A journey to ancient Egypt.

Magic, Mummies, Kings as Gods, Spirits, Pyramids and Life After Death are some of the enchanting elements of a civilization that still lives today in the minds of children. The Egyptians' great wish to live forever, and their fascination for the new life that begins after death, captures and motivates students in the artroom. They relive the Egyptians' world through discussing ideas and making art objects.

Egyptian civilization provides a wealth of projects which reveal a culture through its religion, architecture, jewelry, dress, arts and crafts, and mystical surroundings. Art projects inspired by the Egyptians include making mummies and pyramids, funeral masks, papyrus papermaking, murals, portraits of the gods, jewelrymaking, writing magic spells in hieroglyphics and constructing clay figurines called Shawabtis, which represent the slaves who accompanied the Pharaoh in the after-life to perform all his daily chores.

A discussion of the Dynasty of the Gods is an excellent way to begin an investigation of the Egyptian world. Students were quick to engage in the rich stories of how the gods came into existence, as well as their mysterious representations of themselves as having half-human and half-animal attributes. The Egyptians believed that their gods had the same desires and physical needs as all living things. The gods were responsible for having enough water for the villages and crops, for performing the important mummification ceremony when a pharaoh died and many other aspects of Egyptian life. The tales of the sun god Re and adventure stories of Horus the Avenger fill the classroom with wonder and energy, and motivate the students to experience the Egyptian way of life and to create remarkable works of art.

Portraying a God

My third grade students were asked to choose a god they would enjoy being. It's not difficult for the students to identify with a god. The combination of powerful human and animal attributes, along with the legendary activities of the gods makes it easy for a student to want to associate with such a heroic figure. It is amazing to note that people who lived over five thousand years ago had a hierarchy of almost three thousand omnipotent gods. Each village had its own dynasty of gods, contributing to a huge array of spiritual forces. If students have difficulty choosing a god for self-portrayal, encourage them to create their own idea of a god. Our twentieth-century gods range from the Pizza God to the The God of Electricity. Many students are attracted to the power and magic of Sobek, the crocodile god, and Anubis the jackal-headed god of mummification.

After students have researched a god, they draw a life-size portrait of themselves pictured as that god. We used the following materials to complete this mural project: brown or white mural paper, pencils, permanent black markers, oil pastels, tempera paints, brushes and gold paint pens. This project is a good opportunity for students to work in small groups.

Students begin their life-size portraits by studying an illustration of the god they have chosen. Museums and books are an excellent resource for depicting the gods. I recommend the following books: Gods and Pharaohs from Egyptian Mythology by Geraldine Harris, Exploring the Past--Ancient Egypt by George Hart, Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki Brandenberg, Ancient Egyptian Design by Ed Sibbet Jr., and In Search of Tutankhamen by Pierco Ventura and Gian Paola Ceserani.

I asked the students to look at the animal attributes in the face, the position of the body, what is being held in the hands and the jewelry and clothing worn. I emphasized that the Egyptian craftsperson painted a person with a combination of different angles to enable the viewer to see as much detail as possible. For example, the head was painted from the side, the eye from the front and the arms according to what the person was doing.

Next, the student lies down on the mural paper and positions the body in the same way the god is depicted. A partner traces the outline of the student's body. I encouraged the students to start with the head and focus on only one part of the body at a time, otherwise they are too overwhelmed and don't feel confident that they can draw something so big with so much detail. If you suggest a place to begin, and direct their attention to one section at a time, you will be amazed at their success and so will they.

The students then turned the profile of their own face into an animal, depending on the god. Next, I directed them to design the jewelry around the neck, arms and ankles. Students worked on drawing the details of the clothing and finally the ornamented staff if the god was holding one. After everything was sketched in pencil, students went over all their pencil lines with a bold black marker. Oil pastels were used to color the entire figure with Egyptian colors (earth tones). Once the figure was completed, the background was painted with tempera. The children used their imaginations to fill in exciting backgrounds for their gods and goddesses.

The students were eager to display their murals, and to build mummies and pyramids. Egyptian art is an excellent source of material for interdisciplinary learning, creating continuity between the academics covered in the classroom and the artroom.