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Mummy Who Would Be King, The

Classroom Activity

Learning Objective | Materials | Background | Procedure | Activity Answer | Links & Books | Standards  Print this Teacher's Guide (PDF, 7 pages)

Activity Summary
To determine the culture and method of mummification of various mummies by using descriptive clues.

Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:

• explain what mummification is.

• understand that different societies practiced different methods of mummification

• copy of the "Matters of Mummification" student handout (PDF or HTML)
• copy of the "Mummies of the World" student handout (PDF or HTML)
• copy of the "Mummies 101" article found at www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/chinamum/mummies101.html
• access to world atlas
• access to print and Internet resources

Background
Mummies are bodies of people or animals preserved after death. The process of mummification used by ancient cultures that preserved their dead for hundreds, even thousands, of years differs from more modern methods of embalming that are sometimes used to temporarily preserve human remains after death. Mummification often included the use of resin or chemicals to preserve the dead; contemporary embalming involves treating a corpse with preservatives in order to temporarily prevent decay.

Mummies have been found in many places around the world, including Egypt, Greenland, South America, the Austrian-Italian Alps, New Guinea, Northwest Europe, the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska, and the U.S. Southwest.

Mummification methods varied, and they were often dependent upon the tools and materials available to a particular culture. Each method prevented bacteria and fungi from multiplying and breaking down the body. Some mummification methods were anthropogenic—created intentionally by people—while others were spontaneous—created by natural conditions such as subzero temperatures or burial in bogs.

Mummification often involves one of the following techniques: drying the body with salts, smoke, or chemicals; drying the body in the sun and wind or in the cold and wind; placing the body in an oxygen-free environment such as a peat bog; or burying the body in soil that has bacteria-killing chemicals.

This activity will introduce students to some of the different kinds of mummification techniques that have been discovered worldwide.

1. Organize students into teams and provide each team with copies of the student handouts and access to or copies of the "Mummies 101" article found on the NOVA Web site.

2. Ask students to read the article and then work together to identify each mummy by using the descriptive clues.

3. When teams are finished, divide the mummy descriptions evenly amongst the teams. Have each team conduct additional research on its types of mummification. After learning more, each team should plot the geographic location where its mummies were found, and plot the date the bodies were mummified, on the map and time line provided in the "Mummies of the World" student handout.

4. After all teams have completed their handouts, have each team report on its assigned mummies, providing the locations and mummification time frames for a class map and time line. Once all teams have reported, ask students to identify any patterns they see about where, how, why, or when the mummies were created. What, if any, general conclusions can be drawn about the mummies studied? What surprised students the most about the mummies they researched?

5. Ask students about the types of items that are often preserved today and the preservation techniques that are used. (An example might include food by refrigeration, salting, and pickling.)

6. As an extension, have students choose a mummification technique for further study. Ask students to prepare a one-page summary that includes the related science of their chosen techniques.

Time Line
The time line shows mummy findings worldwide and the approximate times scientists believe the mummies were preserved (some mummy ages are more speculative than others depending on how accurately the mummy remains could be dated). These approximate ages change as scientists more accurately determine the age of existing mummy remains and discover and date new remains.

Web Sites

NOVA—The Mummy Who Would Be King
www.pbs.org/nova/mummy
Find out whether any undiscovered tombs still exist, discover who Rameses I was, see how a mummy is made, and learn more about the history of mummification in Egypt.

Mummies of Ancient Egypt
www.si.umich.edu/chico/mummy/demo.html
Explores the process of and reasons for mummification.

Mummies Unmasked
www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/9906/mummies/mummy_making.html
Provides more information about mummy making.

Mystery Mummy
www.egyptianmuseum.com/article17_archmagApril2003.htm
Contains an article that explains why the mystery mummy found in a Niagara Falls museum may be Rameses I.

Summum Mummification
summum.kids.us/mummification/world/
Contains a globe interactive that allows users to see where mummies have been found around the world.

Books

Egyptian Mummies: People from the Past
by Delia Pemberton. Harcourt Brace & Co., 2001.
Shows how forensic science can shed light on the ancient Egyptians.

Mummies, Bones, and Body Parts
by Charlotte Wilcox. Carolrhoda Books, 2000.
Contains graphic photos of ancient mummies and descriptions of different preservation methods.

Mummy
by James Putnam. Dorling Kindersley, 2000.
Provides an overview of mummies from around the world.

The "Matters of Mummification" activity aligns with the following National Science Education Standards (see books.nap.edu/html/nses).

Grades 5-8
Science Standard G
History and Nature of Science
History of science

Classroom Activity Author

Developed by WGBH Educational Outreach staff.