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Ancient Egyptian Workshop

on 10/01/2020

Today we were lucky to have another visit from Catherine Hammond, who presented a fantastic workshop on our new history topic, Ancient Egypt. She got us thinking like real Egyptologists and it was a fantastic way to start our new learning.

Write about the workshop as a comment, and post it by Monday.


37 Responses to “Ancient Egyptian Workshop”

  1. Owen says:

    The Egyptian workshop was fabulously good because it was fun. I learned that real servants got buried with the pharaohs, you had to heat something to curl your hair and Tutankamun’s tomb was emptied by robbers.

    I would recommend other people try this workshop because you get to hold real replicas. The replica I held was obshibti which were buried with people when they got fed up of burying real servants.

    My favourite part of the workshop was the game working out who was in the tomb. We worked it out using a sheet of what your thing was and there was a chart saying it could be a woman, a man, a boy or a girl. At the end we found out that it was a girl who could either be queen Cleopatra or queen Nefratiti.

    • lochinver4jch says:

      I’m glad you enjoyed the workshop so much, Owen. Remember, the little statues of slaves are called ushabti.

  2. nathan says:

    We are studying the Ancient Egyptians. It’s our new history topic!

    We looked at the kind of objects in the pyramid . The teacher gave us the things to look at. Then after we identified the objects. We looked at the facts that the teacher gave us. Me ( Nathan ) and Owen had an Ushabti which I thought was a mummy( Not your mum ! ).

    I learnt that the women needed more things because they were all ticked in the chart. I also learnt that there were toys and dolls. I also didn’t know that there were cats. I didn’t know that people were buried in the pyramid.

    It was interesting to find out why the paint was blue ( Ushabti ). It was surprising that they used hair curlers differently – men and women used them.

  3. Nikolai says:

    On Friday we were very lucky to have an ancient Egyptian workshop. The lady who was presenting the workshop was called Catherine Hammond.At the Egyptian workshop we looked inside a pyramid and found out that the person who died was missing.After that we thought about the people who might be missing from the pyramid, and the choices were either a boy, girl, man or a woman. Later we were each given one of the replicas in the pyramid . After, Catherine wrote on the board all of the objects that we found in the pyramid ,only then we found out that it was a woman.

    At the workshop I learned that some pharaohs were not buried in pyramids but in the valley of kings, Like Tutankhamun. And we got to touch the treasures that you would usually find in a dead pharaoh’s tomb. I also found out that Egyptian children had toys made out of wood but I thought that they had no toys at all ! And older girls and women played with a doll that has a string with some beads on it.

    The most interesting things at the workshop for me were, the hair-curlers because the Egyptians used them very differently to what my mum is using. Now we don’t need to heat up the hair-curler because we have electricity, but for the Egyptians it was not that simple, they had to go outside and heat up the metal key looking thing before you could use it. This workshop was amazing I really enjoyed it very much.

  4. Babaseyi says:

    Workshop: The Ancient Egyptians.
    On the 10 of January Catherine Hammond, a staff member of a museum ran a workshop on ancient Egyptians for us. We had a small replica of a pyramid which had several objects in it. These were some of these objects; a hair curler, a makeup knife and a scarab beetle. We had to do some research on these objects and decide weather these objects were used by a boy, girl, woman or man.

    We learnt in the Ancient Egyptians days that anyone could wear makeup because it was hot in Egypt. We also learnt that scarab beetle was considered lucky. Ancient Egyptians were usually buried with their property for use in the afterlife.

    The most surprising fact I learnt was Tutankhamun the great Pharaoh, was not buried in a pyramid but in a hill.

    • lochinver4jch says:

      It made sense to bury pharaohs and their riches in the hillsides, as their tombs could be better hidden that way.

  5. Francesco says:

    On Friday Catherine Hammond came to teach us about ancient Egypt. There was a pyramid with ancient Egyptian objects. We had to be Egyptologists and find out who might have been in the tomb and who might have used the objects. We had to predict what the objects were and who used them: man, woman, boy or girl.

    We all got ancient Egyptian objects. I had the makeup knife and I assumed that it was a writing pencil that you would use on clay. The reason I thought it was a writing pencil is that it had a very pointy Ibex (goat) horns. It also had a blunt curved bottom bit that was used to mix the powder and make makeup. I thought it was used to cancel the writing on the clay instead.

    I learnt that ancient Egyptians cared about how they looked and how rich they were. Men and women would shave all their hair off and wear a wig because it was very hot in Egypt so they could feel a bit fresh without hair. I would recommend this workshop to my family!

  6. Michael says:

    On Friday, we had an interesting Egyptian workshop. Catherine brought in a mini pyramid with lots of Egyptian artefacts such as Bastet-cat, Hair curler, Scarab beetle, Comb and etc.
    Firstly, we were put into groups. My group mate was James. Each group had an object, our object was Bastet-cat. It was a metal sculpture in the shape of a golden cat. We thought it was a toy for children to play with, then we found out the facts of the object on a piece of paper given by Catherine. Bastet also called Bast, ancient Egyptian of protection and cats. She was the protectress of women, and normally can be found in women’s tomb.
    After that, we presented our object to the whole class with another group. The most interesting object was the hair curler because they need to heat the hair curler up before curling their hair. My least favourite one was the Canopic jars, which were used to store the organs of the body.
    In the end, we worked out that all the object in the tomb were used by women in Ancient Egypt. Over all I really enjoyed this Egyptian workshop. I loved it!

  7. Jomi says:

    BY JOMI

    THE EGYPTIAN WORKSHOP

    At the history workshop, Catherine Hammond taught us about the Ancient Egyptians and what they believed in. Rudy was assigned to be my partner.

    During the workshop, we shared our thoughts on the ancient Egyptian artefacts which included two conopic jars, a hair curler, Anubis which is also known as the jackal god, a necklace, ushbati, scarab beetles and a few others. The conopic jars store the organs such as the liver and intestines, the hair curlers were used to curl the hair and Anubis was a god who was the guardian of the underworld. The necklaces were used as fashion accessories, the ushbati and scarab beetles were lucky charms because they were both blue in colour and the colour blue symbolised good luck in Ancient Egypt. Rudy and I were given a model of a god called Anubis. He took the form of a Jackal and played an important role which was helping people get to the afterlife. The scarab beetle symbolised rebirth in ancient Egypt. In ancient Egypt, people believed the more treasures you have, the more the gods are going to like you. Catherine also told us that Jackals search for bones in several graveyards.

    I found it interesting that men wore make up, women shaved their hair and I was sad when I was told that Tutunkhamun passed away when he was just eighteen years old and wasn’t buried in a pyramid. I was also really intrigued that women played with dolls and it was interesting to know that you can’t get out once you’re in the afterlife.

    This was a really interesting workshop and I really enjoyed it.

  8. Jack P says:

    I really enjoyed the workshop. We were handed out some objects that Egyptians used. There was a doll, a snake and a rat. We were also given some wooden toys that ladies would have had in their houses when they were little.

    I learnt that pyramids were normally booby trapped and lots of mummies and dangerous things were inside. Lots of people thought there was treasure buried inside so they would only go inside because they wanted the treasure.

    We found out that lots of men and women used to shave off their hair and wear wigs instead, especially the rich people. Men and women also used to wear make-up and not many clothes because the weather was very hot.

    Children used to grow their hair very long and when they became an adult they would shave it off. They played with wooden toys. These toys would be fine to play with today because the hot weather kept them in good condition.

  9. Aarav says:

    The Egyptian Workshop

    On Friday 10th January, we had an Egyptian Workshop. Catharine Hammond came to teach us more about history, last time it was the Tudors but this time it was the Egyptians we were learning about.

    At the front of the class, on a table there was a small but simple, replicated pyramid. It was made out of cardboard and I was very curious to see what was inside the pyramid. Catherine opened the pyramid and inside we saw some really interesting Egyptian objects. We were put into partners and given one object per pair, our task was to try to identify and find out how these objects may have been used in the past.

    Catharine drew a chart on the whiteboard showing if men, women, boys or girls used these objects. For example, if men used most of these items this pyramid would belong to a pharaoh that is a man. I thought the pyramid would belong to a man but I was wrong.

    I was given a doll, it was really easy to identify it because it had small eyes, some hair (beads on a string) and it was shaped into a kind of figure or doll.
    Next, we were given sheets to tell us what these objects really were and I was right. It was a doll! I learned a lot at this workshop, like that not all pharaohs are men and that you have to be dead to rest in a pyramid. I hope we can do some more exiting workshops in the future.

  10. yasir says:

    In our Egyptian workshop on Friday 10th of January 2020 we explored some of the treasures they would keep in their tombs. They were all replicas of the actual things. We had to guess what our objects were and who they were used by. The reason we had to find out who the objects were used by was to find out who’s tomb we were looking at. We had four options a man, a lady, a girl or a boy. It was a lady’s tomb that we were looking at. Me and my partners object was a necklace and the people behind us had a menat. The reason I was telling you that is because the menat is a weight that goes on the back of the necklace to balance the front with the back.

    I learnt that in Egyptian times men and women would wear a necklace and a menat. They put Tutankhamun’s body in a hill when he died. They used to kill slaves for the people in the afterlife until they made blue dolls and used those instead. One of the gods was a jackal because the Egyptians saw them at the graves and thought they were helping people get to the afterlife.

    The most interesting thing was the fact that men used what women use today. Another interesting fact was that people used dung beetles as good luck charms because the dung beetle would lay eggs on dung and to us people back then it looked like life out of poop.

  11. James W says:

    The Egyptian workshop on Friday was really interesting and I enjoyed looking at the different objects that Catherine bought in for us to see. There was a cat made from metal, the Egyptians worshipped cats as a goddess it was half cat half woman and was called a bastet. There were some curling tongs for your hair that looked like a knife and a make-up knife. Catherine also brought in blue dung beetles, the Egyptians believed these were the sun god Khepri. Canopic jars were used to hold body parts or oil and were usually made of pottery.
    Egyptians wore wide beaded knecklaces and the beads were shaped like flowers or animals.
    Some of the rich Egyptians were buried in tombs wearing jewelry or with other precious belongings but sometimes tomb robbers stole their belongings.
    We had to work out who was buried in a tomb by what belongings were in the tomb. Catherine drew a chart on the board and listed all the different objects Egyptians were buried with and we managed to work out that it was a lady. It might have been the tomb of Queen Cleopatra.
    I enjoyed the workshop and getting to see all the different objects.

  12. Callum says:

    On Friday we had an amazing workshop. It was about the ancient Egyptian. We learned lots of fascinating facts,such as when they die they get buried in a pyramid but not all people got buried in a pyramid. Tutankhamen got buried in a cave, the servants had to get buried with the pharaoh they worked for. We also found out they had to burn something to curl their hair unlike now we curl our hair with electronic objects.

    In the workshop, we held replicas of Egyptian objects and thought of how they might have been used and who used them. It could either be for a boy, girl, man, or woman. I had the neckless, it was made out of gold and clay,and men and women could use it ,but we were not sure about the boys and girls.I found it a bit tricky to decide but then I decided it was for men and women.

    The most interesting and surprising fact was to be a mummy, you had to stick something up your nose and take your brain out. I did not like the sound of it but it sounded really interesting. I liked Friday’s workshop, it was interesting and fun.

  13. tai says:

    On Friday we had a history workshop and I really enjoyed it!

    It was very interesting seeing what was inside pyramids. I found out there were lots of treasures, ornaments and mummies who were buried with their servants. When Pharaohs die they get put into a tomb and their eyes, lungs and liver get removed from their body and put in a bottle. They leave the heart there because when they go to the afterlife they believe that if you don’t have your heart you will die.

    The thing I enjoyed the most was playing a little game to try to find out who is in the pyramid. There could have been a man, a girl, a woman or a boy in the tomb and we had to answer the questions and find which it was. Tt turned out to be a woman.

    I would really recommend that my family go to the workshop as there are so many fascinating things to learn.

  14. Henry says:

    In the ancient Egyptian workshop at the beginning we were told where most Pharaoh’s were buried, they were buried in pyramids. The first person to be buried underground was Tutankhamen. Then we were shown a model of a pyramid and Catherine opened it up and showed us what was inside. Inside it had about 15 or 16 objects such as a comb, wooden doll and necklace we could not work out what all the other items where to start with.

    The objects where handed out and everybody was given either their own object or an object to share with someone else. We were told to examine our objects and guess what they were. Tai and I thought our object was either a necklace with their wives face on it for a man who could take his wife to the after life with him or a key to open a door to the after life.

    Then we were given sheets telling us what our object was. Tai and my object was called a monat which is hung on the back of a necklace to even out the weight and to stop it from hurting the person who is wearing it. Then group by group we went up to the front of the class to tell everyone what it was and how it would be used in Egyptian life. After this we had a tally chart on the board where we worked out who was in the pyramid as there was no body. I found it very interesting to learn about who Egyptians where, where they lived and what they did. It was also interesting to know what it was like to be an Egyptologist.

  15. joss says:

    Our Egyptian workshop

    On Friday Catherine Hammond from a museum near epping forest came in to school to teach us about Egyptian artefacts. She gave everyone an Egyptian object. The object that I got was an Egyptian comb made of steel. It had spikes and at the top it had three figures: they were all small ducks. The comb was used by men and women but mostly women. The boy who was sitting next to me, Hassan, was given a hair curler. They heated the metal and then you would clamp it on your hair and it would make your hair curl!

    The object I found most interesting was a metal statue of a cat. They believed that cats were special. The cat goddess, Bastet, represents the power of the sun to ripen crops. Many bronze cat figures were dedicated to her.

    In summary, I learnt that the Egyptians were a very clever civilisation except they didn’t know what was happening to the jewellery inside the pyramids. The grave robbers were stealing it to sell it and become rich!

  16. Harry says:

    By Harry

    On Friday my class took part in an Egyptian workshop. In the workshop we learnt about the different types of equipment, tools and explored what life was like in the Egyptian time and compared the differences to the modern day.

    My partner was Kanyi and we were given canopic jars to investigate. It was a small replica of a canopic jar as they would have been a lot bigger in real life as it was used to store internal organs from a body like the intestines, liver and the stomach. The Egyptians removed organs and prepared bodies as part of a process called mummification, which they did when a person died. A wealthy or important person would be mummified, not an everyday person. We also learnt that as part of mummification they hooked out the brain pulling it out through the nose.

    Egyptians would also weigh the heart on a scale with a feather and if it was lighter than a feather they haven’t done any bad things in their life. If it was heavier than a feather then they have done a lot of bad things.

    After the bodies had been mummified, they would be buried in a tomb with all their possessions.

    The other groups had different objects to look at and guess what they were. I found the workshop interesting.

  17. Rudy says:

    We had an Egyptian workshop on Friday and a visitor called Catherine Hammond came in to talk to us about Ancient Egypt.

    At the workshop we got to hold different items and we had to guess what they were. We had to guess if it was something for a man, woman, boy or girl. The items included a necklace, a sarcophagus, a make up knife, a comb, a hair curler and a wild dog status. The wild dog status was actually a statue of a god called Anubis. The Egyptians thought that this dog would scratch at the bones of the dead and help them go to the afterlife and they would howl at the night. The items went into a tomb as we guessed what they are. They were mainly for a woman so we guessed it was a woman’s tomb.

    I learned that the Egyptians had strange beliefs like what they believed about Anubis helping the dead go to the afterlife. I was surprised to learn that they used make up instead of sun cream. It was interesting to see how many things are different to our life now.

    I really enjoyed the workshop and would recommend everyone should do one. It was very interesting and I learned lots of good facts about Egypt and the Egyptians. It was a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ workshop

  18. Arthur says:

    On Friday we had a fantastic ancient Egyptian workshop. We tried to identify replicas of things from Ancient Egypt. I managed to work out that the object(s) we had were dung beetles. Then we tried to find out whether the mummy was a boy, girl, man or woman. It turned out that the mummy was a woman.

    I learned about canopic jars. They used the jars to hold lungs, liver, kidneys and intestines which had been removed. They also took the brain out and put it in the bin. The dung beetles were buried with the heart, They are also known at scarab beetles.

    One of the most interesting things is that scarab beetles are used as charms for good luck. The Egyptians also thought that jackals helped people to the after life. Little did they know they were just digging up the graves too get to the bones.

  19. Arjun says:

    On Friday 10 of January 2020 we had a visit from Catherine Hammond who did a workshop on ancient Egyptians. We had to be Egyptologists for the day to find out who was buried in the pyramid. Catherine Hammond brought a cardboard replica of a pyramid.

    She opened the pyramid. There were objects inside. She handed the objects out. We had to guess what they were. I guessed my object as a key. After we got a sheet to tell us what it was, my object turned out to be a hair curler. The other objects were a make-up knife, comb, Menat, scarab beetle, dolls and toys, Bastet-cat sculpture, Anubis-jackal sculpture, ushabti scuplture, canopic jars and necklaces. Menat was a goddess as well as a part of a necklace. It was a counter weight to hold the necklace in place. Bastet, who took the form of a cat, was the goddess of women and young girls. Anubis, who took the form of a jackal god, was supposed to help take the dead people to afterlife when it howled. Ancient Egyptians used to bury their slaves alive. They realised that this was cruel and started to make sculptures (Ushabti) of the slaves and buried them with the person who had died. The canopic jars were used for putting all internal organs. They thought that the most important part of your body was the heart. Egyptians thought that the brain was not important so they threw it away.

    We had to present the information that we had learned to the class, and complete the chart to find out who was buried in the tomb. After completing the chart, we found out that the person who was buried in the tomb was a woman. I found the Egyptian workshop very interesting.

  20. Hassan says:

    Last Friday we had a visitor at school who was Catherine Hammond she did a class workshop on my favourite topic Ancient Egyptian. she bought in a large 3D style pyramid which had lots of ancient things inside it.

    She handed out lots of different styles of objects I had which I think was a very old rustic comb, at the same I was sitting with Joss and we were also given a hair curler that was made of steel which had to be heated for the women to use. usually both objects were used mostly by women.

    My favourite object was the blue shaped doll, it looked like pharaoh.

    I absolutely love and find Ancient Egypt history so very interesting, I enjoyed to learn about what they did, what clothes they wore and how much gold they wore on the bodies and had inside the Pyramids.

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