Begin by asking the students what the object shows. Do they think it is a human eye? Tell or read the story of Horus and Seth – there are lots of versions available on the internet. You may find it useful to use the Gods section of the Ancient Egypt website in For the classroom: start with the creation story then look up Horus in the catalogue of gods. Now look at the object again and notice its connection with the falcon. The struggle between Horus and Seth for the throne of Egypt is an exciting story that would make a good subject for a class play or presentation. Have students work in groups to find out more, write the script and design and make costumes. Priests and priestesses sometimes wore masks to play the parts of deities in religious rituals and students may like to try making their own masks from any suitable material.
What do amulets tell us about ancient Egyptian beliefs?
Show the class the images of amulets in A bigger picture and For the classroom. Amulets are as popular today as they were in ancient times. What charms do we like to use? Why do people think these things will bring them luck or protect them? Invite students to bring in amulets or charms from home and discuss them identifying what aspect of their lives the amulets refer to and what their symbolism is. Ask students to find out about the different kinds of amulets the Egyptians used. Who might have used them? What did the different colours and materials signify? Ask students to select the five amulets that are most useful to show different aspects of Egyptian life and beliefs and to create a museum or digital display to teach another class.
Life in ancient times was more precarious than now. This contributed to the wish to minimise risk by using amulets and by trying to find out about the future and when it was propitious to carry out a venture. Ancient Egyptians had various ways of predicting the future such as dream books and calendars of lucky and unlucky days – see More information in About the object. Discuss these ideas with the students and consider how they related to phenomena such as the rising and setting of the sun and the annual Nile floods.
Using the images in More information and For the classroom, introduce the class to the main principles of Egyptian religion and the major deities. There is a very useful catalogue of gods and goddesses in the Ancient Egypt website. How did the environment affect the way the Egyptians saw the world? Why did they have so many gods and goddesses? Why are they often shown as half-human, half-animal?
Explain how Egyptian temples operated, the importance of daily offerings and processions, and the different jobs done by priests and priestesses. Use the resources in More information and the temple interactive in For the classroom. Why was temple-building so important to Egyptian kings? What did it mean to be a priest or priestess? How did it feel as an ordinary person to have to stay outside the temple?
Discuss the differences and similarities between ancient Egyptian religion and the way people worship today. Is there still a difference between national religious events such as royal weddings, Remembrance Sunday, state funerals, and the way people worship at home and in the community? Invite students to share their own experiences. Do they make offerings or perform acts of charity? Do they take part in religious processions? What happens at weddings and funerals? Do they pray at home or go to a special place? Are there parts of their place of worship where only priests can go?
Use the resources in More information and For the classroom to discuss the daily lives of the priests and priestesses who worked in temples and the different jobs they did. Compare temple life with everyday life outside the temple walls. Ask students to imagine themselves in one of these situations and write an account of a day in their life.
Why did the ancient Egyptians show their gods with animal heads?
Many of the Egyptian gods and goddesses are shown with human bodies and animal heads. Explore these using the Gods section of the Ancient Egypt website in For the classroom. Assign groups a deity and ask them to find out what qualities that deity has that makes them special and how that connects with the animal with whose head they are shown. Explain that the Egyptians used the animal heads to identify the gods and show their qualities and did not believe that the gods actually had animal heads. Extend the enquiry to look at the use of animals as offerings to gods: pilgrims to temples often offered mummified sacred animals to the gods and goddesses and could buy these ready-made from stalls outside.
The Eye of Horus provides an opportunity for some cross-curricular work in maths. Using the interactive website in For the classroom, look at Egyptian numbers with the class and show them how the Egyptians wrote fractions using the Eye of Horus. Try some simple problems with the students, then ask them to add up the different fractions and see what they get. Is the Eye really whole, or did Thoth need to add some of his magic to fix it?
What do amulets tell us about ancient Egyptian beliefs?
Show the class the images of amulets in A bigger picture and For the classroom. Amulets are as popular today as they were in ancient times. What charms do we like to use? Why do people think these things will bring them luck or protect them? Invite students to bring in amulets or charms from home and discuss them identifying what aspect of their lives the amulets refer to and what their symbolism is. Ask students to find out about the different kinds of amulets the Egyptians used. Who might have used them? What did the different colours and materials signify? Ask students to select the five amulets that are most useful to show different aspects of Egyptian life and beliefs and to create a museum or digital display to teach another class.
Life in ancient times was more precarious than now. This contributed to the wish to minimise risk by using amulets and by trying to find out about the future and when it was propitious to carry out a venture. Ancient Egyptians had various ways of predicting the future such as dream books and calendars of lucky and unlucky days – see More information in About the object. Discuss these ideas with the students and consider how they related to phenomena such as the rising and setting of the sun and the annual Nile floods.
Using the images in More information and For the classroom, introduce the class to the main principles of Egyptian religion and the major deities. There is a very useful catalogue of gods and goddesses in the Ancient Egypt website. How did the environment affect the way the Egyptians saw the world? Why did they have so many gods and goddesses? Why are they often shown as half-human, half-animal?
Explain how Egyptian temples operated, the importance of daily offerings and processions, and the different jobs done by priests and priestesses. Use the resources in More information and the temple interactive in For the classroom. Why was temple-building so important to Egyptian kings? What did it mean to be a priest or priestess? How did it feel as an ordinary person to have to stay outside the temple?
Discuss the differences and similarities between ancient Egyptian religion and the way people worship today. Is there still a difference between national religious events such as royal weddings, Remembrance Sunday, state funerals, and the way people worship at home and in the community? Invite students to share their own experiences. Do they make offerings or perform acts of charity? Do they take part in religious processions? What happens at weddings and funerals? Do they pray at home or go to a special place? Are there parts of their place of worship where only priests can go?
Use the resources in More information and For the classroom to discuss the daily lives of the priests and priestesses who worked in temples and the different jobs they did. Compare temple life with everyday life outside the temple walls. Ask students to imagine themselves in one of these situations and write an account of a day in their life.
Why did the ancient Egyptians show their gods with animal heads?
Many of the Egyptian gods and goddesses are shown with human bodies and animal heads. Explore these using the Gods section of the Ancient Egypt website in For the classroom. Assign groups a deity and ask them to find out what qualities that deity has that makes them special and how that connects with the animal with whose head they are shown. Explain that the Egyptians used the animal heads to identify the gods and show their qualities and did not believe that the gods actually had animal heads. Extend the enquiry to look at the use of animals as offerings to gods: pilgrims to temples often offered mummified sacred animals to the gods and goddesses and could buy these ready-made from stalls outside.
The Eye of Horus provides an opportunity for some cross-curricular work in maths. Using the interactive website in For the classroom, look at Egyptian numbers with the class and show them how the Egyptians wrote fractions using the Eye of Horus. Try some simple problems with the students, then ask them to add up the different fractions and see what they get. Is the Eye really whole, or did Thoth need to add some of his magic to fix it?
