UKS2 Topic: Earliest Civilisations: Ancient Egyptians Block C: Pharaohs & Pyramids
Session 1 Dynasties
History: Know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient
National
Curriculum
Teaching
Objectives
National
Curriculum
Teaching
Objectives
Resources
civilisations; characteristic features of past non-European societies; Gain and deploy a historically grounded
understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’ and ‘civilisation’; Understand historical concepts such as
continuity and change, similarity, difference and significance; Gain historical perspective by placing their
growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between short- and longtimescales.
To understand who the pharaohs were and place pharaohs and dynasties on timeline.
D&T: Select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks; Select from and
use a wider range of materials and components.
To make a double crown of Egypt.
Weblinks
Red, white & yellow card; White A3 paper; Double-sided tape; Glue; Scissors; Rulers; Pencils; Egyptian None
crowns; How to make a crown; Cobra images; Symbols of Pharaohs; The Social Pyramid.
Whole class: Write pharaoh on f/c & ask chn who the pharaohs were. (Kings of Ancient Egypt.) The word pharaoh actually
meant ‘great house’ (the king’s palace) originally. It became the way the Ancient Egyptians named their kings in the New
Kingdom era (during the reign of Thutmose III about 1479-1425BCE), because they thought the spirit of the gods lived in the
king’s human form. The pharaohs were actually considered to be gods themselves, all descended from the Sun god called
Re/Ra, who was supposedly the very first King of Egypt. Today all Kings of Ancient Egypt are referred to as pharaohs. Sceptres
(a staff or stick), staves (a longer stick), flails & crooks were symbols often associated with pharaohs to show they were all
powerful (session resources). Discuss the ‘social pyramid’ of Ancient Egyptian society (session resources). They have already
met the scribes (Block B, Session 1), but other social groups will be studied later in this Block & in the following Blocks.
The three main periods of Ancient Egypt: the Old, Middle & New Kingdoms were subdivided into dynasties or families (usually
all members of one dynasty were part of the same family). There were about 170 pharaohs altogether & each pharaoh was a
member of a dynasty. There were 31 dynasties (called 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) before the last dynasty – the Ptolemaic Dynasty
(Cleopatra VII was the last of the Ptolemaic Pharaohs). Usually the role of Pharaoh was passed down from father to son, but if
the son was very young, then the chief wife of the pharaoh, not necessarily the mother, could become regent in her step-son’s
name. This traditional division into dynasties is based on 3rd century BCE Egyptian priest Manetho’s book called Aegyptiaca.
Not all pharaohs ruled the whole of Ancient Egypt – sometimes more than one pharaoh existed at the same time. Historians
are not sure of the dates during which individual pharaohs ruled in many cases, while in other cases there are texts describing
the date when the pharaoh came to power & when he/she died.
Remind chn of the timelines they started in Block A, & explain that during this Strand they will add significant events, people &
dates to the timeline. Start by checking that Narmer or Menes (2950 BCE), the first Pharaoh of the united Ancient Egypt, &
Cleopatra VII (51-30BCE), the last Pharaoh are included.
Easy/ Medium/ Hard
Easy/ Medium/ Hard
Show chn the pictures of Narmer wearing first the white crown (the Hedjet crown)
Ensure that chn add the approximate
of Upper Egypt (towards source of Nile), then the red crown (the Deshret crown) of
dates of the three main eras to their
Lower Egypt (towards Nile delta), then the combined double crown (the Pschent
timelines, i.e. Old Kingdom (about
crown) of all Ancient Egypt. Chn can make their own red or white crowns using
2686-2181 BCE), Middle Kingdom
session resources, & then combine them to create a double crown (the white one
(about 2055-1650 BCE) & New
inside the red crown). The cobra (cobra’s head-shaped piece of card bent into a ZKingdom (about 1550-1069 BCE).
shape, or for more detail: large cobra head with smaller body of snake – see images
Explain that they add dates of
in session resources) or Uraeus, was a symbol of the snake-goddess Wadjet & was
significant pharaohs and the buildings
thought to protect the Pharaoh and his Kingdom from harm. Chn can adjust the
constructed in their names, as they
basic instructions to make their crown more authentic looking.
find out about them during this block.
Plenary Pharaohs were very rich & very powerful. Remind chn that they were thought of as gods. They were in charge of
the government, law, trade & foreign policy, & they were the chief priest & army commander. Pharaohs usually
had one main wife, the queen plus other wives. Ancient Egyptian kings often married their sister or half-sisters, or
sometimes their daughters or even granddaughters (as they were the only women considered suitable to be a
pharaoh’s wife because if they were part of the same family, then they also were descendants of the god Ra/Re.
Outcomes Children will
 Explain how the rulers of Ancient Egypt were divided into families or dynasties
 Understand how rich and powerful the pharaohs were
 Describe the crowns and symbols of pharaohs
 Make a double crown (Pschent) of Ancient Egypt