Middle School Students Paint Egyptian Tomb Paintings

After studying Ancient Egypt in Social Studies class and before a February trip to the Albany Institute of History and Art to view the Egyptian mummies, the 6/7/8th graders learned about the unique and extremely proscribed style of painting that the ancient Egyptians created to ensure their safe travels to and in the afterlife. Using a grid to achieve correct proportions, the students carefully drew the different parts of the body in the strangely correct profile and frontal view. They added a name cartouche and items specifically relating to them that they would like to have in the Afterlife! These drawings will be projected and enlarged and then painted and put up in the hall to resemble the decorative walls of an Egyptian tomb.

Working on the grid paper

Just getting going

Transferring to velum

Enlarging using a projected image

Painting the figure

Beginning to paint the enlarged image

Meticulous detail on this figure!

Some finishing touches with gold paint

Painting a canopic jar where the organs of the embalmed body were guarded

Ushabtis that the middle school students made at the albany Institute. Ushabtis were placed in tombs among the grave goods and were intended to act as substitutes for the deceased, should he/she be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife.