Summer SAVY 2017, Session 6/Day 2- Beyond the Pyramids (Rising 1st)

Posted by morganr1 on Tuesday, July 25, 2017 in SAVY.

Dear SAVY Parents,

Hail to you, O Nile…
You have come to feed Egypt…
When you flood the land rejoices…

Another great day in ancient Egypt. The above is an excerpt of a beautiful ancient poem, which set the stage for our morning. Wow, your child may sleep as sound as a mummy after all our hard work today! It was so much fun for all! Here are the details:

We began the day by taking care of a few items we didn’t quite finish yesterday. We finished a text called, The Winged Cat, which introduced us to elements of ancient Egyptian culture such as hieroglyphs and mythology with gods and goddesses. We learned myths are stories that cultures use to try to explain difficult concepts such as life and death.

Next, we worked with more text research to increase our understanding of the Nile’s prominence in Egyptian culture. We came to understand that the rhythms and cycles of it’s yearly flooding were critical to the renewal of the soil in the Nile Valley. The flooding is called the period of inundation (and we loved using that word more generally in our conversations.) We understand that the Nile currently has dams to prevent flooding (which can be dangerous to people and property). So… in discussing all the parts of the agricultural system, how are the farm lands enriched in the modern era? We observed many other factors in discussing our key concept: How do human systems (specifically Egyptian) change over time in relation to needs, resources, and circumstances? More on that later. Next we set about to replicate a piece of ancient Egyptian agricultural technology. Please ask your child about the function or purpose of a shaduf and how we worked to build one today.

We also observed and analyzed some ancient hieroglyphic symbols in a document ,and we were introduced to the Rosetta Stone. We learned about how the language system changed overtime, and why these changes took place with each new ruling culture to the region. A few students began writing their own names using these pictorial symbols, and tomorrow we will all work on this. Additionally, we will all try our hand at translating a hieroglyphic text.

Tomorrow we will begin exploring and building an Egyptian market, as well as examine the Egyptian number and barter systems. Our text of study will be, Senefer: A boy genius in old Egypt. I can’t wait to work with your child and meet you as well on Friday at Open House. Please plan to attend!

Mrs. Byrd