ANCIENT EGYPT

2nd grade ITWA

Egyptian civilization
developed along the Nile
river in eastern Africa
about 3000bc.
People lived along the Nile
River, one of the largest in
the world.
Every year the river
flooded and depositing
rich soil in the fields for
crops.

Beliefs/Religion
Egyptians believed in many different gods that controlled important aspects
of their life.
There were up to 1000 gods. Many gods were depicted as humans with
animal heads.
Important gods: RA- sun god, Anubis-mummification god, Osiris- was god of
the underworld. He is always shown with crook and frail- signs of royalty,
status, rule
Pharaohs were considered god-kings. Their subjects thought they
controlled the flooding of the Nile and every other aspect of life. They kissed
the ground they walked on and worshipped them after they died.

Ancient Egyptian Art

The function of the art was originally for religious and for
burial purposes
Majority of art such as paintings and sculptures was made
to decorate the darkness of temple interiors, away from
public view or buried with the dead in tombs to protect and
sustain them in afterlife.

 Every example of Egyptian art strictly adheres to the same style

called frontalism, which means that the head of the character is
always drawn in profile, while the body is seen from the front.
Colour was important, especially with gods
black and green = Osiris, god of underworld, red = Seth, god of
chaos,
blue = sky as reflected in the Nile, to represent
divinity, golden yellow = protective hue, ruddy shade = males,
paler tones = females

LIFE AFTER DEATH

The Ancient Egyptians believed the dead would need their bodies and their
belongings for the after life
They preserved the bodies and then wrapped them in cloth to make mummies. They
placed them in coffins called sarcophagus.
The sarcophagus were pieces of art intended to be pleasing and recognizable as the
person

On the sarcophagus men and women had ceremonial beards, wigs and jewelry.
Their eyes were always outlined. Eye makeup was not used for beauty, the dark
eyeliner gave protection from the bright sun, and helped to keep insects away from
the eyes.
Pictures on the outside and inside the sarcophagus told a story of the person
Gold, glass and stones decorated the cases
Each sarcophagus had the pharaohs cartouche- their name written in hieroglyphs.

Design your own Sarcophagus

Image you are a Pharaoh and you

designing your sarcophagus. What would
it look like?

Egyptian Patterns

Info for the ITWA teachers

Materials:
Thick white paper cut out sarcophagus
Oil pastels
Gold pens
Hieroglyphics handout
Hieroglyphics stencils
Long paper strip for students names stenciled in hieroglyphics
1. Before starting go over Egyptian patterns -circles, squares, triangles, shapes.
2. Draw face. Find middle of head. Place guide dot 2 to 3 inches from top center of
head. Make two more dots equal distance from center dot. Connect the dots.
3. Then make a u shape connecting the line
4. Guide kids in drawing facial features
5.Let kids design the rest and show examples
6. Use oil pastels to color in. Instruct kids to leave some areas for gold
embellishments
7. As kids finish hand out long strips of paper for them to stencil their name in
hieroglyphics with black sharpie.