Lesson video

Hello everyone.

And welcome to your final lesson on ancient Egypt.

My name is Mrs. Tipping.

And in this lesson today, we're going to tackle the question: How are we still learning about the ancient Egyptians today? Now in this lesson, we will learn about how archaeologists are still uncovering artefacts from the ancient Egyptian civilization and what they tell us about their way of life.

So, let's get started! Now, for this lesson, it's a good idea to be sat somewhere comfortable and you're going to need a couple of things: an exercise book or paper, a pencil or a pen, and your fantastic brains.

Now, if you haven't got any of those things, quickly go and grab them.

Good job! That was quick.

Let's take a look at the lesson structure.

I'm going to start with some key words and then we're going to take a look at how we find out about life in the past.

Then we're going to look at the question, "What was discovered at Saqqara?" And finally, we're going to look at the biggest discovery at Saqqara, and we're going to end our lesson with an end of lesson quiz.

So, let's take a look at the key words.

The first word is "mummified." So, my turn, your turn "mummified." When something is mummified, its body is preserved.

So an animal can be mummified and so can a person.

Second word is "sarcophagi." My turn, your turn "sarcophagi." Sarcophagi are stone coffins that are usually decorated with sculpture and writing.

So, a sarcophagus is one coffin, sarcophagi are coffins.

The third word is "artefacts." My turn, your turn "artefacts." Artefacts are objects made by people throughout history.

And finally, the final word is "ancestor." My turn, your turn "ancestor." An ancestor is someone in your family who came before.

So it might be a grandparent, or a great-grandparent or a great-great-grandparent.

So it goes back in time.

So, let's start with how we find out about the past.

Primary sources are original documents from the time.

Primary sources provide us with first-hand information from people during that period of history.

Some examples of primary sources are newspapers, artefacts, like writing of various kinds, clothing, coins, pottery, and statues.

Now, all of these have got to be from the time.

So, an image of one of those artefacts is also a primary source.

It can be difficult to analyse a primary source, as it doesn't simply give us the information that we might need.

So, it may not tell us exactly when it was made or who it was made by.

So, looking at these statues here, if these statues were found in a tomb, we can look at them and analyse them, and try and find out as much information as we can, but they might not give us all the information we need.

So, here's a quick statement.

Is this true or false: primary sources are original documents from the time? Is that true or false? Have a think, point to the screen, shout it out.

It is.

True! Primary sources are original documents from the time, and they provide us with first-hand information from people during that period of history.

So, we have something else called secondary sources.

Secondary sources provide second-hand information after the period of history.

So, some examples of secondary sources are educational books or articles and drawings.

And those are done by people who are maybe interested in subjects.

So, if someone writes a book about ancient Egypt, that's a secondary source because it's after the time of when the ancient Egyptians were around.

Now, secondary sources can be unreliable as they don't always have the facts.

Secondary sources are when people infer and decide what the truth is after doing lots and lots of research.

So they try their best but they might not get it completely accurate.

So, I'd like you to pause the video now to have a go at this task, what is the difference between a primary and a secondary source? So, you could write out in a table like this or two separate paragraphs.

When you're done, restart the video.

Okay.

This is what you could have got.

So, primary sources are original documents from the time, they give us first-hand information from the people at the time, but they can be tricky to understand because they don't always give us the clear information.

And compared to secondary sources, they are different because they give us second-hand information after the period of history.

They are written by individuals like researchers who are interested in that time, but they don't always have the truth because they weren't there to see it.

Now, let's take a look at what was discovered at Samsara.

Saqqara is located around 18 miles South of Cairo, which is the capital city of Egypt today.

It was an ancient burial ground for around 3,000 years.

It is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site which means it is protected and looked after by certain people.

Let's take a quick pause.

How long is Saqqara thought to have been a burial ground? Can you remember? Is it 1,000 years, 3,000 years, or 4,000 years.

Have a think.

Which one is it? Point to the screen.

Say your answer out loud or write it down.

It is in fact.

3,000 years old.

So, a very old and ancient burial ground.

Now, in 2018, a large collection of mummified animals was discovered by archaeologists near the Step Pyramid of Saqqara.

Here's the Step Pyramid here.

We've looked at it before.

Now, the discovery included mummified cats, crocodiles, cobras and birds.

So, lots of different creatures.

And that was only a couple of years ago.

In 2019, archaeologists discovered around 80 sarcophagi that were buried 2,500 years ago.

13 colourfully painted wooden coffins were discovered.

And then a further 14 were found soon after.

And then lots more were discovered.

Other smaller artefacts were also uncovered.

And the first ever mummified lion cub was also found in the Saqqara area.

So, fantastic and exciting discoveries.

So, I'd like you to pause the video now, to have a go at this task.

Answer the following questions, and then restart when you're done.

Let's take a look at the answers.

So, what was discovered in 2018? Give two examples.

Well, if you remember, it was mummified animals and you could have had crocodile or cobra or cats or birds.

What was discovered in 2019? Well, it was 80 sarcophagi.

So lots of amazing sarcophagi.

And the first ever - what was found in 2019? Well, it was the first ever mummified lion cub.

Amazing.

And, were the discoveries primary or secondary sources? Well, they would be primary sources because they were artefacts from that time.

Good job, if you got those correct.

Now, let's look at what the biggest discovery at Saqqara was.

The biggest discovery has been a tomb that is believed to be around 4,500 years old.

The tomb is said to belong to Wahtye, a priest who served Pharaoh Neferirkare.

The tomb was incredibly well preserved and included fifty-five statues that were carved into the walls.

Now, when you went to the tomb, there were two tomb chapels with a burial chamber underneath.

The chapel was beautifully decorated with the ideal life that Wahtye would have liked to have enjoyed in the afterlife carved on the walls.

There were scenes of daily life of religion and of the afterlife.

There were also false doors, and it was the most decorated tomb to ever be found in Saqqara.

Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered around 3,000 artefacts from the tomb, and have been trying to piece together Wahtye's journey.

So, I'd like you to pause the video now.

And I'd like you to draw: what a scene of daily life, a scene of religion and a scene of the afterlife would look like.

Now, remember, we've done lessons on what each of the Egyptians did in life, and also what the religion was like, and the scenes of the afterlife.

So, hopefully you'll have an idea of what you can draw.

And then restart the video once you are done.

So, these are the things you could have drawn.

You might have drawn some people, maybe with ploughs, chopping up the crops, or maybe the oxen pulling the ploughs.

Maybe it might have been what scribes are doing in their daily life, writing; or it could have been a priest - any person, any ancient Egyptian and their daily life, what they would be doing.

A scene of religion: you could have drawn the Temple of Edfu, or you could have drawn a god, one of the different gods, like Anubis or Ra.

And a scene of the afterlife, you could have drawn the scales, when the heart is weighed against the feather, or you could have drawn the Field of Reeds.

Lots of different things you could have drawn, which I'm sure you've got fantastic drawings of.

Now, when Egyptian archaeologists excavated four shafts, so, that was four parts of the tomb that they would dig down into, they were amazed by what they found.

At the bottom of some, was absolutely nothing but the archaeologists soon uncovered the skeletons and bones of three children, two women and a man, believed to be Wahtye and his family.

Now, the Egyptian archaeologists can study the bones to find out about their ancestors.

So, it's important for them to keep learning about this amazing civilization, who left so much behind for us to learn about.

So, I'd like you to pause the video now and have a go at this task.

So, why do you think archaeologists are still searching for ancient Egyptian artefacts? And, can you give two reasons? "I think archaeologists are still searching for ancient Egyptian artefacts because.

." That's a way you can start your sentence.

Two reasons why would they be searching for those artefacts.

When you're done, restart the video.

Okay.

Hopefully you've got a couple of answers down there.

And, one of the reasons why archaeologists might still search for artefacts is because they want to help preserve them and to show the world all about what that civilization was like.

Another reason might be because they are, for the Egyptian people, they are their ancestors.

So, they want to find out about the people who lived before them.

Okay.

And that's the end of our lesson.

We covered a lot.

So well done for working so hard.

And thank you for joining me in learning about ancient Egypt.

Goodbye, everyone!.