A few weeks ago, we learned about how the pharaohs of ancient Egypt were buried. You already saw how we experimented with making mummies. Fortunately, the burial process doesn't end there. And it doesn't begin there either.
It actually begins with canopic jars. When a pharaoh died, the priests would remove certain organs and place them in special jars. There were four jars, each one for a specific organ. Since we already had the mummies, we thought we would do the entire process correctly and make the canopic jars to go along with the mummies. Here they are:
Traditionally, there four distinct figures on the jars: a man, a monkey, a hawk, and a jackal. We didn't want to have conventional jars; we wanted ours to be special. From left to right: Mine is a scarab. There is no way I cannot participate in such a fun craft. Noah's is a skull. He also made some intestine to put inside his jar. (Gotta love historical accuracy!) Eli's is a jackal, the only one that is an accurate figure. He uses it to store candy which is an incorrect use and kind of gross if you think about it too long. And Leah's is a pretty flower. She uses it to store grass and a special something else that she won't tell me about.
After the mummies are all taken care of, they are placed in a pyramid with all sorts of valuables. We practiced making our own pyramids using sugar cubes. We had to work quickly so all the building materials weren't eaten before construction was complete. Afterward, we had recess to work off all the extra energy we got from the craft.
So if you've reached that certain stage in life and are thinking about your final arrangements, give us a call! We can help you make your journey into the afterlife with nothing more than some jars, a bit of paper mache, and lots of sugar cubes.
