Ancient Egyptians in Year 5

This term, Year 5 have been learning all about the Ancient Egyptians.  They lived in Egypt from 3100BC to 30BC, over 3000 years!  As part of our topic work, we visited the Great North Museum and took part in a workshop about the different jobs Ancient Egyptian people could have.  We learnt that there were lots of jobs in their time including: scribes, priests, farmers, embalmers and of course, the Pharaoh!  They all used different tools in their work; farmers used ploughs in the fields and embalmers used palm oil and salt to prepare the body for mummification.

Last week, we were lucky enough to be visited by That History Bloke, who taught us even more about the Ancient Egyptians! We learnt about importance of the Pharaoh, what he wore and how people believed he was the living version of Horus, God of the Sky.  After this, Richard showed us exactly how a body was mummified and we even got a chance to take part! We cleaned the body with white wine vinegar and removed the organs (which were placed in canopic jars).  We spent time studying a range of Egyptian artefacts such as musical instruments, papyrus scrolls and beauty products.  Finally, we learnt to write like the Ancient Egyptians, writing our name in hieroglyphics on cartouches, using ink and a pen made of bamboo.  We really enjoyed our trip to the Great North Museum and visit from That History Bloke and we have learnt lots of interesting (and sometimes unusual) facts during this topic!