Lesson video

Hello everyone and welcome to your fifth lesson on Ancient Egypt.

My name is Mrs Tipping and today we are going to tackle the question, why did the ancient Egyptians build the pyramids? In this lesson, we are going to learn about the Giza pyramids and the pharaohs who built them.

So let's begin.

Now for this lesson, it is a good idea to be sat somewhere comfortable where there are no distractions so you can soak up all of this knowledge from the lesson.

All you need are three things.

The first thing is an exercise book or paper.

The second thing is a pencil or a pen, and finally your fantastic brains.

So if you haven't got any of those things, go and get them now.

Okay, so let's have a look at the lesson structure.

First, I'm going to share with you some key words.

Then we're going to take a look at what the Giza pyramids were.

Then the next question, we'll explore the pharaohs that were buried in the pyramids.

And finally, we'll look at what was found inside a pyramid.

And we will do our end of lesson quiz at the end of this lesson.

So let's have a look at the key words for this lesson.

First word is afterlife.

My turn, your turn, afterlife.

The afterlife is a place where the Ancient Egyptians believed they would go after death.

The next word, or couple of words, is mortuary temple.

My turn, your turn, mortuary temple.

A mortuary temple was a temple built to worship the dead pharaoh.

And the final word is plunder.

My turn, your turn, plunder.

To plunder means to steal goods from somewhere.

So let's take a look at what the Giza pyramids were.

The Giza pyramids were built during Egypt's Old Kingdom, around 4,500 years ago.

Building a pyramid was the ultimate symbol of power because there were such huge structures.

Therefore, it showed how important the pharaoh was if he could build a huge pyramid like the ones shown in the picture.

So let's have a quick question here, which kingdom were the Giza pyramids built in? Was it A, the Old Kingdom, B the New Kingdom, or C, the Middle Kingdom? Have a think.

Can you remember when were the Giza pyramids built? You could either point to the screen or say your answer out loud, or even write it down.

Which one is it? The answer is A, the Old Kingdom.

They were built in the Old Kingdom around 4,500 years ago.

So Egypt's pharaohs expected to become gods when they died and entered the afterlife.

To prepare for the afterlife, they would build temples to the gods and massive pyramid tombs for themselves, filled with all the things a ruler would need to guide and maintain himself in the next world.

Their pyramid tomb would often have many rooms. So lots of the different things they would have in these rooms would help them in the next life.

Like the things you'd had in your normal life.

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

Complete the passage to fill in those blank gaps with the words below.

Pause the video and when you're done restart it.

Okay, hopefully you've had a good go at that, writing it out and popping your answers in.

Let's have a look at what the answers are.

So the Giza pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom.

They were a symbol of power.

The pharaohs believed they would become gods in the afterlife.

They put items in the tomb to take to the next world.

Now let's look at the pharaohs who built those pyramids.

Pharaoh Khufu built the first Giza pyramid as his tomb.

His great pyramid is the largest in Giza and is around 147 metres tall.

It is estimated that 2.

3 million stone blocks, each weighing 2.

5 tonnes, which is huge, build this pyramid.

So all of those individual blocks would build that pyramid.

Now, Pharaoh Khufu also had an enormous ship, an enormous boat that was nearly 44 metres long buried next to his great pyramid.

Some archaeologists think it was a solar barge.

So that's a really long type of boat.

And it's thought that the boat would have carried the pharaoh with the sun god Ra across the heavens.

So it would have taken him to the afterlife.

That's what he believed.

Okay, so here's a quick question.

What did Pharaoh Khufu have buried next to his pyramid? Was it A, a statue, B, a horse and chariot, or C, a boat? Have a think, point to the screen, say your answer out loud, or even write it down, whatever you wish.

Which thing was buried next to Pharaoh Khufu's pyramid.

Hopefully you put C, a boat.

A huge boat of around 44 metres long was buried next to his pyramid.

Now let's take a look at Pharaoh Khafre.

Pharaoh Khafre was Pharaoh Khufu's son.

He built the second pyramid at Giza and his burial ground also included the sphinx.

Now the sphinx was a mysterious limestone monument.

You can see it in the picture here.

It had the body of a lion and then the face of a man with a pharaoh's headdress, so almost the head of a pharaoh.

And in Ancient Egypt, the sphinx was a spiritual guardian and it most often showed a man and the lion's body and the sphinx would stand guard.

So it shows here that the sphinx was maybe put there to stand guard for Pharaoh Khafre's pyramid.

So here's a quick, true or false, a sphinx had the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh.

Is that true or is that false? Have a think, say your answer out loud.

It was true.

So it was thought the sphinx was a spiritual guardian.

So that's something that was there to look after and protect what it was in front of, whether that's a pyramid or something else.

Now let's look at the third pharaoh, which is Pharaoh Menkaure.

He built the third pyramid at Giza and it was the smallest out of the three pyramids, but it did include a complex mortuary temple.

So a mortuary temple in Ancient Egypt is a place where you would worship the dead.

And quite often it would be to worship the dead pharaoh.

So food and objects would be left in the temple as offerings to the gods to show them their respect.

The temple would often be next to the pyramid and it would also have lots of different rooms. It might have a court or store rooms and a chapel.

And in the chapel, priests would perform daily funerary rights, which is basically like a ritual for a type of funeral.

So they would also present, sorry, offerings to the dead king's ka.

A ka is the protective spirit of a pharaoh.

So I would like you now to pause the video and answer these questions.

So write down the answers to each of these questions and then restart the video once you're done.

Okay, hopefully you've had a good go at those.

Let's take a look at the answers.

So which pharaoh built the sphinx? It was Pharaoh Khafre.

Which pyramid did Pharaoh Menkaure build? He built the third and smallest pyramid.

Who built the great pyramid? Pharaoh Khufu.

And which pyramid had a boat buried next to it? It was the Great Pyramid.

The first one built by Pharaoh Khufu.

Good job on that.

Now, finally, let's look at what could be found inside the pyramids.

So all three of the pyramids were plundered inside and out and to plunder something means to steal things.

So everything was stolen and the archaeologists were not able to see what the pharaohs would have left behind.

Tomb robbers knew that the pyramid tombs would have been filled with valuable items, such as jewellery, gold, and weapons, as well as food and clothing for the next life.

This is why the pharaohs chose to be buried in the Valley of the Kings in rock tombs, instead of the pyramids afterwards.

So a quick true or false.

Over the years, everything was stolen from the pyramid tombs.

Is that true or is that false? Say your answer out loud or point to the screen or write it down.

What do you think? It was indeed true.

So all three of the pyramids at Giza were plundered.

So they were, everything was stolen inside and out, and unfortunately archaeologists were unable to see what those pharaohs had left behind.

So Tutankhamen's tomb.

He is mainly known for his tomb because his tomb was in the Valley of the Kings.

It was left undamaged with his mummy and his treasures untouched inside.

Now, because Tutankhamen died young, he did not have as many treasures as maybe Pharaoh Khufu would have had, as he was a pharaoh for a lot longer.

However, Tutankhamen's tomb is estimated to be worth around three quarters of a billion dollars.

So absolutely lots and lots of money.

They found rooms full of furniture, statues, clothes, chariots, weapons, and jewellery, and you can see a picture here.

And these are some of the things that were found in his tomb and are now in museums. His coffin is worth around $13 million on its own.

So you can imagine that the treasures that would have been in Pharaoh Khufu's tomb would have been pretty amazing.

So I'd like you to pause the video now to complete this task.

Who do you think the tomb treasures belonged to? So here's a sentence starter.

I think the tomb treasures belonged to.

And you could put the Egyptian people, because or the Pharaoh because, or whoever finds them, because.

So it's up to you.

What do you think? Who do you think they belong to? And when you're done, restart the video.

Okay, and then we're straight into another task.

So this is your final task of this lesson.

I'd like you to think about which pharaoh built the best pyramid and I'd like you to explain your reasons.

So was it Pharaoh Khufu who built the first pyramid, the Great Pyramid, or was it Pharaoh Khafre who built the second pyramid and also the sphinx? Or was it the third pyramid, the third pharaoh, Pharaoh Menkaure, who built the third pyramid and that was the smallest one, but it also had the mortuary temple.

So write down your answer, explain your reasons, and then restart the video once you're done.

Okay, hopefully you've written down which pharaoh you think built the best pyramid.

So here's some answers you could have written.

You might've said Pharaoh Khufu built the best pyramid because it was the tallest and the biggest.

You might've said Pharaoh Khafre because he built the best- Because he also built the sphinx to protect his pyramid.

Or you might say Pharaoh Menkaure because he built a complex mortuary temple with his pyramid, even though it was the smallest.

So amazing work today.

Absolutely fantastic.

You've worked so hard and that is the end of our session.

And I hope to see you in your next Ancient Egyptian lesson soon.

Goodbye, everyone.