Week 2: Egyptian Art

Lesson:

The Egyptian civilization spanned from approximately 3,000 – 1,000 BC, that’s 2,000 years! How many years has America been a country?? We divide these years into 3 sections: The Old Kingdom, The Middle Kingdom, and The New Kingdom. Each of these periods of time were made up of dynasties – across the 3 Kingdoms there were 20 dynasties in all! A dynasty is a period of time where a series of rulers, usually from the same family, were in charge. These leaders were called pharaohs and Egyptians believed these rulers were gods. Wouldn’t it be funny if we thought our president was a god???

But as these pharaohs changed, so did the art – each leader brought their own ideas to Egyptian art and influenced the kind of painting, statues, and monuments that were created. Because Egyptians believed the pharaohs were gods, they needed really exciting burial sites. A burial site is a place someone is buried when they die. Where do we bury people today? Pharaohs were buried in rooms, deep inside large and interesting buildings.

In the New Kingdom we have the tomb of King Tutankhamen, more commonly known as King Tut. His tomb is special because it was discovered in 1922 largely untouched – most of the other pharaoh’s tombs had been robbed! Why do you think they were they robbed?

Because the pharaohs liked to bury themselves in gold coffins (King Tut’s was 250 pounds of solid gold!!), and with lots of other treasures surrounding them inside their tombs.

What is your most special treasure right now? Would you want to bury it inside the ground? Why do you think the Egyptians buried their treasures in tombs?

We believe they Egyptians did this so they would have things to take with them after death!

But the Old Kingdom is where we’re going to spend some time – specifically in the Fourth Dynasty at the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx.

These pyramids are 450 feet tall – about as tall as a building with 35 floors! They were designed differently than in the earlier dynasties – here the King’s burial chamber is located in the middle of the structure, instead of in the basement.

The pharaohs thought this would safe guard all their gold and treasure from robbers. They also included “airshafts” or small tunnels which pointed towards the Orion constellation. This was an “escape hatch” for the pharaoh to ascend to the stars.

The Great Sphinx at 65 feet tall, was carved out of stone (instead of stacked stones like the pyramids) and shows the head of a pharaoh on the body of a lion.

These large buildings were made to show the Egyptian people how powerful their rulers were. Remember, there were no cranes or bulldozers back then. Men built these by carrying large stones by hand! Would you sign up to do that kind of work??

Now let’s play a game: What would you do with an Egyptian Treasure?

Let’s pretend you discover an Egyptian tomb and inside is a beautiful golden cup – what would you do with it?

sell it
rebury it
keep it
give it to a museum

Now what do you think each of these guys would do with it and why?

a grave robber
an ancient Egyptian
a selfish collector
an archeologist

Videos:

‘Ancient Egypt 101’ from National Geographic – may be most appropriate for ages 8+, includes images of mummies and slightly more advanced language:

‘A Kid Explains Ancient Egypt’ is a cute introduction into Egyptian culture presented by a kid! Language is more accessible than the National Geographic video, but does still show some images of mummies:

Art Project Options:

Do one or all of these projects – we did all and in this order. I do think doing each helped them to truly understand the structure of a pyramid

Design the inside of a pyramid using this printable – how will you keep the robbers away from your treasure?! What other clever tunnels, shafts, and secret rooms will your pyramid include? Design the inside of a an Egyptian Pyramid Free Printable