Resource created by Kirkless Musuems and Galleries

Curriculum links: KS2 History: “students should study the achievements of the earliest civilizations” 

Context: 

Around 6000 BC, people began to settle around the area now known as Egypt. The River Nile provided arable soil for farming due to regular flooding, as well as food such as fish and resources due to good transport links.  

The first Pharaoh (king) ruled Egypt around 3100 BC, beginning a civilisation which would last over 3000 years. Historians break this up into different periods: 

• Early Dynastic Period (3100 to 2575 BC) - First use of hieroglyphic script 

• Old Kingdom (2575 to 2150 BC) - Known to us as the Age of the Pyramids 

• First Intermediate Period (2130 to 1938 BC) 

• Middle Kingdom (1938 to 1630 BC) - A cultural transformation of art and entertainment 

• Second Intermediate Period (1630 to 1540 BC)  

• New Kingdom (1540 to 1075 BC) - Tutankhamun reigned for 10 years during this period 

• Third Intermediate Period (1075 to 656 BC) - A time of drought and famine 

• Late Period (656 to 332 BC) - Invaders took control of Egypt, under King Darius I 
• Macedonian and Ptolemaic Egypt (332 - 30 BC) - Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, before the Romans took over in BC 30.  

Although this period spans over 3000 years, aspects of the culture remained extraordinarily similar throughout.  

Learning objectives:  

1. Understand the role of people local to Kirklees in uncovering evidence from ancient Egypt 
2. Identify key features of ancient Egyptian life using objects 
3. Describe ancient Egyptian beliefs about death 
4. Explain what evidence can tell us about ancient Egyptian daily life 

Discussion and Activity Ideas: 

1. Literacy: Write a definition of ‘civilisation’ 
2. Reading: As a class, read the Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo. 
3. Disciplinary Skills: Study the sources above, make inferences about the ancient Egyptians.  
4. Art: Create and decorate an ancient Egyptian Necklace. Using a paper plate to cut out the shape, tie string to fasten the necklace and then decorate with gold, beads and paint.  
5. Science: Mummify an orange! Find out how on https://www.yac-uk.org/activity/mummify-an-orange 
6. Oracy: Debate whether you think the objects brought to England should be returned to Egypt. 
7. British Values: One punishment for committing a crime in Ancient Egypt was to become a slave. What punishments do we use in Britain today?

   Glossary: 

   1. Archaeologist – Someone who studies buildings, graves, tools and other objects of people who lived in the past 
   2. Artefact - An object made by a human that is historically important
   3. Cartonnage – An ancient Egyptian mummy material made of thin layers of papyrus or linen glued together
   4. Civilisation – A society that is socially and culturally advanced compared with others at the time.
   5. Colony – A country or area controlled politically by a more powerful country that is often far away.
   6. Dynasty – A series of rulers from the same family
   7. Empire  - A group of countries ruled by a single monarch.
   8. Manufacturing – Making things using tools or machines 
   9. Mummification – A way of preserving a dead body; the ancient Egyptian process took 70 days 
   10. Pioneer – Someone who is the first to do something important 
   11. Resurrection – The idea of coming back to life after death 
   12. Subscription – A way to receive something by payment in advance