Gods and Religion – Who Were the Gods?

Gods and Religion – Who were the gods?

Curriculum mapping

History KS2

• the achievements of the earliest civilizations – an overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer, The Indus Valley, Ancient Egypt, The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China

Computing KS2

• use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and be discerning in evaluating digital content • select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information

Introduction activity

Discuss the fact that the Ancient Egyptians believed in many different Gods.

Watch the video here and discuss how this amulet was worn for protection as this God Nefertem, (also spelled Nefertum or Nefer-temu) was, in Egyptian mythology, originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world. Nefertem represented both the first sunlight and the delightful smell of the Egyptian blue lotus flower. Nefertem was the god of both healing and beautification, perfumes and aromatherapy. It is thought that carrying Nefertum as a good luck charm warded off negative forces and gave protection. Nefertem was the god who helped raise the sun into the sky, passing it to Ra as you would give a flower to a guest at an ancient Egyptian party. In the mornings, the water lily flower opens up with the sun, giving the Egyptians a strong connection between this particular Egyptian plant and the heavenly body This is the name of Nefertem in hieroglyphics

Main part of the lesson

Explain that many of the Gods were thought to represent different aspects of Egyptian life for example Horus was the god of the sky.

• Use the pages 21 and 22 of the LGfL Active worksheet resource and an AR device if possible, or these images below to discuss a few of the different Gods and ask the class if they know what they each represent.

www.ancientegypt.lgfl.net © London Grid for Learning

NB – for teacher reference

Egyptian Gods Represents

Osiris – male God of the underworld and the dead Bastet – female God of protection as well as cats, dance, music, joy, love and family Anubis – male God of mummification and the afterlife Horus – male God of the sky Thoth - male God of writing and knowledge Ra – male God of the sun, Sobek – male God of the Nile, fertility, crocodiles and the military

www.ancientegypt.lgfl.net © London Grid for Learning Explain that in this lesson you would like pupils to research one of the Egyptian Gods, either from the above list or another preferred God.

Explain that you would like the pupils will need to find out 5 key pieces of information using web site sources (found by yourself if necessary), And/or the AR activity within pages 21 and 22 of the LGfL Active worksheet resource.

They will need to research:

• name of God • symbol of the God • what the God represented • gender of the God • one more interesting fact

Explain that once this information has been found and notes taken, you would like this information presented in a chosen presentation method.

• Pupils could add information into a database using j2data (if available), Excel or a school database resource or a simple presentation resource such as Word, J2e5 or the tools within j2Office.

• Pupils may use the LGfL Egypt VR resource, if able, to also explore the temple as there are some of the Gods discussed above as carvings on the temple walls.

Plenary

Share and discuss some of the pupil presentations.

Watch the video clip here about the Jackal God Anubis. The video mentions how they are more than sure that this is an original artefact.

• Ask the class, how do archaeologists nowadays prove the validity of an artefact? • What do they do to prove it’s a real ancient piece?

Carbon dating if it’s an organic material (e.g. this artefact is wood which was once living)

Discuss also the interesting fact that Akhenaten who was the pharaoh who tried to change the Ancient Egyptian belief in worshiping many gods to his belief that there was only one god - Aten. Aten was the disk of the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology, and originally a part of the god Ra. However, this change in worship by Akhenaten was not widely accepted at all. After his death, his monuments were dismantled and hidden, his statues were destroyed, and his name excluded from the king lists! After his death the ancient Egyptians went back to their traditional worship of many gods and when many years later rulers founded a new dynasty, they totally discredited Akhenaten, referring to him as "the enemy" or "that criminal" in written records.