This term, ASC2 and LSC2 have been learning about Ancient Egypt. We have been enjoying finding out about what every day life was like as well as the Pyramids, Mummification, and the Pharoah’s. On Friday 9th February there was much excitement as the 2 classes got on the bus for their journey to Belfast.
When we arrived at the museum, we put our coats and lunches into big boxes and followed the lady into the Egyptian workshop room where we all sat on cushions. The lady talked to us about Mummification and travelling to the afterlife. She showed us Canopic jars which their organs were stored in. There were 4 jars and each had a different lid that identified as protectors: the baboon head is Hapy, the human head is Imsety, the jackal head is Duamutef, and the falcon head is Qebehsenuef.
Next, she showed us a Scarab Beetle which is placed on the heart of the mummy. There were hieroglyphics carved into it. We also got to see and hold a piece of Obsidian which is black and shiny; our Minecraft fans loved this!
After that, we were able to smell the dried tree sap that was used to make the oils to cover the mummy’s so their skin would not dry. This smelt of Frankincense and Myrrh. Gold and Frankincense were of the same value in Ancient Egypt. You needed to be very rich to be mummified. We learnt that the material used to wrap the mummy’s was linen made from the flax plant that was grown in the fields.
The next artefacts we saw were amulets. These are small figures made from clay. Copper was added to make them turn blue.
When we had finished looking and holding the artefacts, we moved to different workstations, investigating different items and using the clues to guess what Egyptian job they were used for.
Soon it was time to move to the Art workshop, where we learnt about different self-portraits. We sat down, looked at our reflections in the mirrors and then started to draw our own portraits. Some of us finished earlier than others, so we began to explore the room, finding picture frames where we could get our photographs taken. This was lots of fun too.
After the workshop, we went to see the Ancient Egyptian exhibition. We saw a real mummy and the coffin. Her name was Lady Takabuti. She was only between 20 and 30 when she died. She was very tiny. We also saw a cat mummy, lots of tools and jars and some Egyptian Jewellery.
Soon it was time to have a quick look around the rest of the museum. ASC2 went first while LSC2 went to spend some money in the gift shop. Then we swapped around.
Finally, it was time to go to the lunchroom and have our lunch before we got back on the bus to make our return journey to school. We were sad to leave as we all had a fantastic time. The bus wasn’t as noisy on the return trip as we were tired and a few of us fell asleep! Now we are just looking forward to our next school trip!
