Reading ＆ Writing

Pharaoh Tutankhamun was the most famous of all pharaohs but very unimportant as a ruler as his rule was so short. He ruled for about 8 or 9 years from 1334 to 1325 BC. So we know more about him after his death than we do Reading Task (P82) NOTE: Pharaoh Tutankhamun

about his rule when he was alive. The Egyptians believed in life after death. So they got all the goods they wanted to have with them in the next life buried in their tomb. The richer the person, the greater the number of goods. As Tutankhamun was a pharaoh, his tomb was filled with many wonderful treasures.

It also contained statues of gods that would protect his tomb from evil spirits or thieves who might steal his treasures. The walls of the tomb, too, were covered with spells to preserve the pharaoh till he got safely to the Hall of Judgement. In the same way his body inside its three coffins was protected by four goddesses of the dead.

By the tomb was a box containing four jars. They held the internal organs of the dead pharaoh, which were removed when he was turned into a mummy. First his brain was taken out of his head through his nose. Then his organs were removed and put into the jars. Only

his heart was left inside the body. Finally his body was covered in a special salt and left for forty days to “dry”. After this time the body was a mummy and was ready to be wrapped up and buried. As well as the body there were instructions in the coffin on how to make the journey to the afterlife.

Answer key for Exercise 1 ObjectMaterialColourDecoration BoxesBeautifully painted Two statues / Black Wearing gold shoes and carrying royal insignia Chairs GoldGolden With heads of animals and gods / /

Flowers / // Vases // With beautiful flower designs Boxes / Black / Chests / White / Seat / Golden / Cart GoldGolden /

1. How did they know whose tomb it was? They read his name on a black box. 2. Why do you think they thought these things came from another civilization? Because they were so strange and wonderful---more wonderful than anyone could imagine. Answer key for Exercise 2

3. Why did Carter get excited when he noticed the door to the tomb was still fastened? Because it meant that the tomb had not been opened by thieves.

1. I would have to lock the tomb securely so that thieves could not steal the finds. 2. I would have to lock the tomb securely so that the sunlight and temperature would not affect the finds in the tomb. Otherwise the finds may be spoiled. Suggested answers to Exercise 3

3. I would have to lock the tomb securely so that I could record all the finds carefully, and I would not want any of the finds to be moved.

Look at the pictures on P85 and discuss the questions below them. The order should be BAC. The earliest pyramid is B, which is called step pyramid. It was built during the Third Dynasty (2800 BC). Step pyramid is generally considered the Writing

first tomb in Egypt to be built entirely of stone anywhere in the world. The second is A. It was built in about 2,550 B. C., King Khufu, the second pharaoh of the fourth dynasty, commissioned the building of his tomb at Giza. According to archaeologists, the top of the Khufu pyramid is in a

way ripped off, which is in common with the first picture. Then the third one is the third picture. It is called bent pyramid, which was built for Khafre, the fourth pharaoh of the fourth dynasty. The bent pyramid at Dahshur shows us that the ancient Egyptians experimented a lot with the slope of the pyramids. In the middle of construction

the builders must have decided that the slope of the building was too steep to continue. Thus, the top half of the pyramid has a different slope. The pyramid had sloping sides so that the dead pharaoh could climb to the sky and live forever. The pyramid represented the rays of the sun.

The first to be built was Pyramid No B. It has steps up the side, and it looks as if it was an attempt to build something that we now call a pyramid shape. The steps were a way of organizing the building and making sure that it was safe. The steps look as if smaller and A sample version:

smaller boxes were placed one on top of the other to make the step design. I think the second to be built was Pyramid No C, which bends at the top. It has smooth sides which the architects could have learned from building the step pyramid. But the design is clearly not finished as the curve at the top of the pyramid is not smooth.

The Egyptian architects have not yet completely mastered the art of building pyramids with smoothly sloping sides. I think the third to be built was Pyramid No A, which has smooth and evenly sloping sides. It is the shape that we call “a pyramid shape” today, so it must be the final one in this serious of buildings.

From the pictures we can see that the three pyramids all come to a point at the top. It is reasonable to assume that the pharaoh/god was close to the other gods. The pharaoh’s spirit could escape from the top of the pyramid and fly up to the sky, where the gods were thought to live.