Wrapping Up Ancient Egypt

Our study of Ancient Egypt has been lots of fun and it's time to wrap it all up! Today we read Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki (an excellent book, by the way) and then proceeded to have our own Egyptian burial ritual...with 3 Barbie dolls.

We raided all of our first-aid kits for gauze wraps, hustled up some valuable amulets, and looted the kitchen cupboards for salt, scented oils, herbs and spices.

First we soaked the gauze in starch and then wrapped our deceased from head to toe. Then, we inserted the amulets into the gauze wrappings. Next, we applied our scented oils, salts, herbs and spices to preserve the bodys and slow decay.

Here is Madeline making sure her mummy is well-salted. Please pass the pepper.
I think Max was disappointed that we didn't get to use forceps to remove Barbie's brains through her nostrils...but wait...Barbie doesn't have a brain!

I think he was also hoping that we would be collecting the inner organs in canopic jars...

Here he is, hard at work tucking amulets within his mummy's bandanges. He seemed satisfied dressing the body with oils and LOTS of spices.
Here is Dr. Natalie, checking the placement of the bandages in preparation for the ceremonial sprinkling of the herbs.
Max's mummy. Well-preserved with extra herbs and spices. This one's sure to be flavorful!

Next week we hope to decorate coffins and sarcophagi in preparation for our fieldtrip to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose.

For now, it's off to the store to buy more gauze...