Lesson 4: Ancient Egypt

For this activity, you will create trading cards for the following Egyptian rulers (the page numbers indicate where you can find information about each one):

On the two "Egyptian Ruler Trading Cards" pages, you will need to fill in the date of each ruler's reign. Next, cut out the boxes on the "Egyptian Ruler Trading Cards Answers" page, and paste each one in its appropriate "known for here" space on the trading cards. (Be sure to look up the ruler so that you'll be able to choose the correct information!)

In this activity, you'll have the chance to create your own art in an Egyptian style. One of the unique characteristics of Egyptian art is the way that artists depicted the human body. Take some time to look at the images of people from ancient Egyptian paintings throughout the section on ancient Egypt in Ancient Civilizations (see pages 12-17 for some examples). Notice that the head and legs of each person are often shown from a side view, while the shoulders and torso are presented in a forward-facing view. You may also notice that the backgrounds of the images are very simply rendered but the tools that they are using and the specific steps of the jobs they are doing are rendered in great detail. How is this different from other styles of art that you have seen?

Create a family portrait using this Egyptian style. You might choose to show a particular moment from your family's life — for example, a holiday celebration or a trip to the beach. You might instead choose to show each member of your family engaged in an activity that he or she enjoys — for example, you might show your father baking bread, your mother playing tennis, or your sister reading.

However you choose to show your family, try to use the Egyptian style of presenting human figures. Remember to have the face in profile, the torso facing forward and the legs in profile. Remember, also, to pay attention to the steps of the activity you're depicting and to include any tools or objects being used but to keep your background relatively simple. You may wish to sketch your artwork in pencil and then go over it in pen and use crayons, colored pencils, markers, or watercolors to add colors like those found in Egyptian paintings.