Year 4 - Ancient Year 4 History - Lesson 3 Lesson 3

THE ART OF COMMUNICATION Part 2: Communicating in print

With the River providing everything that the They would use strips of papyrus from the inner stem PART I: Quiz ancient Egyptians needed in order to survive, they of the plant and make two piles of papyrus strips, one were able to dedicate time to discovering their horizontal and the other vertical. surroundings and using natural resources to their 1) The ancient Egyptians were a largely self-sufficient society. Why did they choose to trade? advantage. Then, they would cover the strips with a linen cloth and apply pressure with a mallet (a type of hammer) or A lot of people wanted the opportunity to be merchants They used papyrus harvested on the banks of the River stones. Over time, the strips would bind together and They wanted to strengthen their civilisation and gain trade partners Nile to make papyrus . form one single, flat sheet of papyrus paper. They had a lot of spare resources that they wanted to get rid of

2. What happened if relationships turned sour between merchants or if a debt was owed? ______Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Cut the stem from the papyrus Cut the stem into strips Lay the strips on top of each 3. What were the oars of the trade ships made out of? plant other in two pile, one vertical, one horizontal ______

Using the space provided, draw and label a typical ancient Egyptian trading ship.

Step 4: Step 5: Step 3: Soak the papyrus strips then Apply pressure with a mallet Over time, the papyrus would cover with a linen cloth bind together to make paper

You can try this at home, using strips of scrap paper, paper towels, brown paper bags or An Example of how the Egyptians used papyrus anything else lying around.

GLOSSARY hieroglyphs an object that represents a word, syllable or sound. hieroglyphics ancient Egyptian system.

Rosetta Stone a stone slab found in 1799 near Rosetta which had ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics inscribed on it. papyrus a material made from the stem of the papyrus plant and used to make paper. mallet a hammer with a large, wooden head.

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What are hieroglyphics?

From as early as 3000 BC, the ancient Egyptians Did you know...? Did you know...? began using pictures and symbols as a form of written It took scholars twenty communication. The word hieroglyphics years to decipher comes from the Greek what was written on the meaning ‘sacred writing’. Before they began making papyrus paper, these symbols would be inscribed on walls and stones. Hieroglyphics was a very complicated way of writing involving thousands of symbols. Some of these symbols represented individual sounds, much like our modern day , and others represented entire words!

Hieroglyphics could be written in almost any direction: left to right, right to left or top to bottom. The reader would have to figure out which way to read them by looking at the direction of the symbols. Furthermore, the ancient Egyptians did not use any punctuation. As well as being a Detail of hieroglyphics inscribed on a stone wall tool for written communication, one of the main goals in writing hieroglyphics was that the writing would look like art and be beautiful to look at.

Ancient Scribes

Writing in hieroglyphics was a complicated task; it took years of education and practice to be able to accomplish this skill. As a result, some ancient Egyptians were trained from the young ages of six and seven to become scribes.

Scribes, much like merchants, were held in high esteem in Hieroglyphics being scribed into papyrus paper ancient Egypt. Scribes did not have to pay taxes or enter the army and only the children of very wealthy people were able to train as scribes.

How were hieroglyphics discovered?

In 1799, a French soldier found a special stone in the small town of Rosetta on the Mediterranean coast in Egypt. This stone was 114 centimetres high, 72 centimetres wide and weighed approximately 760 kilograms. The writing on the stone was thought to have been written by a group of The Rosetta Stone on display at the British Museum priests in Egypt to honour the Egyptian pharaoh. It listed all of the good things that the pharaoh had done for the priests and the people of Egypt.

As historians, the discovery of this stone was pivotal in our understanding of ancient Egyptian writing system. Because this stone had the same message written in both EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS EGYPTIAN hieroglyphics and Greek, scholars were able to use the Detail of hieroglyphics inscribed on the Rosetta Stone Greek to translate what the hieroglyphics said. This allowed them to create a hieroglyphic alphabet which was used to translate the ancient Egyptians’ writing system. Page 12 Page 13 © 2020 Charles Dickens Primary School © 2020 Charles Dickens Primary School Year 4 History - Ancient Egypt Year 4 History - Ancient Egypt Lesson 3 Lesson 4

Part 4: Hieroglyphics activity THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BELIEF SYSTEM Can you write your name in hieroglyphics? PART I: Quiz 1) Can you explain how the ancient Egyptians made papyrus paper? ______

2) Was everybody able to become a scribe in ancient Egypt? Tick one: Yes, everyone could read and write! If people wanted to be scribes then they could train Only the children of wealthy people could be scribes

3) When was the Rosetta Stone discovered? ______

4) Who discovered the Rosetta Stone? ______

5) How heavy was the Rosetta Stone? ______

6) Where is the Rosetta Stone now? ______

7) Can you detail two ways in which hieroglyphics differ from our modern alphabet and writing system?

i) ______Can you write a fact you have learnt so far about the ancient Egyptians in hieroglyphics? See if your partner can decode your fact! ii) ______

8) Why was the discovery of the Rosetta Stone so vital to scholars around the world? ______

GLOSSARY polytheism the belief in and worship of more than one god. deities gods and goddesses.

a stone pillar, usually erected as a monument or landmark. Pylon gateway to a temple.

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