Egyptian Jewelry Design Lesson Plan

Necklace with Egyptian Amulets may be seen in the 
collections of The St. Louis Art Museum.

Above are sample scarabs typically found in 
Egyptian jewelry design

Type of Lesson Plan: Object-based Lesson Plan/Reading Comprehension (Integrated Studies)

Topic: Egyptian Jewelry Design – Learn to bead a bracelet using stringing techniques found in ancient Egyptian jewelry collections

Objectives:

• Students are able to identify ancient Egyptian jewelry designs compared to those designs of other ancient peoples.
• Students are able to carve a simple bead.
• Students are able to craft a press mold out of low-fire clay.
• Students are able to produce a simple beading pattern with wire and seed beads.

Missouri Show-Me Standards: FA 3, FA 5, VA 1

ST Standards - CA 2, 3, 1.5, 1.6, 3.5

GLE’s:

Reading: Develop and apply skills and strategies to the reading process

H. Grade 6 – Apply post-reading skills to demonstrate comprehension of text:

• Draw conclusions
• Analyze text

Fine Art:

Strand III: Artistic Perceptions – Investigate the nature of art and discuss responses to artworks

A. Grade 6 – Discuss how different cultures have different concepts of beauty

Strand V: Historical and Cultural Contexts

A.    Grade 6 – Identify works from Ancient Egypt

Strand I : Product/Performance – Sculpture, ceramics, other media

A. Grade 6 – Create a relief artwork by joining two or more surfaces using a layering material

Grade Level Targeted: Middle School (7-9)

Number of Class Periods: five, 55minute class periods

Facility & Equipment Requirements:

• Computer for power-point
• Tables for students to work at

Resources needed for teaching lesson:

• Power-point titled “Ancient Jewelry Design Part I” by Grimm
• Article titled “A King’s Daughter and Her Personal Possessions”
• Graphic organizer template for copying and a sample filled out for discussions

Materials Per Student:

• Enough wire, dental floss and beads to complete a beaded bracelet
• Wire snips (one set per table)
• Copy of article “A King’s Daughter and Her Personal Possessions”
• A blank graphic organizer
• Pen or pencil

Vocabulary Terms:

1. Headdress – This is a broad term for clothing for the head and it is also used to refer to jewelry for the head when the jewelry is not necessarily a crown or tiara.
2. Scarab – The scarab is a beetle that is symbolic for eternal life or resurrection among the ancient Egyptians.
3. Mascara – This is makeup used to specifically darken the eye lids.
4. Inlaid – To inlay something is to set into it’s surface a decorative pattern of gems, stone, tiles, etc....
5. Dressing Table – a smallish kind of a table used for one person to sit at and apply makeup or fix her/his hair, teeth, eyes etc....
6. Casket – In this case a casket is a kind of small ornate box used for holding jewels but it is also a box used to bury a corpse
7. Cartouche – In ancient Egypt, was a type of hieroglyph used to represent a person’s name
8. Clasps – These are used as a type of brooch or fastener to hold two ends of a necklace, belt, or bracelet together

Step-by step literacy activity:

• Students will be divided into small groups and will read together the article called “A King’s Daughter and Her Personal Possessions” by Dr. William C. Hayes.
• Students will then fill out the graphic organizer included with their packet with their small group members.
• Small groups will then rejoin the larger class and share with all of the students parts of their graphic organizers when called upon by the instructor.
• After this activity a power point on ancient jewelry design will be viewed.

Step-by-step art activity: In this lesson I will teach students “how” to produce their own press mold from Sculpty clay.

• First each student will be given a picture of an Egyptian scarab that they will reproduce in clay that I will provide along with some very tiny tools to help then carve the scarab
• Then I will take the clay pieces home and bake these in my oven as directed on the package.
• Then the students will be shown “how” to press their scarabs into clay in order to create a press mold for future beads. These will in turn be fired again in an oven over night.
• Afterwards the beads may require some painting and sealing depending upon the clay that is available to me at the time.
• After they have accomplished this process, I will then demonstrate for them the some basic stringing techniques used by jewelers.

Cleanup Time & Strategy: Allow for five minutes of clean-up time at the end of a studio lesson.

Assessment for art assignment: For the assessment of the literacy half of the lesson, students will be asked to transfer their graphic organizers to the chalkboard as a larger group. I will look and listen to confirm that all students have the opportunity to participate in the larger discussion and I will also collect the graphic organizers and grade them. These are the criteria I will be looking for when assessing the studio project:

• The project was handed in on time.
• The stringing is sturdy and the length is wearable
• The clay addition is of the student’s own design
• The molds are at least ½ inch even thickness all around for durability

Press molds made with hieroglyphic stamps and Sculpty clay.

Additional Resources for Power Point Presentations: I've included the following pngs. and descriptions given for the jewelry discovered at El-Lahun for those teachers who would like to develop a Power Point about Egyptian Jewelry. El-Lahun (alt. Illahun, Lahun, or Kahun [the latter being a neologism coined by archaeologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie]) is a village in Fayyum, Egypt. Associated with the pyramid of Senusret II (Greek: Sesostris II), it is located near the modern village of Al-Lāhūn (Arabic: اللاهون‎), and is often known by that name. Also nearby is the pyramid itself, known as the Pyramid of Lahun. The ancient name of the site was rꜣ-ḥn.t, literally, "Mouth (or Opening) of the Canal"), realized in the Fayyūmic dialect of Coptic as ⲗⲉϩⲱⲛⲉ). Read more...

 

All lessons copyrighted by Grimm, 2010
The above photograph is by the Saint Louis Art Museum, used by permission.