Life and Death in Ancient Egypt

Disaster has struck in ancient Egypt! The River Nile hasn’t flooded and the harvest may fail. Help us lift the curse: gather evidence from real artefacts, use drama skills to recreate village life and re-create a tomb painting by acting out the ‘weighing of the heart’ ceremony.

Suitable for Levels 1 & 2 (P2-7)
10:15 / 12:45 (2hrs)
You can download a fun post-workshop resource here.

What will my pupils do in the workshop?

Introduction

Pupils are going on an imaginary journey to an ancient Egyptian village where there is a drought. The villagers believe that they have been cursed because some people in the village are not behaving as they should.
It is the job of the class to lift the curse and they can only do this by learning more about life in ancient Egypt.
Discuss what they know about an ancient Egypt already.
Work as a class to investigate two shabti figures.

Evidence gathering

Work in teams to use material evidence to learn about the daily lives and beliefs of ancient Egyptians.
Report their findings to the rest of the class.

Recreating village life

Setting the scene – describing a village scene as a group
Work in teams to devise short scenes based around different roles/jobs in ancient Egypt. Pupils will refer to a prompt card and a selection of props. Each scene will show a rule being broken.
Present their scenes to the rest of the class who have to guess where the play is taking place and what rule is being broken.

Weighing of the heart

Learn what the ‘weighing of the heart’ ceremony is and what it represents.

A temple painting depicting the weighing of the heart ceremony has been destroyed: they must work as a group to put the six sections back together.
As each section of the painting is read out, pupils will form a human tableau to break the curse.
When the tableau is complete, teachers can take a picture.

This workshop may be complemented by a visit to our Ancient Egypt gallery.

Curriculum links and key learning outcomes

Social Studies	I can use primary and secondary sources selectively to research events in the past. SOC 2-01a
	I can compare aspects of people’s daily lives in the past with my own by using historical evidence or the experience of recreating an historical setting. SOC 1-04a
	I can compare and contrast a society in the past with my own and contribute to a discussion of the similarities and differences. SOC 2-04a
Literacy & English
Listening and talking
Tools for listening and talking	When I engage with others, I can respond in ways appropriate to my role, show that I value others’ contributions and use these to build on thinking. LIT 2 -02a
Understanding, analyzing and evaluating	I can show my understanding of what I listen to or watch by responding to literal, inferential, evaluative and other types of questions, and by asking different kinds of questions of my own. LIT 2-07a
Reading
Finding and using information	Using what I know about the features of different types of texts, I can find, select and sort information from a variety of sources and use this for different purposes. LIT 2-14a
Expressive Arts
Participation in performances and presentations	I have experienced the energy and excitement of presenting/performing for audiences and being part of an audience for other people’s presentations/performances. EXA 2-01a
Drama	I can create, adapt and sustain different roles, experimenting with movement, expression and voice and using theatre arts technology. EXA 2-12a
	Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through drama. EXA 2-13a
	I have created and presented scripted or improvised drama, beginning to take account of audience and atmosphere. EXA 2-14a