Ancient Egyptian Art/Culture Lesson PowerPoint

This powerpoint goes along with the Egypt Art Lesson Papers that I also have for sale.

This lesson was designed not only to talk about the art from the time period but to also give students an overview of prehistoric culture. I have broken the lesson reading and notes into sections: time period concept, geography, daily life, painting, sculpture, architecture, religion, mummification, technologies/inventions, famous people, interesting facts, and what else is going on in the world during the time frame of the Egyptian empire.

This powerpoint presentation is part of a series. I have realized over the past few years that even though I was teaching about art time periods and movements, my students still didn't really understand them or the connection they had to world history. My goal was to design a series from cave art to modern art that not only explores the artwork created at a given time but also explores the culture which created it (daily life, governments, religions, etc.).

Presentation description:

I use many excellent examples and diagrams illustrating exactly what I am currently talking about from slide to slide. I do not use just any example. That's why it takes me so long to make a lesson. :) I am always very picky about how effective I think each of my choices will be to the student. I have dressed up the presentation with a huge variety of slide transitions, animations, perfect examples, and animated gifs.

I start out reviewing the main concepts of the prehistoric period. This transitions into an overview of Egypt and their culture concept. (I break down each of my lessons down into a key concept so it is easier for students to remember the big ideas of a lesson.) The geography section gives an idea of where Egypt is located as well as average landscape. I talk about how crucial the surrounding bodies of water were as well as the Nile.

In The religion section I recap what Egypt is doing the same as their ancestors during prehistory and move into what their differences are. I highlight their Gods in general and begin the mummification section. I break down the process from beginning to end of how it was done as well as saying tools and materials that were used. This leads directly into their beliefs about Gods and afterlife specifics. I discuss why pharaohs took so many belongings with them as well as having their tombs covered in action paintings of themselves. We end this section with a class activity of mummifying a fish. I explain what needs done job to job and materials for the process. (my making mummies handout in the separate papers for the lesson explain specifics to follow for mummies)

The sculpture section shows the difference in sculpture versus relief sculpture. It also explains why so much relief was preferred by the culture. I explain that Egyptian artists were all about communication because they were always trying to make every part of their art as easy to read as possible. I then show many examples of how they were using body language, sizes, colors, symbolism, etc. to explain to the viewer what is being shown. We talk about body language of 3D sculptures and how angular it is and why. I explain the cartouche and how it was designed. This leads into another class activity to design their own cartouches based on the phonetic hieroglyphic alphabet I have included.

In the painting section we talk about durability and symbolism of color choice. I show continuous narrative and how it works using an example from the book of the dead. I give specific reason for only ever seeing young people in most Egyptian art.

In the architecture section I talk about why and how they were building on such a large scale. I show Abu Simbel and talk about how it used to look as well as showing tools used to created it. It was made using the same techniques as Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument (minus dynamite). I show two popular column capitals and discuss obelisks. I show methods for quarrying obelisks, or large stones in general, before moving on to the evolution of the pyramid. We talk about the outside and inside briefly before taking a room-by-room tour of King Tut's tomb. This adds to the discussions of the design of tombs, afterlife beliefs, and taking riches/supplies with you after death. The first student art project is to design their own tombs (instructions and student examples given).

In the daily life section I try to give an impression of what it was like to live in this culture. We start out with family values and differences between boys and girls in society. Next I cover topics like housing, farming, fabrics, animals, jobs, schooling, women's rights, and slavery.

In the Government section everything revolves around the Pharaoh. He is the supreme power. I highlight political, military, and religious responsibilities.

Next I discuss the scarab beetle and why it was so important within the culture. This leads into the second student project. Students will design their own clay scarabs (instructions for design and examples shown).

In the technologies and inventions section I show glass blowing and metalworking. I show they are still using the stars and planets in order to line their important structures up with specific directions. I show proof of advanced anatomical/medical knowledge, the standardization of measurement, papyrus paper, an ancient chariot factory concept, and that we are still using only post and lintel construction.

In the People section I give information on 6 famous egyptians for the notes paper.

I then have a couple slides of dates ranging from the beginning of the Egyptian empire until it was conquered. Famous people, inventions, and events range all over the world.

I end the presentation on a section about interesting facts about the Egyptians and their culture. These range all over from their love of board games to inventing the lock and key. boats that don't use any nails; rosetta stone; giant warships, impossible drilling; and much more!

I am also eventually going to add in an ancient aliens section showing all of the impossible theories and technologies the Egyptians had at a time in history which that makes it all seem impossible.