Ancient Egyptian Art and Culture: Story Part 1 – Grades K-3
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Docent Instructions: The word Pause is the suggested point in which to pause the story and to ask your students to share ideas with the students next to them about what they learned in the previous part of the story for approximately 1 to 3 minutes. This allows for cooperative learning to occur.
Ancient Egyptian Art and Culture: Story Part 1 – Grades K-3
Copyright Denise T. Federico 6/03/05
“A strange looking boat is floating down a very blue river. Who could be on this boat? Wait! What’s that popping up from the river? Looks like a kind of crocodile. It’s wearing jewels. And it’s talking! And now the river looks green. This must be magic!”
“Welcome to the Nile River Rider. You’re with me, Sobek, the crocodile god. And we’re in Africa, not in America. Put on your Nile River Goggles and take your favorite seat on the boat. You’re going to see what goes on in Ancient Egypt.”[one_half]
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“Your Nile River Goggles will let you see the people here, just the way they were thousands of years ago. That’s so long ago, even before your great, great, great, great grandparents.”
“Now, as your ears are telling you, I’m no ordinary crocodile. The Ancient Egyptians love me as a great god. But they are also afraid of me with my big, sharp teeth. So they give me all these jewels to wear to make sure I’ll be nice to them.”
“And I can be so nice. I watch over this blue and green Nile River. The people drink it, they take baths in it, and they use it to water their crops, which helps their food grow better. The Nile River is everything to them; this is why it is called their “Life Source.”
“And, you are riding on our best road. Boats and rafts on the Nile River carry our big stones to build huge statues. Hey, look out! Here comes a stone right now, floating down the river. Go tell King Tut
and his people, because they’re on the Nile River Rider with you. Amazing, isn’t it?”
(Pause here.)
“Heads up and watch out, there’s another big stone traveling down the Nile causing waves. That one is going to make another Pyramid. Pyramids are mostly huge triangular tombs or resting places. They are built for some of the rulers, called Pharaohs. Pharaohs are like Kings and gods together and they wanted a special resting place until they go on to the “After Life.”
Now look up at that Pyramid reaching into the sky on your right hand side? No, not a gigantic triangle, look again. This one is called the Step Pyramid and for sure it looks like six, very large steps to the top. Some people think it looks like a wedding cake with six layers. It was the first of the stone pyramids built by a man named Imhotep, a great builder. He came up with the idea for these gigantic stone pyramids.
They were a present to the Pharaoh. When the Pharaoh died he wanted another special house built for him and this was it.”
Now if you press the vision button on your goggles just like some kind of powerful ranger, you can peek into the Pyramid. Inside the pictures on the walls
are in blue and green. No surprise to you Nile River Riders! You know, the Ancient Egyptians love those colors; it reminds them of the Nile River.”
(Pause here.)
“Did I hear you thinking that in the pictures all the people look like they are in a line? You are so smart if you did! Their heads are all painted with a side
view. You don’t see even one face staring back at you with both eyes. This side view is called a profile.
Their feet are to the side, also.
“But isn’t it strange that their bodies from their necks to their waists are all facing front, not to the side like the rest of their body! They look like they are saying: ‘Hey, look at me! Here I am! Notice Me!’ ”
“Well, here is the secret about that look and what the Ancient Egyptians believe. The Ancient Egyptians draw people with their shoulders and chests forward and their faces and feet to the left side so that after their on Earth life was over they could go into the “After Life.” Then their gods would see them. And also, they could reach all their family—even their great, great, grandparents of their long ago times—their ancestors.”[one_half]
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(Pause here.)
“Heads up! Another big stone is coming. I wonder if it will be part of another huge statue like that one over there. That one is called the Great Sphinx and it’s supposed to be a head of the powerful Pharaoh and the body of a lion. What do you think it looks like, a person or an animal?”
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I hope you enjoyed your trip on the Nile River Rider so far! We’ll continue our adventurous trip to Ancient Egypt another time.