.

Worksheet information Students may wish to use their dictionary in order to complete Question 3 in Exercise E. A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians in this particular unit is provided on pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear in Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes

Answers

(e) false (f) false (g) false Correct answers. (a) ii, (b) iii, (c) i, (d) ii, (e) i, (f) iii 3. ‘The first thing we have to do is to bathe the queen and anoint her with her favourite perfumed oils; rose and lavender. As she is bathing, two of the servants rub more oil on her scalp and prepare it for the heavy jewelled wig, which she wears for ceremonial occasions. Secondly, we dry her skin with the softest linen cloth and put a white linen shift on the queen, which we pleat by hand. Thirdly, we adorn her with the finest golden jewellery and a golden collar, beaded with semi-precious jewels. Next, while the hairdresser puts on her wig, and a perfumed cone on top of it, I apply her make-up, which is my special job. One servant holds a bronze mirror so that the queen can see while I put on her makeup. I apply green malachite powder to her eyelids and black galena eye paint to accentuate the shape. Then I put rouge on her cheeks and paint her lips red with an ochre

made of oxide and iron mixed with fat. Finally, the queen puts on her crown and the false beard of the pharaoh that she always insists on wearing at state occasions.’ Exercise E..................... pages 40–41 1. Teacher check 2. A.8, B.6, C.7, D.5, E.4, F.2, G.3, H.1 3. 1. until 2. services 3. value 4. foreign 5. traders 6. travelled 7. dynasty 8. introduced 9. full 10. early 4. (a) world (b) square (c) rainfall (d) plants (e) petals (f) dead (g) loose (h) linen (i) wrapping (j) effects 5. Teacher check

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Exercise C............................. page 38 ten, allow, years, gods, wear, scribes, walls, little, image, destroy, known, magnificent, Anubis, divine, African, intensive, granite, temple, property, law, inherit, goods, concerned, women, decorated, people, tombs, putting, light Exercise D............................. page 39 1. (a) true (b) false (c) false (d) true

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Exercise B............................. page 37 1. more than 1000 wigs; she has just ordered 1000 more 2. Her royal beard, which she wears as a sign of kingship 3. Teacher check 4. amethyst; she often wears purple robes so that she can wear amethyst jewellery 5. lapis lazuli (blue), turquoise (greenblue), amethyst (purple); necklaces, earrings, neckbands, collars, waist girdles, bracelets, anklets and rings; Teacher check 6. Teacher check 7. 50 8. (a) and (c) should be ticked

Students may wish to research other female rulers in history, such as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen Elizabeth 1 and Catherine the Great. A good website with information on female rulers is <www.womeninworldhistory.com/rulers.html>.

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Students may find it beneficial to research other great mortuary monuments built by other civilisations, such as the tomb of the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huang, which is still being excavated. He was buried in 210 BC with an army of over 7000 terracotta warriors to accompany him into the next life. The British Museum has information on ancient China at <www.ancientchina.co.uk>. This site is a World Heritage listed site and information on the mausoleum of the emperor Qin is available at <http://whc.unesco. org/en/list/441/>. The Silk Road and the Spice Route were two ancient trade routes. Students may wish to do further research on these two famous routes. The Silk Road was famous as a trade route which introduced exotic goods to Europe from the east. A good website is <www. travelchinaguide.com/silkroad/index.htm>. The Spice Route was also a famous route, bringing exotic spices to the Mediterranean world. A useful website on the ancient spice routes is <http://asiapacificuniverse.com/pkm/spiceroutes.htm>.

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Ivory is still considered a precious commodity. Elephants are now protected as they are endangered animals. A good website with information on African elephants is <www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_elephant.htm>.

State

Society and Environment

English

Science

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

NPM 4, LL 4

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

LTS 3.3, PSS 3.5

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

SCBS 0401, SCBS 0402, SCCS 0401

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

LL 4.1, LL 4.3, NPM 4.3

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

4.5

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the newspaper report.

The Memphis Daily News The 12th day of the Season of Growth

Our Queen of r o e t s Bo r e wigs! p o

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Our queen, who has always dressed as a pharaoh, clearly intends to look the part no matter what the cost! I spoke today to Meryt in the palace workshops. She told me that Hatshepsut insists on wearing a new wig for every ceremonial occasion. There are even special rooms set aside for her wigs in the palace. ‘There are 50 wig makers working non-stop in my workshops to satisfy her many demands’, says Meryt. ‘Many of her wigs are decorated with beautiful jewels, which come from all over the Mediterranean.’ According to Meryt, the jewels of each wig must match the colours of her ceremonial gowns. If her robes are blue, she must have the semi-precious blue stone of lapis lazuli2 decorating her wig. If her robes are green, she insists on her wig being decorated with the green-blue stone of turquoise. Her favourite, according to Meryt, is purple amethyst and Hapshepsut often wears purple robes just to be able to wear her wigs decorated with this stone.

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I can reveal exclusively that Queen Hatshepsut, our most controversial pharaoh1, owns more than 1000 wigs and, according to Meryt, the Keeper of the Royal Wigs, has just ordered 1000 more!

wondering why, if she is a woman, she dresses as a man and yet insists on ordering and wearing such elaborate, bejewelled wigs.’ However Meryt says that she understands the pharaoh’s reasons. ‘It is lonely for her. She rules alone as a god-king. She must act and look like a pharaoh and that means dressing as a man, and yet she is still a woman and longs for beautiful things as all women do.’

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1000 new wigs and 1000 new sets of jewels to match! The queen came to the royal workshop recently and ordered the wig-makers to make 1000 wigs by the end of the Season of Growth, which is less than two months away! ‘She wants them decorated with gold, silver and an array of semi-precious stones including red carnelian, turquoise, lapis lazuli and, of course, her favourite, purple amethyst’, reports Meryt. The royal jewellers have been told to create new jewellery pieces for Hapshepsut to wear with her wigs. ‘We now have an enormous order for new necklaces, earrings, neckbands, collars, waist girdles, bracelets, anklets and rings to go with every new wig the queen has ordered. Every week ships sail into our ports with more jewels for the queen.’ It seems that our queen, who is a very successful pharaoh3, still has the love of beautiful things that all Egyptian women have!

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Jewels by royal command! ‘Hatshepsut always demands that there are decorations of gold and silver woven into her wigs. She even insists that her royal beard, which she wears as a sign of kingship, must be decorated with matching jewels’, says Meryt. ‘Sometimes the wig makers mutter and talk behind the pharaoh’s back, 36

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. How many wigs does Queen Hapshepsut have, and how many more has she ordered? 2. What, according to Meryt, does the queen always insist on wearing for ceremonial occasions?

3. Do you think there any particular reason why Queen Hatshepsut should be anxious about how she presents herself to her people?

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4. What is the name and colour of Queen Hatshepsut’s favourite semi-precious stone? What does she often do in order to be able to wear this particular stone?

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5. List the different types of semi-precious jewels and the jewellery items mentioned in the article. Circle any items of jewellery in your list that you would consider to be unusual in today’s world.

6. Do you think that Meryt’s explanation for the queen’s insistence on elaborate, bejewelled wigs is correct? Can you suggest another reason?

7. How many wig makers work in the royal workshop in the palace?

that are correct. (a) Queen Hatshepsut ruled as a pharaoh and wore a false beard as a sign of kingship...................................................

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(b) Lapis lazuli was a semi-precious stone, which was purple in colour..............

(c) Gold, silver and semi-precious stones were woven into the wigs of the ancient Egyptians.....................................

(d) All semi-precious stones found in Egyptian jewellery came from the Egyptian desert........................................

(e) Amethyst, turquoise and carnelian were dyes used to dye cloth in ancient Egypt............................................

1. Queen Hatshepsut was one of Egypt’s most controversial leaders. She led Egypt as a god-king from around 1479 BC to 1458 BC. She was married to Tuthmosis II (the 2nd) and bore him a daughter but not a son. She became regent for his heir, Tuthmosis III (the 3rd) who was too young to be crowned pharaoh. Reluctant to hand over power to him, she rebelled and declared herself to be the Pharaoh and god-king in her own right. She is often portrayed as wearing a false beard, one of the ancient symbols of power worn by the pharaohs. To reassure her people, who may have been unsure about the legitimacy of her reign, she commissioned scribes to compose an account of her ancestry to prove that her reign had been divinely ordained by the gods, even after Tuthmosis III came of age. She then had workers inscribe this account on the facade of her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri, on the banks of the Nile close to the city of Thebes. Her temple was built on three levels and has three chapels dedicated to the gods Hathor, Anubis and Amun. Tuthmosis III tried to destroy Hatshepsut’s image and her memory when he became pharaoh, but he could not destroy her mortuary temple which still stands today.

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8. Read the following statements and tick those

(f) All pharaohs were male, as the ancient Egyptians never accepted female pharaohs......................................

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2. Lapis lazuli, one of the stones used in making jewellery, was as highly prized as gold. The ancient Egyptians called it ‘khesbad’. It was dark blue in colour and came from mines in the area we know as Afghanistan, 3200 km east of Egypt. It reached Egypt by travelling overland along trade routes, where it was bought by Egyptian merchants who sold it to Egyptian jewellers. The Egyptians valued lapis lazuli so much that they made a less expensive copy from crushed quartz. This was a blue-green colour and was called faience. It was used for less expensive items and could be fired and shaped like pottery. 3. Queen Hatshepsut’s reign was very successful and many building projects, military campaigns and trading expeditions were carried out during her rule. Some of the relief pictures at Deir el-Bahari show the ships that she sent on a successful trading expedition to the Land of Punt, now modern-day Sudan and Eritrea. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise

Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank law people wear African goods women

allow gods decorated granite scribes Anubis inherit concerned

walls light little putting

image temple ten

divine tombs destroy

years magnificent property

Some of the pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt were women and the most famous female pharaoh was Queen Hatshepsut, who

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ruled Egypt from around 1479 BC to 1458 BC. She was married to Tuthmosis II (the Second) and when he died, she became regent to his heir, Tuthmosis III (the Third), who was only of her position and she was reluctant to until he was thirty

years old. It may be that she became used to the power

Tuthmosis to take power. He did not, therefore, inherit the throne

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of age.

divinely ordained by the

. She dressed as a pharaoh, making sure to

which was an important sign of kingship. She commissioned

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During her lifetime, Queen Hatshepsut was famous for her beauty. She ruled as a pharaoh and always insisted that she had been

a false beard,

to write an account of her ancestry to prove

that her reign as pharaoh was divinely ordained by the gods. She had workers inscribe this account on the

of her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri, on the banks of the Nile near the city of Thebes. She took a female title, however, as ‘The She-Horus of Fine Gold’ and, in sculpture, she was portrayed as female. She seems to have encountered opposition while she reigned. When Tuthmosis III became pharaoh, he tried to destroy the

of divinely

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons •asf o rr evthei e w pu p esonl y• Her temple was known ‘Djeseru-Djeseru’, Holy of Holies. It isr one ofo thes most buildings that ordained kingship that Hatshepsut had been careful to present to her people. However, he was not able to

her mortuary temple, at Deir el-Bahri, which still stands today.

survive today from ancient Egypt. Her architect designed it to have three levels, with three chapels dedicated to the gods Hathor, and Amun. The temple is also decorated with reliefs showing the pharoah and the exploits of her soldiers on a trading mission to the

birth of the

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Land of Punt, now modern Sudan and

Eritrea, in order to secure myrrh and incense trees.

Queen Hatshepsut presided over an intensive building program, assisted by her architect, Sesenmut. She sent her soldiers on several

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trading expeditions. As well as Punt, expeditions were also mounted to Byblos and Sinai. She ordered two

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obelisks, tapering needle-like stone monuments, to be transported from Aswan to the

of the god Amun-Ra

at Karnak, a huge temple complex built near Luxor, where the god Amun-Ra was worshipped. Women in ancient Egypt could earn wages and own

. Their rights were recognised by Egyptian

and they could go to court if they felt that their rights were being ignored. They could

property from their

husbands and, in the case of divorce, could take their property and their children with them. They could marry again if they wished. In their wills, they could leave their

and property to anyone they wished. with their appearance and they loved jewellery and wigs. Wigs and make-up

Egyptian people were were worn by both men and

. Wealthier women had their wigs

jewels. This was a symbol of status and showed other

with semi-precious

that the wearer was important. In Egyptian

, boxes containing tweezers for plucking unwanted hairs and make-up sticks for on eye make-up have been found. Egyptians of both sexes wore

sandals made from papyrus. Amulets

were worn by men and women as charms to protect against evil. 38

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. Read the following statements on Egyptian clothes, hair and make-up and write if they are true or false.

(a) Egyptians of both sexes wore eye-make up.

(b) Egyptian footwear was heavy and made from wood.

(d) Many Egyptians often wore wigs.

(e) Egyptian men wore long trousers all year round.

(f) The ancient Egyptians didn’t approve of jewellery and rarely wore any.

(g) Egyptians wore tunics made from thickly-knitted wool.

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2. Tick the correct answer for each statement about Queen Hatshepsut. (i) the sister of a pharaoh.

(ii) a pharaoh.

(iii) the mother of a pharaoh.

(b) She wore the pharaoh’s ...

(i) amulet.

(ii) ring.

(i) the land of Punt.

(ii) the land of Nubia.

(iii) the land of Egypt.

(d) She built her mortuary temple at ...

(i) Alexandria.

(ii) Deir el-Bahri.

(iii) the Great Pyramid.

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(a) Queen Hatshepsut was ...

(iii) beard.

(i) a very prosperous economically © R. I . C . Publ i c(ii) aandepressed t i on s (iii) a very warlike reign. reign. reign. (f) Her temple was known as the ... (i) the Great of the (ii) the Tall of the Talls. (iii) the Holy of Holies. •f orr evi ewGreats.pur po sesonl y •

(e) Queen Hatshepsut’s reign was ...

3. One of Queen Hatshepsut’s servants has given an account of how they dress her for an important ceremony. However, the order of the sentences is mixed up. Number them in the correct order.

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Secondly, we dry her skin with the softest linen cloth and put a white linen shift on the queen, which we pleat by hand.

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As she is bathing, two of the servants rub more oil on her scalp and prepare it for the heavy jewelled wig, which she wears for ceremonial occasions.

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Next, while the hairdresser puts on her wig, and a perfumed cone on top of it, I apply her make-up, which is my special job.

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Finally, the queen puts on her crown and the false beard of the pharaoh that she always insists on wearing at state occasions.

The first thing we have to do is to bathe the queen and anoint her with her favourite perfumed oils; rose and lavender.

I have all of my powders already mixed.

I apply green malachite powder to her eyelids and black galena eye paint to accentuate the shape. Then I put rouge on her cheeks and paint her lips red with an ochre made of oxide and iron mixed with fat.

Thirdly, we adorn her with the finest golden jewellery and a golden collar, beaded with semi-precious jewels.

One servant holds a bronze mirror so that the queen can see while I put on her make-up.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms and use them in sentences.

(a) Aegeptiaca: A history of Egypt written in the 3rd century BC by a priest called Manetho.

(b) astringent: A strong, harsh substance with antiseptic qualities. (c) dynasty: A dynasty was a family of rulers in which power was passed from generation to generation.

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(d) faience: crushed quartz of a blue-green colour which was used in jewellery and other artefacts.

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(e) henna: A red dye obtained from the powdered leaves of the plant Lawsonia inermis.

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(f) malachite: A bright green mineral, associated with copper deposits and used in Egyptian jewellery. (g) mortuary temple: A temple built next to a king’s tomb where offerings were made to the gods. (h) Old Kingdom: Period from around 2649 to 2150 BC when the pyramids were built. (i) regent: The ruler of a country during the absence, incapacity or childhood of its monarch. (j)

2. Queen Hatshepsut sent an expedition to the Land of Punt during her reign as pharaoh. Historians now believe that

The following table shows some of these exotic products and what the Egyptians used them for. However, they have been mixed up. Match each word to its correct definition. (a) gold

(b) ebony

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this land was in southern Sudan and Eritrea. It provided Egypt with exotic products and the Egyptians called it the ‘land of the god’.

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(i) Natural alloy of gold and silver, used for jewellery, statuary and plating obelisks and to make coins in the Ptolomaic dynasty.

(ii) Fragrant tree resin used as incense and to perfume oils.

(iii) These were worn by Egyptian priests when they performed rituals.

(d) copper

(iv) Black timber used to make furniture.

(e) African blackwood

(v) One of the earliest metals used by man, it is soft and pliable.

(f) myrrh

(vi) Hard, dark wood used in Egyptian furniture and game boards.

(g) Animal skins

(vii) White animal tusk used to make carved items such as combs.

(h) electrum

(viii) This was regarded as the most precious commodity in ancient Egypt and was believed to be the flesh of Ra and the other gods. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3. Silk is made from the thread produced by the larvae of the silkworm moth. The ancient Egyptians traded for silk, which was brought from China into the Mediterranean along the Silk Road. Alexander the Great, who conquered Egypt, travelled east along the route of the Silk Road in the 4th century BC and it may have been the Greeks who introduced silk to Egypt. The following passage, about some of the trading practices of the ancient Egyptians, contains 10 misspelt words. Circle each one and write it correctly in the space provided. You may use a dictionary if you wish.

Trade in ancient Egypt, untill the time of the Ptolemies, was operated by a system of bartering. Bartering means that goods were exchanged in return for other goods and servises and money did not change hands. Goods of high valu were exchanged by way of diplomatic gifts. Foreigne rulers often sent goods to Egypt and requested that gifts, such as gold statues, be sent to them in exchange. Traiders from Crete and elsewhere in the Greek world traveled to Egypt to exchange goods. Royal trading missions were also sent to trade goods as in the rein of Hapshutset, who sent a trading expedition to the land of Punt. During the 29th dynastie, coins were introdused into the economy of Egypt. A fulle monetary economy operated when the Ptolemies ruled and Egypt became integrated into the earlie monetary economy of the Mediterranean.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S 2.

10.

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4. The geography of Egypt is dominated by the Sahara desert. Complete the following sentences, choosing words from the word bank provided. (a) The Sahara Desert is one of the largest deserts in the

(b) It is approximately nine million

(d) Very few

(e) Desert plants are called ephemerals and have brightly coloured

(f) If a person were stranded in the Sahara for one day, without water and shade, they would be by dusk.

It is important to protect the head by

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(j)

This also serves to protect the eyes from the

to attract insects.

(g) Clothes suitable for survival in the desert have to be long and

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are the most suitable.

(h) Clothes made from cotton or

effects

rainfall

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plants

Discussion Points

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(i)

each year.

and animals can survive in such an environment.

linen

a cloth around it.

world

of sand and wind.

square

petals

dead

wrapping

loose

One third of the Earth is covered by deserts. Another third is in danger of becoming desert land because of climate change, global warming and environmental damage by humans. In a small group, discuss these issues and suggest ways of developing strategies to save the planet from the worst effects of these factors. adopting lifestyle changes to combat global Examples include: warming; e.g. more walking and cycling recycling goods and materials; e.g. paper, glass and garden waste. developing alternative fuel and energy sources; e.g. solar and wind power. developing more efficient use of fuels; e.g. more efficient car engines. promoting awareness of the dangers of global warming; e.g. a poster campaign at school. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 6: The Chief of Scribes gives his last interview Indicators Student reads text and learns about the role of scribes in ancient Egypt and Egyptian writing. Student completes word study exercises and develops word skills in the areas of vocabulary, using suffixes, spelling, answering cloze activities, decoding and using the dictionary. Student learns facts about the sun and solar power and about the invention of printing.

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Background information

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This text is a newspaper interview. A newspaper interview is journalistic writing which aims to present information accurately, clearly and efficiently. Journalistic writing is usually written in the third person, unless it is an interview, as is the case of this text. In a newspaper interview, the journalist asks his subject questions on his/her life work and tries to probe him/her on his/her attitudes and opinions. In this particular interview, the Chief of Scribes, Khety, is being interviewed as he prepares to retire. He is a person of power and prestige and the interviewer, Den, interviews him using a very respectful tone. Hieroglyphics is the name given to the picture writing of the ancient Egyptians. They called it ‘the divine word’ because they believed that Thoth, the god of wisdom, had given it to them. Scribes held positions of great prestige in ancient Egypt as most people could not read and write. The training of a Egyptian scribe was long and difficult because the written language was so complex. Hieroglyphics were first used around 3250 BC. There were more than 700 hieroglyphic signs, including people, birds, trees and buildings. Some signs represented objects and some sounds. There were two main types of writing. Hieroglyphics were the most complicated and valued as they were considered to be sacred and were used in many wall carvings and paintings. Hieratic script, sometimes called priestly script, was a simpler form of hieroglyphics (and therefore, much faster to write) and was used by scribes for business, letters and stories. From 600 BC, hieratic script was further simplified by the scribes who used it and was called demotic script. Hieratic script was written on paper made from papyrus. Papyrus was made from the pith (the soft inner part of a plant’s stem) of the papyrus water reed, which grew in the marshy land on the banks of the Nile River.

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The Rosetta Stone was one of the most important discoveries for Egyptologists. Before it’s discovery, Egyptologists had tried and failed to interpret hieroglyphics. The Rosetta Stone unlocked the language of hieroglyphics after generations of archaeologists had spent years puzzling over the many wall, floor and ceiling paintings, carved reliefs, statues and papyrus documents which the excavation of Egypt’s tombs and temples had revealed. It is a large slab of black basalt stone with writing on it in three languages— Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian demotic script and Greek. It was carved in 196 BC and was lost for almost 2000 years. It was discovered in 1799 by French soldiers who were building a fort. It was called the Rosetta Stone because it was found near a town called Rashid. In 1822, a French Egyptologist called Jean-Francois Champollion managed to decipher what was written on the stone. He spent time relating the Greek writing on the stone to the demotic and hieroglyphic writing. He discovered that the text was written by a group of Egyptian priests to honour their pharaoh. It lists all of the things that the pharaoh has done for the good of the priests and the people of Egypt. The pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife, Nefertiti, ruled from 1353 to 1336 BC. He was known as the ‘heretical pharaoh’ because under his rule the art and religion of Egypt underwent a dramatic and rapid change. In the first year of his reign, he build a new temple at Karnak dedicated to the god Aten, whose name means ‘ the sun disc’. His original name was Amenhotep IV (4th), but in the fifth year of his reign, he changed his name to Akhenaten, which means ‘the glory of the sun disc’. He began to build a new city called Akhenaten, meaning ‘the horizon of the Aten’, to replace the great Egyptian cities of Thebes and Memphis. This site is now known as El-Amarna. Akhenaten promoted worship of the Aten and the names of all other Egyptian gods were removed from temple walls. He ruled Egypt for about eighteen years and was succeeded by a pharaoh called Smenkhkare, who may in fact have been his wife, Nefertiti. Smenkhkare was succeeded by Tutankhaten. Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun and abandoned the city of Akhenaten. Under his reign the traditional Egyptian gods were officially worshipped once again.

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o c . che e r o t r s super Worksheet information Students may need to use a dictionary in order to complete Question 3 in the Exercise E.

A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians is provided on pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear in Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes

Answers Exercise C............................. page 46 female, numbers, written, difficult, hundred, many, detailed, business, plant, soft, long, third, wooden, made, ochre, right, smudge, lean, important, large, three, script, lost, Egyptologist, match, group, carried, both

Exercise E..................... pages 48–49 1. Teacher check 2. (a) gaseous (b) fuel (c) nuclear (d) shrinkage (e) becomes (f) continue (g) iron (h) explosion (i) survive (j) escape 3. 1. released, 2. heat, 3. energy, 4. process, 5. light, 6. almost, 7. allow, 8. electricity, 9. However, 10. practical 4. (a) 8, (b) 5, (c) 2, (d) 1, (e) 9, (f) 10, (g) 6, (h) 3, (i) 6, (j) 7 5. Teacher check

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Exercise D............................. page 47 1. (a) hopeful (b) careful (c) doubtful (d) plentiful (e) beautiful (f) carrying (g) direction (h) skilful (i) writer (j) helpful 2. 5, 2, 6, 7, 1, 3, 4 3. (a) F, (b) T, (c) T, (d) F, (e) F, (f) T, (g) T, (h) F, (i) T, (j) F, (k) T

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Exercise B............................. page 45 1. Khety says that he feels sadness mixed with relief. His body is weary and his eyesight is failing. 2.–3. Teacher check 4. To sit cross-legged, pull kilt tight to make a flat writing surface, learn over 700 hieroglyphs off by heart, unwrap a roll of papyrus to cut some sheets and brush reed pen across a cake of moistened black ink. 5. Teacher check 6. He was never very good at mathematics; he was teased because of it, which he hated. Teacher check 7. Teacher check 8. (c), (d) and (f) should be ticked

Cross-curricular activities

Students will find information on hieroglyphics and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone at <http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/ homemain.html>. The pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti began a new religion in ancient Egypt. Information on them and the religion they tried to establish can be found at <www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/akhenaten.html>.

Tutankhamun is one of the most famous pharaohs due to the discovery of his tomb and its treasures in 1922. Information on Tutankhamun can be found at <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/tutankhamun.shtml>.

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There have been other famous archaeologists who made important discoveries and unlocked the secrets of ancient Egypt. Students can research this subject and list the names of three important archaeologists, describing what they discovered and explaining the significance of their discoveries. A useful website with information on the work of famous archaeologists in Egypt is <www.mnsu. edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/archaeology/archaeologists/index.html>. The British Museum in London contains important ancient Egyptian artefacts. Students will find it beneficial to view the museum’s website at <http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk> and choose their favourite artefact.

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Students will find more information about the invention and development of printing at <www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/ printpress.htm>.

State

Society and Environment

English

Science

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

EB 4, EC 4

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

PPS 3.4, ESS 3.6

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

SCES 0402, SCPS 0401

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

EB 4.1, EB 4.3, EB 5.2, EC 4.2, EC 5.2

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

4.2, 4.3

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the interview with a chief scribe. Den:

Sir, you are about to retire to your farm in Luxor. May I ask what your feelings are as you prepare to leave the court of our great god, Tutankhamun?

Khety: My feelings are of sadness mixed with some relief. I will be sorry to leave the court, but my body is weary and my eyesight, especially, is no longer what it once was. I have had the honour to serve here for over 50 years and now this vital work must pass to a more worthy man. Den:

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You say that you have spent over 50 years here. What was it like coming to train as a young scribe? What age were you when you first arrived?

How did you do in your test?

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Den:

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Khety: It was extremely frightening! I remember it well. I was only 11 when I was brought to the scribe school, which was then in the grounds of the temple of Isis. You know that these schools are called ‘Houses of Life’. The first thing I remember being told to do was to take a dictation test. I had to find some pieces of ostraca, which are broken pieces of pottery, and take dictation from the man who was the Chief of Scribes, the great Hemon.

Khety: Not well at all. I made many mistakes. Hemon told me that I had much to learn. Over the next few months, I had to learn how to sit properly. Hemon showed me how to sit cross-legged on the ground and pull my kilt1 tight against my knees to make a flat surface to write on. Then I was told that I had to learn over 700 hieroglyphs off by heart! This took me a long time, at least six months. I got into trouble many times for forgetting some of them! Eventually I was allowed to begin to take dictation from one of the junior instructors. I had to unwrap a roll of coarse, straw-coloured papyrus and cut several sheets of it. Then I was told to brush my reed pen across a cake of moistened black ink and the instructor began to dictate text which myself and the other trainees had to write.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Khety: Usually the • texts f were moral texts, I have to admit dullp ando boring, particularly forn anl 11-year-old o rr ewhich vi e w pwere ur se so y•boy! One particular instructor tried to make it more enjoyable: sometimes he dictated some amusing animal tales.

Den:

What kind of texts did he dictate?

Den:

What other subjects did you study?

Sir, you served three pharaohs: Akhenaten, Smenkhkara and Tutankhamun. Can I ask you which one do you remember with the most affection?

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Khety: I hold each one of them with affection and respect. After all, we are dealing here with gods who have come on Earth to rule us and guide us in our everyday lives. I would have to say that the pharaoh I grieved over the most was Akhenaten. He was controversial in his time but he really believed in the new religion of the Aten and thought that it would bring a new age of prosperity to our great country. His wife, Nefertiti2, was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Our present young pharaoh, Tutankhamun3, is also noble and great and I wish him a long and happy reign as our new god-king. Den:

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Den:

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Khety: We had to study mathematics, as well as reading and writing, so that we could serve the pharaoh as tax collectors and treasurers, if he so wished. My ability in mathematics was never very good and it took me longer to learn compared to the other trainees. They nicknamed me ‘Slow Coach Khety’ because of this. I hated this name so much.

Finally, sir, can I ask you what do you regard as your greatest achievement?

Khety: I regard my training of thousands of young boys to be professional scribes4 as my greatest achievement as it means that our life here in Egypt will continue to be recorded and written about to the highest possible standards. 44

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. What are Khety’s feelings as he prepares to retire after a long career and what two physical factors, in particular, have influenced his decision to retire?

2. Why do you think that Khety refers to the pharaohs as ‘gods who have come on Earth’?

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3. What do you think this interview reveals about the ancient Egyptian’s attitude to their rulers?

4. Write down the five steps that Khety and the other scribes had to learn in order to take dictation in the scribe

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school.

5. Why do you think that Khety made so many mistakes in his first test in the scribe school?

6. What subject does Khety say he was not really good at and what happened to him as a result?

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8. Read the following statements and tick those that are correct.

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(a) Scribes practised writing using ostraca, which were torn pieces of papyrus.............................................

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1. Scribes wore kilts of finely pleated linen, tied in a large loop and falling to the knee. 2. Nefertiti was the wife of Akhenaten and had at least six daughters. She is often depicted on the wall reliefs at El-Amarna with her daughters. There is evidence that she achieved great power and influence ruling with her husband. She is shown alongside him in many carvings, holding a position of equal importance with him. She is most famous for her portrait bust, which can be seen in the Egyptian Museum, Berlin. It was carved by a celebrated sculptor called Tuthmose and was discovered in his studio. In it she wears a blue crown, similar to those worn only by pharaohs, which is a symbol of how powerful she was.

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(b) Scribes used metal pens and liquid ink....................................................

(d) Instructors dictated moral texts and animal tales to their students..............

(e) Mathematics was not studied in the scribe schools...................................

(f) Scribes also worked as tax collectors and treasurers in ancient Egypt...........

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3. Tutankhamun came to the throne when he was around nine and died suddenly at 18 years of age. Tutankhamun is famous because his tomb, discovered in 1922 by the archaeologist Howard Carter, was one of the best preserved ever found and contained treasures such as solid gold masks and a solid gold coffin. 4. Professional scribes used pens made from reeds that were chewed at one end to form a brush. Scribes carried their brushes and pens in a wooden writing case. Their cases usually had two hollowed-out circles used for mixing their writing inks. They made black ink from soot or charcoal and red ink was made from ochre. They added water to create the right consistency for writing and allowed their writing to dry slowly, careful not to smudge their work. Scribes, being highly valued in Egyptian society as the only ones who could record detailed written information, worked hard. They recorded many aspects of their society including how many cattle a farmer owned, the progress of work on the pharaoh’s latest building sites and contracts of sales of land and goods. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank difficult

written female match

hundred large long lean

plant many wooden important

third three soft group

made script lost carried

right business Egyptologist both

smudge numbers ochre detailed

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The ancient Egyptians called their picture writing (hieroglyphics) the ‘divine word’ because they believed that Thoth, the Egyptian of wisdom, had given them the gift of writing. There was also a

goddess, Seshat, who was associated

with writing and measurement. She was often portrayed recording

of foreign captives and quantities of

detailed

information such as how many cattle a farmer owned or the amount of land bought by an estate

owner.

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treasure taken after battles. In ancient Egypt, scribes held great power as most people could not read or write. Scribes recorded

because the written language was so complex. Hieroglyphics were

Becoming a scribe was long and first used around 3250 BC. There were more than seven

hieroglyphic signs, which had to be learned

off by heart. There were two main types of writing. Hieroglyphics were considered to be sacred and were used in wall carvings and paintings. Hieroglyphic writing was highly

and elaborate. Hieratic script, later called

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons . It r wasp a water reed which in the marshy land on the Scribes wrote on paper from papyrus •made f o rther evi ew pu os e sgrew on l y • demotic script, was a much simpler and faster form of writing. It was used by scribes for

stories. Scribes were trained in schools housed in the temple complexes.

banks of the Nile River. Paper was made from the pith, which was the made from papyrus was formed into a

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writing cases which had two hollowed-out circles used for from soot or charcoal and red ink was made from

scribes added water to dried cakes of ink to create the left hand, using their starched kilts to

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century BC, made by cutting the reed to a sharp

point. They carried their brushes and pens in

very slowly and were careful not to

inner part of the plant’s stem. The paper

scroll. Scribes used pens made from reeds that were chewed at one

end to form a brush. The Greeks introduced reed pens in the mixing their inks. Black ink was

letters and

consistency for writing. They allowed their work to dry

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their work. They sat cross-legged, holding their papyrus roll in their

on as they wrote from right to left.

discoveries in the study of Egyptian writing. Before its discovery,

The Rosetta Stone was one of the most

Egyptologists had tried to understand hieroglyphics but had failed. The Rosetta Stone is a basalt with writing on it in

. The

slab of black

languages: Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian demotic

and Greek. It was carved in 196 BC and was

for almost 2000 years. French soldiers found it while building a fort

near a town called Rashid in 1799. In 1822, a French

called Jean-Francois Champillion was able

to decipher what was written on the stone. He understood Greek and was able to

the Greek writing to

the Egyptian writing and translate it. He discovered that the text of the Rosetta Stone was written by a of Egyptian priests to honour their pharaoh. The text lists all of the good deeds

out by the pharaoh,

Ptolomey V (the fifth), for his people. Champillion’s breakthrough was to realise that a hieroglyph could represent an idea and a sound. 46

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise D: Word study exercises

(a) Young boys who wanted to become scribes were

(b) When taking dictation, scribes had to be

to write the words correctly.

that he could become one.

(d) Papyrus grew on the banks of the Nile and ensured that paper was

(e) Egyptian hieroglyphics were known as the ‘divine word’ and were very

(f) Egyptian scribes are often shown

(g) Scribes wrote in the

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Suffixes are word parts added to the ends of words to change their meaning; e.g. ‘hope’ becomes ‘hopeful’ when the suffix ‘ful’ is added. The following sentences on scribes and writing in ancient Egypt have some words missing. Write the correct word for each, choosing from the word bank of words containing suffixes. that they would succeed in their ambition.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S of right to left on their papyrus sheets.

when writing, as he had to remember over 700 hieroglyphics.

(h) A scribe had to be

(i)

In ancient Egypt, a person who was a

(j)

The young scribes who began to train as early as nine years of age found it writing. carrying

their wooden writing cases.

Doubtful

in ancient Egypt.

helpful

plentiful

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was highly regarded as very few people could write.

skilful

beautiful

writer

to practise their

direction

careful

hopeful

2. The following steps involved in the making of papyrus have been arranged incorrectly. Number them in the correct order.

The core of the plant was sliced into strips and soaked in water.

The sheets were dried in the sun.

The papyrus sap stuck the sheets and the paper was ready for use.

The outer layer of the reed was peeled away.

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The strips were drained and arranged in crisscrossed layers.

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The crisscrossed layers were covered in linen.

(a) The ancient Egyptians believed that Horus, the falcon god, gave them the gift of writing.

(f) There were more than 700 hieroglyphic signs used by scribes.

(b) In ancient Egypt, the ability to read and write gave people a high status in society.

(g) Hieroglyphic symbols represented both objects and sounds.

(h) There were four main kinds of writing in ancient Egypt.

(i)

(d) The training of an Egyptian scribe was a simple and easy process, which did not last long.

Egyptian scribes wrote on paper made from the papyrus plant, which grew near the Nile.

(j)

(e) Hieroglyphics were first used in Egypt around 4250 BC.

An Italian archaeologist discovered the Rosetta Stone in 1799 AD.

(k) The Rosetta Stone had three different types of writing inscribed on it.

3. Write ‘true’ or ‘false’ for each statement.

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The crisscrossed sheet, covered in linen, was flattened into sheets by the use of a stone.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms and use them in sentences. (a) Akhenaten: Pharaoh who ruled Egypt from 1353 BC to 1336 BC.

(b) Aten: Egyptian god of the sun disc, revered as the means by which the sun’s light entered the world.

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(d) Egyptologist: A person who studies the archaeology and language of ancient Egypt.

(f) hieroglyphics: Picture writing or ‘the divine word’ of the ancient Egyptians.

(g) Nefertiti: Wife of Akhenaten, famous for her portrait bust by the sculptor Tuthmose.

(h) papyrus: Paper made from the papyrus plant, a reed which grew on the banks of the Nile.

(i) Rosetta Stone: Large black basalt slab inscribed with Egyptian and Greek writing.

(j)

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(e) hieratic: Simpler form of writing used by the Egyptians for business, letters and stories.

2. The ancient Egyptians worshipped the sun. The pharaoh Akhenaten founded a new religion based on worship of the

escape

iron

nuclear

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shrinkage

continue

explosion

fuel

(a) Stars are luminous,

(b) As a star ages, it uses up the

(d) The

(e) The star now

(f) The bigger stars

(g) As what’s left of the star’s

survive

gaseous

bodies that generate energy by means of nuclear fusion. in its core.

fusion.

heats up the core, making the outer layers of the star expand and cool. what is known as a ‘red giant’. to fuse all of their elements until all that is left is iron. escapes, the core is exposed as a ‘white dwarf’.

(h) When a star tries to fuse iron, there is a huge

(i) After this explosion, the star’s core may

(j) A ‘black hole’ is an object so dense that even light cannot

becomes

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Aten, the sun god. Yet the sun, the centre of our universe and worshipped by almost every ancient culture, is a dying star. Complete the following sentences by choosing the correct words from the word bank provided.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

and the star becomes a ‘supernova’. as a pulsar or a ‘black hole’ in space. from it. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3. Almost all of our energy comes from the sun. Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity. There are 10 misspelt words in the following passage about the sun and solar power. Circle each one and write it correctly in the space provided. You may us a dictionary if you wish.

Inside the sun’s core, a process called nuclear fusion takes place. This process turns hydrogen atoms into helium atoms and energy is releesed from the sun in the form of light and heet. Every second, millions of tonnes of hydrogen are turned into helium and extra energie. The energy from this processe slowly travels to the surface of the sun from its core and shoots out into space as lite and heat. Allmost all of our energy comes from the sun and we can use it to create solar power. Solar cells alow us to tap this energy directly. Light-sensitive crystals convert sunshine into electisity. Howevere, solar power is only practicail in places with plenty of sunshine.

10.

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4. The ancient Egyptians valued their scribes highly and books such as the Book of the dead were considered to have

magical qualities that could protect the dead as they journeyed to the afterlife. In 1438, in Germany, Johannes Gutenberg invented the process of typecasting. This was a method of making large amounts of accurate movable type cheaply and quickly. William Caxton set up the first printing press in London in 1476. By 1500 there were printing presses in 250 European cities and books, reading and knowledge were becoming more widely accessible.

The following chart contains information about books and printing but the sentences have been mixed up. Match each sentence with its correct ending.

(a) In 1455, Johannes Gutenberg printed the first large

(i)

printing process using movable type.

(b) The first people to print books were the Chinese,

(ii) became available to a rapidly widening audience.

(iii) printing known as letterpress printing

(d) Later, in the 11th century, the Chinese invented a

(iv) known as the Renaissance, which revived learning.

(e) By the 20th century, mass production of books,

(v) who invented printing in the 6th century AD.

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(f) As printing began to spread, the literacy rate began

(vi) by printing books in English rather than Latin.

(g) Gutenberg’s invention contributed to the movement

(vii) Chaucer, was first printed by William Caxton in 1478.

(h) At first, the Chinese used a fixed block method of

(viii) printed book, which was the Gutenberg bible.

(i) William Caxton made a breakthrough in printing

(ix) magazines and newspapers had spread worldwide.

(j) The Canterbury tales, a famous book by Geoffrey

(x) to rise as more and more people began to read books.

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Knowledge is no longer the preserve of a small section of society, as it was in ancient Egypt. Information is now freely available to all who seek it in all kinds of formats, from books to newspapers to the Internet. The modern age has been called the ‘information age’ because of this. Some people fear that books will die out as a means of conveying information because of new technologies. In a small group, discuss these issues, considering some or all of the following points. Do we really need to read books when we are surrounded by information on TV, radio and the Internet? What new ways of disseminating information may be invented in the future? What new ways of locating information may be invented in the future? R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Are we losing the ability to read books for pleasure? What new types of languages may emerge in the future to replace our traditional languages of communication? e.g. text messaging on mobile phones

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 7: A priest gives a eulogy at Tutankhamun’s funeral ceremony Indicators Student reads text and completes comprehension and cloze exercises.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok Background information u S Student completes word study exercises and develops skills in word matching and unscrambling.

Student learns about modern methods of investigating mummies and the discovery of the link between bacteria and disease.

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This text is a eulogy, given by a priest, Neferhotep, as he conducts the funeral service of the pharaoh, Tutankhamun. He performs the final ceremony before the pharaoh is buried in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. A eulogy is a piece of writing or, as in this case, a speech spoken aloud, and given by someone whose purpose is to praise a named person. In some countries, a eulogy refers specifically to a funeral oration. The person who is speaking in this eulogy is Neferhotep, a high-ranking priest who is speaking at the burial ceremony of the pharaoh. In this eulogy, Neferhotep is trying to inform those listening about the character and achievements of the dead pharaoh, but he also digresses to refer to the rumours about the mysterious death of the pharaoh trying to exonerate the new pharaoh, Ay, from any part in it. Tutankhamun is probably the most famous Egyptian pharaoh in history. He became pharaoh when he was about nine years of age and died when he was only 18 years of age in 1323 BC. His tomb in the Valley of the Kings was discovered in 1922 by an archaeologist called Howard Carter. It was filled with golden statues, chariots, vases and caskets and the mummified body of the pharaoh himself was found inside a solid gold coffin. There were 140 pieces of gold jewellery found in the tomb. It proved to be one of the richest archaeological discoveries ever made. The tomb became associated with rumours about being cursed. Lord Carnarvon, who funded Howard Carter’s excavation, died from an infected mosquito bite some weeks after entering the tomb. This caused people to think that the tomb may have been cursed in order to prevent robbery.

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Neferhotep is being assisted by four female funerary priestesses. The most common career for women in ancient Egypt was the priesthood, serving the gods and goddesses. The title ‘God’s Wife’, carried by royal women in Egypt, brought great political power, second only to the pharaoh himself. Female priestesses acted alongside male priests in jubilee ceremonies and sometimes also served as funerary priestesses. However, with evidence pointing to the fact that less than 2% of Egypt’s population were able to read and write, it probably was unusual for women to have these skills. Women also worked as professional mourners at funeral processions, wailing, chanting and singing as they accompanied the mummy to its tomb. They rubbed ashes on their heads and they wore blue robes because blue was the colour of mourning in ancient Egypt.

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The funeral of a pharaoh was one of the most important ceremonies in ancient Egypt. The final ceremony began when the body of the pharaoh, having been through the mummification process, was wrapped from head to toe in linen layers, which were smeared with resin to hold them in place. The embalmers placed sacred amulets such as scarabs and ankhs between the layers. Before the final layers went on, a funerary mask was placed over the head and shoulders. The funerary mask of Tutankhamun, found intact on his mummy, was made of solid gold. Finally, the mummy was laid in the coffin for burial.

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When the funeral procession reached the burial chamber, the priest or a relative of the deceased carried out the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, which was extremely important. At the moment of death the Egyptians believed that the ka, the spirit or life force of the person left the body. They also believed that the ba left the body at the same time. The ba was the essence of the individual and was often symbolised by a bird-like being. It had to return to the body and breath life into the corpse through the mouth in order for the dead person’s body to be reunited with the ka. The priest began the ceremony by ordering that the mummy be set upright in its coffin. If the priest was performing the ceremony, he did not actually open the body’s mouth but he touched the mummy’s face three times with various tools, rubbed its surface with milk and embraced it. He then presented the mummy with clothing, a large joint of beef and a bull’s heart. Setting a feast out, the priest invited the mummy to enjoy the food in front of him. The pharaohs sometimes married members of their own family. Tutankhamun was married to his half-sister Ankhesenamen. On the back of Tutankhamun’s throne, discovered in his tomb in 1922, there is a decorative picture showing Ankhesenamen with her husband. The priest refers to several important Egyptian gods in his eulogy. Amun-Ra, one of the most important gods, was the king of the gods and the creator of all things. He was often shown as a human figure with a double-plumed crown. Horus was the god associated with living pharaohs. The god Osiris, associated with dead pharaohs, symbolised the triumph of good over evil and the promise of immortality for all Egyptians.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes

Answers Exercise B............................. page 53 1. In the realm of the heavens. 2. Ay. He is assisting the priest, Neferhotep, as he conducts Tutankhamun’s funeral ceremony. 3. He was only nine years old. 4. Horus, Osiris and Anubis. 5. He restored Egypt’s original religion. 6. Teacher check 7. Teacher check

(e) (f)

ii i

Exercise D............................. page 55 1. (a) false (b) true (c) true (d) true (e) false (f) false (g) false (h) true 2. (a) 8, (b) 4, (c) 10, (d) 6, (e) 1, (f) 2, (g) 9, (h) 3, (i) 7, (j) 5 3. (a) ii (b) iii (c) iii (d) i

Exercise E..................... pages 56–57 1. Teacher check 2. (a) 4, (b) 6, (c) 2, (d) 3, (e) 7, (f) 8, (g) 1, (h) 5 3. 7, 1, 9, 8, 3, 6, 2, 4, 5 4. (a) carbon (b) living (c) form (d) eating (e) stops (f) years (g) present (h) atoms (i) date (j) method.

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Exercise C............................. page 54 skull, have, image, details, above, wound, antibiotics, days, caused, filled, inside, reached, guarded, archaeologists, wealthy, weary, found, Tutankhamun, opened, treasure,

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realised, coffin, mummy, discovery, Egyptian.

Worksheet information

Students may find it beneficial to find out more about Tutankhamun at <www.civilization.ca/egypt/egtut01e.html> when completing Questions 1 and 3 in Exercise E. It may be beneficial for students to pay particular attention to the beginnings of the sentences in Question 3 in Exercise E.

The Theban mapping project is mapping all the tombs found to date in the Valley of the Kings. The site has an interactive atlas of the site at <www.thebanmappingproject.com>.

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Tutankhamun’s tomb was very small compared to the size of other tombs discovered in Egypt. In 1987, archaeologists discovered a tomb known as KV5, which was the burial site of the sons of Ramesses II. This tomb contained over one hundred chambers and was the largest rock-cut tomb ever found in Egypt. Students can read about the discovery of KV5 by the Egyptologist Ken Weeks at <www.touregypt.net/featurestories/KU51.html>. In 1993, archaeologists discovered the Valley of the Golden Mummies, which contained a chamber with 10 000 mummies buried in it. Archaeologists are currently working on this site, trying to establish its story. Students may wish to find out more at <www. crystalinks.com/bahariya.html>.

. te o Curriculum links c . che e r o t r s super State

Society and Environment

English

Science

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

LL 4

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

LTS 3.3

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

SCBS 0401, SCBS 0402, SCBS 0502

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

SS 4.1, SS 4.3, SS 5.1, SS 5.3, LL 4.3, LL 5.3

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

4.5

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the eulogy by the priest, Neferhotep. He is speaking at the funeral ceremony of Tutankhamun, the young pharaoh who has died suddenly.

Praise to our gods Horus and Osiris and to our god, Anubis1, who is the protector of tombs.

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We are here to pay our final respects to our lord Tutankhamun. Ay2, our new pharaoh, is here to assist me in the ceremony of the Opening of the Mouth. Tutankhamun will shortly be reborn as Osiris and live again in the realms of the heavens. He was our pharaoh and our god for nine years. We offer praise for his great work here on Earth. I can remember well the day he was crowned pharaoh. As I held his hand, I could feel him tremble. Yet, even as he trembled, he held his head up high and carried himself like a true king. I knew then that he would be a great pharaoh. The gods smiled on his coronation and he was blessed. As he grew up to be a man, I could see that he was indeed a living god. He restored our true religion after our previous pharaoh, who cannot be named3, tried to destroy our living gods. Amun-Ra will surely welcome him into the afterlife for this great feat. Before we begin, I must refer to the many rumours that surround the death of our lord. Some wagging tongues in the royal court are intent on stirring up trouble by trying to suggest that our pharaoh did not die accidentally. Your new pharaoh, Ay, is deeply hurt by these rumours. You all know that Tutankhamun was a keen horse rider. Unfortunately, he fell off his favourite horse and broke his leg while he was playing with his friends. He damaged his knee, cutting it very badly and blood infection set in. Within a few days, our Lord tragically died. This is how he met his death. There is no other explanation. He is now going to his rightful place with the other gods. I demand that the rumour mongers in the court stop now. You are damaging the memory of Tutankhamun and the reputation of Egypt with your vicious tongues4.

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Now, let us attend to our duty and let us give our Lord to the gods so he can take his rightful place alongside them. Lord Tutankhamun, you are about to be reborn. I and my priestesses will now pray together and make offerings as you rejoin the other gods in heaven. King Ay, join with me now in the ceremony of the Opening of the Mouth. Lord Tutankhamun, we touch you with the sacred instruments and pray that your ba is now reunited with you. King Ay has placed your clothing, some beef and a bull’s heart in front of you and I now invite you to enjoy this food.

. te o c Arise, Osiris, and take your place before these . c e myriad offerings. I say to you, Lord Tutankhamun, her r o t you are alive. You are strong. You have awakened. s super Your body will not be destroyed in this eternal land. You will live forever. Your boats wait for you to sail to Heaven and your tomb is filled with provisions and materials that you will need in the next life. Finally, I curse those who would try to steal your goods. I curse those who would interfere with your journey. They will die a terrible death if they dare to enter your domain. 52

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. Where will Tutankhamun now live according to the priest?

2. What is the name of the new pharaoh and what ceremony is he assisting with?

3. Why do you think Tutankhamun may have trembled when he was being crowned as pharaoh?

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4. Who are the names of the three gods invoked by the priest, Neferhotep?

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5. According to the priest, why would Amun-Ra welcome Tutankhamun into the afterlife?

6. Describe what you believe was the Egyptian attitude to death as shown by Neferhotep’s funeral oration. What do you think of this attitude?

7. In his eulogy, Neferhotep digresses by referring to two issues: (a) the rumours about Tutankhamun’s sudden death

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How effectively do you think he deals with these issues? Explain why.

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and (b) the fact that his tomb may be robbed by thieves.

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1. Anubis was the jackal-headed god who presided over funerals and whose statue guarded the entrance to the treasury in Tutankhamun’s tomb. This room was filled with jewel chests, model boats and a golden shrine containing the king’s internal organs. An anteroom was filled with food, wine, ointments, oils and furniture for the king. 116 baskets of fruit and 40 jars of wine were discovered in Tutankhamun’s tomb, as well as boxes of roast meat and bread. 2. Ay was Tutankhamun’s successor. He was a high-ranking official who acted as advisor to the young pharaoh. There were rumours that he murdered Tutankhamun so that he could become pharaoh. He assisted at the ceremony of the Opening of the Mouth to ensure that he was publicly recognised as the heir to Tutankhamun. 3. Akhenaten changed Egyptian religion so that a single god, Aten, was worshipped. Tutankhamun restored the old religion, which worshipped many gods and tried to remove all traces of Akhenaten’s reign. 4. There is a mystery surrounding the death of Tutankhamun which continues to this day. The fact that he died so suddenly and so young has always raised suspicions. His death was totally unexpected. His tomb was still only being built when he died. He was buried in a small tomb meant for an official, not for a pharaoh. In the past, some archaeologists believed that he had been murdered as there was circumstantial evidence that seemed to point to this. The first autopsy on his body was carried out by Dr Douglas Derry in 1925. The skull of the pharaoh showed a fragment of bone inside which seemed to suggest that the pharaoh may have suffered a blow to the head, which caused a haemorrhage. His widow, Ankhesenamun, wrote that she was ‘afraid’. The finger of suspicion was pointed at the general, Ay, who became pharaoh after Tutankhamun’s death. However, more recent evidence suggests that Tutankhamun may not have been murdered but may have died as a result of a tragic accident. Evidence points to a bad fall, possibly off his horse, which fractured and damaged his knee, leaving an open wound. There is speculation that his wound became infected and blood infection or septicaemia set in. In the modern world, antibiotics and surgery could probably have saved his life, but the ancient Egyptians had no knowledge of these and so the pharaoh died within a few days. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank

reached discovery wealthy guarded

treasure days opened found

skull caused antibiotics image

coffin inside filled details

above have wound

realised mummy Egyptian archaeologists weary Tutankhamun

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The pharoah, Tutankhamun, one of the most famous pharaohs in history, became pharaoh when he was around nine years old. He reigned for nine years, dying suddenly when he was 18. His death was surrounded by mystery, with some people believing that he had been murdered by Ay, who succeeded him as pharaoh. His mummy was discovered in the Valley of the Kings by Howard Carter in 1922. X-rays subsequently revealed damage to his

, prompting suggestions that he

of breaking his leg badly while playing sport. Researchers used a mobile CT scanner to build up an his body which revealed

of a high-impact fracture

was badly twisted and the

died as a result

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had been killed by a savage blow to the head. Modern research has revealed that he may

the left knee. His kneecap

was open, leaving it vulnerable to infection. Without the benefit of modern

or surgery, Tutankhamun may have been dead within

called septicaemia. The damage to his skull may have been

from a deadly blood infection

by the preparations for his embalming and

mummification.

The discovery of his tomb proved to be one of the richest archaeological discoveries ever made. Tutankhamun’s tomb was with golden statues, chariots, vases and caskets. The mummified body of the pharaoh himself was

discovered

over 3260 years, although robbers had

the outer chambers in ancient times. The valley guards who

the tombs in the Valley of the Kings resealed the tomb.

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Howard Carter was an Egyptologist who had searched for the tomb of Tutankhamun for many years. Other had searched for it and had given up, but Carter refused to give up his search. In 1917, he

approached Lord Carnarvon, an old friend and colleague who also happened to be very

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. Lord Carnarvon

agreed to help him by financing his search. But by 1922, Lord Carnarvon was beginning to grow

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the search and believed that they would never find Tutankhamun’s tomb, although he gave Carter one final chance to search. Carter’s workmen began to dig and suddenly they

something in the sand. Under a group of broken-down

workers huts they had found the entrance to a tomb. When Carter examined the seals at the entrance, he saw the name of . He had to wait for Lord Carnarvon to come to Egypt, so that the tomb could be When they opened it, they found a room filled with golden

and then they noticed two black and gold

statues standing like watchmen outside a door. Several weeks later they opened the door and

that they

had found the pharaoh’s last resting place. A huge shrine stood in the centre of the room. Carter opened this and found several more shrines inside. The final stone sarcophagus was opened and inside it was found an enormous made of solid gold. More coffins were opened inside this, and inside the third, Carter found the

of the

pharaoh with his arms crossed over his chest. However, tragedy and mystery surrounded this great

. Lord

Carnarvon died only weeks later from blood poisoning, or septicaemia, caused by a mosquito bite, possibly the same cause of death as the pharaoh himself. This led to speculation about the tomb being cursed. The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb led to worldwide interest in 54

history. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. Read the following sentences about Tutankhamun and write if they are true or false. (a) Tutankhamun was nine years of age when he died in mysterious circumstances.

(b) Tutankhamun and Lord Carnarvon may have died from exactly the same infection.

(d) The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb began to spark worldwide interest in ancient Egypt.

(e) Tomb-robbers had managed to penetrate into the inner chambers of the tomb.

(f) Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus was guarded by two golden sphinxes.

(g) Tutankhamun’s wife, Ankhesenamun, was also found buried with her husband.

(h) Howard Carter found the pharaoh with his arms crossed over his chest.

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definition.

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2. The following words are used in relation to the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Match each word to its correct (a) Egyptologist:

(i) the personality of the person that Egyptians believed returned to the body to live again.

(b) archaeologist:

(ii) the god of death who presided over the ceremony of the Weighing of the Feather.

(iii) the process by which a body is preserved by natron (a natural salt), resin and aromatic oils.

(iv) a person who excavates the sites of ancient buildings; e.g. tombs. © R . I . C .Publ i cat i ons (e) ba: (v) golden artefacts such as statues, vases, caskets and jewellery. •f orr evi e w pur posesonl y• (f) Anubis: (vi) outer layer of a coffin or tomb, sometimes with sculpture and inscriptions. (d) sarcophagus:

(vii) the process by which a body is mummified, embalmed and preserved.

(h) embalming:

(viii) a person who studies the culture, society and tombs of ancient Egypt.

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(i) mummification:

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(j) treasure:

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(g) excavation:

(ix) the physical process of uncovering evidence from the past; e.g. by digging. (x) a body that has been mummified and embalmed in order to preserve it.

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3. You are a robber planning to rob the tomb of Tutankhamun. You have an informant in the court who has given you

information about him. However, before you break into his tomb, you need to check your facts. Tick the correct answer for each of the following statements. (a) The pharaoh died suddenly because ...

(i) he was murdered by his wife.

(ii) he had an infected leg wound.

(iii) he fell and hit his head.

(b) His tomb is filled with ...

(ii) papyrus documents.

(ii) rotten food.

(iii) solid gold treasures.

(i) fifty-two years of age. (ii) ninety-two years of age.

(iii) eighteen years of age.

(d) His coffin is made of ...

(i) solid gold.

(iii) cedar wood.

(e) The entrance into the shrine is ...

(i) guarded by four silver (ii) guarded by two black (iii) guarded by three sphinxes. and gold statues. Egyptian goddesses.

(f) Those who break into his tomb are ...

(i) cursed to die painfully.

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(ii) granite stone.

(ii) blessed by the gods.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

(iii) haunted by his ghost. 55

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms and use them in sentences.

(a) Ankhesenamun: The wife of Tutankhamun.

(b) autopsy: The dissection and examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death. (c) eulogy: Speech made to praise a certain person, usually during a funeral ceremony.

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(d) funeral procession: The public journey of the mummified body to its final resting place.

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(e) funerary mask: Elaborate masks placed over the mummified heads of the dead.

(f) funerary priestesses: Female priests who took part in funerals, making offerings and involved in rituals. (g) ‘God’s wife’: The title given to the pharaoh’s wife as a person of god-like status and power.

(h) Opening of the Mouth ceremony: Ceremony in which the ‘ba’ or personality is returned to the body.

(i) sarcophagus: A stone tomb that contains a coffin; sometimes bearing sculpture or inscriptions.

2. The ancient Egyptians left behind a wealth of information for us to examine. The following items and techniques

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(a) Small flies and beetles inside the sarcophagus give

(i) life-like, three-dimensional images of the mummy’s insides.

(b) The content of a mummy’s stomach contains information about

(ii) the season of the year in which the person died.

(iii) of obtaining accurate carbon dating of the time of death.

(d) The linen cloth wound around the mummy can give a method

(iv) clues about insect life in ancient Egypt.

(e) Wear and tear on the remains of human teeth may

(v) the mummy and display images of the inside of it on a TV screen.

(f) X-rays of the mummy can reveal

(vi) the last meal eaten by the dead person

(g) CAT scanning (Computerised Axial Tomography) can show

(vii) help to give some clues about the age of the mummy.

(h) An endoscope, a long, narrow flexible tube, can be inserted into

(viii) any amulets or jewels which may be inside the wrappings.

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have been used on mummies and in their tombs. Match the item or the technique with the information it may be able to yield to archaeologists.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3. The infection which killed Lord Carnarvon, and possibly Tutankhamun, was caused

by bacteria. Bacteria are living cells which live everywhere on Earth; in soil, water, plants, animals and people. They can only be seen with a microscope and before it was invented, no-one knew they existed. Many bacteria are useful but some can cause disease. A French scientist called Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) was the first person to discover how bacteria caused disease.

The following description about Pasteur’s discovery has been placed in the wrong order. Number them in the correct order.

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Previously, scientists had thought that bacteria appeared because things rotted and went sour.

Firstly, a man called Monsieur Bigo asked his son to invite his teacher, Louis Pasteur, to call into his factory in Lille, a city in France. Monsieur Bigo’s factory fermented sugarbeet grown in the fields around Lille.

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Finally, scientists could begin to discover how to prevent bacteria from invading a person’s body.

Pasteur had discovered that the process was the other way around and that bacteria were responsible for diseases.

The problem was that some of his sugarbeet vats were turning sour, with their contents turning into slime.

Pasteur knew that these black rods were bacteria but, for the first time, he had realised that they were turning the vats sour.

Monsieur Bigo’s factory had a problem and he wanted to know if Pasteur could help solve it.

Louis Pasteur decided to take a sample from one of the sugarbeet vats home to examine it.

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4. Until the 1940s, archaeologists had to try to date objects they found by using relative dating, which assesses the

The following sentences contain information about this method, but there are some words missing. Write the correct word for each sentence, choosing from the word bank provided.

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possible age of an object by comparison with other objects and artefacts it was found with. This method was not accurate. However, carbon dating, first used in the 1940s, is accurate and is very helpful to archaeologists.

(a) The sixth most common element is

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(b) It combines with other elements and so all

things contain it.

(d) Animals absorb it by

(e) When a living creature or thing dies, it

(f) It takes carbon 5730

(g) Scientists can therefore measure the amount of carbon

(h) A spectrometer can detect individual carbon

(i) Today, scientists need only a few milligrams of carbon to

(j) The American scientist, Willard Libby, was the first to use carbon 14 as a dating present

living

date

of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

plants or plant-eating animals.

absorbing carbon.

for half of its atoms to decay.

eating

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method

in an object and date it. by the speed at which they move. an object.

carbon

stops

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

in 1949. atoms

form

years 57

Teachers Notes

Unit 8: A vizier to the pharaoh, Ramesses, gives advice Indicators Student reads text of dialogue between Ramesses and his vizier, his chief minister, and completes comprehension and cloze exercises. Student completes word study exercises and develops skills in spelling, using conjunctions and using the dictionary. Student learns about the Aswan High Dam and the relocation of the temples of Abu Simbel, the Hittite civilisation and archaeological discoveries in the ancient kingdom of Nubia.

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Background information

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This text is a dialogue between the pharaoh and his vizier (one of his chief ministers). A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. In this dialogue, the young pharaoh is expressing his determination to win the forthcoming battle with the Hittites. Paser, the vizier, is older and experienced in the ways of the court, having been in his position for years. He wants to warn Ramesses about the deviousness of the Hittite leader, Muwatallis. However, he has to be careful with his words as he is dealing with a god as well as a pharaoh, a fact which Ramesses likes to remind him of often. Ramesses II (the 2nd) was the third ruler of the 19th Dynasty and he ruled Egypt from 1279 BC to 1213 BC. He was a warriorpharaoh. He faced his enemies, the Hittites, at the Battle of Kadesh around 1274 BC, close to the Orontes River in Syria. The Hittites were the first to use iron weapons and therefore had superior weapons to the Egyptians. Ramesses had not been ruling Egypt for very long when this crisis occurred and he was full of confidence. His vizier, on the other hand, wants him to show some caution, particularly with an enemy potentially able to inflict lethal damage with its iron weapons. Ramesses is also known as Ramesses the Great because of the exceptional length of his reign (approximately 66 years) and his massive building programs. A vizier was a chief minister in the administration and served as the pharaoh’s representative in most of the areas of government. During the reign of Ramesses there were two viziers, one in the south at Thebes and one in the north at Piramesse. A vizier was primarily an administrative manager in the government who sometimes acted as the pharaoh’s spokesman. He consulted with the treasury, examined official reports and supervised public works, amongst his many duties.

At the Battle of Kadesh, around 1274 BC, Ramesses II marched into Syria with four divisions of his army, each named after an Egyptian god: Amun, Re, Ptah and Setekh. Ramesses had about 20 000 men in total. Ramesses was deceived by Muwatallis, who tricked him and almost succeeded in defeating the Egyptian army. Muwatallis hid his men behind the mound on which the city of Kadesh was built and waited for the Egyptians to come. Ramesses made the mistake of thinking that Muwatallis and the Hittite army had retreated and led his army towards the city to make camp. They were attacked by surprise by the Hittites but the Egyptians fought bravely and managed to fight them off.

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Peace eventually prevailed between the Egyptians and the Hittites. There was a treaty made between the Egyptians and the Hittites after the Battle of Kadesh and Ramesses married a Hittite princess. When a famine later affected the Hittites, Ramesses’s son Merneptah, sent food to help them.

After Ramesses died, around 1312 BC, his tomb, now known as KV7, was disturbed. Archaeologists believe that his mummy was moved from his royal tomb after tomb robbers broke in. In 1881, a cache of royal mummies was discovered in Deir el-Bahri, close to the Valley of the Kings, containing more than 50 mummies. Among them were the mummies of Ramesses II and his father, Seti I. In 1977, his mummy was taken to Paris for X-rays and other tests. Computer tomography analysed his body as optical slices and three-dimensional images. His skin, hair and teeth were examined and samples were taken from his wrappings and his body cavities. His mummy was treated for fungal infestation. It has been established that he was almost 90 years of age when he died and that his teeth were in very bad condition. In his old age, he had dyed his hair red with henna. His nose had been stuffed with peppercorns in order to keep its shape. In Paris, steps were taken to treat and preserve his mummy before it was returned to Egypt, where it is now on display in the Cairo Museum.

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It may be beneficial for students to use a dictionary in order to complete Question 3 in Exercise D and also for Question 3 in Exercise E. Students may find it useful to use an atlas when completing Question 3 in Exercise E, to locate the area of northern Sudan and southern Egypt, which was known as the ancient kingdom of Nubia. A good website with maps and information on Nubia is <http://library.thinkquest.org/22845>. Another site with information on ancient Nubia is <www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/ online_exhibits/egypt/nubiagallery.shtml>. Students may find it useful to research the use of propaganda in history in order to complete Question 5 in the Exercise E. A useful website is <www.bbc.co.uk/history> which has information on the use of propaganda in the Roman Empire in ancient history and in Nazi Germany in modern history. A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians is provided on pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear in Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

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Teachers Notes

Answers Exercise D............................. page 63 1. (a) because (b) so (c) and (d) but (e) and (f) because (g) and (h) and (i) because (j) and 2. (a) Great (b) builder (c) sixty (d) leader (e) defeating (f) temples (g) himself (h) destruction (i) preserved (j) High 3. (a) plan (b) better in quality (c) strong rush (d) to be in a better position (e) process of building

(f) (g) (h) (i) (j)

protection against danger declared an intention to injure rejoined parts together moved backwards escort who protects.

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Exercise C............................. page 62 pharaoh, and, most, temple, is, High, damage, people, sections, mounds, care, seated, massive, hall, gods, divine, sun, fought, four, trick, retreated, attack, attempt, suffered, from, main, soldiers, situation.

Exercise E..................... pages 64–65 1. Teacher check 2. (a) iii, (b) ii, (c) i, (d) iii, (e) ii, (f) ii 3. 1. northern 2. covered 3. acquired 4. minerals 5. adopted 6. collection 7. pyramid 8. trained 9. bracelets 10. symbols. 4. 1.C.d. 2.E.c. 3.B.e. 4.D.a. 5.A.b. 5. Teacher check

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Exercise B............................. page 61 1. Paser tries to warn him about the leader of the Hittites but Ramesses feels that no-one could be as clever as him. 2. He is the leader of the Hittites and he is known for his sharp wit. 3. Teacher check 4. It has superior weapons. 5. To easily explain the situation and to flatter the pharaoh. 6. He says that he meets his enemy with courage, not trickery, and as a pharaoh and a god. 7. (a) and (c) should be ticked

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Students may find it beneficial to go to the UNESCO website at <http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=24168&URL_ DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html> in order to find out more about the temples at Abu Simbel and their relocation due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam. More information is also available at <www.egyptsites.co.uk/upper/abusimbel.html>. Students may wish to do further research on other civilisations that were located close to ancient Egypt such as the Assyrians. More information on the Assyrians can be found at the British Museum website at <www.mesopotamia.co.uk>.

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Students can find out about other archaeological treasures under threat due to man-made or environmental activity at <www. worldheritagealert.org/Index.htm>.

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Students may wish to find out more about ancient Egyptian weapons and warfare. A good site with information on warfare and the Egyptians is at <www.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/war/index.htm>. Students may wish to find out more about the life, reign and achievements of Ramesses II. A good website with information about Ramesses II and other pharaohs is <www.discoveringegypt.com>.

. telinks Curriculum o c . che e r o t r s super State

Society and Environment

English

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the following dialogue between Ramesses II and his vizier, Paser.

Ramesses: Paser, I am about to lead my army into Kadesh to face the Hittites1 and I need to plan my strategy. Paser:

My Lord, they have superior weapons to us. This is something you must take into account.

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Ramesses: They may have their iron weapons but I have my army and my Egyptian soldiers have the hearts of lions. We will defeat them no matter what!

Ramesses: Are you suggesting that he is more clever than I am? Do I have to remind you that I am a god2, as well as a king, and no-one on this earth is cleverer than me. No-one! Paser:

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Yes, my Lord. You do indeed have your army and there is no doubt about their bravery. With you as their leader, they will surge forward courageously against our enemy. However, I must caution you, my Lord, about the Hittite king, Muwatallis. He is known to be clever and has won many a battle by using his sharp wits.

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Paser:

Of course, my Lord. Your divinity is not in question, nor is your intelligence. However I must caution you again. Muwatallis is sneaky and sly. He has been known to trick his enemies in battle3. I must warn you to be careful of him. He may try to trick you and you could fall into his trap.

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Paser:

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Ramesses: No-one is going to trap me, the ruler of Egypt, especially such a man who meets his enemies not with courage but with trickery. He will not win this battle, I will. I have every confidence in you, but please, my Lord, remember my words of caution to you. You are a lion; proud and courageous. Think of Muwatallis as a scorpion who lives in our deserts and who waits in the dark to inflict his deadly sting. If you do not stamp on him and kill him first, he will strike you without warning and his sting could be lethal.

. te o c Ramesses: You are going too far now. You are speaking to a god as well as a man. Have you forgotten that? . c e me. Never! Muwatallis may be slyh as you say, but he will never succeed in deceiving r e o r st su r e p Paser: My Lord, you know that I always have your best interests at heart. You know that my advice is

always sound. It has been so in the past. If you would just try to remember that Muwatallis is not divine, as you are, and has no nobility, as you have in abundance. I believe that you will be remembered as Egypt’s greatest pharaoh. I do not want Muwatallis to damage your memory in any way. I do not trust him.

Ramesses: I acknowledge your advice has always been sound. However, in this case, I know exactly what I am doing. I will advance into Syria with four divisions of the army. I believe that this ‘scorpion’, as you call him, will bury himself in the sands when he sees the might of my army. He will be afraid to face me and I will win. 60

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. Why does Ramesses get annoyed with Paser? Why does he say that he is a god?

2. Who is Muwatallis and what is he known for?

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3. In your opinion is Ramesses listening to the advice of his vizier? Give reasons.

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4. What advantage does the Hittite army have over the Egyptian army, according to Paser, the Vizier?

5. Why do you think that Paser compares the two leaders to a scorpion and a lion?

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7. Read the following statements and tick those that are correct.

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(a) A vizier was a priest who conducted ceremonies for the pharaoh......................

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1. The Hittites were an ancient people who settled in Anatolia (modern Syria) around 3000 BC. They built and expanded their empire and came into conflict with the Egyptians at the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC. They eventually signed a treaty with the Egyptians and Ramesses even married a Hittite princess. They discovered a technique for smelting iron, which they kept secret, and began to make and use iron weapons.

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(b) The Battle of Kadesh was fought between the Egyptians and the Assyrians..............

(d) Muwatallis was an Egyptian word for scorpion..............

(e) The ancient Egyptians believed that the Hittite king was divine..................

(f) Paser was once a king of the Hittites........................

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2. The pharaoh, Ramesses II, was known as a great warrior. He was also known as a great builder, being responsible for the great temple of Abu Simbel, and had an exceptionally long reign, ruling over Egypt for over sixty years, from 1279 BC to 1213 BC. Pharaohs believed in their own divinity and often constructed large and impressive mortuary temples. Two of Ramesses’s most lasting temples were built at Abu Simbel in Nubia. The larger temple was built in honour of Ramesses himself and the smaller one was built in honour of his favourite wife, Nefertari. During the 1960s, there was an international rescue effort led by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) and the temples were moved uphill to prevent them being flooded after the construction of the Aswan High Dam. 3. The leader of the Hittites, Muwatallis, was clever and managed to trick Ramesses. He ordered his army to hide behind the mound on which the city of Kadesh was built. When Ramesses marched with his army towards Kadesh, he mistakenly thought that the Hittites had withdrawn from the battle and he led his army towards the city to make camp. Hundreds of Hittites came charging on chariots at the army of Ramesses and scattered two of his divisions. Ramesses, who had confidence in abundance, led his bodyguard in a desperate charge to stop the advance of the Hittites, who were looting the Egyptian camp before being driven off. He faced the enemy with no-one at his side except his pet lion. Although both the Egyptians and the Hittites claimed victory, in reality both sides suffered badly and nobody really won. Ramesses used the battle as a propoganda weapon, portraying himself as a brave leader, full of nobility, as he defeated the Hittites. The Hittites, in their turn, portrayed themselves as the winners also. There is evidence that they were tactically the winners of the Battle of Kadesh. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank damage divine main care

retreated sun massive seated

situation suffered and pharaoh

mounds temple most fought

attack gods is trick

sections four High soldiers

attempt from people hall

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One of the most famous pharaohs, Ramesses II, reigned as pharaoh for over 60 years and was known as ‘Ramesses the Great’ to be called

because of his abilities as a warrior and for his massive building programs. He was the only

constructed more statues than any other

‘Great’. He was also given this title because he built more monuments

famous monument is the mortuary temple complex in Nubia at Abu Simbel. There are two temples

pharaoh. His

dedicated to his wife, Nefertari.

is dedicated to Ramesses himself, whilst the smaller temple

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at this site. The largest

Dam on the

The temples were threatened with destruction by flooding during the construction of the Aswan

Nile River during the 1960s. An international rescue effort was led by UNESCO and the temples were carefully moved uphill . This was a huge feat of restoration, involving many

to safeguard them from

. All

of the blocks of stone had to be cut into

and moved carefully onto higher, safer ground. They then had to be

carefully reassembled on artificial

. This was a great success as the temples were reconstructed with

such

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons statues of the pharaoh. In the temple of Ramesses, ornamented pillars stand on either side of p the main hall. Behind thisn halll isy a second pillared • f o r r e v i e w p u r o s e s o • , an anteroom and a sanctuary with a niche containing four statues. These statues are of the Ptah, that it is difficult to tell that they are not in their original location.

In front of the entrance to the temple are four colossal eight

Amun-Ra, Ra-Harakhty and Ramesses himself. The ancient Egyptians believed that their pharaohs were

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shone twice a year through the temple to illuminate

The temple of Ramesses was aligned so that the rays of the

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these four statues.

against his enemies, the

Ramesses is also famous for the Battle of Kadesh, in 1274 BC, in which he

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Hittites, and their leader, King Muwatallis. The battle took place close to the Orontes River in Syria. Ramesses had marched there with

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divisions of the Egyptian army, about 20 000 soldiers. The Hittites had the advantage of iron weapons

and Muwatallis decided to

Ramesses by ordering his army to hide behind the mound on which the city from the battle and ordered

of Kadesh was built. Ramesses mistakenly thought that the Hittites had

on the Egyptians and

his soldiers to make camp. Muwatallis, however, ordered his soldiers to launch an

succeeded in scattering two divisions of Ramesses’s army. Ramesses led his bodyguard in a desperate

to drive off the Hittites, who were already looting the Egyptian camp. According to legend, he faced the Hittites with only his pet heavy

lion at his side and managed to drive them off. Both sides claimed victory but, in reality, both sides losses and no-one won decisively. Nubia, called Kush by the Egyptians, was a land south of Egypt that stretched

source of gold, ebony and ivory. Nubians served

far as modern Sudan. Egypt traded with Nubia, which was its as

in the Egyptian army. The Egyptians conquered Nubia during the 18th Dynasty (1539–1292 BC). The and conquered Egypt, ruling it as the 25th Dynasty (780–656 BC).

Nubians reversed the 1. anteroom: a room leading to a much larger room. 62

the banks of the Nile River as

2. niche: a recess in a wall, especially one that contains a statue or statues.

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. Conjunctions are joining words that are used to join other words and clauses (parts of sentences). In the sentence ‘People associate ancient Egypt with mummies and tombs’, the word ‘and’ is a conjunction.

The following sentences have their conjunctions mixed up. Write the correct one for each sentence. and

because

and

because

and

but

and

(a) Ramesses was called ‘Ramesses the Great’

(b) He fought a famous battle in 1274 BC

(d) Ramesses wanted to win the battle

(e) Ramesses claimed victory at Kadesh

(f) Ramesses was known as a great builder Simbel.

(g) These temples were mortuary temples

(h) Ramesses was married to Queen Nefertari

built a temple to honour her at Abu Simbel.

(i) He built another magnificent temple there

he wanted to be remembered as a god.

(j) Ramesses died in 1213 BC

he was the ruler Egypt for 60 years. that he could conquer the Hittites.

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their leader was called Muwatallis.

he underestimated his enemy. so did Muwatallis, the leader of the Hittites. of the magnificent temples he built at Abu

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they were built to celebrate the pharaoh’s divinity.

he is remembered as one of the greatest pharaohs.

2. Supply the missing words in the following sentences. The number of dashes indicate the number of letters in each missing word.

(d) He fought the Hittites and their

(e) Muwatallis tricked Ramesses and almost succeeded in

(f) He built the magnificent

(a) The pharaoh Ramesses was known as Ramesses the

, Muwatallis, at the Battle of Kadesh. him.

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at Abu Simbel.

(j) They were moved because of the construction of the Aswan

(g) He built two temples there, one for

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and one for his wife, Nefertari.

(h) In the 1960s, the temples had to be moved to save them from

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(i) An international rescue effort was mounted and the temples were

Dam.

3. Read the following definitions and circle the correct word, using your dictionary if you need to.

(a) strategy = plan/layer/trick

(b) superior = higher in value/better in quality/lesser in quality

(d) advantage = to be in a better position/to move forward in position/to improve one’s position.

(e) construction = process of taking advice/process of building/process of demolishing

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(f) safeguard = protection against danger/a place for storing valuables/a photographer’s lamp (g) threatened = declared an intention to ... reward/ injure/pay

(h) reassembled = put together for the first time/pulled apart again/rejoined parts together

(i) reversed = moved forwards/moved sideways/moved backwards

(j) bodyguard = an escort who protects/a policeman/a soldier

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms and use them in sentences. (a) abundance: A great supply and a degree of plentifulness.

(b) caution: Care and forethought in the face of threat or danger.

(d) divinity: The nature of a god or the state of being a god.

(e) inflict: To impose unwelcome pain or damage on someone or something.

(f) lethal: Able to cause death.

(g) nobility: A socially or politically privileged class

(h) pharaoh: The king and ruler of Egypt who was also believed to be a god.

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(i)

(j) vizier: A chief minister and adviser to the pharaoh in ancient Egypt.

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2. The Hittites were a great civilisation who fought against the Egyptians. Read the following statements about the

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Hittites and tick those that are correct. (a) The Hittites were led by

(i) Mutacallis.

(ii) Mutawaya.

(iii) Muwatallis.

(b) The Hittites discovered how to make... (i) steel weapons.

(ii) iron weapons.

(iii) gold weapons.

(i) Kadesh.

(ii) Giza.

(iii) Memphis.

(d) They tricked Ramesses by...

(i) hiding in a forest.

(ii) hiding behind a pyramid.

(iii) hiding behind a mound.

(e) The Hittites succeeded in scattering... (i) five divisions of the Egyptian army.

(ii) two divisions of the Egyptian army.

(iii) ten divisions of the Egyptian army.

(f) After the battle was over, both sides... (i) claimed they had killed the leaders.

(ii) claimed they were the victors.

(iii) claimed they had kidnapped the leaders.

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3. Ramesses built his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, a remote desert valley in the hills opposite Thebes. Almost every pharaoh of the New Kingdom (1539–1069 BC) was buried there.

The Valley of the Kings was an inaccessible site but its rock was solid and easy to carve. It was considered the perfect place to bury the pharaohs out of reach of tomb robbers, although evidence shows that they continued to steal from the tombs, finding their buried treasures irresistible. The only tomb found so far, besides Tutankhamun’s, that had its treasures intact was that of Queen Amanishakheto, whose tomb lay in Nubia, south of Egypt. Amanishakheto was the ruler of Nubia in the first century BC.

There are 10 misspelt words in the following sentences. Circle each one and write it correctly in the space provided. You may use a dictionary if you wish.

(a) The land of Nubia covered northren Sudan and southern Egypt.

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(g) Her piramid was one of the best-preserved in Nubia.

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(b) Most of its Egyptian area was covored by Lake Nasser in the 1960s due to the building of the Aswan High Dam.

(f) In 1834, an Italian called Giuseppe Ferlini discovered a fabulous collecion of jewellery in a secret chamber near the top of Queen Amanishakheto’s pyramid tomb.

(h) Ferlini was not a trianed archaeologist and he destroyed her pyramid in his haste to find more treasure.

(d) During times of peace, they traded with the Nubians for (i) minerels and exotic animals.

Treasures in her tomb included five pairs of gold braclets, nine shield rings (not worn as normal rings but worn in the hair) and a golden ankh chain.

There was also a golden chain of ‘wadjet’ eyes, the symbels of the eye of the god Horus, believed by Egyptians and Nubians to give the wearer protection against evil.

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(e) Around 750 BC, the Nubians actually ruled Egypt as pharaohs and adoptted Egyptian customs, including their burial customs.

4. Ancient Egypt needed a strong army to defend itself against attack. The Hittites threatened Egypt from the north. However, other enemies also threatened Egypt. The following table shows their names and the areas they came from, but their descriptions have been mixed up. Match the correct descriptions to their names and areas. Name

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Description

A. Nubia (northern Sudan)

a. A civilisation from the north who invented iron weapons.

B. Assyria (modern Syria and Iraq)

b. A civilisation from the south who gained control of Egypt and adopted many of its customs, including the building of pyramids.

3. The Assyrians

C. The Mediterranean Sea

c. A nomadic people who came from the desert to steal sheep and cattle from the Egyptians.

4. The Hittites

D. The Hittite Empire (modern Turkey)

d. Sea-faring warriors who attacked the Hittites, the Syrians and the Egyptians and engaged them in naval battles.

5. The Nubians

E. The Sahara Desert

e. A civilisation which massed the biggest armies against Egypt (over 120 000 soldiers) and successfully attacked many times.

1. The Sea Peoples

2. The Bedouin nomads

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 9: A doctor in the royal court describes one of her cases Indicators Student reads text of an Egyptian doctor’s case study and completes comprehension and cloze exercises based on text.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok Background information u S Student completes word study and unscrambling exercises, learns about using adjectives and using a dictionary. Student learns about ancient Egyptian medicine and the diagnosis and treatment of disease in ancient Egypt.

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This text is a set of medical case notes written by an Egyptian doctor, Iti. Such notes are professional notes intended for the writer’s own use as a reference and possibly also for future reference by other doctors. They are usually informal in tone when first written but can be edited by the writer and recreated in another more formal mode later. In the text, the doctor has written her case notes in an informal diary style and she ensures that she notes the lesson she has learned in this case so that she can edit her notes for more formal presentation in the future.

Doctors were highly valued in Egyptian society. They specialised in different branches of medicine. They knew a lot about the human body, possibly gaining this knowledge through the preparation of mummies, giving them an opportunity to study the human body, internally and externally, in great detail. Now Egyptologists believe that doctors were not directly involved in the embalming and mummification process and that they probably gained their knowledge and expertise by studying medical scrolls and tablets. These were their textbooks and they contained a great deal of information on medical knowledge, gained by the Egyptians over hundreds of years.

Egyptian doctors were trained to learn about patient’s symptoms and make a diagnosis. They could recognise and treat about 200 types of illness. More than 800 prescriptions are known, most of which were made from minerals, herbs and plants. Some prescriptions also used parts of animals. Egyptian doctors also performed internal surgery using metal knives and probes. Cuts were sewn together and wounds were dressed with linen bandages soaked in oil or honey to prevent infection. Broken limbs such as arms or legs were set with wooden splints and tightly bound with linen. Egyptian doctors also had specialities such as gastroenterology and dentistry. There is evidence that there were doctors who practised as oculists, looking after the eyes and eyesight of their patients.

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The Nile River, as well as giving Egyptians life-giving water for drinking, cooking and washing, also harboured many parasites that threatened their health. The effects of these parasites kept Egyptian doctors busy. As agricultural workers waded through the irrigation channels, the Schistosoma worm could enter their bloodstream through their feet or their legs in order to lay its eggs. These worms caused a lot of damage as they travelled through the internal organs. There were female doctors in ancient Egypt who specialised in the care of women and their babies. They attended the school of medicine at Heliopolis and the women’s school at Sais. They attended to women who were giving birth and also dealt with general female health. One famous female doctor, called Peseshet, was the director of the female doctors and held the title of ‘Overseer of the Doctors’. The stele of her tomb, a slab of wood or stone with information on the life of the deceased, was excavated during the 1920s in the area of Giza and was found to contain this title. It may be that there were at least 1000 prominent female doctors in ancient Egypt.

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o c . che e Worksheet information r o t r s super For Duestion 4 in Exercise E, students may wish to use a dictionary.

When completing Questions 3 and 4 in Exercise E, students may find it beneficial to research health hazards in ancient Egypt at <www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/health_01.shtml>. A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians is provided on pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear in Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes

Answers Exercise D............................. page 71 1. (a) important (b) female (c) medical (d) herbal (e) massive (f) wooden (g) internal (h) famous (i) young (j) bronze 2. (a) Evidence shows that Egyptian doctors may have used bronze medical instruments. (b) The ancient Egyptians used herbal medicines in the treatment of illnesses. (c) Some Egyptian doctors specialised in dentistry and the treatment of eye diseases. (d) Egyptian doctors were trained to diagnose over 200 types of illnesses. (e) Evidence suggests that Egyptian doctors used

around 800 types of prescriptions. (f) These prescriptions were made from minerals, herbs and plants. (g) Female doctors specialised in the care of women and babies. (h) Hathor was an Egyptian goddess associated with love and motherhood.

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Exercise C............................. page 70 doctors, knowledge, gained, expertise, may, minerals, bronze, discovered, remedies, sooth, garlic, strength, infection, treat, linen, areas, eyesight, water, parasites, which, worms, medical, been, women, title, tomb, information, during

Exercise E..................... pages 72–73 1. Teacher check 2. (a) iv, (b) iii, (c) v, (d) ii, (e) i 3. (a) iii, (b) iv, (c) ii, (d) i 4. 1. younger. 2. stomach 3. nervous 4. sickness 5. particularly 6. brew. 7. careful 8. shallow 9. restored.

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Exercise B............................. page 69 1. The royal baby was sick. 2. The baby was teething badly and had colic pains due to wind in his system. 3. To stop the baby crying. She is the goddess of motherhood. 4. Dr Iti is aware that the baby is the pharaoh’s first grandson and didn’t want to upset anyone important. 5. They came for her at 11.30 pm, before she fell asleep, and the baby fell asleep as she arrived to examine him. 6. Teacher check 7. Because she looked fit and well. 8. (b), (c) and (d) should be circled.

Cross-curricular activities

Students may wish to find out more about modern methods of diagnosing illnesses and diseases in the human body at <www. insidestory.iop.org>.

Students can find out more about diseases caused by parasites at <www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/other-invertebrates/ webcast-fascinatingworldvid/eaten-alive-the-fascinating-world-of-parasites.html>. Students can do further research on ancient medicines and doctors in other ancient societies at <www.open2.net/whattheancients/ medicine2.html>.

State

Society and Environment

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Curriculum links English

Science

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

SCBS 0401, SCBS 0402, SCBS 0502

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

SS 4.1, SS 4.3, SS 5.1, SS 5.3, LL 4.3, LL 5.3

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

4.5

NSW

LL 4

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LTS 3.3

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the following medical case notes written by an ancient Egyptian doctor.

7.30 am, the 23rd day of the Season of the harvest

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6 am, the 29th day of the Season of the harvest

They came for me again this morning at 4.30 am demanding loudly that I go with them and examine the baby as he was screaming and crying all night. They said that nothing could comfort him, not even the princess herself! I pulled myself wearily out of bed, knowing that it was probably the same thing as before. I bit my lip hard, desperately wanting to say so but I decided that it might not be a good idea. When I got there, I found I had been right.

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This morning I was abruptly awoken at 5.50 am by one of the princess’s servants, telling me to come quickly as the royal baby was sick. I struggled out of my bed and almost ran to the princess’s apartments. The baby is her first-born son and is only 11 months old. He is the pharaoh’s first-born grandson. I was very aware of this as I made my weary way to see what was wrong, taking with me my bag of bronze instruments1. When I got there, I examined him and could find nothing wrong except that he was teething quite badly and seemed to have colic pains due to wind in his system. These two factors were causing him to cry. I told the servants that there was nothing wrong and returned to my welcome bed.

The princess’s chief servant said, ‘Doctor Iti, this is causing terrible problems. The servants are getting very little sleep and the princess is blaming all of us for the baby’s distress. Praying to the Hathor, goddess of love and motherhood, hasn’t helped one little bit2’. I tried to calm the baby down and resolved that if this happened once more, I would have to see the princess personally to explain the situation to her. 1.30 am, the 37th day of the Season of the harvest

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It has happened again, just as I expected it would. This time they came for me at 11.30 pm, thankfully just before I fell asleep, and asked me to come immediately as the baby had been screaming for hours3. I could hear his cries as I approached, but as soon as I walked in I found that he had fallen fast asleep. This was the last straw. I turned to the chief servant and I said I would like to see the princess to discuss the baby’s health. I asked the servants to arrange this and let me know the time. As I sit here now, writing my case notes, I realise that I may have made a mistake. Good medical practice would have been to have spoken to the princess some weeks ago and reassured her in the strongest possible terms that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her son. I should have explained that the baby was teething and had colic pains caused by wind. I should have told her that both conditions were uncomfortable but not dangerous. I should have given her some phials of balsam apple balm4 and told her to instruct the servants to rub this on his gums. I should also have told her to instruct the servants to pick him up and give him some juniper juice. I should have told them to rub his back to wind him and get rid of the colic pains. I intend to do this later today as I simply cannot afford to lose any more sleep.

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3 pm, the same day All is resolved. I was pleased to note that the princess looked fit and well; I had attended to her during the baby’s birth and it had not been an easy one for her. I could see the relief in her face when I reassured her about her son’s good health. She told me that she would instruct the servants to use the balm and to rub the baby’s back. I have learned an important lesson as a doctor today. Communication is vital when you are dealing with patients, even when they are perfectly healthy and their problems are minor. 68

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. Why was Dr Iti woken up at 5.50 am by the princess’s servants?

2. What was Dr Iti’s diagnosis when she made her first examination of the baby?

3. Why do you think the servants had been praying to the goddess Hathor?

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4. Why do you think Dr Iti bit her lip as she went to examine the baby?

5. What factors were different on Dr Iti’s third visit to examine the baby?

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6. In your opinion, is the doctor right to say that she may have made a mistake in this case? Do you agree with her about her suggestion on what would have been good medical practice? Say why/why not.

8. Read the following statements and tick those that are correct.

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(a) There were no female doctors in ancient Egypt...............................................................................

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(e) Hathor was an Egyptian goddess associated with the afterlife..........................................................

(b) Evidence has been found to show that Egyptian doctors used bronze medical instruments................

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(c) Colic is a condition that causes abdominal pain..............................................................................

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(d) Egyptian doctors sometimes used herbal medicines in their treatment of illness...............................

1. The mummy of an Egyptian doctor, buried with his bronze surgical instruments, has been found in Egypt.

2. The goddess Hathor was associated with love and motherhood. She was the most widely worshipped female goddess in ancient Egypt and was represented with cow’s horns and a solar disc. 3. The servants have every reason to be concerned as the infant mortality rate for infants and babies was very high in ancient Egypt. In all ancient societies, there was no access to the facilities and medicines available today. The bodies of children and babies have been excavated in Egyptian tombs. Tutankhamun, the pharaoh who died at eighteen, was buried with the bodies of two female babies who may have died during birth, These bodies may have been his daughters by his wife, Ankhesenamun. 4. Egyptian doctors used herbal remedies extensively in their treatment of illnesses. Dr Iti writes in her case notes that she should have suggested to the princess that she use balsam apple balm to soothe the baby’s sore gums as he is teething. She also says that she should have told the princess to use some juniper juice to sooth the baby’s colic pains. Remedies such as these were regularly used in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians also used aloe vera, garlic, honey and turmeric, all of which are still used today and have been recognised as being valuable in the treatment of various conditions. Aloe vera was used to relieve headaches, sooth burns and ulcers and treat skin allergies. Pyramid workers were given garlic daily to give them the vitality and strength to carry on working hard to create the massive stone tombs of the pharaohs. Honey was used as a natural antibiotic and was used to dress wounds and prevent infection. Turmeric was used to close open wounds and reduce inflammation. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank may garlic knowledge infection

water which medical eyesight worms

bronze title minerals parasites treat

remedies information expertise doctors linen

strength gained soothe tomb women

areas during discovered been

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Egyptians respected doctors and considered them to be very important in their society. There were female

in ancient Egypt. Evidence suggests that they were primarily involved in the medical care of women and babies. Egyptologists used of the human body from the process of mummification and

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to believe that Egyptian doctors gained their

embalming. However, there is now evidence to suggest that they may have

such knowledge by studying

medical scrolls and tablets. These scrolls were their textbooks and they contained a great of medical

gained by the Egyptians over hundreds of years. Egyptian doctors were trained to diagnose over 200 types of illnesses. As many as 800 prescriptions

have existed, made from

doctors also performed surgery using

, herbs and plants. Egyptian

knives and probes. The mummy of an Egyptian doctor has been

buried with his bronze medical instruments.

© R. I . C .Publ i cat i ons which are still used today and have been recognised as being beneficial in the treatment of different conditions. Aloe vera was used burns and• ulcers and to •f orr e vi e wto treat pheadaches, ur poseson l y The Egyptians used herbal

treat skin allergies. The Egyptians used to increase their vitality and

as a tonic. Pyramid workers were given cloves of garlic daily

antibiotic and as a dressing on wounds to prevent

. Turmeric was used to

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as they worked on the massive stone tombs. Honey was used as a natural open

wounds and to reduce inflammation. Broken limbs such as arms and legs were set with wooden splints and tightly bound with . Egyptian doctors specialised in

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such as gastroenteritis and dentistry. Evidence

shows that there were also doctors who practised as oculists, looking after the eyes and

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of their patients.

The Nile River, as well as providing life-giving

to the ancient Egyptians, also contained many parasites*

that threatened health. The effects of these

kept the doctors busy. For example, agricultural workers

suffered from attacks by the Schistosoma worm legs and laid its eggs. These

entered their bloodstream through their feet or their

caused a lot of damage as they travelled through the internal organs of

their human hosts. Female doctors may have attended the

school at Heliopolis. There may also have

a women’s medical school at Sais. Evidence suggests that a famous female doctor, Peseshet, was the director of the doctors and held the

of ‘Overseer of the Doctors’. The stele of her

, a slab of wood or stone inscribed with contained this title when it was excavated

about her life and achievements,

the 1920’s in the area of Giza.

*A parasite is an animal or plant that lives in or on another (the host) from which it obtains nourishment. 70

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. An adjective is a word that describes somebody or something. Adjectives can come before a noun; e.g. a huge

monument, or after verbs such as be, get, seem, look (linking verbs); e.g. I’m busy. In this exercise, the adjectives come before nouns. Complete each of the following sentences by writing the correct adjective, choosing from the word bank provided. (a) Egyptian doctors were highly respected and played a very

(b) Evidence suggests that

(d) The Egyptians used

(e) Pyramid workers were given garlic daily to help them as they worked on the

(f) Egyptian doctors used

(g) Egyptian doctors often had to treat people suffering from Schistosoma worm.

(h) There is evidence that a Doctors’.

(i) Evidence suggests that female doctors were specialists in the care of the health of women and

doctors practiced medicine in ancient Egypt.

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role in Egyptian society.

medicines, many of which are still used today to treat conditions.

splints to treat broken limbs.

damage caused by the

female doctor called Peseshet held the title of ‘Overseer of the

babies.

surgical © R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons wooden medical internal bronze young massive female important herbal • f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

(j) The mummy of an ancient Egyptian doctor has been found buried with his instruments.

famous

stone tombs.

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2. Unjumble the following sentences so they make sense.

(a) that have Evidence bronze medical may Egyptian used shows instruments. doctors

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(b) used The of herbal treatment the Egyptians illnesses. ancient medicines in

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Example: doctors were in ancient There Egypt. female Answer: There were female doctors in ancient Egypt.

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(d) illnesses. to Egyptian were diagnose over trained of doctors types 200

(e) suggests types prescriptions. around Egyptian Evidence 800 of doctors that used

(f) plants, prescriptions herbs These made minerals. were, and from

(g) women doctors Female of the in and specialised babies. care

(h) was Hathor an with Egyptian love and associated goddess motherhood.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms, which occur throughout this unit, and use them in sentences.

(a) antibiotics: Chemical substances capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of micro-organisms.

(b) anxious: Worried and tense because of possible misfortune or danger. (c) diagnosis: Identification of a disease from an examination of the symptoms.

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(d) Hathor: Goddess of love and motherhood and the most widely worshipped Egyptian female goddess.

(f) medical instruments: Precise implements or tools used by a doctor in surgery.

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(e) instruct: To direct someone or to teach someone.

(g) prescriptions: Written instruction from a doctor stating the form, dose and strength of medicine required. (h) relief: A feeling of optimism that follows the removal of anxiety or distress.

(i) scrolls: Rolls of parchment, paper or papyrus inscribed with writing. (j)

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2. Egyptian women wore clothes made from linen. Linen cloth was woven from flax. Read the following descriptions

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of the clothes of five Egyptian women. Guess their occupations and match them to their descriptions. (a) Egyptian mourner at a funeral procession

(i) This woman worked hard in the bakeries of ancient Egypt. Her gown was a lightweight, wraparound garment that did not restrict her movements as she worked.

(b) An Egyptian princess

(ii) Working outdoors in the heat of the Egyptian sun, this woman wore a loose-fitting gown made of coarse white linen with sleeves to protect her arms from burning.

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(iii) This member of the royal household wore a brightly coloured dress, made of netting decorated with precious beads, over her fine, linen gown and was adorned with precious jewels and gold ornaments.

(d) An Egyptian farmworker

(iv) This woman wore her hair loose as a sign of mourning and dressed in loose blue gowns, as it was the colour of mourning. She wailed and cried for the dead person, rubbing ashes on her forehead as she stood beside the mummy.

(e) An Egyptian baker

(v) This woman worked hard, caring for sick women and babies and curing illnesses. Her gown was made from very fine, coloured linen and she carried her bronze medical instruments with her in a bag.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3. Ancient Egyptian doctors had to spend time trying to help people deal with the consequences of infestations and threats to their health due to insect bites, snakebites and scorpion stings. Modern people also have to deal with body residents which may threaten their health. Can you match the following descriptions with their names? There are clues if you read carefully. (a) Tick

(i)

(b) Sarcoptic mite

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(ii) These creatures live on human hair and feed five times a day by sucking blood from their hosts, which causes severe itching and rashes on the skin. Lice can pass easily from one human to another through close contact or through shared bedding and clothing. (iii) These creatures feed on human blood. As they feed, they swell up to over 200 times their weight. They have mouthparts with two sections, one to drill into the skin and the other to suck the blood. Ticks can infect their human host with an illness called Lyme disease, which can kill.

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These green, pear-shaped creatures live inside the human intestine. They can enter the human body through infected food or water. Giardia lamblia can cause their hosts to suffer from painful stomach cramps and uncomfortable bouts of sickness.

(d) Giardia lamblia

(iv) This creature punctures a hole in the skin of its host and burrows beneath the surface to lay its eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae, small worm-like baby mites. It gets its name from the term for a stone or marble coffin; i.e. a sarcophagus, because it buries itself in the skin of its host.

4. Ancient Egyptian doctors used herbs and natural medicines to try to help sick people. There are nine misspelt words in the following account by an Egyptian fisherman. Circle each one and write it correctly in the space provided. You may use a dictionary if you wish.

‘My wife repeatedly told me to go to the doctor, but I was nervus about it as I believed that my enemies had cursed me. I eventually went to see Dr Kenna because the sicness was getting worse and my family were going hungry as I couldn’t even hold the netting as we fished. Dr Kenna listened to me carefuly and took notes on his papyrus roll as I told him about my symptoms. He asked me several questions about my job and where I fished. I had a particulary bad cough and it was getting worse. I told him that I thought I was cursed, but after he had examined me, he told me that I had parasitic worms in my lungs and that there was a cure for them which involved drinking a strong herbal breu, of strong beer, cows milk and castor oil and another secret ingredient, which would rid me of these worms. Dr Kenna told me that I must also be very carful to wear my sandals when wading through the shalow waters. He warned me about the schistosoma worms, which lie in wait for a human host. I am now cured and I thank the river gods who have restorred my health to me, and of course, Dr Kenna.’

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‘My name is Hemon and I want tell you my story. I am a fisherman, working on the Nile. I have done this since I was a young boy, fishing with my father and my yonger brothers. About a month ago, just before the Season of Growth began, I had a persistent cough and I began to feel sick in my stomack every day while I was fishing.

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Discussion Points

Marie Curie, a Polish doctor, was the first woman in Europe to become a doctor of science. She worked in Paris with her French husband, Pierre Curie, to discover polonium and radium. They learned that radium has several important uses, such as being used in the treatment of the disease of cancer. In a small group, discuss possible new discoveries in medical science. Include issues such as: the possibility of a cure for common diseases, such as heart disease new developments in the treatment of genetic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis future developments in the early diagnosis of potentially life-threatening diseases the elimination of genetically inherited diseases. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 10: The lighthouse keeper at Alexandria writes to his brother Indicators Student reads text and completes comprehension and close exercises based on it. Student completes word study exercises in keywords, tenses and adjectives.

r o e t s Bo r Background information e p ok u S

Student learns about the Pharos at Alexandria, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Egyptian stone blocks and the modern Pyramid in the Louvre in Paris.

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This text is a letter. There are two types of letters, formal and informal. Informal letters are usually personal in tone and written in the style of one person talking to another. In this informal letter, Kenamun, the lighthouse keeper, is complaining to his brother, Hemiunu, about the difficulties of managing his staff at the Pharos. His tone is unhappy and discontented because of his troubles. The Pharos at Alexandria is usually considered to be the seventh Wonder of the Ancient World. It was the only one of the seven wonders to have a practical, functional and secular use. The port at Alexandria was divided into two sections, each of which could hold 1200 ships at a time. Egypt traded with many countries around the Mediterranean and imported copper from Cyprus and pottery from Greece.

Evidence from coins minted at the time show us how the lighthouse looked. It contained three separate levels. The first level was square, the second was octagonal, while the third level was cylindrical in shape, contained an open chamber with statues on top and had a large beacon.

Our knowledge about the lighthouse comes mainly from Arab writers and not from ancient writings. As late as the 12th century AD, Arab writers wrote about the lighthouse and described it in detail.

In 956 AD, the lighthouse was badly damaged by an earthquake and began to fall into disrepair. Historians believe that two more earthquakes in 1303 and 1326 finally destroyed the building and reduced it to rubble. Most of it disappeared under water. The ruins of the lighthouse and a lot of the rocks and stones found underwater nearby were incorporated in an Islamic fort built in 1480, which still stands today.

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Recent archaeological discoveries have uncovered a wealth of important finds in this area, including many statues, sphinxes (mythical beasts with the body of a lion and the head of a man), obelisks (tapering, needle-like stone monuments), ancient vessels and even food remains. In the 1990s, a marine explorer called Franck Goddio, along with a team of marine archaeologists, began to map and explore the submerged royal quarter of Alexandria, which had lain beneath the waters of the harbour for centuries. Using modern computer technology, Goddio and his team have remapped areas of ancient Alexandria and its harbour, including what Goddio believes is Cleopatra’s royal palace; the palace where she committed suicide on the 10 August 30 BC and ended the reign of the Ptolemies in Egypt. They have recovered more than 250 architectural pieces beneath the waters around the Pharos including 15 huge granite blocks, each weighing more than 15 tonnes. These are thought to be from the Pharos. Historians used to believe that a large 4.8-metre statue of Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods and controller of the heavens, or Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, stood on the very top of the lighthouse. There have been diverging views on what statues topped the lighthouse. Historians have argued in the past that it was one god or the other and took opposing sides in this argument. Recent marine excavations in the sea around the site of the Pharos have revealed a number of statues. Historians now believe that there may have been several statues on the top of the lighthouse, including statues of both Zeus and Poseidon. A fire of resinous wood at the base of the lighthouse was kept alight at night and, according to some ancient writers, could be seen by sailors from 50 to 60 kilometres away. During the day, giant mirrors reflected the sunlight at the top of this very high building, probably over 130 metres or thirty-five storeys high.

o c . che e r o t r s super Worksheet information

Students may find it beneficial to research the city of Alexandria and its artefacts by accessing the Graeco-Roman Museum at Alexandria website at <www.grm.gov.eg/>. Students completing Question 3 in the Exercise E will find it helpful to pay particular attention to the beginnings of the sentences in order to establish their order. When completing Question 4 in the Exercise E, students may find it useful to find more information and images of the Pyramid at the Louvre in Paris at the official website of the Louvre at <www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocate=en>. A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians is provided on pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear in Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Teachers Notes

Answers

(c)

(d)

(e)

safely work underwater. Marine archaeology is the study of wrecked ships and drowned settlements under the sea. Underwater excavation is hampered by poor visibility. Marine archaeologists have the advantage of approaching remains from any angle. Marine archaeologists use three-dimensional video recording. Locating wrecks underwater is difficult but is helped by using sonar devices. Waterproof GPS (Global Positioning Systems) are used to locate finds under the sea. The GPS method is used throughout the world today to locate specific objects. Marine archaeologists use a special system called DGPS (Differential GPS) which allows for the distortion caused by water. giant (b) resinous ancient (d) huge polished (f) octagonal royal (h) dangerous third (j) cylindrical

3. 1. Firstly, the two stones most often used by the ancient Egyptians when building monuments were limestone and granite. 2. For example, The Great Pyramid of Khufu is built mostly of limestone blocks weighing 2.5 tonnes which were quarried nearby. 3. But the other stone used in the interior of the Great Pyramid is granite. 4. However, unlike limestone, granite had to be transported by water from Aswan, which was located 800 kilometres up the Nile. 5. Secondly, limestone is a sedimentary rock, resulting from the build-up of sediments in ancient seas. 6. Granite, on the other hand, is an igneous rock, formed many millions of years ago by intense heat and pressure underground. 7. Thirdly, limestone is softer than granite but does not survive well in a polluted atmosphere. 8. Finally, compared to limestone, granite is one of the toughest of building stones and is almost indestructible. 4. (a) vi, (b) iii, (c) x, (d) i, (e) viii, (f) ii, (g) ix, (h) iv, (i) v, (j) vii

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Exercise C............................. page 78 wonders, death, building, island, Egyptian, called, ships, architect, square, large, concave, direct, sunlight, lighthouse, time, described, earthquake, reduced, under, stands, Alexandria, August, waters, blocks, from

(f)

(g)

(h)

(i)

(j)

2. (a) (c) (e) (g) (i)

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Exercise B............................. page 77 1. He has been promoted to the position of chief scribe to the vizier. 2. He says that his workers at the lighthouse are unreliable and have allowed the fire to go out twice in the past month. 3. 60 kilometres 4. If the fire is allowed to go a third time, he will be dismissed from his job. 5. In case disaster strikes and ships sink and people die because the light has gone out. 6. The fire lit at the base or sunlight. 7. Teacher check 8. He sent some workmen out to fetch resinous wood for the fire. They were found by Kenamun’s deputy two hours later playing senet by the woodpiles but by then, the fire had gone out again. 9. Teacher check 10. (c) and (e) should be ticked

Exercise D............................. page 79 1. (a) Underwater archaeologists work under the sea. (b) They are restricted by the amount of time they can

Exercise E..................... pages 80–81 1. Teacher check 2. (a) v, (b) iv, (c) i, (d) ii, (e) vi, (f) iii

Cross-curricular activities

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Students may wish to find out more about the life of Queen Cleopatra at <www.ancientegypt.co.uk>. One interpretation of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World can be seen at <www.wonderclub.com/AllWorldWonders.html> which also has a section on world wonders, ancient and modern. The city of Alexandria in ancient Egypt was a major centre of education. Subjects studied there included astronomy and science. Scholars in Alexandria were amongst the leading scholars of their day. Aristarchus, an Alexandrian scholar who lived from 310 to 230 BC, pronounced that the Earth rotated on its axis in a day and went round the sun in a year. In doing so, he narrowly avoided being tried for showing disrespect to traditional Egyptian beliefs. A helpful website on Alexandria and its scholars is <www.greece. org/alexandria/outline.htm>.

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CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

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ESS 3.6

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the letter.

The Pharos Lighthouse, Alexandria Harbour, 7th day in the Season of Harvest

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Greetings, my brother Hemiunu, I hope that all goes well in Memphis. I was informed that you have been promoted and are now chief scribe to the vizier! Congratulations to you. As for me, well, I wish I could say that things are going well with me here but I am afraid I can’t. I continue to have major staffing problems and everyday they get worse. I have a headache that won’t go away no matter how much cubeb pepper1 tea my wife makes for me. As you know, the beacon at the top of the Pharos2 at night must always reflect the light of the fire lit at the base. It glows for a distance of 60 kilometres and guides the thousands of ships that sail in and out of our great harbour here at the entrance to the city of Alexandria3. The flames are reflected in giant polished bronze mirrors that can glide around and be set in different directions. The safe navigation of the ships into the harbour at night is dependent on being guided by the beacon light. Our harbour can be difficult to navigate into as we have few landmarks. I feel the weight and responsibility of this weighing heavily on me every night of my life.

The problem is that I just cannot find dependable staff. Most of the workers here are unreliable and they have let the flame go out twice in the last month alone. I have one or two that I can trust, but not the rest. I am afraid to sleep sometimes as I fear that in the middle of the night, perhaps during a treacherous storm, they will let me down and disaster will strike. Perhaps ships will sink and people will die. I fall asleep and jump up in a sweat, worrying about the fire. The officials here in Alexandria have informed me that if the fire is allowed to go out a third time, I will be dismissed from my job. I fear for my family. What if we are cast out into the city with no money and no security? I have debts as we have just had our sixth child and I fear that I will have to sell myself into slavery. The workers don’t turn up on time for their shifts and, even when they do, they have been drinking beer4 in the harbour inns and are fit only to go asleep.

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The two incidents last month could each have been responsible for a terrible disaster. The first time, I was attending the birth of my sixth child and I had left the deputy lighthouse keeper in charge with strict instructions. According to him, the fuel for the fire was running low and he ordered five of the workers to go down and put more wood on the fire. He told them to hurry, but had to wait for an hour before they appeared, by which time the fire had gone out. At this time, several of the pharaoh’s ships were sailing into the harbour with luxury supplies for his wife and daughters and they almost collided due to the confusion caused by this. My deputy upbraided the workers and asked them why they had taken so long. All they could do was complain about the hundreds of steep steps they had to climb. He told me that he smelled beer on their breaths. I sacked them immediately.

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The second incident was a week later. I had hired new workers and was watching them like the god Horus5. I sent four of them out to cut up resinous wood for the fire. When they hadn’t returned after two hours, I sent my deputy out to look for them. He found them playing senet by the woodpiles. In the meantime, the fire had gone out once again, causing mayhem in the harbour. Pray for me, my dear brother. Regards, Kenamun. 76

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. Why does Kenamun congratulate his brother?

2. What is the problem that is worrying Kenamun?

3. How far does the beacon glow around the lighthouse, according to Kenamun?

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4. What have the officials in Alexandria told Kenamun?

5. Why does he say that he is afraid to go asleep at night?

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6. What must the beacon at Pharos always reflect?

7. In your own words, describe what happened when Kenamun was attending the birth of his son.

8. What incident occurred a week later?

9. In your opinion what is the main problem with the workers?

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10. Read the following statements and tick those that are correct.

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(b) The fire at the base of the Pharos was

fuelled by coal........................................

1. An Egyptian herbal remedy for curing headaches.

2. The beacon was designed to reflect the light of this fire, which was lit in the base every night and fuelled by resinous wood. The light was reflected by giant, concave, polished bronze mirrors at the third level, which could slide along in a groove to direct it. During the day, these mirrors reflected the sunlight and guided sailors into the port. The harbour at Alexandria was difficult to negotiate and the lighthouse and its bright beacon guided ships safely.

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(a) The lighthouse at Alexandria was called

the Pharaoh...........................................

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(d) Alexandria was a small town...................

(e) Cubeb pepper tea was drunk by Ancient Egyptians to try to cure headaches..........

3. The city of Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. It had a grided street plan and was more like a Greek city than an Egyptian one. For this reason, it was known as Alexandrea ad Aegyptum, ‘Alexandria beside Egypt’. After Alexander’s death, Ptolemy and his successors became the rulers of Egypt. Ptolemy I commissioned the lighthouse and his son, Ptolemy Phildelphus, completed it after his death. It was built on an island at the entrance to Alexandria harbour, called ‘Pharaoh’s Island’ or Pharos, to guide ships entering the harbour and to be a symbol of a proud and prosperous city. The Pharos was the first architecturally designed lighthouse ever built. It is believed that the architect of the Pharos was called Sostratos and he lived in the city of Alexandria. 4. Egyptian beer was only slightly alcoholic and it was brewed from barley and flavoured with honey, herbs and spices. Everyone drank it, including children. 5. The falcon-headed sun-god.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank square lighthouse building Egyptian

architect August called reduced

under waters ships sunlight

stands blocks large

concave island direct

Alexandria earthquake wonders

from time

death described

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The lighthouse at Alexandria was called the Pharos and it was known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was the only one of the seven

to have a practical, functional and secular use. The city of Alexandria was

commissioned the

the Ptolemies became the rulers of Egypt. Ptolemey I

of the lighthouse and his son, Ptolemey Philadelphus, completed it after his death.

The lighthouse was built on an

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founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC and after his

at the entrance to the city of Alexandria. The city of Alexandria had a

grided street plan and was more like a Greek city than an

one. It was known as ‘Alexandria ad Aegyptum’

(Alexandria beside Egypt), for this reason. The island the lighthouse was built on was or Pharos. It was built to guide

‘Pharaoh’s Island’

into the harbour and to be a symbol of a proud and prosperous city. It

is believed that the

of the Pharos was called Sostratos and that he lived in Alexandria. The lighthouse

, the second level was octagonal and the third level was © R . I . C . P u b l i cat i ons beacon. A fire, cylindrical in shape. The first level contained an open chamber with statues on top and a lit in the basement • everyf night by resinous wood,p wasu reflected large oand rfuelled r ev i ew r pbyo sesonl ypolished • bronze

had three different levels. The first level was

mirrors at the third level. These mirrors could be slid along a groove to reflected the

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and guided sailors safely into the port.

Our knowledge about the coins minted at the

the light. During the day they

comes from two main sources. We know how the lighthouse looked from

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. Arab writers also wrote about the lighthouse and

detail. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was badly damaged by an

it in great

in 956 AD and then began to fall into

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disrepair. Historians believe that two more earthquakes in 1303 and 1326 AD finally destroyed the building completely and it to rubble. Most of it disappeared an Islamic fort in 1480, a building which still

water. Its rocks and stones were used to build

today. In the 1990s a marine explorer called Franck Goddio

worked with a team of marine archaeologists to map and explore the submerged quarter of

. Using

modern computer technology, his team have remapped areas of the ancient city, which have lain under water for centuries. Goddio believes that he has discovered the remains of Cleopatra’s royal palace, the place where she committed suicide on the 10

30 BC*. Goddio’s team have also recovered more than 250 architectural pieces beneath the around the site of the Pharos. These pieces include 15 huge granite

weighing more than 15 tonnes. These are believed to have possibly come

, each

the Pharos.

* Queen Cleopatra’s suicide ended the reign of the Ptolemies in Egypt. After her death, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1.

A tense is a verb form that most often indicates time. The following sentences are written in the past tense. Can you rewrite them in the present tense, making any other changes necessary to ensure that the passage makes sense?

(a) Underwater archaeologists worked under the sea.

(b) They were restricted by the amount of time they could safely work underwater.

(d) Underwater excavation was hampered by poor visibility.

(e) Marine archaeologists had the advantage of approaching remains from any angle.

(f) Marine archaeologists used three-dimensional video recording.

(g) Locating wrecks underwater was difficult but was helped by using sonar devices.

(i)

(h) Waterproof GPS (Global Positioning Systems) were used to locate finds under the sea.

(j) Marine archaeologists used a special system called DGPS (Differential GPS) which allowed for the distortion caused by water.

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2. Adjectives are words that describe nouns. Write the correct adjectives for each sentence by choosing from the word bank.

resinous

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dangerous

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third

cylindrical

polished

huge

Ancient

giant

bronze mirrors.

(a) The lighthouse’s beacon was reflected by

(b) The fire in the basement of the lighthouse was fuelled by

(d) Fifteen

(e) The mirrors of the lighthouse were made of

(f) The second level of the lighthouse was

(g) Franck Gobbio, a marine explorer, may have found the remains of Cleopatra’s

(h) The harbour at Alexandria was

(i)

The

(i)

This level of the lighthouse was

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octagonal

wood.

World.

granite blocks have been excavated near the site of the Pharos. bronze. in shape. palace.

and difficult to negotiate. level of the lighthouse contained an open chamber. in shape. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms, which occur throughout this unit, and use them in sentences. (a) beacon: A fire or light used to guide or warn ships in dangerous waters

(b) concave: Curving in an inwards direction

(d) earthquake: A sudden release of energy in the earth’s crust, resulting in destructive seismic waves (e) granite: A light-coloured, coarse-grained igneous rock used for building

(f) lighthouse: A structure with a tower containing a light visible to sailors to warn them of danger

(g) marine archaeology: Exploration and excavation by archaeologists beneath the sea

(h) octagonal: Having eight sides and eight angles

(i) prosperous: The state of being rich, affluent or wealthy

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(j)

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2. The Pharos of Alexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Match the descriptions of the other

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six wonders with their titles. (a) The Great Pyramid of Giza

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(i) This 40 foot high statue, made of ivory and gold, was sculpted at Olympia in Greece in the 5th c BC by the sculptor Phidias.

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(b) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

(ii) This temple to the goddess Artemis was built at Ephesus in Asia Minor in the 5th c BC. It was said to have taken 120 years to complete.

(iii) This enormous bronze statue was built in 280 BC by the citizens of the Greek island of Rhodes. It represented their sun-god, Helios, and, according to legend, straddled the harbour entrance.

(d) The Temple of Artemis at Ephesos

(iv) King Nebuchadnezzar built these terraces of hanging gardens, irrigated by water pumped from the Euphrates River, for his favourite wife, Amytis, in the 6th c BC.

(e) The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

(v) This monument was built by the pharaoh Khufu. It took over 20 years to build and can still be seen today.

(f) The Colossus of Rhodes

(vi) This monument in Asia Minor was built for King Mausolus of Caria, who gave it its name, by his wife, Queen Artemisia, after his death in the 4th c BC. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3. The following sentences provide information on building stones but the order has been mixed up. Number them in the correct order.

Secondly, limestone is a sedimentary rock, resulting from the build-up of sediments in ancient seas.

For example, The Great Pyramid of Khufu is built mostly of limestone blocks weighing 2.5 tonnes which were quarried nearby.

Finally, compared to limestone, granite is one of the toughest of building stones and is almost indestructible.

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Thirdly, limestone is softer than granite but does not survive well in a polluted atmosphere.

Firstly, the two stones most often used by the ancient Egyptians when building monuments were limestone and granite.

However, unlike limestone, granite had to be transported by water from Aswan, which was located 800 kilometres up the Nile.

But the other stone used in the interior of the Great Pyramid is granite.

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© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons courtyard of the Louvre in Paris in France which opened in 1989. Designed by the architect, Ieoh Ming Pei, it caused great controversy ther time buti has now a feature of one of the world’s greatest •f oatr ev e wbecome pu r po s e s on l ymuseums. •

4. The modern world also has wonders of architecture. One of the most famous modern pyramids is the pyramid in the

The following sentences describing the design of the pyramid have been mixed up. Match each sentence beginning to its ending. (a) The architect designed an immense glass

(i) inverted glass pyramid.

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(b) This hall would provide entry to the museum’s

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(ii) is 35 metres in length.

(iii) different wings as well as to the auditorium.

(d) The Carousel would be illuminated by an

(iv) tonnes of steel girders and joints.

(e) The Pyramid is flanked by three

(v) engineered for lightweight durability.

(f) It measures 22 metres in height and

(vi) pyramid to house the vast entry hall.

(g) It is comprised of almost 800 glass lozenges and

(vii) week by a specially designed robot.

(h) The Pyramid is supported by ninety-five

(viii) smaller glass pyramids.

(i) Its glass is transparent and non-reflecting and was

(ix) triangles assembled on an aluminium structure.

(j) The Pyramid is cleaned every

(x) for educational activities and the commercial centre.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 11: The tutor to the pharaoh’s daughter writes his report Indicators Student reads text and completes comprehension and cloze exercises.

r o e t s Bo r e p o u k Background information S

Student reads key word index and completes word study exercises in direct and indirect speech and unscrambling words, correcting spellings and using a dictionary.

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Student learns about Egyptian education, the importance of music in ancient Egypt and the development of the science of acoustics.

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This text is a school report. Reports are informational texts which give specific information. This report gives information on the academic and social progress of the pharaoh’s daughter, Seshen. Her tutor, Hapu, gives detailed information on the academic subjects studied by Seshen and her progress in them to date. He also gives the pharaoh information on Seshen’s progress in music as the pharaoh has told him that he is interested in this aspect of his daughter’s education.

Although women in Egyptian society had more rights than in other ancient societies, the wives and daughters of the royal family and of wealthier Egyptians were likely to have been more highly educated than those of the poor. There is a lack of direct evidence about the levels of education achieved by Egyptian women and historians have had to rely on clues. Women who were wealthy had to have some knowledge of writing and mathematics in order to manage their servants and to keep their household accounts. Women who ran their own businesses, as some Egyptian women did, would have needed some knowledge of mathematics in order to keep their accounts. It is probable that poorer women had very few opportunities to learn the skills of reading and writing.

The daughters of the royal family and the wealthy may have been educated alongside their brothers. They would have attended classes in the royal palace and the tutors would have been resident there.

In the past, some historians took Greek music (5th century to 1st century BC) as the starting point for the study of Western music. However, some historians now believe that the Greeks were themselves influenced by the musical traditions of the Egyptians. In ancient Egypt, music was strongly linked to the sacred word and to religion and many musicians, whose names have been preserved, are buried in the royal necropolises, indicating their high status in society. The period of Egyptian history known as the Old Kingdom was particularly important for the development of music. The Egyptians believed that the laws governing music were the same as the laws governing the universe. This is the starting point for the Greek view of music.

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Music was very important in Egyptian society. It played a central role in religious ceremonies. It was part of daily life and used by labourers as they worked as well as at parties and festivals. The harp was the favourite instrument of the Egyptians and was used in religious and chamber music. The Egyptians also played flutes, double clarinets, tambourines and drums. Egyptian musicians were mostly women. They blew on pipes, plucked the strings of harps and lutes, banged on drums and shook rattles and tambourines. Bells and cymbals were also struck. The sistrum, which was a musical rattle, was used in many religious ceremonies and the Egyptian cat-headed goddess, Bastet, is often portrayed carrying one. It may be assumed that popular ancient Egyptian music bore some relation to modern Middle Eastern music, which is fast and high-pitched in tone.

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Usually Egyptian boys, and sometimes girls, had their hair shaved except for a single plaited side lock, which was known as the side lock of youth or the Horus lock, after the god Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris (who was often shown as a child). A child wore this until he or she was around 12 or 13 years of age, after which he or she was considered to an adult and the side lock was shaved off in a ritual ceremony. In ancient Egypt, knowing how to write was essential for those who aspired to wealth and power. Tutors to the royal children would have concentrated on three main areas: writing, literature and arithmetic. It would be essential for a ruler to be able to have these skills at his or her disposal. An excavated portrait of an Egyptian princess shows her holding a writing tablet. It is likely that the daughters of the nobility were educated not as preparation for rulership but for the social and cultural benefits that education could provide. Music lessons would have been an important part of this social and cultural education. As members of the upper class, Seshen and her brothers would have been expected to have a knowledge and appreciation of music. They would have been taught how to play instruments such as the harp and flute and to sing. They would have been expected to perform in front of their parents to demonstrate their skills in these areas. Cymbals were clashed to the rhythm of the dance. A sistrum was a type of rattle, which was shaken as songs and dances were performed. Sistrums usually had handles shaped in the form of Hathor, the goddess of love, music and dancing. The human voice was the most important instrument of the Egyptian priests and priestesses when they conducted sacred religious ceremonies. The tone of their voices in these ceremonies was not powerful but soft and gentle.

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Teachers Notes

Answers

Exercise B............................. page 85 1. Three: reading, writing and mathematics 2. She gets bored and invents mathematical calculations for him. 3. He says that she is extremely competitive and gets annoyed if her brothers win at anything, even a game of senet. 4. Teacher check 5. Five areas, which are the harp, the flute, the sistrum, cymbals and singing. Her favourite musical area is singing. 6. She has learned the hieratic script, unlike her brothers who are still struggling with it, and she is halfway through the hieroglyphic alphabet. 7.–8. Teacher check 9. (a), (d), (e) and (f) should be ticked

Women who ran large households needed to keep accounts and manage servants. (d) Poorer women had few opportunities to learn reading and writing. (e) The royal tutors were resident in the palaces. (f) Music was strongly linked to religion in ancient Egypt. (g) The harp was the favourite musical instrument of the ancient Egyptians. (h) Flutes, double clarinets, tambourines and drums were also played. (i) The sistrum was a musical rattle, which was played at religious ceremonies. (j) In the temples of ancient Egypt, the human voice was the most important musical instrument.

(h) (i) (j) (a)

(b)

(c)

popular funerary accompany Firstly, Pythagoras knew that the shorter the length of a string, the higher the pitch would be. He therefore experimented with strings of different length. After these experiments, he was able to demonstrate that pleasing sounds were produced when a string was divided into certain ratios. Initially, he discovered that when the length of a string is halved, an octave is formed. Secondly, he found that when the length of a string is reduced to two-thirds, the pitch is raised by a fifth. Thirdly, Pythagoras found that when a string was reduced to three-quarters, it gave the perfect fourth. Fourthly, he found that the same principle applied to the length of a column of air in a wind instrument. The work of Pythagoras has since remained the basis of musical composition in the Western world.

Exercise D............................. page 88 1. Teacher Check 2. (a) The wives and daughters of the royal family were well-educated. (b) Wealthy women who ran their own businesses needed a knowledge of Mathematics.

Exercise E..................... pages 89–90 1. Teacher check. 2. (a) iii, (b) v, (c) i, (d) viii, (e) iv, (f) ii, (g) x, (h) ix, (i) vi, (j) vii 3. (a) musicians (b) banquets (c) encouraged (d) circumstances (e) troupe (f) welcomed (g) performance

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)

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Exercise C............................. page 86 women, archaeologists, images, needed, homes, mathematics, brothers, writing, difficult, calculations, repetition, passages, ancient, properly, skills, songs, excavated, corn, understanding, play, Egypt, struck, music, musical, ceremonies, gentle

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(c)

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When completing Question 3 in the Exercise E, students may wish to use a dictionary. When completing Question 4 in the Exercise E, students may find it useful to find out more about the Greek mathematician, Pythagoras, at <www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/science/math/pythagoras.htm>. A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians is provided on pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear in Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

Cross-curricular activities

Students may wish to compare and contrast education systems from the past and present and compare the subjects studied. A good website with more information on Egyptian writing is at <www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/lifeinEgypt7.htm>. Other ancient societies also valued music greatly. Students may wish to research music in ancient Greece and Rome. A good website with information on music in ancient Greece is <www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/art/music/index.htm>. Sacred music, played at religious ceremonies, was extremely important to the ancient Egyptians and the human voice was the most important instrument. In the early Christian church, sacred music, such as Gregorian chant, was also extremely important. Students can research the development of Gregorian chant at <www.themedievalclassroom.com.au/medievaldocs/gegorian_chant.html>.

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Curriculum links

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State

Society and Environment

English

The Arts

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

AIS 4

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

VAS 3.3, VAS 3.4

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

ARMU 0404, ARMU 0504

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

DMU 4.5

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

4.6

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the school report.

School Report for Princess Seshen1, the 36th day of the Season of Growth.

Academic subjects studied2 Reading The princess has acquired excellent reading ability and can read the sacred texts faster than both her brothers. She understands all that she reads and constantly asks me questions, some of which I struggle to answer as they are so complex and probing. She can learn the texts off by heart very quickly and has excellent memory skills. She can recite them back to me almost as soon as she studies them.

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The princess has learned hieratic script much faster than both her brothers. They are both still struggling with it while the princess has now moved onto hieroglyphic script.

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Writing Hieratic:

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Hieroglyphics: I am delighted to write that the princess is halfway through the hieroglyphic alphabet and is making fine progress. She has a fine eye for the shapes and symbols of this great script and can draw marvellously. She is one of the best students I have ever had in this area of writing. Her progress has been very fast and I can report that she is working extremely hard every day in my writing class. Mathematics The princess is an excellent mathematician. I have set her many a calculation and she has always managed to solve it correctly. Sometimes she gets bored and even invents calculations for me! Her mind is logical and she works out the correct answers calmly and carefully.

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Flute: Sistrum:

The princess is an excellent harpist. She is tall for her age and can easily rest the harp on a stand while she plucks the strings. She is dexterous and plucks the strings with style and delicacy. The princess plays the flute beautifully. Seshen enjoys rattling the sistrum very much! She wears her sacred necklace, the menat3, given by your majesty, with great pride while she rattles. The princess, along with her brothers, loves to clash the cymbals. Of all the musical skills possessed by the princess, this is the one in which she excels the most. She has a beautiful singing voice, soft and gentle, and she sings very expressively. She has told me that this is her favourite subject.

Cymbals: Singing:

Behaviour

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Music Harp:

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The princess’s behaviour is usually excellent but, at times, she can be extremely competitive. This can occur especially with her younger brothers and she can get very annoyed if they do better than her in anything, even a game of senet4. I have had occasion to separate the royal siblings after such a game, as they were fighting and I feared for their side locks!

General comments The princess is a most accomplished writer, reader and mathematician. She has acquired the skills of music and singing and she is progressing very well in the royal schoolroom. I have to tell you, honestly, that she is much cleverer than both her brothers and that she learns much faster. It is a great pity that she is leaving the royal schoolroom shortly. I believe that she is due to be married early next year. I am warning you that I hope the man you have chosen has a mind to match hers, as she will prove to be a formidable wife for any royal husband. He will need to be her match if she is to find the happiness that I wish for her. Your humble servant, Hapu. 84

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. How many academic subjects does the princess study with her tutor?

2. What does the princess sometimes invent for her tutor? Why?

3. Does Hapu express any criticism of the princess? What is it?

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4. Give an example of one way Seshen shows she has excellent memory skills.

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5. How many different areas of musical skill do the princess and her brothers study? What are they and which of these

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areas is the princess’s favourite, according to Hapu?

6. What level has Seshen achieved in her writing? How does her progress in writing compare to that of her younger brothers?

8. Do you think that Hapu is wise to issue a warning to the pharaoh? What is his motivation for expressing his views

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9. Read the following statements and tick those that are correct.

(a) The three cornerstones of Egyptian education

were reading, writing and mathematics..................

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so honestly?

(b) Hieratic script was studied last in Egyptian

classrooms..........................................................

(d) The menat was a type of sacred necklace..............

(e) Students had to solve mathematical calculations....

(f) Senet was a board game in ancient Egypt..............

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1. Seshen means ‘lotus flower’ in ancient Egyptian and is an ancient version of the modern name ‘Susan’. 2. The three cornerstones of Egyptian education were reading, writing and mathematics. The writing of the easier hieratic script would have been studied first and, as students progressed, they would have been instructed in the more elaborate and artistic hieroglyphics. Mathematics was taught by means of example broken down into a series of smaller calculations, rather than abstract formulae. The form of learning used most was learning by repetition or rote. Most lessons took the form of copying out exercises and learning long passages of text. Discipline was strict, even for those taught in the royal palace, as they were expected to take their studies seriously as essential preparation for assuming power when they became adults. 3. The menat was a sacred necklace associated with the cult of the goddess Hathor and worn when playing the sistrum. 4. Senet was a popular board game played by the Egyptians. The object of the game was to get all of your games pieces around and off the board. Senet was similar to the modern game of backgammon.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank archaeologists passages corn struck

needed music mathematics writing calculations excavated gentle ancient brothers songs difficult understanding play repetition Egypt images musical homes skills ceremonies

women properly

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In ancient Egypt, the wives and daughters of the royal family and of wealthy families were much more likely to be highly educated in ancient Egypt, historians have had to rely

than those of the poor. In understanding the education of

rather than direct evidence. Clues are provided in the possessions and

of wealthy women. Wealthy women or those that held powerful positions

to be

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on clues yielded by the work of

efficiently meant managing their accounts and supervising their

able to read and write. Running their

servants. Women who ran businesses needed some knowledge of The daughters of the wealthy were educated alongside their

by private tutors in their homes and palaces.

The three cornerstones of Egyptian education were reading,

and mathematics. Students of writing would

have begun their studies with the simpler hieratic script and progressed onto the more

hieroglyphics.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i on s were expected to . Students or rote. Much of their time in school was spent copying out long of learn by • f o r r e v i e w p u r p o s e s o n l y • sacred text and learning long passages off by heart. Discipline was strict, even for those studying in the royal palaces. The

Mathematics was taught not by abstract formulae but by smaller

Egypt and royal students were expected to prepare

ability to read and write was respected greatly in

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for the assumption of power when they became adults.

at his or her disposal. Music

The ancient Egyptians considered it essential that a ruler had these

was a very important part of the religious, social and cultural life of ancient Egypt. The evidence for this can be found in

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written on papyri and the musical instruments that have

party scenes painted on tomb walls, the been

threshed the

. Music was even played as grapes were crushed for wine. Songs were sung when farm workers .

and appreciation of music. A royal princess was

Members of the upper classes were expected to have an expected to

the harp for her husband. The main musical instruments played in ancient

included the harp, which was the favourite instrument, the flute, the double clarinet, the tambourine and the drum. Bells and cymbals were

. The sistrum, which was a sacred rattle, was used in religious ceremonies. The Egyptian cat

goddess, Bastet, was often portrayed carrying a sistrum. The joy and pleasure of goddess Hathor. The most important religious voices were soft and 86

was sacred to the

instrument of Egyptian priests and priestesses as they conducted

in their temples was the human voice. When they sang during these religious ceremonies, their , not powerful and loud. Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. Direct and indirect speech are two ways of reporting what someone has said. In direct speech we use the speaker’s

original words and we use speech marks, such as single or double inverted commas (‘/”), to indicate this at the beginning and ending of what he or she says. In indirect speech, sometimes called reported speech, we report what the speaker said but we do not use the exact words and speech marks are not used.

(i) You are a servant in the royal palace and you overheard the following conversation in the royal schoolroom while Princess Shesen and her brothers were being taught by their tutor, Hapu. Note that the conversation uses direct speech.

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Hapu:

Princess Sheshen: ‘Yes, I will begin now.’

Prince Menes:

‘No, she shouldn’t begin the lesson. She started the singing yesterday, too. It’s not fair!’

Hapu:

Prince:

‘It’s always the same. Sheshen is your favourite and she gets to do everything first. It’s not fair.’

Prince:

‘Yes, I agree with my brother. She’s only a girl. We should go first.’

Hapu:

‘I will not tolerate this! You will sit and listen to your sister sing. Then it will be your turn.’

Prince:

‘We will complain to our father about this. You cannot tell us what to do. You are only a tutor.’

Shesen:

‘I want to sing and I will. I’m better than both of you anyway. Your voices are like wailing hyenas.’

Hapu:

‘I will decide who sings in my lessons and in what order.’

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‘Now, it is time to begin our singing practice. Princess Sheshen, will you begin the lesson by singing the song we have been practising all week’.

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that at once. Stop that fighting! Seshen, stop scratching Menes’s face and stop biting ©‘Stop R . I . C.Publ i cat i ons Pepi.’ •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

(ii) You decide to tell the other servants what you heard. Write what you would say, using indirect speech. Sentence beginnings have been added to help you.

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(a) Hapu said that it was time

and he .

asked Princess Shesen to

(b) She said that

(d) Then Hapu said that

(e) Prince Menes then said that

(f) Then the other prince, Prince Pepi, said that

(g) Hapu told the princes that he would not

(h) Prince Menes then said that

(i)

Then the princess said that she wanted to

(j)

Finally, Hapu told them to stop

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms, which occur throughout the unit and use them in sentences.

(a) cymbal: A thin, circular piece of brass which vibrates when clashed with another cymbal or stick.

(b) harp: A large, triangular plucked stringed musical instrument. (c) images: Pictures of persons or things represented in paintings and in sculpture.

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(d) menat: A sacred necklace associated with the goddess Hathor and worn when playing the sistrum. (e) necropolises: Burial sites or cemeteries.

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(f) ritual ceremony: A religious ceremony with an established pattern.

(g) senet: The most popular board game in ancient Egypt, played by two players with seven pieces.

(h) sidelock of youth: Egyptian children, especially boys, shaved their hair off except for a sidelock. (i) sistrum: A metal rattle used as a musical instrument, sacred to the cat goddess Bastet.

(j) tambourine: A drumhead of skin stretched over a circular wooden frame and hung with metal discs.

2. In ancient Egypt, music played a important part in every sacred ceremony and festival. The following table contains

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(a) After ten days of work, Egyptians visited their sacred temples where they honoured

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statements about Egyptian music and musicians but their beginnings and their endings have been mixed up. Match each sentence beginning to its correct ending? (i) a handle shaped in the form of the head of the goddess Hathor, the goddess of love, music and dancing.

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(b) Troupes of professional musicians played instruments

(ii) resembled the sound of wind through papyrus reeds.

(iii) their gods and goddesses with musical ceremonies.

(d) The Egyptian’s favourite musical instrument of all

(iv) Egyptians joined in with the music and danced.

(e) When the festivals and ceremonies were over, the

(v) such as the flute, the harp and the sistrum.

(f) The sistrum produced a soft jangling sound which

(vi) blindness, as it was one of the few careers open to those suffering from such a disability in ancient Egypt.

(g) The Egyptians held funerary banquets at which

(vii) an Egyptian storyteller who told stories about the gods and goddesses of Egypt.

(h) Dancing girls with castanets and ivory clappers

(viii) was the harp and it was played at all occasions.

(i) Many harpists in ancient Egypt suffered from

(ix) shaped like fish, accompanied the musicians at parties.

(j) At the end of the evening, a harpist accompanied

(x) musicians played a major role entertaining the guests.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3. There are 10 misspelt words in the following account by a female harpist. Circle each one and write it in the space provided. You may use a dictionary if you wish.

‘My name is Ahhotep. I am a harpist with the Osiris troupe of musicions and dancers. We play mainly around the city of Thebes. We play in religious ceremonies, funerary banqets and private parties. I was born blind and my mother encoraged me to learn to play the harp from a very young age, saying that it was a good career for me to follow, given my sircumstances. I am very lucky because my cousin is a dancer in the troop and she always looks after me, helping me carry my harp if, for example, we are going into a strange house to play. We are always welcommed at these parties as Egyptian people love music so much. We are also always given food and drink, and sometimes the wealthy people who employ my troupe pay us extra for our performence. I am always greatly in demand because the harp is such a popalar instrument in Egypt. At funeary banquets, I am always asked to play some sacred songs on the harp. At the end of the evening, I accompanie the storyteller as he recounts some of our ancient Egyptian legends.’

10.

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4. The ancient Greeks praised the Egyptians for their high musical standards. The Greek mathematician, Pythagoras, who lived from 582–500 BC, carried out the earliest known acoustic experiments. The word ‘acoustics’ means ‘the scientific study of sound and soundwaves’. Acoustics is also known as the physics of sound.

The following sentences discuss the research carried out by Pythagoras. However, their order is incorrect. Number them in the correct order.

Fourthly, he found that the same principle applied to the length of a column of air in a wind instrument.

Firstly, Pythagoras knew that the shorter the length of a string, the higher the pitch would be.

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Thirdly, Pythagoras found that when a string was reduced to three-quarters, it gave the perfect fourth.

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Initially, he discovered that when the length of a string is halved, an octave is formed.

After these experiments, he was able to demonstrate that pleasing sounds were produced when a string was divided into certain ratios.

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The work of Pythagoras has since remained the basis of musical composition in the Western world. Secondly, he found that when the length of a string is reduced to two-thirds, the pitch is raised by a fifth.

In a small group, discuss these ideas about music. The importance of music in modern life today. Do we value music as much as the ancient Egyptians? Which is your favourite musical instrument? Why do you like it. The future of popular music in the 21st century.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Teachers Notes

Unit 12: Queen Cleopatra’s servants gossips about their queen Indicators Reads text about the life of Egyptian servants and the queens they served and completes comprehension and cloze exercises based on the text. Completes word study exercises in keywords, vocabulary, spelling and using capital letters.

r o e t s Bo r e Background information p ok u S

Learns about Queen Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, completes an Egyptian time line, learns about Egyptian jewellery, semi-precious stones, and modern developments in marine archaeology.

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This text is a dialogue. A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people which can be spoken or written. This informal dialogue is between two servants; Neferet, Cleopatra’s personal servant and Wabet, who also works in the palace as a jeweller to the queen. As the queen’s personal jeweller, Wabet is expected to design and create pieces of jewellery for the queen according to her directions and oversee the workers in the workshops of the royal palace. Neferet and Wabet have a rare opportunity to talk and gossip together due to the fact that the queen has travelled to Memphis. There were several Egyptian queens called Cleopatra but the most famous was Cleopatra VII (the seventh) who ruled Egypt between 47 and 30 BC.

Egypt was conquered by the armies of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra was part of the Greek ruling dynasty called the Ptolemies. Queen Cleopatra was the first of the Ptolemies to learn the Egyptian language and she issued her royal edicts in both Greek and Egyptian. She was politically astute and always aware of Egypt’s pivotal position in the Mediterranean world. She was a brilliant linguist who spoke at least seven languages and provided endowment for the Great Library at Alexandria. This library was the intellectual centre of the ancient world, where female lecturers were said to have participated alongside their male colleagues. It was said to have contained almost half a million books. It was damaged during the military campaign of Julius Caesar.

The ancient Egyptians had very few slaves before the period of time known as the Middle Kingdom. From this time on (2040 BC–1640 BC), prisoners captured by the Egyptians in their wars with their neighbours were forced to work on building projects and as labourers on the land. Some Egyptians also became slaves if they fell into debt and had to settle their debts in return for shelter and food. The ancient Egyptians differed from the Romans in that they were not dependent on slavery for labour. Every Egyptian could be called upon to work on projects for the pharaoh at any time and had to obey the instructions of the Egyptian officials. During the Season of the Flood, from July to October each year, the farm labourers, free men as well as slaves, were expected to work for free for the pharaoh. The ready availability of compulsory labour meant that major building projects, such as the building of pyramids, were possible.

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A queen such as Cleopatra would have had many wigs specially made for her to wear both privately and on ceremonial occasions. The ancient Egyptians used a range of aromatic oils made from plants and herbs to burn in temples and as perfume. They imported scented oils and incense trees for this purpose. Hatpshepsut, another famous female pharaoh, sent an expedition to the land of Punt and ordered her soldiers to being back incense trees. Sometimes incense cones were worn by Egyptian women at ceremonial feasts. If incense cones were worn, they may have been extremely uncomfortable. They were made by placing a cone mixed with fat on top of the wearer’s wig. As the atmosphere got warmer; e.g. at a feast, it was assumed that these cones melted and ran down the wig and clothing of the wearer. Egyptologists are divided about the use and function of incense cones. No cones have been discovered archaeologically and some Egyptologists now believe that they may simply have been hieroglyphic symbols showing that wigs were scented.

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For thousands of years, a system of barter was used in ancient Egypt and people exchanged goods and services with each other without using money. Money was not used in Egypt until the dynasty of the Ptolemies (332 BC–30 BC) to which Cleopatra belonged. Jewellers were important workers in ancient Egypt. Their work has survived to the present day in the form of gold objects set with precious stones. The royal jewellers worked in the palace workshops and created a range of jewellery from small items such as amulets, to large ceremonial pieces for the pharaoh and his family. Several kinds of semi-precious stones were used by jewellers such as green feldspar, red jasper, orange-red carnelian, purple amethyst and dark blue lapis lazuli. To make beads, the pieces of rock were beaten with stone hammers in order to create smaller pieces. The jeweller selected pieces a little bigger than the beads would become and fixed them to plaster on his workbench to hold them in place. He drilled into the beads with a bow drill in order to make a hole through them and used quartz powder to polish them until they were smooth. They were then ready to be strung and used to make the items of beautiful jewellery that can still be seen today. The work was difficult and tedious and the workers had to sit all day with their legs folded and their backs bent. A royal jeweller such as Wabet, Cleopatra’s jeweller, would have been a privileged member of society. Both men and women wore jewellery in ancient Egypt. Jewellery often had much more than a decorative purpose. Religious charms such as amulets, dedicated to various Egyptian gods, were worn around the neck to protect the wearer against danger. Jewellery was put into the tombs of the dead and placed in the linen wrappings of mummified bodies so that they would have their use in the afterlife. Pregnant women wore amulets to protect them and their babies from harm during the pregnancy and the birth, which could be very dangerous for women in ancient Egypt. Franck Goddio is a marine archaeologist who has worked in Alexandria on underwater excavation. The recording of details and photography are difficult under water because of poor visibility. However, the underwater archaeologist has the advantage of being able to make threedimensional video recordings of remains. Physical excavation can take place underwater but the excavators are restricted by the amount of time they can safely work. 90

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Teachers Notes

Answers

2. Teacher check word search M

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S

Exercise C........................page 94 died, called, Rome, leader, suicide, dynasty, conducted, royal, centre, librarians, preservation, catalogue, books, banquets, top, warmer, significance, depiction, decorative, show, important, excavated, palaces, amulets, protect, breast-plates, tombs, use Exercise D........................page 95 1. (a) Egyptian boys, and sometimes girls, wore a sidelock called the Horus lock, named after the god Horus.

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Exercise B........................page 93 1. She has come to collect the jewellery ordered by Queen Cleopatra before she left for Memphis. 2. Wabet knows that Cleopatra is due home soon and will be expecting it to be ready. 3.–5. Teacher check 6. The consignment of lapis lazuli from the mines in has been delayed due to severe sand storms in the desert. 7. Because she wants to look her best for Caesar. 8. Teacher check 9. (a), (c) and (d) should be ticked

(b) The god Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris, who was often shown as a child in Egyptian art. (c) Mathematics was taught in ancient Egypt by being broken down into small calculations. (d) In ancient Egypt, the goddess of music was Hathor, the cow goddess. (e) Egyptian tutors honoured Imhotep, a famous scribe who also designed the first pyramid at Saqqara. (f) Egyptologists were fascinated when the Rosetta Stone was deciphered by Jean-Francois Champillion. (g) Champillion was a French archaeologist who discovered that the Rosetta Stone contained three languages. (h) Champillion found that the Rosetta Stone used Egyptian hierogplyphics, hieratic script and Greek. (i) The game of senet symbolised the struggle to reach the kingdom of Osiris and the Egyptian afterlife. (j) The Book of the dead of the scribe, Ani, shows him playing senet with his wife, Tutu.

Exercise E.................................................................. pages 96–97 1. Teacher check 2. (a) turquoise (b) lapis lazuli (c) amethyst (d) feldspar (e) jasper (f) carnelian 3. (a) vi, (b) v, (c) i, (d) ii, (e) iv, (f) iii 4. (a) iii, (b) vi, (c) vii, (d) i, (e) iv, (f) v, (g) ii 5. Teacher check

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Teachers have the option of asking two students to read the dialogue in Exercise A aloud. Students may find it beneficial to view a time line of Egyptian history at <www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/timeline.shtml> in order to complete Question 3 in the Exercise E. Students may find it beneficial when answering Question 4 in Exercise E to find out more about underwater archaeology at <www.culture.gouv. fr/culture/archeosm/en/> which has a section on Alexandria. A glossary of keywords and terms relating to the ancient Egyptians is provided on pages viii – xi for teacher reference. Many of them appear in Question 1 in Exercise E. Students will find it beneficial to check the glossary as they work through the unit. Detailed footnotes for the text in Exercise A have also been provided to assist in comprehension of Egyptian terms.

Cross-curricular activities

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Students can find out more about how Egypt became a Roman province at <www.touregypt.net/featurestories/reKings.htm>. Students can find out more about Franck Goddio’s work in Alexandria at <www.franckgoddio.org>.

Curriculum links State

Society and Environment

English

Science

ICP 4.1, ICP 4.2, ICP 4.3, PS 4.2, R 4.2, R 4.3, C 4.1, C 4.2, C 4.3, TCC 4.1, TCC 4.2, TCC 4.3

R 4.1, R 4.2, R 4.4, W 4.1, W 4.2

NPM 4

NSW

CUS 3.4, ENS 3.6

RS 3.5, RS 3.6, RS 3.8, WS 3.10, WS 3.11

ESS 3.6

Vic.

SOHI 0501, SOHI 0502, SOHI 0503, SOHI 0504

ENRE 0404, ENWR 0403

SCBS 0401, SCCS 0401

Qld

TCC 5.1, TCC 5.3, TCC 5.5, CI 5.1

Refer to website <http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au>

NPM 4.3

4.1, 4.4

4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.11

4.7

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise A: Reading Read the dialogue carefully.

Neferet: I bid you good morning, Wabet. I am here to collect the jewellery ordered from your workshops before my mistress left for her visit to Memphis. Wabet: Yes, I was expecting you. I know that Cleopatra is due to return soon. Oh dear, she is always so impatient when she orders new jewellery. She wants us to rush but if we make mistakes, she gets very angry. She ordered an elaborate gold and lapis lazuli set. Three of the pieces she ordered are ready; the earrings, the necklace and the ring, but the last piece, the amulet, will not be finished for a few days.

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Neferet: It will not be finished? She wanted them ready for her return. She is due to attend a feast with the Roman, Julius Caesar, on the evening she returns. I know she will want to look her best for him. I am going to suffer for this and so will you. You know what her temper is like.

Wabet: It is not my fault. The delay is because she ordered so much and expected it to be ready so quickly. She ordered new sets of jewellery for her personal servants and you know how many servants she has. She insists on the most complicated designs. My workers have been working night and day to complete the order. My work on the amulet has been delayed due to the fact that I have been waiting for a large consignment of precious stones to be delivered from the mines. There have been some very severe sand storms lately in the desert and the caravans of camels have had trouble arriving on time.

Neferet: This is dreadful. The last time Cleopatra lost her temper, she threw her golden diadem at me and threatened to have me whipped. She did this in front of all of the household servants and I felt so humiliated. I have served her since I was a child but sometimes she goes too far, even for a queen.

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Wabet: I understand how it must be for you. I only have to deal with the queen when she orders jewellery from me, but I have to say to you that I dread her visits to the workshop. There is always something wrong with what I do. If it’s not exactly as she ordered, she shouts at me and mocks me in front of my workers. Neferet: She is frightening when she is angry. I am only four years older than her and we played together in the palace as children. Even when we played games, she had a bad temper. If she even lost at a game of senet, she would throw the pieces at me and scream loudly. In the end, no-one wanted to play with her at all. Wabet:

o c . che e r o t r s Did you know that she wants to wear s a decorated incense cone at this banquet with the Roman? I r u e p have ordered it to be made and it is ready here for her. However, it will have to placed on her head and decorated with lapis lazuli stones while she waits. It will have to be then lit by us just before she enters the banquet hall. If anything goes wrong with this, and I’m sure you know that, at the best of times, incense cones can be tricky, she will blame us and we will all suffer at her hands.

Neferet: Wabet, please try not to worry so much. The palace gossip is that she has fallen madly in love with this Roman and is much sweeter-tempered than usual because of him. I will cover for you if you will cover for me. We will get through this together. Just give me whatever pieces of jewellery you have ready for now. 92

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise B: Comprehension questions 1. Why has Neferet come to the palace jewellery workshops?

2. Why was Wabet expecting her?

3. In your opinion, is Wabet relaxed about the return of the queen? Why/Why not?

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4. What impression of Queen Cleopatra do you get from the reaction of Neferet to the news that the jewellery ordered by the queen will not be ready for her return?

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5. Would you like to have worked for Queen Cleopatra? Give three reasons why/why not.

6. Why has there been a delay in finishing work on the amulet for the queen?

8. What do you think of Queen Cleopatra’s behaviour? Do you consider it to be reasonable/unreasonable? Give

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reasons.

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9. Read the following statements and tick those that are correct.

(a) Cleopatra sometimes wore scented incense cones

on top of her wig at banquets..................................

(b) Cleopatra did not like jewellery and banned it from her palaces............................................................

(c) Lapis lazuli was used to decorate objects in ancient Egypt.....................................................................

(d) Some stones used in Egyptian jewellery came from other countries.......................................................

(e) Cleopatra did not want to see Julius Caesar..............

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Exercise C: Cloze exercise Use the words from the word bank to complete the sentences.

Word Bank amulets tombs centre show

died leader dynasty warmer depiction important use preservation protect excavated palaces breast-plates

royal called books

librarians Rome top

catalogue suicide significance

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banquets conducted decorative

Queen Cleopatra VII, who ruled from 47 to 30 BC, was the last queen of Egypt. After Egypt had been conquered by Alexander the Great, a Greek family called the Ptolemies, to which Cleopatra belonged, became the rulers of Egypt. Cleopatra was born by suicide in 30 BC, at the age of 39. She is most famous for her love affairs with two

in 69 BC and

Caesarion, in 47 BC.

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famous Romans, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. She bore Julius Caesar a son,

in 44BC and Cleopatra then allied herself with Mark Antony, another Roman

Julius Caesar was assassinated in

. However, he was defeated by his rival for power, Octavian, at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and both after this defeat. Cleopatra was the last of her

he and Cleopatra committed

to rule Egypt and the last pharaoh of Egypt. Cleopatra was a brilliant linguist who spoke at least seven languages. She made

the affairs of state in this language. She issued her

it her business to learn and speak Egyptian and

edicts in both Egyptian and Greek. She provided endowment for the Great Library at Alexandria, the intellectual

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons were among the leading scholars of the day. The library contributed greatly to the 500 000 volumes. Its •off orGreek r e vi e w r po se sknown on l y classical writing. It was said p that u it contained a copy of every book and it• was the first of the ancient world. This library had been founded by Ptolemy I in 295 BC and was said to have contained

its books alphabetically. The library was damaged and some of its

library to

destroyed,

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by fire during the military campaign of Julius Caesar.

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A queen such as Cleopatra would have had many wigs made for private and ceremonial occasions. Egyptian paintings show incense cones worn on top of wigs at important events, such as

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made from aromatic oils mixed with fat. They were placed on atmosphere got

and funerals. Incense cones were of the wearer’s wig. It is assumed that as the

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at feasts, the cones melted and ran down the wig of the wearer, giving an intense

aromatic scent. Egyptologists are divided about the use and

discovered by archaeologists and some experts believe that their

of such incense cones. None have been in Egyptian art may have simply been

a hieroglyphic symbol to show that the wig was scented. Both men and women wore jewellery in ancient Egypt. Jewellery purpose. As queen of Egypt, Cleopatra would also have worn dramatic

often had more than a simple, jewellery to

her royal status. Jewellers were

by archaeologists. Royal jewellers worked in workshops

their work today in the many beautiful objects

, creating a range of jewellery for the pharaoh and the royal family. They created small items

in the royal

, which were lucky charms worn to

such as

items such as large ceremonial the

the wearer from evil spirits, to large designed to be worn in public. Jewellery was put into

of the dead and was placed in the linen wrappings of mummified bodies so that their owners would be

protected from danger and have their 94

workers in ancient Egypt. We can still see

in the afterlife.

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise D: Word study exercises 1. Proper nouns are the names of people, places or things. Proper nouns require a capital letter at the beginning of the word. The first word in a sentence always has a capital letter. The capital letters have been left out of the following sentences. Correct each one.

Example: ramesses the second was the ruler of egypt for over sixty years. Ramesses the Second was the ruler of Egypt for over sixty years. (a) egyptian boys, and sometimes girls, wore a sidelock called the horus lock, named after the god horus.

(b) the god horus was the son of isis and osiris, who was often shown as a child in egyptian art.

(d) in ancient egypt, the goddess of music was hathor, the cow goddess.

(e) egyptian tutors honoured imhotep, a famous scribe who also designed the first pyramid at saqqara.

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(f) egyptologists were fascinated when the rosetta stone was deciphered by jean-francois champillion.

(g) champillion was a french archaeologist who discovered that the rosetta stone contained three languages.

(h) champillion found that the rosetta stone used egyptian hierogplyphics, hieratic script and greek.

(i) the game of senet symbolised the struggle to reach the kingdom of osiris and the egyptian afterlife.

(j) the book of the dead of the scribe, ani, shows him playing senet with his wife, tutu.

2. Complete the following word search, using the words listed underneath.

©Queen R. I . C .Publ i cat i ons Word Bank Cleopatra khesbed N f Eo A r Re R i I w N G S r Np R s Je R o H n • r v e pu o s l y•amethyst I

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians

Mediterranean bracelet ring Cleopatra senet Greek jasper wigs jewellery Rome slavery amulet aromatic carnelian punt feldspar earrings lapis lazuli Roman Empire ptolemies incense cones Caesarion Hatshepsut Julius Caesar

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 1. Read these keywords/terms which occur throughout the unit and use them in sentences.

(a) Actium: Site of a naval battle between the armies of Mark Anthony and Augustus, who defeated him.

(b) amulets: Lucky charms thought to protect the wearer from harm in life and in death.

(e) feldspar: Green semi-precious stone used in Egyptian jewellery.

(f) incense cones: A cone of incense mixed with fat and placed on top of a wig.

(g) Julius Caesar: Roman dictator who was assassinated on 15 March 44 BC.

(h) khesbed: Egyptian name for lapis lazuli, a dark-blue semi-precious stone.

(i) Mark Antony: A talented Roman general who died by suicide in 30 BC.

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(d) Caesarion: Son of Julius Caesar and Queen Cleopatra.

(j) personal servants: Every pharaoh had many personal servants who looked after their every need.

(k) Rome: The greatest city of the Roman Empire, founded, according to legend, in 753 BC.

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2. Queen Cleopatra has asked you to design some new sets of jewellery for her but her servant has mixed up the order.

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Match the correct stones to the queen’s order, using the list below, so that you can make the jewellery before the queen returns.

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amethyst: purple jasper: red

turquoise: green-blue lapis lazuli: dark blue

carnelian: orange-red feldspar: green

(a) A set of matching earrings, rings and an amulet set in gold with a green-blue stone. (b) A golden diadem set with a dark-blue stone. (c) A matching set, consisting of a necklace, ring and bracelet in gold with a purple stone. (d) Silver earrings and an amulet with a green stone (e) A bracelet made from gold and a red stone. (f) A golden chain with a large orange-red stone. 96

Literacy and history – The Egyptians

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Exercise E: Cross-curricular activities 3. The time line for the civilisation of ancient Egypt is long and complex as it lasted for over 3000 years. Over this time, the Egyptians were ruled by hundreds of pharaohs. Some are now forgotten but some have left behind fabulous monuments, treasures and achievements that will never be forgotten.

The table below lists some of the most famous pharaohs, giving their era in Egyptian history. However, what they are remembered for has been mixed up. Match the correct information to the correct pharaoh. (a) Khufu

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The Old Kingdom, the age of the pyramids. (b) Hatshepsut

The New Kingdom, the age of the Valley of the Kings.

(d) Tutankhamun

The New Kingdom, the age of the Valley of the Kings.

(ii) He became pharaoh when he was only nine years of age and died suddenly at 19. Mystery still surrounds the cause of his death. His tomb, discovered in 1922, held solid gold treasure which survived intact despite the constant danger of robbery by tomb robbers.

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(i) They reformed the official Egyptian religion and instigated a brand new religion, which worshipped Aten, the Egyptian god of the sun-disc. They built a new city at the present site of El-Amarna.

(iii) She was a brilliant linguist who spoke seven languages. She belonged to the Macedonian Greek dynasty of the Ptolemies. She fell in love with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony and was the last pharaoh of Egypt. She committed suicide in 30 BC and Egypt became a province of Rome. (iv) He was known as ‘Great’ because of his fearsome reputation as a warriorpharaoh and because of his monumental building program. He claimed victory at the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites. He built a magnificent temple complex in Nubia called Abu Simbel.

She regent of a Egypt when heir © R. I . C(v) . Pbecame ub l i c t i othen swas too young to take the throne and then refused to give up power, appointing herself as pharaoh. The New Kingdom, the age reign was very prosperous. She sent an expedition to the land of Punt. of the of r the Kings. •Valley f o r evi ewHer p ur posesonl y• She wore the false beard of the pharaoh to signify power.

(e) Ramesses

The Graeco-Roman Period

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(vi) He built the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World which still exists, the Great Pyramid of Giza. Thousands of pyramid workers worked for over 20 years to build it. It was taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris in France.

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(f) Cleopatra

4. The ancient Egyptians wore robes made of linen, which suited their hot climate. Linen was a natural fabric which

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allowed the skin to breath in the intense heat. Linen was made from flax and ranged from being a coarse material worn by the poor to the finest gauze worn by Queen Cleopatra and the royal court.

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The following sentences described how linen was made but the endings of the sentences have been mixed up. Match each sentence so they make sense. (a) The Egyptian farmers cut down the flax and remove

(i) have a weighted circular whorl on one end.

(b) The flax heads are soaked and beaten in order

(ii) coarse linen cloth.

(iii) the flax heads with long combs.

(d) The fibres are spun on sticks called spindles which

(iv) sliver of fibres which is called a ‘rove’.

(e) The spinner uses her left hand to draw the twisted

(v) is balanced by the weight of the whorl.

(f) The rove is attached to the rotating spindle which

(vi) to separate the fibres from the stalks.

(g) The rove is ready for weaving into fine, medium or

(vii) prepared for spinning.

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Literacy and history – The Egyptians