Ancient Egypt

Beneath your feet Find and sketch the

Egyptian vase Canopic jar lid

Although much of the archaeology This canopic jar lid represents the in this gallery is from local areas, god, Imsety. Imsety was one of we also have this Ancient Egyptian the four sons of . The sons of vase. We don’t have a date for it Horus protected internal organs and don’t know much about it. The that a person needed to take to the children could think about how it got . Imsety protected the liver. to Sheffi eld. What is the story? What does the writing on the front say? It could be a good story writing task.

Sheffi eld life and times I had one of those Find counters to a game that was played by Ancient Egyptians.

What was the game called? Senet

What is it made out of? clay What on Earth? The power of nature Find a real beetle. Write an interesting fact about the beetle.

Encourage the children to look closely at the beetle. Maybe a fact could be about its colour or the number of legs it has. Children could also read the information text for facts. Treasures

Meet our What can you fi nd in here that would help an Egyptian look their best in the afterlife?

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What would you take to the afterlife to help you look good? People would be dressed in their fi nest clothes and jewels and would have their face painted to ensure they looked their best.

Look for these objects. Match each one with the reason why the Ancient Egyptians put them in their tombs. canopic jar head to protect your body and spirit in the afterlife

shabti to protect internal organs

amulet to be your servant in the afterlife

What would you want to put into your tomb?

Rich people buried their dead with lots of objects that they thought they would need to live a successful and happy life in the afterlife and to protect them on the journey there. They also buried shabtis which were models of servants so they could continue to be well served in the afterlife. The coffi n is the case that the lies inside.

Look carefully at the outside of the coffi ns. Can you fi nd the following pictures?

snake dog bird person

The mummies inside the coffi ns are called Nesitanebetasheru and Djedma’atiuesankh . For short, they are called Nesita and Djedma’at.

Nesita is lying down and Djedma’at is standing up. Zoom in to part of one case and draw it carefully.

Nesita (lying down) dates from 720-663 BC, and is the daughter of Shepi and Nesi Amon. She was middle-aged when she died and we don’t think she had children. Her skeleton is in good condition, her skin is virtually intact and her teeth were also in excellent condition when she died. The cause of her death is not known. Her inner coffi n is made of either layers of linen soaked in gum and coarse plaster, or papyrus. It is completely sealed. Inner coffi ns like this are called cartonages. On her outer coffi n is an image of the Weighing of the Heart ceremony. Djedma’at dates from around the same time, 720-650 BC and is believed to have been a priestess. She is wrapped in many metres of linen bandages and encased in a wooden coffi n decorated with painted fi gures and hieroglyphs representing scenes of mummifi cation, prayers and funeral offerings. Some of the hieroglyphs tell us that her father’s name was Peres. Body scans of her show that she was about 14 when she died. Protecting the body Can you fi nd the amulets? What do you think an amulet is? Amulets were lucky charms that were put in coffi ns because the Ancient Egyptians believed they would protect the owner from bad spells. Different amulets could provide the protection of different gods.

Can you fi nd the () amulet? Draw the Eye of Horus here.

When mummifying a body, embalmers would make a cut in the deceased’s body in order to extract organs. The Eye of Horus charm was put over the cut in the side of the body so that evil spirits could not harm the body. Horus was a god who had a fi ght with his uncle, Seth, as Seth had killed his father, . Horus’ eye was damaged but miraculously healed.

Find the amulet which represents magic and birth. What animal is it? Frog

What would your amulet be that would keep you safe? Draw it.