Ancient Egypt and the Near East Unit: A Riverboat Tour of Egyptian Monuments - Travel Brochure Assignment
Assignments to hand in: Notes About Egyptian Pharaohs' Accomplishments | Nile Tour Stops Note Handout | Travel Brochure (Guidelines)
Essential Questions, shared learning target & introduction:
Step 1: Riverboat Tour Introduction and Itinerary - Complete the Notes About Egyptian Pharaohs' Accomplishments handout by reading the following text and looking at the picture and map. You may listen to the audio version by downloading the corresponding sections mp3 file.
Introduction (Audio Version): Hello! Welcome to our tour of the monuments of ancient Egypt. Today, we will see some of the most impressive accomplishments of ancient Egypt's kings. Our tour will be very special, and quite different from most tours. We will be traveling along the Nile River by riverboat. However, before we begin our riverboat tour, we need to stop at the Cairo Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. At the museum we'll learn about the role of ancient Egypt's powerful political leaders - the legendary pharaohs.
This is the Cairo Museum of Egyptian Antiquities (left). It lies in the heart of the busy city of Cairo, the capital of modern Egypt. The museum was built at the beginning of the twentieth century. The entrance to the museum leads through these beautiful gardens, which are filled with statues. These statues, artifacts from thousands of years ago, are outside the museum, because ther are so many others inside the building; there is simply no more room for them. Now, let's go inside to learn about the rule of ancient Egypt's earliest kings.
Picture Description: This is both sides of the Palette of Narmer (left), which is made of slate and measures about 16.5 inches wide and 25 inches tall. The side pictured at left shows King Narmer wearing the crown of Upper Egypt and striking a prisoner. The side on the right shows the king wearing the crown of Lower Egypt and inspecting bound and decapitated prisoners. This side also shows two lionesses whose long necks are entwined, forming a scoop which scholars believe held cosmetic power.
You're now looking at an artifact called the Palette of Narmer. This two-sided, two-foot-high object may have been used in ancient Egypt as a container to hold cosmetic powder. One side of the palette shows Narmer, Egypt's first king, wearing a crown and striking a prisoner. The other side shows two four-legged animals. Their necks are entwined to form a scoop for the powder. From the time the Egyptians first settled along the Nile, Egypt was made up of two different regions - a southern region, called Upper Egypt, and a northern region, called Lower Egypt. Historians believe that Narmer, the king of Upper Egypt, defeated the king of Lower Egypt around 3100 B.C.E. He united both regions, and then proclaimed himself king of a unified Egypt. Egyptians called their ruler a pharaoh. Pharaoh was originally the word for the place where Egypt's ruler lived. Over time, this word came to mean both the ruler and the place where he lived. Egyptians believed their pharaoh was a God, a good God, who was responsible for keeping Egyptian society in order as well as protecting Egypt from its enemies. Usually, each succeeding pharoah was the son or heir of the previous ruler. Over many centuries, Egypt's pharaohs left behind a legacy of great achievements, many of which we'll see on our tour today.
Riverboat Tour Itinerary (Audio Version): Now let's look at a map that shows the places we're going to visit. We will be traveling to sites from each of ancient Egypt's three main periods of history: the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom. These three period were high points in the history of ancient Egypt, and each was followed by a period of weakness and disorder. The Old Kingdom, which lasted from 2686 to 2181 B.C.E., is often called the Age of the Pyramids.
During the Old Kingdom, Egyptians build the first pyramids, some of which we will see at the sites of Giza and Saqqara. Stable rulership under the pharaohs was also established at this time. The Middle Kingdom, which is sometimes called the Period of Reunification, lasted from 1991 to 1786 B.C.E. This period was marked by great achievements in literature, art, and architecture. We will visit one of the period's remaining great architectural achievements, the Jubilee Chapel at Karnak. Ancient Egypt's las great period of civilization occurred during the New Kingdom, which lasted from 1554 to 1070 B.C.E. This period is cometimes called Egypt's Golden Age, a time when Egypt's leaders were greatly interested in conquest, expansion, and the construction of monuments on a grand scale. We will visit the temples of three of the New Kingdom's greatest pharaohs, at el-Amarna, Deir el-Bahri, and Abu Simbel. In just a moment, we'll board our riverboat and begin our tour, a journey that will take us nearly 700 miles down the Nile.
Step 2: The Riverboat Tour of Egypt - Complete the Riverboat Notes/Prompt Handout by looking at the pictures, video, and text below. The audio version is also available for all sections.
Stop 1: Giza
Above are the pyramids at Giza, which are made of yellow limestone. The largest is the Great Pyramid of Khufu (on the far right), which is over 450 feet high. It was built between 2551 and 2528 B.C.E. and remained the tallest man-made structure in the world until the nineteenth century.
(Audio Version) Welcome to Giza, the first stop on our riverboat tour. We have crossed the Nile River and landed just southwest of Cairo. Giza lies on a plateau, and rising high above this land are three ancient monuments that dominate the region. They are the pyramids of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. Khufu's pyramid (on the far right), is the largest and most famous. Called the Great Pyramid, it is more than 450 feet high and covers 13 acres of ground. It ook more than 2,300,000 separate blocks of yellow limestone to build it! The pyramid of Khafre, one of Khufu's sons (in the center), actually seems to be taller than the Great Pyramid. But Khafre's pyramid was built on higher ground and is at least three feet shorter than Khufu's. Now, let's get off the boat here to learn more about the Pharaoh Khufu and the building of the Great Pyramid.
Student Information Sheet on Giza
Video: Pyramid at Giza
Stop 2: Saqqara
(Picture Description) This is Pharaoh Djoser's Step Pyramid, which was built at Saqqara betweeen 2630 and 2611 B.C.E. The pyramid is made of limestone and reches a height of over 200 feet. In the foreground there are stone replicas of the cermonian kiosks and chapels that once surrounded the Step Pyramid.
(Audio Version) I hope you were impressed with the Great Pyramid and Khufu's accomplishments. We've now traveled farther south along the west bank of the Nile to Saqqara. We are here, on another plateau in the desert, to see ancient Egypt's first pyramid, the Step Pyramid of the Pharaoh Djoser. This pyramid, which historians consider to be the world's first stone building, was designed by the pharaoh's architect Imhotep, and was built between 2630 and 2611 B.C.E. This pyramid was originally built to be a mastaba, a low, flat structure that was the common form of a tomb at the time. However, the architect continued to design five increasingly smaller mastabas, one on top of another, until the pyramid reached a height of more than 200 feet. Now, let's learn more about the reign and accomplishments of the Pharaoh Djoser.
Student Information Sheet on Saqqara
Video: Pyramid of Djoser
Stop 3: el-Amarna
(Picture Description) This is the area near el-Amarna where the Pharaoh Akhenaten's city existed between 1353 and 1335 B.C.E. A modern village appears in the foreground, while animals graze in the place where Akhenaten's city stood before his successors destroyed it.
(Audio Version) I hope you aren't too tired from that last stop on our tour. We've now traveled about 150 miles south and crossed over to the east bank of the Nile to el-Amarna. Many unique and beautiful temples once stood on this site, which is surrounded by cliffs on both sides of the Nile. These temples were built during the reighn of the Pharaoh Akhenaten. One of ancient Egypt's most controversial leaders, Akhenaten banished the worship of traditional multiple gods during his rule. He established a city at this site and made it Egypt's capital. The city contained many beautiful buildings with pools and gardens. Nearby, Akhenaten built the royal palace, called the Great Palace, and an open-air temple dedicated to the single God he worshiped. Nearly everything at the site was later destroyed by his successors, who reestablished Egyptian worship of multiple Gods and tried to erase all memory of Akhenaten's reign. Today, village like the one you see here are all that exist at this site. Let's get off our riverboat and learn more bout the controversial leadership of this pharaoh.
Student Information Sheet on el-Amarna
Video: Akhenaten's Revolution
Stop 4: Karnak
(Picture Description) This is a reconstruction of the Jubilee Chapel of the Pharaoh Senusret I at Karnak. The original chapel was built out of limestone between 1971 and 1926 B.C.E. Six hundred years later the Jubilee Chapel was dismantled by the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, who used it as filler inside a pylon at Karnak. The pieces of the Jubilee Chapel were rediscovered many centuries later and have been reassembled by modern archeologists.
(Audio Version) We've just traveled 200 miles farther south along the Nile to Karnak, site of some of the world's greatest religious architectural achievements. Stretched out over more than 200 acres here are temples, chapels, obelisks, columns, and statues, built over the course of some 2,000 years. Teh structure you see here is called the Jubilee Chapel, also known as the White Chapel. Made of limestone, it was originally erected during the reign of the Pharaoh Senusret I. The structure eventually disappeared, but pieces of it were discovered centuries later, and the chapel was reconstructed by modern archeologists. The chapel is considered a masterpiece of architecture from the Middle Kingdom. Now let's learn more about the accomplishments of Sensuret I.
Student Information Sheet on Karnak
Video: Karnak
Stop 5: Deir el-Bahri
(Picture Description) The temple of the Pharaoh Hatshepsut, which was cut from the limestone cliffs at Deir el-Bahri betweeen 1473 and 1458 B.C.E. Originally, large painted statues of Hatshepsut stood in a row along the uppermost terrace and were visible from far away.
(Audio Version) I hope you enjoyed learning about Senusret I. Wasn't the Jubilee Chapel beautiful? We've now gone just a short distance directly across the Nile to the west bank to our next site. Deir el-Bahri. Located in the center of a natural bay and surrounded by cliffs, Deir el-Bahri contains the temple of the Pharaoh Hatshepsut, one of ancient Egypt's few female rulers. This temple was cut from the cliffs that surround the site, and it is a magnificent architectural achievement. Its design consists of a walled courtyard that leads to a ramp and three raised terraces. The temple complex also contains numerous pillars, a series of sculptures showing a sea expedition, and chapels and shrines dedicated to various Gods. Now let's stop and learn more about the fascinating Hatshepsut and how Egypt's economy grew during her reign.
Student Information Sheet on Deir el-Bahri
Video: Hatshepsut Builds a Temple
Stop 6: Abu Simbel
(Picture Description) The temple of the Pharaoh Ramesses II at Abu Simbel. The temple and its colossal 65-foot statues of Ramesses II were originally cut from the sandstone cliffs at Abut Simbel between 1290 and 1224 B.C.E. Between 1964 and 1968, an international team of conservationists cut the temple into large blocks and relocated it some 213 feet above the original site to protect it from rising water levels.
(Audio Version) Well, it's been a long ride, more than 300 miles farther south, but we've finally arrived at the last stop on our tour Abu Simbel. This site contains one of the most spectacular architectural achievments made bby any ancient Egyptian ruler; the temple of Ramesses II. Ramesses, a pharaoh who ruled during the New Kingdom, was the most productive builder of all of ancient Egypt's rulers. The temple's most striking monuments are the four colossal statues of Ramesses, seated among smaller figures. All of them were carved from the area's natural sandstone. The colossal statues are about 65 feet high, taller than a six-story building! Within the temple is a hall, measuring more than 58 by 54 feet, that contains elaborate pillars, hallways, and sculptures. In 1968, the temples of Abu Simbel were removed from the original site and rebuilt on a higher level, away from the Nile River. This was done because the construction of a nearby Aswan High Dam increased the flood level of the river, endangering the statues.
This is the last stop on our tour. I hope you have enjoyed visiting some of the great architectural achievements from the civilizations of ancient Egypt. And I hope you enjoyed learning about the many accomplishments of the pharaohs who constructed them. Well, thanks for joining us, and please be careful when you disembark the riverboat.
Student Information Sheet on Abu Simbel
Video: Abu Simbel - Ramses Temple
Step 3: Creating a Travel Brochure: Using the information covered above, create a travel brochure based on the following GUIDELINES.