What a week of secrets and codes! We learned that Egyptians wrote with picture signs called hieroglyphics — more than 700 of them! Only trained scribes could read and write. They wrote on papyrus, the world's first paper.
For hundreds of years, nobody could read hieroglyphics. Then the Rosetta Stone was found in 1799 with the same message in three scripts. Champollion used the Greek writing to crack the code in 1822!
We also learned about mummies. Egyptians dried bodies with natron, wrapped them in linen with amulets, and placed them in a sarcophagus — all to keep the body safe for the afterlife. Mummies still teach scientists about ancient life today.
✔ Hieroglyphics were Egypt's picture writing.
✔ Scribes were trained writers.
✔ The Rosetta Stone helped crack the code.
✔ Mummies were made for the afterlife.
✔ Emojis are our own picture writing today!
Write T for true or F for false in each circle.
1. A was a trained writer in ancient Egypt.
2. Egyptians made paper from a plant called .
3. The Stone helped people read hieroglyphics again.
4. A is a body dried and wrapped to last a long time.
5. Egyptians believed in a life after death called the .
1. Explain how the Rosetta Stone helped historians. Use your own words.
2. What was the most amazing thing you learned this week? Why?
Draw a tomb wall covered in hieroglyphics, with a mummy in its sarcophagus.
| I can... | Circle one |
|---|---|
| Tell what hieroglyphics are | YES / NOT YET |
| Explain why the Rosetta Stone mattered | YES / NOT YET |
| Describe how mummies were made | YES / NOT YET |