Year 3 children learned about the Pharaohs, Priests and Scribes in an exciting half-day workshop with Richard, aka ThatHistoryBloke!, this week.
How better to teach our Year 3 class about Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife than by embalming a body for mummification? Neferti is – or rather, was – an Ancient Egyptian priest. Our job was to prepare him for the afterlife by learning the embalming process. Not just hands-on, but hands-in! As Wetyw (trainee embalmers), we took out his lungs, intestines, liver and stomach and give them to the 4 sons of Horus. We learned the significance of different amulets, wrapped the body and said prayers taken from ancient walls.
After Neferti had been prepared, our class had the unique chance to write hieroglyphics using an Ancient Egyptian ink recipe and bamboo or reed pens. They learned how scribes used papyrus, gum and lampblack to record the names of the dead and created memorial cartouches for our history books.
