Dear teachers and librarians,

Prepare yourselves for an adventure full of discovery and wonder. Travel back in time
and uncover one of the most astonishing stories from history.

Based on the incredible, The Story of Tutankhamun, written by Patricia Cleveland-

Peck and illustrated by Isabel Greenberg, this Resource Pack contains cross-curricular
objectives, providing material for six or more KS2 lessons. Unearth the true story of the
young Egyptian king, his troubles, and his legacy which lay hidden for centuries. Follow
in the footsteps of 20th century explorer Howard Carter and embark on a quest to
discover Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Journey back in time to Ancient Egypt and discover the story behind Tutankhamun’s
life, death and legacy: from pharaohs and hieroglyphics to mummies and forgotten
treasures. What are you waiting for? Get your binoculars, backpacks and notebooks
at the ready. The excavation starts here …

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This Resource Pack is designed for children aged 7–9. It is based on The
Story of Tutankhamun by Patricia Cleveland-Peck and invites pupils
to unleash their inner archaeologists. The lessons included have been
designed as sequential activities and can be taught as whole units or as
individual activities to be dipped in and out of. Each activity will guide
pupils through the process of archaeological discovery and historical
observation using Howard Carter’s discovery as inspiration – giving them
the skills to record and interpret evidence to inform their understanding
of the past. We hope they enjoy the journey!

Uncover the true story of an Egyptian king, and the 20th century
explorer who found him.

Discover the troubles Tutankhamun faced as a young king, his untimely

death, and his legacy, which lay hidden for centuries. Pore over his
treasures, learn the steps of mummification, and see Tutankhamun’s
fascinating story brought to life. Travel through history with Howard
Carter, on his quest to uncover Tutankhamun’s hidden tomb, his
incredible discovery, and our continued hunt to understand and unearth
the riches of Ancient Egyptian life.

Prepare to be amazed as you uncover

the story of the most famous boy king,
and a world-changing discovery.

This book brings to life the

astonishing story of Tutankhamun,
through the beautiful illustrations
of award-winning Isabel Greenberg
and the fascinating writing of Patricia
Cleveland-Peck.

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This Resource Pack provides material for six, hour-long lessons that can
take place during KS2 classes or as extra-curricular activities. The pack
covers History and Literacy objectives that include but are not limited to:

Literacy History
Reading: comprehension General
• Understand what they read, • Construct informed responses
in books they can read that involve thoughtful selection
independently, by and organisation of relevant
historical information.
i. identifying how language,
structure, and presentation • Understand how our knowledge
contribute to meaning. of the past is constructed from
a range of sources.
ii. d
 rawing inferences such
as inferring characters’ Understand the achievements
feelings, thoughts and of early civilisations
motives from their
actions, and justifying • An overview of where and when
inferences with evidence. the first civilizations appeared
and an in-depth study of one of
Writing: composition the following: Ancient Sumer; the
• Plan their writing by: Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; the
Shang Dynasty of Ancient China.
i. d
 iscussing writing similar
to that which they are
planning to write in
order to understand and
learn from its structure,
vocabulary and grammar.

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 Notes for teachers:
This task is designed to help children explore what they can learn
from a group of objects. Each pupil in your class must be provided with
a single piece from a larger jigsaw (one that they haven’t seen).

Lead-in questions:
Take a good look at your small jigsaw piece. Answer the following questions:
• What can you tell from your piece?
• What questions can you ask to find out more?

Swap your piece with the person next to you and repeat the activity.
Share your ideas with the class to try and discover what the bigger
picture might be on the jigsaw.

Task 1:
Archaeologists piece together clues to form a picture about what life
was like in the past. Imagine your classroom is an archaeological jigsaw.
What objects can you see that might help people in the future form
a picture of what life is like today?

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Task 2:
Draw a picture of yourself in the clothes you are wearing.
Include any objects that you have with you, for example a pencil case.

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Task 3:
From your drawing make a list of all the things that might survive 5,000
years into the future (e.g. skeleton, plastic buttons, metal zips). Write
a list of six different things from your drawing in the table below and
include a sentence on what you think someone in the future might learn
from that object.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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 Lead-in questions:
• What do you know about the Ancient Egyptians?
• What do you know about Tutankhamun?

Task 1:
Match the following Egyptian terms to their definition using
the cards below:

A stone coffin covered

A large vault, typically
in inscriptions and
decorative features. underground, for
Egyptian symbols
burying the dead.
or writing.

A decorated
Preserving a
mask made to
A ruler or king dead body by
resemble the
in Ancient embalming it
dead person’s
Egypt. and wrapping
face and cover
it in linen.
it in the coffin.

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Task 2:
Below is a short extract from The Story of Tutankhamun. Read through
it carefully and then answer the questions on the following page.

The country’s finances were low and Egypt’s rivals, the Hittites, had
extended their territory. This is when Tutankhamun, a boy of around
nine years old, became king. Egypt hailed their new leader:

Due to Tutankhamun’s young

age it was decided that Vizier Ay,
who had always been close to
Life! Prosperity! Health! the family (and had married
Nefertiti’s wet nurse), would act
as his guardian.

Soon after this, another

important decision was made on
Tutankhamun’s behalf: that he
should marry… and his half-sister
Ankhesenamun was chosen to
be his Great Royal Wife.

It was then announced that the new pharaoh intended to restore the old
gods. It is unlikely that this decision was made by Tutankhamun, it was
probably another decision made on his behalf. Nevertheless, Aten the sun
disc was no longer seen as the most powerful god, and Amun, who was
traditionally a very powerful god, was worshipped again.

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1. Who were the Egyptians’ rivals?

2. How old was Tutankhamun when he became king?

3. What three decisions were made on the young pharaoh’s behalf?

4. W
 hat relation was Ankhesenamun to Tutankhamun before becoming
his wife?

5. Which God was replaced by Amun?

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Task 3:
Ancient Egyptians believed that their gods were hugely important.
Take a look at the illustrations on page 7 of The Story of Tutankhamun
to discover the names of just a few of the Ancient Egyptian gods.

Choose one of the gods from this page and use sources such as books,
articles or the Internet to carry out some research. Use all of the facts
that you find to complete the template below.

Now it’s time for you to do some detective work. Ask one other person
about which god they chose and why. Make notes on what they say
and present this information to the rest of the class.

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 Re-cap questions:
• Can you list some ancient Egyptian gods?
• What is mummification?
• What are hieroglyphics?

Task 1:
Using the hieroglyphics opposite,
can you write your name?

Better still, can you write a

secret message?

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Task 2:
Ancient Egyptians, including pharaohs, were mummified when they died.
The process of mummification was extremely important to the ancient
Egyptians, who paid vast amounts of money to have their bodies properly
preserved. It was a complex procedure and took 70 days to complete! It
was conducted by a priest wearing the jackal-headed mask of Anubis, god
of the dead. Anubis was responsible for conducting the dead through the
underworld.

Mummification is a long and careful process. Can you put the following
parts of the process in the right order, where one is the task completed
first and six is the task completed last?

The organs are then placed in special jars called canopic jars.

Finally, the body is wrapped up, using several yards of linen.

After 40 days the body is washed again to make it supple.

The body is stuffed with dry material, such as leaves, to reshape it.

The cut in the body is sewn up and sealed with resin.

Next, the brain is removed.

Answers: 1. The body is taken to a tent known as the Place of Purification. The body
is washed with sweet-smelling wine and Nile water before it is cut and the liver, lungs,
intestines and stomach are removed. 2. The organs are then placed in special jars called
canopic jars. 3. Next, the brain is removed. 4. After 40 days the body is washed again
to make it supple. 5. The body is stuffed with dry material, such as leaves, to reshape it.
The cut in the left side of the body is sewn up and sealed with resin. 6. Finally, the body
is wrapped up, using several yards of linen.

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Task 3:
Use the template below to create a comic strip showing the process
of mummification. There are six boxes – one for every stage

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 Lead-in questions:
• What do you think is the purpose of a burial mask?
• What are rituals? Can you think of any rituals preformed today
when people die?

Task 1:
Burial masks were a part of Ancient Egyptian funeral rituals. The
purpose of these masks was to give the dead ‘a face’ in the afterlife.

Look at Tutankhamun’s mask and think about the following questions:

1. What could it be made of?

2. How is it decorated?
3. What features can you see?
4. What does it tell us about Tutankhamun?

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Task 2:
Use the template below to create your own burial mask. The mask
should represent your personality – what will you include to show this?
You could even use some of the hieroglyphics from Lesson 3 to write
a secret message!

Remember to share your finished mask with us on Twitter using

@KidsBloomsbury.

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 Note for teachers:
The aim of this lesson is to recreate the atmosphere of tension and anticipation back in 1922
when Howard Carter first caught sight of the boy king’s tomb that lay undisturbed for some
3,000 years. It is crucial to turn part of the classroom into the chamber leading to the tomb.
To do this, place tables in a long row covered with cloth in order to create a tunnel. At the
end of the tunnel, lay out objects, posters or pictures (or the illustrations below) to represent
the different treasures in the tomb – not too many, just enough to be sketched by four pupils
at a time.

Lead-in questions:
• What would it feel like to discover a hidden treasure?
• What would it feel like to discover Tutankhamun’s tomb?

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Task 1:
Read the following extract about Howard Carter, the archaeologist who
discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 and answer the questions below.

More than 3,000 years after the burial of

Tutankhamun, another boy was born in
England – Howard Carter. Like
Tutankhamun, Carter was often ill as a
child, but would live to play a huge part
in Tutankhamun’s story…

He loved Egypt from the first moment

he set foot there and soon wanted to
excavate tombs himself. He displayed
an incredible talent for excavation and
before long was made ‘Inspector General
of Monuments of Upper Egypt’. This
meant that he worked in the famous
Valley of the Kings: the burial place of
many pharaohs.

1. What did Carter and Tutankhamun have in common?

2. How important is Carter in the story of Tutankhamun?

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Task 2:
Step into Howard Carter’s shoes and become a curious archaeologist
by taking part in the Reconstruction Relay!

Begin by dividing into teams of four people. Number each person

in your team one, two, three and four.

When your number is called crawl along the passage to the entrance
of the tomb. You will then have ten seconds to enter the tomb and
sketch what you can see before the next member of your group has
a turn.

After number one has been into the chamber and completed some
sketches, you must decide as a group what the next person should
focus on. Try to gather as much information as you can.

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Task 3:
Congratulations! You’ve made one of the biggest discoveries of ALL
TIME. So big, in fact, that the curator from the British Museum is
coming to speak to you about what you’ve found.

As a group you now need to collect all of the evidence that you have
gathered and decide on some further questions to ask about each object
that you have discovered.

Task 4:
Unfortunately the curator is running a little bit late. In pairs, can you
try to find as many answers to your questions just by using books in the
library or websites on the Internet?

Share your findings with the whole class!

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 Re-cap questions:
• How did you feel when you took part in the Reconstruction Relay?
• How did your emotions change throughout the task?

Task 1:
Read the extract below about the moment Howard Carter opened
Tutankhamun’s tomb for the first time.

Carter made a tiny hole in the doorway and pushed in a lighted candle.
Carnarvon waiting patiently could bear it no longer and asked, ‘Can you
see anything?’

‘Yes,’ Carter answered simply. ‘Wonderful things.’

They made the hole bigger and scrambled down into what was to be
called the Antechamber. By the flickering light of the candle, shadows
danced on the walls showing hundreds of things; gold-covered couches
in the shape of giant animals, chariots, statues of the king, caskets, vases,
black shrines and one with a gold snake peeking out, an alabaster cup,
bouquets of flowers, beds, chairs, boxes…

Put the emotion cards below in order from 1–5

(1 being the emotion Howard Carter might feel the most and 5 being the emotion he’d feel the least).

Task 2:
Use the blank emotion
card to add another
feeling of your own.

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Task 3:
Imagine that you have to write a telegram home to your parents after
making the amazing discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Use your
experiences from Lesson 5 to help you. Share your telegrams with us on
Twitter at @KidsBloomsbury!

DATE SENT: S
OFFICE STAMP
TAMP

OFFICE
T
POST OFFICE G YP 457

ED
FROM: E 1
:
TELEGRAM O

OV
N
R
APP

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 YOU’VE COMPLETED THE STORY OF
TUTANKHAMUN RESOURCE PACK

Hold on to everything you’ve created. It might come in handy when

you revisit the Ancient Egyptians in your History lessons! Remember to
send any work to us at @KidsBloomsbury. We can’t wait to see
what you’ve discovered …

The Bloomsbury Children’s Books Team

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