dear teachers and librarians,

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Dear teachers and librarians,

Prepare yourselves for an adventure full of discovery and wonder. Travel back in time and uncover one of the most astonishing stories from history.

Based on the incredible, The Story of Tutankhamun, written by Patricia Cleveland-Peck and illustrated by Isabel Greenberg, this Resource Pack contains cross-curricular objectives, providing material for six or more KS2 lessons. Unearth the true story of the young Egyptian king, his troubles, and his legacy which lay hidden for centuries. Follow in the footsteps of 20th century explorer Howard Carter and embark on a quest to discover Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Journey back in time to Ancient Egypt and discover the story behind Tutankhamun’s life, death and legacy: from pharaohs and hieroglyphics to mummies and forgotten treasures. What are you waiting for? Get your binoculars, backpacks and notebooks at the ready. The excavation starts here …


Uncover the true story of an Egyptian king, and the 20th century explorer who found him.

Discover the troubles Tutankhamun faced as a young king, his untimely death, and his legacy, which lay hidden for centuries. Pore over his treasures, learn the steps of mummification, and see Tutankhamun’s fascinating story brought to life. Travel through history with Howard Carter, on his quest to uncover Tutankhamun’s hidden tomb, his incredible discovery, and our continued hunt to understand and unearth the riches of Ancient Egyptian life.

Prepare to be amazed as you uncover the story of the most famous boy king, and a world-changing discovery.

This book brings to life the astonishing story of Tutankhamun, through the beautiful illustrations of award-winning Isabel Greenberg and the fascinating writing of Patricia Cleveland-Peck.

This Resource Pack is designed for children aged 7–9. It is based on The Story of Tutankhamun by Patricia Cleveland-Peck and invites pupils to unleash their inner archaeologists. The lessons included have been designed as sequential activities and can be taught as whole units or as individual activities to be dipped in and out of. Each activity will guide pupils through the process of archaeological discovery and historical observation using Howard Carter’s discovery as inspiration – giving them the skills to record and interpret evidence to inform their understanding of the past. We hope they enjoy the journey!


This Resource Pack provides material for six, hour-long lessons that can take place during KS2 classes or as extra-curricular activities. The pack covers History and Literacy objectives that include but are not limited to:

LiteracyReading: comprehension• Understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by

i. identifying how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning.

ii. drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence.

Writing: composition• Plan their writing by:

i. discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar.

HistoryGeneral• Construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information.

• Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.

Understand the achievements of early civilisations

• An overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and an in-depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer; the Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; the Shang Dynasty of Ancient China.


Swap your piece with the person next to you and repeat the activity. Share your ideas with the class to try and discover what the bigger picture might be on the jigsaw.

Task 1:Archaeologists piece together clues to form a picture about what life was like in the past. Imagine your classroom is an archaeological jigsaw. What objects can you see that might help people in the future form a picture of what life is like today?

Notes for teachers: This task is designed to help children explore what they can learn

from a group of objects. Each pupil in your class must be provided with a single piece from a larger jigsaw (one that they haven’t seen).

Lead-in questions:Take a good look at your small jigsaw piece. Answer the following questions:

• What can you tell from your piece?• What questions can you ask to find out more?


Task 2:Draw a picture of yourself in the clothes you are wearing. Include any objects that you have with you, for example a pencil case.


Task 3:From your drawing make a list of all the things that might survive 5,000 years into the future (e.g. skeleton, plastic buttons, metal zips). Write a list of six different things from your drawing in the table below and include a sentence on what you think someone in the future might learn from that object.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.


Task 1: Match the following Egyptian terms to their definition using the cards below:

Lead-in questions:• What do you know about the Ancient Egyptians?

• What do you know about Tutankhamun?

A stone coffin covered in inscriptions and decorative features.

Preserving a dead body by embalming it and wrapping

it in linen.

A ruler or king in Ancient

Egypt.

A decorated mask made to resemble the dead person’s face and cover it in the coffin.

A large vault, typically underground, for burying the dead.

Egyptian symbols or writing.


Task 2:Below is a short extract from The Story of Tutankhamun. Read through it carefully and then answer the questions on the following page.

The country’s finances were low and Egypt’s rivals, the Hittites, had extended their territory. This is when Tutankhamun, a boy of around nine years old, became king. Egypt hailed their new leader:

Life! Prosperity! Health!

Due to Tutankhamun’s young age it was decided that Vizier Ay, who had always been close to the family (and had married Nefertiti’s wet nurse), would act as his guardian.

Soon after this, another important decision was made on Tutankhamun’s behalf: that he should marry… and his half-sister Ankhesenamun was chosen to be his Great Royal Wife.

It was then announced that the new pharaoh intended to restore the old gods. It is unlikely that this decision was made by Tutankhamun, it was probably another decision made on his behalf. Nevertheless, Aten the sun disc was no longer seen as the most powerful god, and Amun, who was traditionally a very powerful god, was worshipped again.


1. Who were the Egyptians’ rivals?

2. How old was Tutankhamun when he became king?

3. What three decisions were made on the young pharaoh’s behalf?

4. What relation was Ankhesenamun to Tutankhamun before becoming his wife?

5. Which God was replaced by Amun?


Task 3:Ancient Egyptians believed that their gods were hugely important. Take a look at the illustrations on page 7 of The Story of Tutankhamun to discover the names of just a few of the Ancient Egyptian gods.

Choose one of the gods from this page and use sources such as books, articles or the Internet to carry out some research. Use all of the facts that you find to complete the template below.

Now it’s time for you to do some detective work. Ask one other person about which god they chose and why. Make notes on what they say and present this information to the rest of the class.


Re-cap questions:• Can you list some ancient Egyptian gods?

• What is mummification?

• What are hieroglyphics?

Task 1:Using the hieroglyphics opposite, can you write your name?

Better still, can you write a secret message?


Task 2:Ancient Egyptians, including pharaohs, were mummified when they died. The process of mummification was extremely important to the ancient Egyptians, who paid vast amounts of money to have their bodies properly preserved. It was a complex procedure and took 70 days to complete! It was conducted by a priest wearing the jackal-headed mask of Anubis, god of the dead. Anubis was responsible for conducting the dead through the underworld.

Mummification is a long and careful process. Can you put the following parts of the process in the right order, where one is the task completed first and six is the task completed last?

The organs are then placed in special jars called canopic jars.

Finally, the body is wrapped up, using several yards of linen.

After 40 days the body is washed again to make it supple.

The body is stuffed with dry material, such as leaves, to reshape it.

The cut in the body is sewn up and sealed with resin.

Next, the brain is removed.

Answers: 1. The body is taken to a tent known as the Place of Purification. The body is washed with sweet-smelling wine and Nile water before it is cut and the liver, lungs, intestines and stomach are removed. 2. The organs are then placed in special jars called canopic jars. 3. Next, the brain is removed. 4. After 40 days the body is washed again

to make it supple. 5. The body is stuffed with dry material, such as leaves, to reshape it. The cut in the left side of the body is sewn up and sealed with resin. 6. Finally, the body

is wrapped up, using several yards of linen.


Task 3:Use the template below to create a comic strip showing the process of mummification. There are six boxes – one for every stage


Lead-in questions:• What do you think is the purpose of a burial mask?

• What are rituals? Can you think of any rituals preformed today when people die?

Task 1:Burial masks were a part of Ancient Egyptian funeral rituals. The purpose of these masks was to give the dead ‘a face’ in the afterlife.

Look at Tutankhamun’s mask and think about the following questions:

1. What could it be made of?2. How is it decorated?3. What features can you see?4. What does it tell us about Tutankhamun?


Task 2:Use the template below to create your own burial mask. The mask should represent your personality – what will you include to show this? You could even use some of the hieroglyphics from Lesson 3 to write a secret message!

Remember to share your finished mask with us on Twitter using @KidsBloomsbury.


Lead-in questions:• What would it feel like to discover a hidden treasure?

• What would it feel like to discover Tutankhamun’s tomb?

Note for teachers: The aim of this lesson is to recreate the atmosphere of tension and anticipation back in 1922 when Howard Carter first caught sight of the boy king’s tomb that lay undisturbed for some 3,000 years. It is crucial to turn part of the classroom into the chamber leading to the tomb. To do this, place tables in a long row covered with cloth in order to create a tunnel. At the

end of the tunnel, lay out objects, posters or pictures (or the illustrations below) to represent the different treasures in the tomb – not too many, just enough to be sketched by four pupils

at a time.


Task 1:Read the following extract about Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 and answer the questions below.

More than 3,000 years after the burial of Tutankhamun, another boy was born in England – Howard Carter. Like Tutankhamun, Carter was often ill as a child, but would live to play a huge part in Tutankhamun’s story…

He loved Egypt from the first moment he set foot there and soon wanted to excavate tombs himself. He displayed an incredible talent for excavation and before long was made ‘Inspector General of Monuments of Upper Egypt’. This meant that he worked in the famous Valley of the Kings: the burial place of many pharaohs.

1. What did Carter and Tutankhamun have in common?

2. How important is Carter in the story of Tutankhamun?


Task 2:Step into Howard Carter’s shoes and become a curious archaeologist by taking part in the Reconstruction Relay!

Begin by dividing into teams of four people. Number each person in your team one, two, three and four.

When your number is called crawl along the passage to the entrance of the tomb. You will then have ten seconds to enter the tomb and sketch what you can see before the next member of your group has a turn.

After number one has been into the chamber and completed some sketches, you must decide as a group what the next person should focus on. Try to gather as much information as you can.


Task 3:Congratulations! You’ve made one of the biggest discoveries of ALL TIME. So big, in fact, that the curator from the British Museum is coming to speak to you about what you’ve found.

As a group you now need to collect all of the evidence that you have gathered and decide on some further questions to ask about each object that you have discovered.

Task 4:Unfortunately the curator is running a little bit late. In pairs, can you try to find as many answers to your questions just by using books in the library or websites on the Internet?

Share your findings with the whole class!


Re-cap questions:• How did you feel when you took part in the Reconstruction Relay?

• How did your emotions change throughout the task?

Put the emotion cards below in order from 1–5(1 being the emotion Howard Carter might feel the most and 5 being the emotion he’d feel the least).

Task 1:Read the extract below about the moment Howard Carter opened Tutankhamun’s tomb for the first time.

Carter made a tiny hole in the doorway and pushed in a lighted candle. Carnarvon waiting patiently could bear it no longer and asked, ‘Can you see anything?’

‘Yes,’ Carter answered simply. ‘Wonderful things.’

They made the hole bigger and scrambled down into what was to be called the Antechamber. By the flickering light of the candle, shadows danced on the walls showing hundreds of things; gold-covered couches in the shape of giant animals, chariots, statues of the king, caskets, vases, black shrines and one with a gold snake peeking out, an alabaster cup, bouquets of flowers, beds, chairs, boxes…

Task 2:Use the blank emotion

card to add another feeling of your own.


Task 3:Imagine that you have to write a telegram home to your parents after making the amazing discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Use your experiences from Lesson 5 to help you. Share your telegrams with us on Twitter at @KidsBloomsbury!

POST OFFICE TELEGRAM

DATE SENT: OFFICE STAMP

FROM: OFFICE

STAMP

APPR

OVED

EGYPT

NO: 1457


YOU’VE COMPLETED THE STORY OF TUTANKHAMUN RESOURCE PACK

Hold on to everything you’ve created. It might come in handy when you revisit the Ancient Egyptians in your History lessons! Remember to

send any work to us at @KidsBloomsbury. We can’t wait to see what you’ve discovered …

The Bloomsbury Children’s Books Team

dear teachers and librarians,

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