Submitted by: Lauren McGreal, Victoria Fertitta
Middle School in Las Vegas, NV
Unit: Egyptian Art - Sculpture
Lesson Plan: Canopic Jars
Grade Level: Elementary (grades 4 through 6)
Alternate Lesson: Detroit
Institute of the Art - Canopic Jars
Materials:
Newspapers, Pringles
cans, Masking Tape
,
Ross White Glue
(or Wheat Paste or flour paste), Acrylic Paint or Tempera Paint
, Brushes.
Alternate: Use baby food jars
Alternate: Use "Whisker Lickin's"
plastic containers.
Preparation:
You need a Pringles can for each student. Take the lids off and put aside. Prepare paper maché mix in a bowl for each table. Students
(or teacher ahead of time) should cut strips of newspapers to put on
the outside of the Pringles cans while using wheat paste or flour for
creating and attaching the heads on the Pringles can lids. Have
students paper mache the can being careful not to seal the head on.
Procedures:
After a brief lesson about Egyptian art, hieroglyphics, and ancient
religion, begin talking about the Sons of Horus. Explain that there was
a group of four gods in the Egyptian religion. They believed that the
sons of Horus helped their king go to heaven using ladders. The names
of the sons of Horus were Imsety, Duamutef, Hapi and Qebehsenuef. Three
of them were in the shape of animals. Egyptians used these gods in
burial. They made them in the shapes of jars and buried them with the
mummies. They created jars in the shape of the sons of Horus and they
would contain parts of the body while they prepared the body for
burial.
Have the students pick one of the 4 Sons of Horus to recreate. Make
the heads out of newspaper and tape on top of the lid. Another option
is paper maché mix that you can form with your hands. After the
heads are finished and securely fastened to the lids, students then
begin paper macheing the outside of the Pringle's cans with newspaper
strips. When finished, students paint the entire can and head. They may
use markers or paints to paint hieroglyphics on the outside of the cans. Students who finish early can do a second Son of Horus.
Alternate: Make any kind of animal head that has personal
meaning to the students.
Resources:
Links
Canopic
Jars - Detroit
Institute of the Arts - Canopic Jars - Canopic
Chest and Jars - Tuts
Splendors
of Egypt - Artifacts - Canopic
jars (commercial site - but some nice images)
National
Gallery of Art - Quest for Immortality - Student
writing on mummification
Books
Egyptian gods & goddesses
- Grade 1-3: This beginning reader opens with a brief lineup of gods and goddesses including Horus, Re, Thoth, Montu, Osiris, Isis, and Anubis and then goes into an account of the Egyptians' fascination with death and the afterlife. Readers find out why pyramids and mummies were so important, and how bodies were prepared for their trip to the Underworld.
The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
- Catalogue of gods and goddesses supplemented by examinations of the history of Egyptian religion, the rise and fall of the gods, and the ways in which they were worshipped.
Egyptian Divinities: The All Who Are One
- The book details over 80 divinities (gods, goddesses), how they act and interact to maintain the universe, and how they operate in the Egyptian religion.
Egyptian Samples
Bronze Egyptian Canopic Jars
- Four bronze jars at a reasonable price. They also have Canopic Jars
in pewter.
Ancient Egyptian Canopic Jar Shrine
- Ancient Egyptian Canopic Shrine Trinket Jewelry Box. This canopic shrine box measures approximately 6 by 3.5 by 3.5 inches, made of cold cast resin and is hand painted.
Links
