Mummies Made in...New Mexico???
Exploring Ancient Egypt the Hands-On Way!
Dear Parents,
As you've probably heard, last Friday was the beginning of our 40 day journey through mummification! We are using Cornish Game Hens as our queens and pharaohs and are holding as closely to the actual process used by Ancient Egyptians as possible. Here's what we did:
The Royal Embalmers' Assistants (Mrs. Henley and Mrs. Bowdoin) shopped for the appropriate supplies.
We read the book Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki. This student-friendly text provided all of the necessary details for our Royal Embalmers to begin their work. Mrs. Bowdoin became the Royal Scribe and kept track of the process.
Preparing
We prepared the materials. Ancient Egyptians used naturally occurring natron to desiccate (dry out) the mummies. We discovered that we could make a substance very close to natron by mixing salt and baking soda. We also made Royal Embalmers' capes to protect our embalmers from unnecessary mess during the process!
The Process
Royal Embalmers met their deceased poultry queens and pharaohs and gave them names.
The royal fowl were weighed. Data was collected and recorded into notebooks.
The corpses were inspected, dried and readied for the natron.
The royal fowl were weighed. Data was collected and recorded into notebooks.
The corpses were inspected, dried and readied for the natron.
The corpses were filled with natron and then placed into Ziploc bags where they were surrounded with more natron (although not an authentic step in the process we are hopeful that it will contain the smell and keep the classroom livable for the next 40 days!)
The plastic bags were placed into Royal Containers (plastic buckets) where they will reside for the next month and a half. We will check them periodically to see if the natron needs to be changed!
We'd like to thank Deanna Vick for stopping by and being our Royal Photographer. It's great to capture the kids in action!