Notes for teachers
Key Stage 2: Journey to the ancient Egyptian afterlife
The final page of these notes can be copied and given to students who you think may need additional support during the session, or to adult helpers.
About this session
This session takes place in one of the Museum’s formal lecture theatres where the students view images projected on to a large screen. The session is designed for audiences of up to 120 students, usually from different schools. It encourages student participation mainly through a lively process of question and answer, but does not include hands-on activities such as dressing up or handling objects. The session lasts for 45 minutes.
Session outline
· During the session students will find out about the weighing of the heart, discover how the spells and information in the Book of the Dead helped the ancient Egyptians on their journey to the afterlife and learn about what they expected to find there.
· The session begins by looking at the ancient Egyptian concept of an afterlife and introduces the Book of the Dead.
· It then goes on to examine the journey to the afterlife beginning with the funeral of the deceased and reveals the challenges, including gods, beasts and physical obstacles, faced by an ancient Egyptian on their way to the afterlife.
· The session concludes with a brief examination of the possible afterlife scenarios shown in the Book of the Dead.
· Key themes include the journey to the afterlife, the Book of the Dead, funeral, spells (particularly transformation spells), landscape of the netherworld and the weighing of the heart.
· Key vocabulary includes afterlife, papyrus, funeral, tomb, ba, transformation spells, Anubis and Osiris.
Preparing for your session
· Locate Egypt in an atlas and on a globe. Identify key geographical features.
· Introduce/revise the key themes and key vocabulary listed above.
· Discuss differing viewpoints of what happens after death, both in cultures
around the world and through time.
Following up your session
· Discuss the journey that was charted during the session, from funeral to afterlife.
· Create a Book of the Dead which includes the funeral and tomb, spells and the challenges they overcome, the final judgement scene and the afterlife. It could be a large class wall display or individual students’ Book of the Dead.
Galleries with related objects
Room 4: Egyptian sculpture including sarcophagus and sections of large tombs
Room 61: Egyptian tomb paintings
Rooms 62 and 63: Egyptian funerary practices including mummification
Room 64: objects from the pre-dynastic period and an early sand-dried mummy
Curriculum links
KS2 History – ancient Egypt
KS2 Citizenship – reflecting on spiritual and cultural issues
KS2: Looking at the ancient Egyptian afterlife
summary sheet
In this session you will learn about:
• what ancient Egyptians believed happened after death
• the journey they believed their spirit (ba) took to the afterlife
• what challenges and obstacles their ba met on the way
Ancient Egyptian afterlife and the Book of the Dead
• You will think what the ancient Egyptians believed happened after death.
• You will learn about the Book of the Dead which was written on a long roll of papyrus and placed in the tomb with the mummy.
Journey to the afterlife
• You will find out about the beginning of the journey to the afterlife which started at the funeral.
• You will find out about the gods, monsters and physical challenges, such as hills and lakes, which were part of the journey.
• You will learn how the spells written in the Book of the Dead helped with the difficult parts of the journey to the afterlife.
Weighing of the heart and arrival in the afterlife
• You will learn about the last challenge on the journey – the weighing of the heart. You will discover how the Book of the Dead helped with this challenge.
• You will think about the end of the journey and what the perfect afterlife would have been like for an ancient Egyptian.