On Wednesday we had an Egyptian Experience Day. This was to give children context and an overview of the history we will cover this term. We began our visit with an interactive timeline activity and a short introduction to the chronology and geography of Egypt. Using the latest VR technology, the children explored the world of Ancient Egypt: visiting the inside of Rameses VI tomb in the Valley of the Kings; the Great Pyramids of Giza; the temple of Karnak and Rameses the Great’s temple at Abu Simbel as well as Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple and much much more.

We then looked at the Egyptians use of hieroglyphics to communicate in writing. We looked at the development of hieroglyphics and the consequences of this. Using Cartouches, we studied the Rosetta Stone replica artefacts, seeing how the ancient Greek at the bottom of the stone helped Pierre François Xavier Bouchard crack the code and work out what each symbol meant. After we studied the hieroglyphs, we used reed pens and traditional ink to write our own name. We saw Egyptian Art and the Canon of Proportion and saw a replica of the Egyptian plaques the Narmer Palette, which was one of the first historical records.

In the afternoon we took part in a mummification ritual and investigated the embalmers toolkit. We learnt how to embalm a body and what each step was- trying it out on our very own mummies! We found out that the bodies were so well preserved that they lasted for thousands of years. While doing this we also recapped on their science, by learning about parts of the body and remembering what their functions were. After we had removed the organs, we put them in canopic jars…ready for the afterlife!

Finally, we played Egyptian games, such as Seega, which is an abstract strategy game that originated in Egypt. Everyone worked really hard to follow the rules and some became quite competitive- wanting to beat their opponent and be the master.

It was a great day, full of lots of interesting information!