12. Las primeras civilizaciones
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With the information you have found, write a short
story individually, about mummies and the embalming process.
Remember that your story should be about a specific person in a
particular time and place. Use the specialised terms and concepts
from Ancient Egypt.
Then read your story to the class, make an
Anthology of horror
stories
. Vote for the stories you liked best and post them on the class
blog.
Communication and publication
INFORMATION
Documentation about mummification
There is very little information about this process. We
have the writings of Herodotus, a Greek traveller and
writer from the V century B.C. Other sources are
provided by historians and different research that
shows us the procedures used for mummification
in Ancient Egypt.
Texts written on papyrus also exist, particularly
two papyruses that describe the embalming
ritual. However, they are incomplete and do not
describe the technique used to preserve the body.
They include only instructions for rituals of how to
anoint, wrap and provide each part of the body
with magical protection using amulets and spells.
One of these is kept in the Louvre Museum, France
and the other in Cairo Museum, Egypt.
Final Task
12. The first c vilisation
1.
Explain why the Egyptians mummified their dead.
2.
Which other practices and religious rites do people use today to pay their respects to the dead?
3.
Write a brief summary of the embalming process.
4.
How has information been obtained about this practice?
5.
Of all the instruments or materials studied, explain which three surprised you the most and why.
6.
Which aspects from the preparation tasks have you included in your story?
7.
Which of your classmates’ stories did you like the most and why?
8.
Make a list of words to describe how you felt when you were doing this task. For example, curiosity (about
cultures in the past), responsibility (because the final task depended on everyone), etc.
SELF ASSESSMENT
Top: relatives mourning the
deceased (Illustration from
the
Book of the Dead
)
Left: a priest, depicted as the
god Horus performing a ritual
on the deceased
