Newspaper Writing Prompts From Ancient Egypt

Notes for the Parent or Teacher
This newspaper pack can be used in a number of ways. The pages can be printed on
regular paper for drafting the articles and then printed on other various types of paper
that give a more authentic feel. The images used in the pack are also repeated on extra
pages at the end of the unit in case they are needed for other projects or formats.
“The Big Picture” provides students a very brief summary of events in order to help them
understand how the events and people depicted were related, but it is meant only to
serve as a springboard for further discovery as students investigate and complete their
assignments.
Also, as explained in the student introduction, sometimes the artist’s rendition of an

event does not match what history records happened. This is a great opportunity to help
the student learn about investigating the facts of history and weighing conflicting sources
and evidence.
In a classroom setting, you may wish to assign one article to each student and then
create a class newspaper or presentation of the events studied.
WriteBonnieRose.com 1
Reporting From Ancient Egypt
Instructions
It’s time to go on assignment to ancient Egypt. You’ll need a few tools to get
started. First, read the section called “The Big Picture.” This introduces you
to the time period and helps you see how your assignments are connected
to each other.
Next are your assignments. Each assignment includes a small picture that
matches the large picture on a newspaper page you’ll find in this pack.
The next tools you have been given are ten sets of pages for newspaper
articles. Each set is made up of three pages. The first has a large picture.
There is room at the very top for the name of your newspaper and space for
the issue number and date beneath it. The large picture is a picture related
to your assignment (but be careful—some of these field artists don’t always
depict the information accurately, so be sure to do your own research and
determine what happened at the event). Write your incredible, eye-catching
headline beneath the picture. Then you can start your news story. Fill the
first page. Then, depending on how long your story will be, fill the next two
pages or jump to the third page that has the small box in the corner. Finish
your article on this page. In the small box, write something such as a short
bio of the author of the article, an advertisement, a help-wanted ad, etc. But
be sure to keep in line with the time period. You can’t have an ad for a
television before one would have been invented!
Write an article for each of your assignments. When you are done, you will
have a great record of ancient Egypt!
The Big Picture
Ancient Egypt was an amazing civilization that grew in parts of modern-day

Egypt centuries ago. Much of the civilization grew up around the Nile River
because it provided transportation and irrigation for crops. When it flooded
every year, it deposited rich soil on the land along its banks.
Land not reached by the waters and higher ground still needed to be
irrigated. Shadoofs used a balanced beam and buckets to transport water to
places that would have been hard to reach in other ways.
The people living in ancient Egypt spoke a language that was related to
other languages of the area. Their written language was in a form called
hieroglyphics, which was used for about three centuries. It was often used
for religious inscriptions and to record important facts about royalty. Scribes
were trained to do this writing. There was much to learn about making each
hieroglyph. The symbols were written in columns and read from top to
bottom. Sometimes the symbols were read left to right, but other times,
they were read right to left, depending on which direction the hieroglyphs
faced.
Hieroglyphics were written on walls, stone, and on a type of paper invented

in Egypt. The Egyptians made paper from the papyrus plant that grew along
the Nile. Part of the stem was cut into thin strips and arranged on a flat
surface. Then another layer of strips was placed on top, going across the
first layer. This sheet was then dampened, pressed together, and dried.
While it was drying, the sap of the plant glued the pieces together. Then the
sheet was hammered and dried again in the sun. This became a smooth
surface to write on. To make a long roll to write on, the sheets could be
glued together end-to-end, though they usually didn’t glue more than
twenty or so sheets together. The tips of the papyrus reeds were sharpened
into a point to be used as a pen, and soot and water was mixed to make ink.
Over time, the art of hieroglyphics was lost. Modern scholars worked for
hundreds of years to decipher the old symbols, but it was like a code that
was almost impossible to break. In 1799, the Rosetta Stone was discovered
and provided the key to hieroglyphics. A scholar was able to use the stone
to decipher the language and published a work in 1822 that enabled
scholars to finally read the long-lost language.
The kingdom of ancient Egypt grew. During the early times, people walked
or rode on donkeys. However, in the 1600s B.C., the Egyptians began using
chariots. Over time, Egypt built a very large army. In the 1500s B.C., the
archers in the army trained so that they could shoot accurately while riding
in chariots drawn by horses. Egypt itself was invaded by armies in chariots
who took control of the country. Over the years, the invaders were driven
out. Egypt’s army grew, and the use of chariots helped them conquer much
more land.
Ancient Egyptians made many grand monuments out of stone. They erected
obelisks at the entrances of temples. Each obelisk was carved from one
stone, usually red granite from the quarries near Aswān. Many obelisks
have hieroglyphics inscribed on them. Obelisks could be different heights,
from 10 feet (3.3 meters) to one at Karnak that was 97 feet (30 meters) tall. It
took quarry workers seven months to cut the stone out of the quarry. Then
workers had to polish the stone. It was transported down the Nile on a
barge.
During the reign of Ramses IV, from 1156-1150 B.C., the quality of life in
Egypt declined. In order to try to keep Egypt as prosperous as it had been in
the past, Ramses IV came up with a huge building plan for the kingdom. He
opened the quarries in the Wadi Hammāmāt and had building stone
quarried in ever-increasing amounts. He arranged for the royal tomb to be
cut. He increased the number of quarry workers to as many as 8,368 men
who all worked at one time to get stone for the many building projects. He
started two temples, one of which would have been the largest ever built if it
had been completed. However, he had many problems during his reign.
Some of these officials committed criminal acts and gave favors to family
members. Ramses IV died after ruling only six years, leaving many projects
unfinished.
Pharaoh was the term used to refer to the king in ancient Egypt. The people
of Egypt believed their king was actually a god in human form, which helped
the pharaoh have more power and control over the people. The pharaoh
owned a large portion of land and was responsible for the well-being of his
people. The position of pharaoh was passed down from father to son,
though there were times when daughters claimed the right to inherit the
throne if the father had no son. There were at least four women who
became rulers in ancient Egypt. The pharaohs were mummified and buried
in luxurious tombs, often filled with beautiful paintings and other works of
art.
Mummification is a way of preserving a dead body. In ancient Egypt, bodies

were mummified as part of the religious beliefs of the people. First, all the
moisture had to be removed from the bodies. Then it was treated with
different substances that would keep the moisture out of the body. The
body was often stuffed after this to make it look more lifelike. Then, it was
wrapped in many, many linen bandages and placed in a coffin. Sometimes
one coffin was placed inside another.
A sarcophagus was a type of coffin used by the people in ancient Egypt to

bury their dead. In the early kingdoms, the sarcophagus was simply a
boxlike coffin. Around 1630 B.C., the coffins were made to look more like a
person. One end was carved and even painted to look like the head of the
dead person. When a sarcophagus was to be used for royalty, it could be
made from solid gold or silver. Many sarcophagi have decorative artwork on
the outside, showing the great skill of the people of the time. The artwork
also often tells something about the person being buried, which helps
preserve history. The mummy of the person being buried was placed inside
the sarcophagus, along with things that were important to that person.
In the ancient Egyptian funeral ceremony, canopic jars were used to hold
the embalmed internal organs of the person who had died. These organs
were removed from the body and placed in canopic jars when the body was
mummified. Early canopic jars had plain lids, but about 1938 B.C., artists
started decorating the jars with human heads or the heads of Egyptian
deities. As time passed, the funeral customs changed, and the internal
organs were not placed in canopic jars but returned to the body. The jars
were still used, but they were made without a space to hold anything inside.
Because of the many ways of preserving evidence of their way of life, we

have been able to learn much about the ancient Egyptian civilization.
On Assignment
Use the following questions to get you started and then add more questions
of your own.
On Assignment: Irrigation
Your newspaper is publishing a series of helpful
articles on irrigation to help the farmers of the
area better irrigate their land. Write a short
article about the shadoof and how it is being
used to help farmers in many areas.
On Assignment: On Location at a School for Scribes

Write an article about the class of scribes being
trained for work keeping records. How hard is it to
learn all there is to know about hieroglyphics? What
are some of the plans the students have for the
future? Do they want to keep records, work with
writing on the walls of the pyramids, work for the
pharaoh, or do something else with their skills?
On Assignment: Interview with a Papyrus

Gatherer
Interview someone whose job it is to gather the
papyrus used to make paper. Is it important to
gather the papyrus at any certain time? Are
there any dangers, such as animals that they
have to be on the lookout for? How much
papyrus do they need to gather each day?
On Assignment: Interview with an Archer
Interview one of the archers who fights from a
chariot. How hard is it to be a steady shot from
a fast-moving chariot? What’s it like being in the
army? What is hard about it? What does he like
about it?
On Assignment: On Location at the Quarry

Write an article about the difficulties in quarrying the
rock needed to make a large obelisk from a single
stone. How long does it take to get it cut out of the
rock around it? What difficulties and dangers are
there to the job?
On Assignment: Obituary of Ramses IV

You have been given the assignment to write about
the life of Ramses IV after his death. The newspaper
wants the people to know about all the
accomplishments of this pharaoh, but it also wants
the people to know about the problems during his
reign. Write an unbiased and informative article.
On Assignment: Mummification
You’re following the preparation of the body of
Ramses IV for burial. Write an informative article
telling people what stage of mummification the
pharaoh is in and what is happening to the
body. You may choose any stage you wish to
write about.
On Assignment: The Pharaoh’s Speech

Pharaohs didn’t have to give campaign speeches like
many modern leaders today, but they did spend a
lot of time reminding the people what a great job
they were doing and why they thought the people
should honor them. Choose a pharaoh from history
and write the speech he might have given to remind
the people of all his great deeds.
On Assignment: Interview with Craftsmen Who

Make Sarcophagi
Interview the craftsmen working on a
sarcophagus for an upcoming funeral. Describe
the detailed work that goes into preparing the
sarcophagus.
On Assignment: Interview with Craftsmen Who

Make Canopic Jars
Interview the craftsmen who make canopic jars.
Describe the materials used to make them and
how they will be used.
Images from Ancient Egypt
Copyright © 2019 by WriteBonnieRose, LLC
Select clip art from Illumismart@ Teachers Pay Teachers, Etsy, and L.L. Tisdel.
Select graphics used courtesy of Gramma Elliott - Educational Tools and

Hidesy's Clipart.
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Notes for the Parent or Teacher

Also, as explained in the student introduction, sometimes the artist’s rendition of an

Ancient Egypt was an amazing civilization that grew in parts of modern-day

Hieroglyphics were written on walls, stone, and on a type of paper invented

Mummification is a way of preserving a dead body. In ancient Egypt, bodies

A sarcophagus was a type of coffin used by the people in ancient Egypt to

Because of the many ways of preserving evidence of their way of life, we

On Assignment: On Location at a School for Scribes

On Assignment: Interview with a Papyrus

On Assignment: On Location at the Quarry

On Assignment: Obituary of Ramses IV

On Assignment: The Pharaoh’s Speech

On Assignment: Interview with Craftsmen Who

On Assignment: Interview with Craftsmen Who

Select graphics used courtesy of Gramma Elliott - Educational Tools and

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