Weighing of the Heart

Weighing of the_heart (1) from Tania Gabriela Verniers

The Underworld

Mummification

Mummification

The earliest ancient Egyptians buried their dead in small pits in the desert. The heat and dryness of the sand dehydrated the bodies quickly, creating lifelike and natural 'mummies'. Later, the ancient Egyptians began burying their dead in coffins to protect them from wild animals in the desert. However, they realised that bodies placed in coffins decayed when they were not exposed to the hot, dry sand of the desert. Over many centuries, the ancient Egyptians developed a method of preserving bodies so they would remain lifelike. The process included embalming the bodies and wrapping them in strips of linen. Today we call this process mummification.   An important man has died and his body needs to be prepared for burial. The process of mummification has two stages. First, the embalming of the body. Then, the wrapping and burial of the body. Embalming the body First, his body is taken to the tent known as 'ibu' or the 'place of purification'. There the embalmers wash his body with good-smelling palm wine and rinse it with water from the Nile. One of the embalmer's men makes a cut in the left side of the body and removes many of the internal organs. It is important to remove these because they are the first part of the body to decompose. The liver, lungs, stomach and intestines are washed and packed in natron which will dry them out. The heart is not taken out of the body because it is the centre of intelligence and feeling and the man will need it in the afterlife. A long hook is used to smash the brain and pull it out through the nose. The body is now covered and stuffed with natron which will dry it out. All of the fluids, and rags from the embalming process will be saved and buried along with the body. After forty days the body is washed again with water from the Nile. Then it is covered with oils to help the skin stay elastic. The dehydrated internal organs are wrapped in linen and returned to the body. The body is stuffed with dry materials such as sawdust, leaves and linen so that it looks lifelike. Finally the body is covered again with good-smelling oils. It is now ready to be wrapped in linen. In the past, when the internal organs were removed from a body they were placed in hollow canopic jars. Over many years the embalming practices changed and embalmers began returning internal organs to bodies after the organs had been dried in natron. However, solid wood or stone canopic jars were still buried with the mummy to symbolically protect the internal organs. Imsety the human-headed god looks after the liver. Hapy the baboon-headed god looks after the lungs Duamutef the jackal-headed god looks after the stomach Qebehsenuef the falcon-headed god looks after the intestines.

The body has been cleaned, dried and rubbed with good-smelling oils. Now it is ready to be wrapped in linen.

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/mummies/home.html

Mummification process

The Gift of the Niler

The gift of the Nile from mariaabilleira

On your Social Studies notebook, copy and answer the following questions:

1. What are the seasons of the Nile? 

2. What happened during each season?

Remember to write complete sentences.

Fertility of the Nile

Dear Y4s, follow the instructions below.
Watch the video three times, don't worry if you don't understand everything, we want you to observe the images.
Before you watch the video, remember to go to settings and slow the video down to 0.75 and if you want, click on the subtitles to help you understand the video.
The objective is for you to visualize how Ancient Egypt agriculture was, and understand a little of the Nile River.
After watching the video go to Scules on the Social Studies folder and access forum to answer the questions. Read what your friends wrote and then comment on two of your peers' answers. Ms Ceila and Ms Tania will be checking the answers!

Ancient Egypt Social Pyramids

Ancient Egypt was a successful culture for over 3,000 years. In the early years there were two ‘kingdoms’ that operated like two different countries. Each had a ruler and their own religious beliefs and ways of doing things. After the two kingdoms were united, they became a lot more organized and over the years developed a system of what is called a ‘hierarchy’. This was a class system and each person living in ancient Egypt knew where they existed in the system and had specific rights of that class.



The Egyptian hierarchy was a lot like the pyramids that they built. At the very top of this social structure was the pharaoh and their gods. Since the pharaoh was thought to be a god, he took his place next to all of the others. The gods were thought to be in control of the flooding of the Nile each year, as well as death and famine. The pharaoh was also in charge of the armies and any laws that were decided upon were the responsibility of the pharaoh. All farmers paid taxes every year. Instead of money, they paid in amounts of grain that was stored in warehouses that belonged to the pharaoh. In case of drought and famine, this was the grain that would be used to feed everyone.

Under the pharaoh and the other gods, there was a chain of command to help the pharaoh accomplish all of his duties. There was a chief minister call a ‘vizier’ that watched over tax collection, and monitored the government records that were kept by the scribes. Along with the vizier were the various nobles that held government jobs and the priests of the temples. The nobles became wealthy as they kept a part of the tax normally given to the pharaoh as well as some of the tributes that were given by the people to the gods.

The next level down contained the scribes, craftsmen, artisans, and traders. The soldiers fought in the armies during wartime but in peacetime many supervised the peasants, slaves and farmers and were also part of the building process of palaces, pyramids and other structures. The craftsman, artisans, traders and even physicians were considered the middle class of ancient Egypt. Storekeepers and merchants were also included in this class.

The bottom of the social structure contained the farmers and beneath them, the slaves. Farmers took care of the fields and crops, cared for the animals, maintained the water canals and reservoirs, did stone quarry work and built monuments to the pharaoh. They paid high taxes to the pharaoh, sometimes as much as sixty percent of what they grew. Slaves were people that may have been war prisoners or criminals. Slavery became a major part of the ancient Egyptian community and they were forced to do whatever labor that was needed by the nobles and the pharaoh.

A son or daughter took on the social class or ‘hierarchy’ of their parents. There were small possibilities of moving into the next higher class. Some farmers and peasants saved money to send their children to the trade and village schools for better education and to learn a specific trade. The schools were run by artisans and priests. If a boy did well in school, he could be raised into the scribe class and possibly go on to better government jobs. It was not a common practice to send the girls to school, but some that attended did well and even became physicians. Moving into the next class up meant an increase in money and they could help themselves and their families.

The social structure of ancient Egypt may not have sounded fair when we think of our lives today, but during those days it was a requirement for survival and the success of the society.

http://www.historyforkids.net/egyptian-hierarchy.htmlhttps://libguides.stalbanssc.vic.edu.au/ancient-egypt/social-structure