Intro
Dear ParTENons*,
It's been quite a while since you received
a letter from me. I'm sure you've missed hearing from me, and
I'm sorry for taking so long to write. I know you're busy, so
I won't keep you long. I did want to tell you about your next
opportunity to be creative, clever, and artistic. I can tell you're
all excited, so why don't I just get on with it?
As you know, Egyptians, like Sumerians,
were polytheistic. They worshipped many gods. During the earliest
times of the Old Kingdom, most of the gods and goddesses they
worshipped were thought to have animal forms and animal-like qualities,
and they were thought also to be strong as a bull and brave as
a lion. As time passed, the Egyptians started to give some human-like
characteristics to their gods. Gods like Anubis, the god of the
dead, had the body of a man, but the head of a jackal. Ra, the
sun god, had the body of a man, but the head of a falcon. Bastet
was the goddess of joy and love, and she had the body of a woman
and the head of a cat, one of the most beloved animals in Egypt.
As in Sumer, the gods and goddesses were empowered and were usually
worshipped as the god "in charge" of a specific area.
You can look at the handout of gods to give you an idea of what
they were gods of. The Egyptians had a great number of gods and
goddesses, some think as many as 740, but I don't think that is
really the case. I understand that they had 750 once they included
the gods and goddesses that you have up your sleeve. (Note: This
number was different for each class. It was based on the number
of Egyptian gods plus the number of students in that particular
section.) Yup, that's right! Each of you has a god or goddess
that has not been counted before. Let me explain.
* Spelling is customized to note number
of students in class.
Task
You will be creating an Egyptian god
or goddess. This creation should have a human body, but an
animal head. You must include the following with your creation:
- an explanation of who your god/goddess
is and what he/she is the god of, (This should be at least two
paragraphs in length so you can explain how this god rules his/her
domain, who he/she is related to, and where he/she reigns, and
why he/she has the animal head that it has.)
- an explanation of what two mystical
powers this god/goddess has,
- an explanation of how people worship
this god/goddess, including the ceremonies that people had to
honor this god,
- a picture, done in color, that illustrates
what this god/goddess looks like.
- Have fun creating your god/goddess.
Make it someone you could use to help you. (No, the goddess of
homework is out. That's what I am.)
- This project is due on Wednesday,
Dec. 16th. Have fun!
Artfully yours,
Mrs. R. The Goddess of
Homework
Conclusion
As you will see from the write ups
and pictures, my classes really "got into" their god/goddess
creations. Their creativity, always evident, was truly in high
gear as they added to the list of Egyptian gods and goddesses.
Their evaluations of the project enthusiastically rated the project.
It was a great experience. Please let me know if you try this
and what your results were.
This project developed by Emily Rubinfield,
for Germantown Academy Middle School. Site design and technical assistance
furnished by Carol
Siwinski, Curricular
Technology Specialist.
January, 1999