Objectives
To learn how to physically describe an object using Prown’s technique.
To realize that the size and shape of pyramids reflect the Egyptians’ hope for eternal life.
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Most World Civilization textbooks have some pictures of and information about the pyramids. Ask the students to look at these pictures and any others you can bring into class. National Geographic’s
Ancient Egypt
contains a photographic essay on the pyramids. Ask the students to think about the size and shape of the pyramids. Remind them that although the pyramids have lasted over four thousand years, they have not been duplicated. Nor have architects copied even the style of the pyramid for contemporary building as they have done with the architectural models of other cultures.
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At Winchester School, the citywide audiovisual department owns a set of six filmstrips entitled “Egypt: Gift of the Nile.” One of the best of these filmstrips with cassette tape on the pyramids is called “Temples and Tombs Along The Nile: Giza to Luxor.” To become acquainted with just the descriptive stage of Prown’s method of object analysis, ask students to jot down notes on the measurements, materials, articulation, iconography, twodimensional and three-dimensional aspects of the largest pyramid described and shown in the filmstrips.
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3.
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After the filmstrip, write board and begin to fill in the information, calling on students to provide various details. When all the aspects of description are complete, divide the students into three groups. Ask one group to write a paragraph speculating about why pyramids were so large. The second group can write about why the Egyptians chose the shape of the pyramid for their tombs. And maybe scienceminded students can make up a third group on technical difficulty of building a pyramid, the geometric perfection necessary, and the implications of this geometric perfection.
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Using the information provided in this unit and the paragraphs of the students, discuss the size and shape of these ancient Egyptian tombs in reference to the Egyptian belief in immortality.
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5.
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Finally, students may want to try to build a pyramid. It might give them some idea about the scope of this feat.
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Mummies
Another object which expresses the early Egyptian belief in immortality is the natural mummy, that is, the preserved body that is not wrapped. A good natural mummy exists in the Peabody Egyptian Collection. Students are always fascinated by it and eager to discuss it. Although it is estimated to be about seven thousand years old, the body is in fairly good condition due to the dryness of the soil and the absence of wind in Egypt. The mummy lies in a bent or prenatal position, knees drawn up. Students can recognize skin, hair, fingernails, and other body parts. Surrounding the body are tools and pottery jars, some of which contain grain.
When I take a group to the Peabody exhibit, I plan to divide class into small groups after the students have an opportunity to view the entire exhibit. Each group can work with one object, following the procedure for object analysis I describe in the section on “Shawabtis.” Back in class, students can share their preliminary findings and identify the areas connected with Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife which need additional research. Once they complete their research, students can share their findings with the rest of the class.
Some of the questions that I anticipate their asking are: “What does the bent position indicate?”; “Why wasn’t the body wrapped?”; “If the person was dead, why did Egyptians bury tools and food with him or her?”; “To what class of society did this person belong?”; “Were there different versions of the afterlife for different classes?” “How did the body survive without being wrapped?”; and “Has the body been treated with anything?” Again, the overall question to be discussed is, “What Egyptian beliefs are transmitted by this mummy?”
Naturally, the same kind of analysis can be done on the wrapped and entombed mummy. The emphasis in that case would be on what the changes in preserving the dead body reflected about Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife.
Belief In Resurrection
The early Egyptians believed that there would be a Judgment Day when they would be rewarded or punished for deeds done on earth. While Re, the sungod, was regarded as provider for their life on earth, Osiris became the greatest of all gods in Egypt. The story of how Osiris became the god of the dead, the god of everlasting life, formed the basis of Egyptian funeral customs for several thousand years.
Egyptians believed that Osiris was originally a king of upper Egypt. Under his reign, Egypt prospered. Wanting to share Egypt’s developments with other nations, Osiris visited other countries. In his absence his wife and sister, Isis, ruled the kingdom and his brother, Set, plotted his murder. When Osiris returned, Set tricked him into lying in a box which Set nailed shut, thus suffocating Osiris. Even though Set threw this box into the Nile, Isis found the box containing the body of Osiris and hid it. When Set discovered this, he cut the body into fourteen pieces and scattered the pieces. Isis collected the pieces, reassembled the body and buried Osiris. Returning from the Other World, Osiris asked his son Horus to avenge his death. This done, Osiris rose from the dead. But his troubles were far from over, as Set accused Osiris of a group of serious crimes. The gods brought Osiris to trial, investigated Set’s charges and decided that Osiris was innocent. Impressed by his innocence, the gods made Osiris Judge of the Dead.
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Egyptians believed that the deceased, like Osiris, could rise to new life. Their faith in Osiris as the Resurrection Judge, a belief established in the Old Empire (2686 B.C.—2181 B.C.), influenced their daily living, funeral customs, and worship. While they made offerings to their local gods or to other country gods, wise Egyptians lived their lives in such a way that they, too, could be acquitted at their trials and become part of Osiris’ kingdom. 14
The Egyptians believed that when their body died, their “ka” stood trial for all their earthly actions. The trial took place in the hall of judgment, sometimes called the Hall of Two Truths. Next to Osiris and fortytwo strange demonic forms and other creatures who were chiefs or assessors helping Osiris, the deceased appeared, confessed his or her sins, and had his heart weighed. In one pan of scales was a feather symbolizing Law and Truth and in the other was the heart. While this was going on, the deceased repeated a prayer which Osiris had spoken when he was being judged. Meanwhile, the dead person’s soul stood by to testify if necessary. If judged innocent, Thoth, the scribe of the gods, led the deceased to meet Osiris.
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Once accepted into the realm of Osiris, the dead were believed to live a superior life to the one they had lived on earth. Thus, tombs had to be well furnished with food, clothing, ornaments, (combs, hairpins, cosmetic palettes, jewelry), and, in the tombs of kings or wealthy private individuals, small statues of servants called shawabtis.
Shawabtis
While tombs and mummies are unable to be handled, shawabtis invite handling. As small as a finger or as large as a Barbie Doll, the natural reaction is to want to hold one, to feel and trace its various markings, for these figurines are often covered with hieroglyphics.