Egypt's Ancient Gods Activity


Our history curriculum (Story of the World, Volume 1) introduces Ancient Egypt's rather complicated mythology in Chapter 2, with the age old story of how Set kills Osiris.  I didn't wish to delve too deeply into Egypt's ancient religion, but knowing something is necessary because Egypt's religion dominated so much of their lives.

Just flipping through our "Lives of Ancient Egypt" coloring book, you can see that so many facets of their everyday lives were interwoven with their religion.

So, how to introduce Egypt's pantheon of gods and their relationships without making it too tricky?


Well, I decided to create this simplified Family Tree of the gods.  Obviously, there are many more gods than I have depicted here, but these are the more known ones.



My son cut out the rectangles on the right and I led him through the family tree, explaining tidbits about each god as we went.  We began with Amon-Ra and worked our way down from there.



This activity is included in our Ancient Egypt Activity Kit, NOW available at our store. 



In the meantime, if you enjoyed this post, don't forget to check out our other "Story of the World" posts, here:

#1: Staging an Archeological Dig



#2:  An Inside Archeological Dig


 #3  Foraging with Story of the World


#4  Operating an Egyptian Shaduf


14 comments:

Kirsten Kirk said...

Great ideas for an Egypt Unit. I especially love the family tree! I bet that is a very helpful visual for students!

Christina Morrison said...

Thank you! Yes, those visuals really are so helpful and they instigate other questions like, "Hey, why is this goddess blue?" or "Why is Horus wearing the double crown of Egypt?" Great comment!

Unknown said...

Great activity! I agree with previous commenter that the family tree is fabulous!

Unknown said...

I love these ideas. I'll let me SS teachers know about this!

Anonymous said...

I love the family tree part of the activity, I have to remember that for when my daughter is older.

Christina Morrison said...

Thanks! I was able to put my drawings skills to use on that one...(turns out there are a quite a few little details in all those gods and goddesses).

Christina Morrison said...

Thank you! I'm so glad to hear. :)

Christina Morrison said...

Absolutely. :) I've heard homeschooling parents talk about starting "Story of the World" with their kids as young as 5. It is easy to follow along with. But the all these extra activities certainly bring it to life.

susan berkowitz, slp said...

I love the visual of the simplified family tree. A great way to make the material digestible

Unknown said...

This looks incredible! Job well done for sure. I've often toyed with the idea of doing Story of the World but we keep coming back to BJU Heritage Studies because I have been afraid of them being to young to enjoy it. Seeing your posts has me realizing that may not be the case!

Christina Morrison said...

Thanks so much for sharing, Allie! The beautiful thing I keep coming back to when I teach history is that almost any curriculum can be enhanced with activities that bring children *into* that older world, especially those that delight their senses and help them to "experience" it all as we go. I think I'm having more fun than the kids!

Christina Morrison said...

Thanks, Susan! Sure appreciate you sharing!

Sarah Koves said...

Oh how I wish that I had these when I was teaching middle school. I loved this unit, and these cutouts would have been perfect...

Christina Morrison said...

Isn't teaching history fun? I'm so glad to hear from a former middle school teacher! I love providing activities that would actually add value across grade levels.