Mummifying Barbie!

Last week, after learning about how the Ancient Egyptians mummified their dead, we decided to have a go ourselves! However, our version wasn't quite as gruesome!

Each small group was presented with a 'dead' Ancient Egyptian. We had to pretend to remove the organs and follow the instructions for mummification that we wrote last week. Then we wrapped them in bandages.

Then we learned about the tombs in Ancient Egypt and discovered what might be buried with the dead person. We looked at this fantastic website to learn all about it:

Source:

http://www.salariya.com/web_books/mummy/coffins/pages/coffins_goods.html 

Once our dolls had been mummified, it was time to make their tombs. We made the tombs, then used plasticine to make all the items that they would need to take with them into the afterlife.

We made shabtis, which are small statues of people, who the Ancient Egyptians believed would come to life and be your servants in the afterlife. We also made food, weapons, furniture, pets, jewellery and many other items that the Ancient Egyptian believed a person might need when they reached the afterlife.

On Friday, we decorated the tombs in the style of the tombs that have been discovered by Egyptologists. We wrote spells like those found in the Book of the Dead and made sure that the Eye of Horus and the life symbol were on the outside of every tomb. On the inside of the tomb, we added wall drawings of the person when they were alive, in their favourite clothes doing things they enjoyed, such as dancing or eating!