Pupils in Year Three became ancient Egyptian priests today and mummy embalmers! Unfortunately, a precious pet monkey had died, he belonged to the Pharaoh, after death he needed to be mummified so that he could live in the afterlife. This is when Year Three leapt into action…

They washed the body with palm wine and water from the river Nile. Next they cut the monkey’s left side and extracted the liver, lungs, instestines and stomach and put into Canopic jars. The brain was hooked out through the nose! The body was then refilled with sawdust and left in natron salt for 40 days. Finally, the corpse would be wrapped in linen bandages and lucky amulets placed between the layers. A scroll was placed upon the mummy and then it was placed in a coffin in a tomb.

Year Three did an amazing job of acting out the process during role play. They were then able to write instructions on how to mummify a body.