Teacher’s Guide for Calliope Majestic Karnak, Egypt’s Home of the Gods September 2009 Teacher’s Guide prepared by: Nancy Attebury, B.S. Elementary Ed., M.A. Children’s Literature. She is a children’s author from Oregon. In the Beginning pg. 4 (Drawing conclusions) Use pgs. 3 and 4 and the facts below to get answers. FACT: Karnak structures are north of Luxor today, but were inside the city of Thebes long ago. QUESTION 1: How would the area of Thebes compare in size to the city of Luxor? FACT: Karnak was the site of local festivals. QUESTION 2: What good would it do to have Karnak in the middle of Thebes instead of on the edge? FACT: King Montuhotep II, a 11th Dynasty king, conquered many centers of power. QUESTION 3: Why could Montuhotep II unify Egypt? FACT: Set and Horus poured “the waters of life” over the pharaoh Seti I. QUESTION 4: Why were the “waters of life” important to a ruler? Karnak Grows pg. 5 (Gathering information) Place Hatshepsut, Senwosret, Amenhotep III, Thurmose III, and Amenhotep I in the correct blanks. Ruler’s name What the ruler did Added a new temple to honor Mut, Amun’s wife. Added a building that became the Holy of Holies. It was called Akh-Menu Remodeled a temple that had been damaged by floodwaters. Made a temple four times larger than it was before. Destroyed the front of Senwosret’s old temple. A Beehive of Activity pg. 8 (Deducing) Use the article from p. 8 and the map plans on p. 11 to mark the statements as true or false. 1. _______ The lake inside the Temple of Amun-Re is longer than the lake in the precinct of Mut. 2. _______ The precinct of Montu is smaller than the precinct that honors Amun-Re’s wife. 3. _______ There are five temples inside the Temple of Amun-Re. 4. _______ The temple of Amen-Re faced south. 5. _______ The great Hypostyle is between the Second and Third Pylon 6. _______ A massive mud-brick wall was built during the 19th Dynasty to make the Amun-Re Enclosure. Celebrating Opet pg. 11 (Group work) 3 groups Have each group research one festival-- the Opet Festival, the Festival of the Beautiful Valley (sometimes called the Beautiful Festival of the Valley), or the Heb Sed Festival. Ask each group to tell why the festival was held, where it was held, when it was held, and what kind of activities took place. Use the article and the websites below to gather the group information. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/festival.htm http://www.philae.nu/akhet/Opet.html http://www.philae.nu/akhet/FeastofValley.html Standing Guard pg. 14 (Reasoning) 1. Why did columns have a marsh-plant theme? 2. What names were inscribed on the columns? 3. How did the walls “talk”? 4. What did the outer walls of the Hypostyle Hall show? 5. How did the ordinary people know where to stand in the Hypostyle Hall? When First is Last pg. 18 (Creative art) Pretend you are in power today. Make a class list of decorative scenes to put on a pylon that show peaceful scenes instead of violent scenes when meeting others. Draw a pylon with a peaceful scene. Let’s Take a Closer Look pg. 20 (Creative art and language) Work in small groups. Use drawings of animals, people, or plants to create a hieroglyphics alphabet for letters A-Z. Write your own name with the symbols. Share your alphabet and name with the class. The Gods at Karnak pg. 24 (Interviewing) Pretend the Gods Amun, Mut, Montu, Min, and Khonsu are visiting your room. Refer to the article and write a question for each god. Take turns being a god and answer a question asked by a classmate. Make sure everyone gets to answer a question. The Royal Deities pg. 32 (Vocabulary) Choose 6 words and create 6 sentences that could be true about gods. harmony rituals heritage dynasty patron propaganda beautified feat liberation exotic legitimate purified Twins! Hatshepsul’s Obelisks pg. 36 (Measuring and researching) Work on the playground. Measure and mark the height (length) of the four (4) obelisks mentioned as they would have been when still in the quarry. Check out pictures of world obelisks. To do so, type the following into a search engine. “Obelisk of Rome” “Obelisk of United States” “Obelisk of Turkey” “Obelisk of London” “Obelisk of Paris” Akhenaten at Karnak pg. 38 (Ordering) Number the statements 1-6 in the order they happened. ____ Tut returned the capital to Thebes. ____ Horemheb tried to remove Akhenaten and his family from history. ____ Amunhotep deprived other priests of power. ____ Amunhotep added things to the Karnak temple. ____ The Aten temple was constructed of small blocks. ____ The capital city was moved north of Thebes. End of an Era pg. 40 (Reading for understanding) Work with a partner. Divide the questions so you each have 4. Use the article to find your answers and share them with your partner. 1. Why did Thebes lose its importance? 2. Who came to power in the fourth century? 3. What part of Karnak did Constantine have moved to Rome? 4. What happened to Karnak’s Festival Hall? 5. How did it come to be that no one could read the temple inscriptions? 6. What kind of powers did some people think the temple ruins possessed? 7. When did restoration begin on Karnak? 8 . What happens with Karnak today? Answer Key: In the Beginning pg. 4 1. It was larger than Luxor. 2. It was easier for more people to get to its celebrations. 3. Because he conquered many centers of power. 4. The “waters of life” keep everything going. Karnak Grows pg. 5 Ruler’s name What the ruler did Amenhotep III Added a new temple to honor Mut, Amun’s wife. Thurmose III Added a building that became the Holy of Holies. It was called Akh-Menu Amenhotep I Remodeled a temple that had been damaged by flood waters. Senwosret Made a temple four times larger than it was before. Hatshepsut Destroyed the front of Senwosret’s old temple. A Beehive of Activity pg. 8 1. F 2. T 3. F 4. F 5. T 6. F Standing Guard pg. 14 1. To refer to the environment of the island of creation. 2. Names of kings who built the hall. 3. The inscriptions told a story. 4. The military achievements of kings. 5. The rekhyt marked the place. Akhenaten at Karnak pg. 38 __5__ Tut returned the capital to Thebes. __6__ Horemheb tried to remove Akhenaten and his family from history. __2__ Amunhotep deprived other priest of power. __1__ Amunhotep added things to the Karnak temple. __3__ The Aten temple was constructed of small blocks. __4__ The capital city was moved north of Thebes. End of an Era pg. 40 1. Other people conquered it 2. Roman emperor Constantine 3. An obelisk 4. It was converted to a church 5. Egyptians became Christian or Muslim and began speaking Arabic 6. Magical power 7. After 1858 8. It is an open-air museum that many people visit and many people work to preserve it .