Lesson plan based on Mummy Case
Recognize and compare symbols and their meanings on a mummy case with those in students’ everyday lives.
Skills and Focus: Art Appreciation, Discussion, Hands-on
Subject Area: Fine Arts
Thematic Connection: Signs and Symbols, Connecting Past and Present
Grade Level: Elementary School
Time Needed: 40 minutes
Objectives
• Describe how artists use symbols to communicate ideas.
• Identify the symbols on the mummy case and explain their meanings.
• Recognize symbols we encounter daily and explain their meanings.
• Create a collage of symbols found in everyday life.
Instructional Materials Needed
Stories: Who Is Inside the Case? and What Is On the Mummy Case?
White poster board
Crayons or markers
Activity
Step 1: Discuss how symbols on the mummy case communicate ideas about Paankhenamun and Egyptian beliefs about death and the afterlife.
• Gilding = gold flesh of the gods, indicating here that Paankhenamun is now equated with them.
• Scarab beetle with hawk head = Re, hawk-headed sun god, and Khepri, beetle who pushed the sun in a cycle of death (sunset) and rebirth (sunrise). (Look for another winged scarab pushing a sun disk near the bottom of the case.)
• Flat-bottomed circle = "eternity", the sun's cycle and rebirth.
• Green skin of Osiris, god of the dead = vegetation and rebirth.
• Four small figures between Osiris and Horus, the sky god = four sons of Horus, who protect the organs (stomach, liver, lungs, intestines) removed during mummification.
Step 2: As a class, assemble a list of symbols found around the school building, at home, and on the street on the way to and from school. On a large sheet of poster board, create a class collage of these symbols with crayons or markers. Record next to each image the meaning of the symbol.
Goals
This activity meets Illinois State Goal 25: Know the language of the arts.
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