HIEROGLYPHICS LESSON

JOHNSON 1

A Discipline Based Art Education Lesson

on Hieroglyphics

Kathy Johnson

HIEROGLYPHICS LESSON

JOHNSON 2

DIA Works of Art:

1. Collection: Ancient Egyptian Art
Artist: unknown artist
Title: Chapel Wall of Mery-nesut
Medium: Limestone carving

I was drawn to this piece of artwork because I can see a lot of detail. The hieroglyphics
are carved into the stone in such a way that it is extremely neat and organized. I also like
how this artwork has a written message on it, and it has to be deciphered in order to
figure out what it is trying to say. I can also see figures that are carved into the stone that
look like people or even animals. The artwork is mysterious and a little bit spooky
because this artwork was created a long time ago by people who had different beliefs and
had different gods that they worshiped. Some of the figures that were carved on the stone
might represent the different gods that they worshiped, or maybe they are carvings of
certain kings or queens. I can use this artwork in my classroom to help students learn how
to multiply or divide decimals using hieroglyphics; the use of hieroglyphics can teach the
students place value. I can also use this artwork in my classroom to teach students about
mythology, and I can also use it to inspire the students to write a creative narrative based
on the Ancient Egyptian time period. I can have the students make their own hieroglyphic
carvings, and they can critique their artwork both aesthetically and critically using the
principles and elements of design. They can identify what kind of lines are used and what
different shapes are used in their artwork. I think that the students will really like this
artwork and think its unique. It fits into our society because it can share ideas or stories
through written descriptions, but in this case, hieroglyphic carvings.

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2. Collection: Ancient Middle East

Artist: Unknown artist
Title: Snake-Dragon, symbol of Marduk, The Patron God of Babylon Panel from the
Ishtar Gate
Medium: Terracotta glazed and molded bricks.

I was drawn to this artwork because I have never seen such a creature or being before. I
thought the feet were very peculiar. The back two feet look like bird claws, and the front
two feet look like cat paws. The creature also has a very long neck, almost like a giraffe.
The tail looks like a snake; at the end of the tail it looks like there is a snake eye. The
head looks like a monster, and hanging out of the creatures mouth looks like a snake
tongue. I could use this artwork in my classroom to teach the students about the ancient
Middle Eastern history. I can talk to the students about the different statutes that are part
of the Middle Eastern history, and I can see if they can recognize and identify some
statues that they may see today that look similar. I can have the students come up with a
creative painting that has identifiable parts of many different animals. I can have the
students recognize movement in their creature, identify the use of color in their painting,
and use different types of brushes to create different lines in their paintings. I feel that the
students will really like this activity, especially around Halloween. They can come up
with a scary creature using different parts of an animal like shark teeth, claws, or even
multiple eyes. This artwork fits into our world because there are many different animals. I
can take the students on a trip to the zoo and they can learn about different animals, and
they can observe and decide what types of animal parts to use that will make their
creature look scary and unique.

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JOHNSON 4

3. Collection: American Art

Artist: John La Farge
Title: Helping Angel Window Panel
Medium: stained glass

I was drawn to this piece of art because of the beautiful bright colors. I also like how the artwork
is telling a story through different scenes. I could have my students make an art piece similar to
this one using different colored tissue paper. The students can use liquid starch and paste the
tissue paper onto some wax paper. When the artwork is finished they can tape it to the window in
our classroom and see how it resembles stained glass. I can also have the students learn about
several different artists who have created marvelous artworks using stained glass. I can have the
students identify the primary and secondary colors used in their artwork. Moreover, I feel that
the students will enjoy this activity a lot. They will be able to get messy and learn to create
something beautiful. I feel that this artwork fits into our society because usually in churches,
there are stain glass windows that surround the church.

HIEROGLYPHICS LESSON

JOHNSON 5

Lesson Title: Hieroglyphics Lesson

Grade Level: 6
Focus: Students will make their own hieroglyphics tiles using air-dry clay. Students will carve
symbols that represent their hobbies, themselves, and things that matter to them in to their tiles.
Students will also write their name vertically on their tiles using hieroglyphic letters. By
completing this activity, students will learn about Ancient Egyptian culture and history. They
will also learn how to write letters and numbers using the Ancient Egyptian symbols.
Objectives:
1. Students will demonstrate relief carving while working with clay.
2. Students will critique their artwork using the different elements and principles of design.
3. Students will use aesthetics to describe how the tiles make them feel.
4. Students will learn why Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics, and they will learn how to
properly use hieroglyphics in their own artwork.
5. Students will identify the different letters in hieroglyphic symbols.
6. Students will write a creative narrative on the Ancient Egyptian god Osiris.
7. Students will use hieroglyphics to learn place value in mathematics.
Resources:
Photos of ancient hieroglyphics from the DIA and internet.
Teacher example of hieroglyphic artwork.
Hieroglyphics alphabet chart and number chart.
Neferchichi's Tomb: Writing With Hieroglyphics.
YouTube clip of ancient Egypt.
Computer activity for mummification process and hieroglyphics
Article on Osiris: The Underworld and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt
Relief carving demo video
Time: 10 40-minute class sessions.
Materials:
1. Air dry clay
2. Plastic knives
3. Sketchbooks
4. Zip lock bags
5. Paper towel
6. Toothpicks
7. Cardboard
8. Rolling pins
9. Rulers
Preparation:
The teacher should gather all the materials needed for the hieroglyphics art making activity.

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JOHNSON 6

Method:
Day 1 of Art Making:
1. Write out a list of things that are important to you in your life.
2. Sketch out design for tile.
3. Write in notebook why you chose to sketch out the specific things in your design
(skateboard, piano, video games etc.).
4. Get design approved by teacher.
Day 2 of Art Making:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Watch relief carving demo.

Pick up 6x8 cardboard from center table.
Grab air-dry clay from center table.
Roll out and flatten clay using rolling pin.
Make sure the clay is about thick.
Use a knife to create straight edges on the perimeter.
Add personal symbols to tile.
Put moist paper towel over clay tile.
Put tile into a zip lock bag and seal it.

Day 3 of Art Making:

1. Take clay tiles out of zip lock bag.
2. Continue working on clay tiles, and use relief carving around personal symbols.
3. Write name vertically on tile using hieroglyphic letters after personal symbols are carved.
4. Let tile dry.
Introduction:
We will be learning about the Ancient Egyptians and how the people lived during that
time period. We are going to learn about their beliefs, customs, and why they do the things that
they do. We are going to explore the art of hieroglyphics and learn to write letters and numbers
in hieroglyphics. We are going to learn about the different objects that people would leave for
the deceased. We will also learn about who Osiris is and how Ancient Egyptians were protected
when they stood before Osiris. We will do a computer activity involving the mummification
process and see what the different canopic jars were used for.
You and your classmates are going to make your own hieroglyphic tiles. Additionally, we
will talk about the principles and elements of design in your artworks. We will also talk about
what kind of feelings come over us when we look at everyones finished tiles.
Instruction:
Class Period 1: Art History
1. Ask students what they know about Ancient Egyptians.
2. Show the students a YouTube clip about Ancient Egypt as an introduction.
3. Have a discussion with the students about the Ancient Egyptian culture.
4. Have students write a short paragraph about the Ancient Egyptian culture in their
notebook.

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5. Show students photographs of the Book of the Dead, canopic jars, hieroglyphics, and
mummies.
Example:

Class Period 2: Art History Day 2

1. Talk to students about Hieroglyphics History, show students hieroglyphic letter chart,
and have students read printed article from http://www.neferchichi.com/hieroglyphs.html
2. Have students practice writing some words in hieroglyphics in their notebooks.
3. Have students do computer activity: mummification process. Website:
http://discoverykids.com/games/mummy-maker/. After students do computer activities,
have students write in notebook what they have learned about the mummification
process.
Class Period 3: Academic Extension
1. See attachment Language Arts Academic Extension
Class Period 4: Academic Extension
1. See attachment Mathematics Academic Extension
Class Period 5: Art Criticism
1. Review the elements and principles of design. Talk about texture, shapes, space, lines and
unity.
2. Look at three different pictures of hieroglyphics with the students.

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JOHNSON 8

3. Have the students write down in their notebooks what elements and principles stick out
the most in each picture (see art criticism questions).
4. Have a class discussion on some of the principles and elements that are used in the
artworks.
Class Period 6: Aesthetics
1. Review with the students what the meaning of aesthetics is.
2. Have students answer some aesthetic questions about the three pictures (see aesthetic
questions).
3. Have students volunteer and share some answers.
Class Period 7: Art Making
1. See Day 1 of Art Making
Class Period 8: Art Making
1. See Day 2 of Art Making
2. Gather all the materials and have them ready for the students
3. Allow 15 minutes for cleanup
Class Period 9: Art Making
1. See Day 3 of Art Making
2. Hand out clay tiles to students
3. Remind students to think about the principles and elements of design while working on
tiles
4. Allow 15 minutes for cleanup
Class Period 10: Criticism, Aesthetics and Self-Evaluation, Display of Work
1. Line up all the tiles together on a table to make it look like an Ancient Egyptian wall.
2. Criticism Evaluation: Have students look at all the different artworks from their
classmates and identify the elements and principles of design in somebody elses artwork.
Have them write their thoughts in their notebooks and have students share their thoughts
with the class.
3. Aesthetic Evaluation: Have the students look at each others art. Have students choose
one tile (besides their own) and decide what the artwork says about that person, if the
artwork makes them sad or happy, and what they think the story is behind their artwork.
Have them write it in their notebooks and share with the class.
4. Have students do the Self Evaluation worksheet.

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JOHNSON 9

Benchmarks:
Michigan Content Standards (Middle School)
Content Standard 1: All students will apply skills and knowledge to perform in the arts.
Use art materials and tools safely and responsibly to communicate experiences and ideas.
Select materials, techniques, media technology, and processes to achieve desired effects.
Select and use the visual characteristics and organizational principles of art to
communicate ideas.
Be involved in the process and presentation of a final product or exhibit.
Content Standard 2: All students will apply skills and knowledge to create in the arts.
Use subjects, themes, and symbols that communicate intended meaning in artworks.
Employ organizational principles and analyze what makes them effective or not in the
communication of ideas.
Select materials, techniques, and processes to effectively communicate ideas.
Content Standard 3: All students will analyze, describe and evaluate works of art.
Observe and compare works of art that were created for different purposes.
Form and defend judgments about characteristics and structures to accomplish
commercial, personal, communal, or other purposes of art.
Content Standard 4: All students will understand, analyze, and describe the arts in their
historical, social, and cultural contexts.
Analyze, describe, and demonstrate how factors of time and place (such as climate,
resources, ideas, and technology) influence visual characteristics that give meaning and
value to a work of art.
Know and compare the characteristics of artworks in various eras and cultures.
Content Standard 5: All students will recognize, analyze, and describe connections among the
arts; between the arts and other disciplines; between the arts and everyday life.
Describe ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines taught in the
school are interrelated with the visual arts.

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JOHNSON 10

Language Arts Academic Extension:

Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations:
W.GN.06.01
Write a cohesive narrative piece such as a personal narrative, adventure,
tall tale, folktale, fantasy, or poetry that includes appropriate conventions to the genre,
employing elements of characterization for major and minor characters; internal and/or
external conflict; and issues of plot, theme, and imagery.
W.PR.06.01
Set a purpose, consider audience, and replicate authors styles and patterns
when writing a narrative or informational piece.
ART-Michigan Content Standard (Elementary)
Content Standard 5: All students will recognize, analyze, and describe connections among the
arts; between the arts and other disciplines; between the arts and everyday life.
Identify connections between the visual arts and other disciplines in the curriculum.
Lesson Overview:
Go over the different types of genres with students. Have students read article about Osiris: The
Underworld and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. Have students write a personal narrative about
their life in the Ancient Egyptian time period. They will need to describe the physical appearance
of what they think Osiris would look like in their narrative. They will need to incorporate into
their writing what Osiris does (what his duty is). Students will also need to explain how they
might react when they come in contact with Osiris.

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JOHNSON 11

Academic Extension Mathematics:

Michigan Grade Level Content Expectation:
6. NS.3
fluently add, subtract, multiply, and divide multi-digit decimals using the standard algorithm for
each operation.
Art-Michigan Content Standard (Elementary)
Content Standard 5: All students will recognize, analyze, and describe connections among the
arts; between the arts and other disciplines; between the arts and everyday life.
Identify connections between the visual arts and other disciplines in the curriculum.
Lesson Overview:
In order for students to multiply and divide decimals, students have to understand place value.
Students will Use Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics to understand place value (use hieroglyphic
number chart). Students will write hieroglyphic numbers for 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000,
and 1,000,000. Then I will have the students write out numbers like how the Ancient Egyptians
would write them. An example is 524. Students would use five one-hundred symbols, two ten
symbols, and four one symbols. Students then will share about how the Ancient Egyptian
number system is similar to the number system that we use today. After students learn about
place value, they will learn how to multiply, subtract, divide, and subtract decimals.

HIEROGLYPHICS LESSON

JOHNSON 12

History of Ancient Egyptians and
Hieroglyphics
Ancient Egyptian Culture:
The Ancient Egyptians believed that they would continue living life on earth in their
afterlife.
Ancient Egyptians filled tombs with necessities that they would need in their afterlife.
The Ancient Egyptians read The Book of the Dead which prepared them for the monsters
and demons that they may face in the underworld.
Ancient Egyptians held special ceremonies for the deceased.
Ancient Egyptians were highly organized and orderly.
A pharaoh ruled over the Ancient Egyptians.
High priests ran the temples that the Ancient Egyptians made.
Ancient Egyptian artists passed their skills and art making processes from one generation
to the next.
Ancient Egyptians believed that their kingdom would flourish if they took care of the
gods properly and gave them proper necessities for their afterlife.
Ancient Egyptians mummified the deceased so their soul could have a home in their
afterlife.
Tombs with gold on it meant that it was the tomb of a god or pharaoh.
Ancient Egyptians placed vital organs in canopic jars to preserve the body in the afterlife.
Different gods were carved on the lids to protect certain organs.
Images of animals like a black cat or a bird were used as protection or used as offerings
to the gods.
The god of death and resurrection was Osiris.

Hieroglyphics History:
Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics as their written language.
There are different types of hieroglyphics. Some are for specific sounds, and some are for
entire words.
To write in hieroglyphics, the sounds have to be identified first in order to write them.
o Phone sounds like f+ long o sound +n, so three hieroglyphics would be used
instead of five. (Example is used from hieroglyphic article)
Not all sounds in our alphabet exist in the Ancient Egyptian alphabet, so sometimes
Ancient Egyptian alphabet sounds have to be replaced with sounds that are close to it.
Hieroglyphics can be read from left to right or up and down.
Ancient Egyptians told stories by carving hieroglyphics on the walls.

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Art Criticism Questions

1. What kind of texture do you see?

2. What types of shapes or patterns do you see?

3. What types of lines do you see in the carvings?

4. How is the space organized?

5. Is there unity in the artwork? Explain.

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Aesthetic Questions
1. What attracts you to these carvings?

2. Would you consider these hieroglyphic carvings art?

3. What do the tiles represent in the Ancient Egyptian culture?

4. What would you change in the artworks?

5. What do you feel when you look at the tiles?

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JOHNSON 15

Hieroglyphic Evaluation
Name: ___________________________

Date: __________________

Accomplished 6 pts
Student demonstrated how
to raise the surface

Developing 5 pts
Looks like student
attempted to raise the
surface

Needs to Improve 4 pts

Surface isnt raised

Student used variety of

shapes and symbols

Student used similar

symbols and shapes

Student organized space on

tile

Student only used some of

the space on the tile

No shapes or symbols. Just

written name in
hieroglyphics or nothing at
all
Space is blank or too
cluttered

Lines on the tile make

artwork look unified

Lines do not make the

artwork look balanced

Didnt use lines or lines

touch other symbols and
shapes

Artwork is composed in a
creative and interesting way
that is different from the
other students artwork

Student has some ideas that

other students have used in
artwork

Student doesnt show

favorite hobbies or interests
whatsoever.

_____/30 points

Comments:

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JOHNSON 16

Self-Evaluation
1. How do you feel about the hieroglyphic art work?

2. Do you feel you understand the purpose of why hieroglyphics were

used? Explain.

3. Do you think your classmates will understand what your artwork is

about by looking at it?

4. Looking back, what would you do differently if you were to do this

art activity again?

5. After doing this activity, could you properly explain the different
hieroglyphic symbols to someone?

6. Do you have any questions or concerns about the content taught

during this lesson? What do you think of the art work that you did?
Explain.

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References

Ancient Egypt - National Geographic [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdtgX9ORiW4
Arts Education K-12 Standards, Benchmarks, & Grade Level Content Expectations. (n.d.).
Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Michigan_Arts_DRAFT_GLCEs_2011_3
45868_7.pdf
Clay Fable Relief Carving: Carving Demo [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OV4ZsuYEZA
Detroit Institute of Arts Notes on Ancient Egypt
Egyptian Multiplication. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from
http://atozteacherstuff.com/pages/296.shtml
English Language Arts Grade Level Content Expectations. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14,
2014, from http://michigan.gov/documents/ELAGLCE_140483_7.pdf
Mathematics Common Core State Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/6th_Math_357692_7.pdf
Mummy Maker. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://discoverykids.com/games/mummy-maker/
The Underworld and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. (2013, February 13).
Retrieved November 14, 2014, from http://australianmuseum.net.au/The-underworldand-the-afterlife-in-ancient-Egypt
Writing with Hieroglyphics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://www.neferchichi.com/hieroglyphs.html