What a fantastic day we had at the British Museum!
We found out about the role of an archaeologist in Egypt and how they excavate a site, making sure they keep all their finds organised and safe. We were able to handle some replica artefacts and found out what they were and what they were used for. These included a pot, jewellery, a shabti and papyrus.
We thoroughly enjoyed going into the Egyptian galleries at the museum, where we were amazed to see real mummies and their coffins, many of which were highly decorated with paintings and hieroglyphs. We compared a rich woman’s burial with a poorer woman and also saw an actual body of a 5000 year old man who had been buried in the sand, which had naturally mummified it. We looked carefully at some of the things which embalmers used in the process of mummification, although sadly we couldn’t find the hook which would have been used to pull the brains out! We saw some canopic jars but most people enjoyed seeing the mummified animals, which included a crocodile, cat and ibis bird.
We also saw examples of real jewellery, musical instruments and items they used for make-up, including an eyeliner! We were able to see inside a large stone sarcophagus, which was engraved with hieroglyphs and pictures of the Gods and we looked for the symbols of cartouches and the ankh. We were also able to see the Rosetta stone, which was they key to unlocking the mysteries of the hieroglyphs.
We saw so much in one day!
Enjoy looking at some of our pictures.
Have a great weekend,
Year 4 team
