Theme
Learning Area
Year Levels
Curriculum Statement
 Subject Area
 Learning Outcomes
Ancient Egypt
Arts
8, 9, 10
Art/Ceramics
Curriculum Statements for all deployments for Arts /Creative Arts
Levels to include 8, 9, 10
Lesson Idea and Outline
 Lesson Idea
Canopic Jars:

Outline
Teachers Guide
 Overview

Objectives
Students will be using handmade coil construction techniques
sculpting and incising to create a canopic style jar with a lid.
Students will design their own emblem and motifs with an Egyptian
influenced hieratic style
This lesson is for the Art/Ceramic teacher. It provides the lesson idea
under the theme of Egypt. Students will learn handbuilding
techniques as well as an appreciation of Egyptian Art and culture.
Students will be able to appreciate some of the cultural and historical
achievements of the past and also relate Egyptian influences on
contemporary culture.
To develop an appreciation and learn from a past culture: Egypt
Appreciation/Theoretical
 understanding of Egyptian Culture and Religion
 understanding of the history of language
 understanding of the development of a culture’s beliefs
affecting lifestyle and its relevance in a contemporary context.
Practical
 ability to design and problem solve
 ability to utilise handbuilding techniques in clay to create
sculptural forms
 ability to utilise a number of surface enhancements pertinent to
the clay medium. Eg.inscribe decoratively the surface of clay
Evaluation and Reflection
 Reflect upon the design process and product outcomes
 Evaluate the increased knowledge and practical ability with clay
as an artistic medium to express ideas.
Prerequisite skills – basic knowledge of clay medium and
handbuilding techniques (hyperlink to two lessons – introduction to
clay as a medium for creative expression, introduction to
handbuilding techniques.)

Time required
Time: 4 periods X 50 minutes.

Resources required
Specialist Resource Room – Ceramics – Kiln, Sink for cleaning,
preparation
Materials and Equipment
 Terracotta or Earthenware Clay

Procedures (with
images which
demonstrate stages)
 Banding Wheel
 Wood modelling tools
 Slip – liquid clay
 Protective clothing
 Wood batton
 Newspaper
 Towelling
 Super wipes
Appreciation:
Visual Diary for student designing and notes
Slides,
Reference Books
CD Rom
Teacher Aids: examples,student work, or images of canopic jars
Construction and Decorative Methods:
construction
 Coiling
 Joining
 Sculpting
decorative
 Incising
 Colouring slip
A) Making coils:
1. Take ¼ pug of clay from a fresh pug
2. If clay does not come out of fresh pug –
3. Prepare clay by kneading and wedging clay to make sure that
4. there are no air bubbles and also the clay particles are
5. distributed evenly.
6. Clay must have at least 20% moisture.
7.
HINTS: Students must have cold hands. Some students who
have high body temperatures should place hands under cold
water for at least 2 minutes to get hands cools. Coils will not be
successful unless they have enough moisture content. Hot hands
can cause premature cracking and drying out of the clay.
8.
Squeeze a quantity of clay in the hands until a rough cylindrical
shape.
9. TIP: Do not use too much clay just enough that the hands can
manipulate. Obviously the size of the students hands make a
difference in terms of the amounts that they can handle.
10. Roll the clay with the hand span open. The motion of rolling
should also require the students to roll across the clay to ensure
even coils.
11. Make 20 coils about 2cm in diameter.
B) Base of Pot
1. Students will roll a ball – making sure that air bubbles have been
removed.
2. Pat clay with palm of hand with even pressure until flat turning
over until base is about 3 cm thick and at least 10-15 cm in
diameter.
3. Place base of pot on banding wheel.
HINT: It may be best to place a piece of towelling on the banding
wheel so that you can take the finished pot off the banding wheel
more easily.
C) Body of Pot
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Place coil on base and using finger and/or modelling tool
squeeze moist clay coil onto the base and attach on the inside of
coil to the pot.
Continue to attach coils to the previous layer of coils using
finger and/or modelling tools to smooth and attach the inside
wall.
You may not need to utilise all 20 coils.
Take the wooden batton and pat the pot on the outside until the
coils merge and blend into a clean smooth surface. You should
use your left hand to support the opposite side of the pot to be
patted so the shape of the pot is not distorted.
You may take a piece of towelling, wet it and squeeze all the
water out and carefully smooth the surface of the pot. Too much
water in the towelling will affect the composition of the clay and
weaken the walls.
Take some towelling or super wipes. Put under tap and then
squeeze all the water out. Wrap the finished areas of the pot.
TIP: If you wish to have a shiny surface without glazing you can
burnish the surface area with a spoon to harden the surface of the
body of the pot. Burnishing is rubbing the side of the pot until the
clay becomes denser and takes on a polish. HINT: the spoon can
become very hot from friction between the warmed clay and metal
spoon.
HINT: If you wish the pot to decrease in circumference you need to
place the coil off-centred towards the inside of the pot and vice versa
if you wish to increase the circumference you need to place the coils
on the outside of the previous coils increasing the offset gradually.
Again you need to support the pot with newspaper.
HINT: The paper will burn out into ash when fired so if it is difficult
to remove paper you can leave it inside.
HINT: Make sure you take enough clay to attach to base and
ensuing coils so that the wall of the pot is strong enough to hold its
own weight.
HINT: If students are having difficulty with coils slumping, use
crushed newspaper to support the inside of the pot. As the body of
the pot grows, add more newspaper.
D) Lid of Canopic Jar
1. Model up the lid making the god character that represents your
kingdom eg. Turtle: Pharoah Jason Turtle: the student would
model the turtle head and place into the horizontally striped
headdress as seen in the example.
2. Model the base of the lid so that it sits inside the pot.
3. Smooth all surfaces with modelling tools. In tricky detailed
areas you could use a needle tool, brush or fine modelling tool.
4. You need to allow the lid to dry on the body of the pot in place
to assist even drying time.
E) Decoration: Incising details on
Clay slip can be made by adding water to the clay and mixing until it
is of a creamy and thick consistency.
1.
2.
3.
Inscribing needs to be done when the pot has dried to greenware
and is leather hard.
Student can inscribe their appropriate heiroglyphs or symbols –
the message to the gods as they pass through the underworld
from the Terrestial Nile to the Celestial Nile (Heaven)
After the inscriptions are completed, the pot can be left without
towelling or super wipes.
4.
5.
Mix up coloured oxides into slip ( liquid clay) and feed into
incised areas until it fills to meet the surface.
Smooth off any excess coloured slip until by wiping with
superwipe or scraping horizontally across incised line.
F) Finishing:
1. Pot should be allowed to dry evenly until all moisture has
evaporated.
2. Fire pot at earthenware temperatures – bisque ware.
3. Pot is completed.

Student Presentation
Options
Students could present a range of jars– small
Wheelwork: the body of the jar could be made on the wheel with
hand built lid
Scraffito replacing incising with coloured slip
Sculpture: Lid of the Canopic jar could be enlarged into a large
sculpture

Extensions

Cross-curricular
Options
Glossary:
Visual Communication/Graphics – use of symbols, lettering exercise
– year 7 or 8 – students use papyrus paper, banana palm or vellum
like natural paper to inscribe name or message.
LOTE – Asian language – pictographic scripts – students look at
Egyptian hieroglyphics and compare with Asian . Students
Arts:
Art: Canopic jars could be designed and drawn in coloured pencil,
ink, or any other 2d media.
Drama: student play based on the hour of death and the “Book of the
Dead.”
Science: forensic science, carbon dating, mummification of humans
and pets.
Music – listen and analyse Egyptian music styles – making similes
and comparison with another style.
Visual Communication/Graphics – use of symbols, lettering
exercise – year 7 or 8 – students use papyrus paper, banana palm or
vellum like natural paper to inscribe name or message.
SOSE – Study of Ancient Egypt life of the common man, slave and
Pharoah
Maths: students use the Egyptian accounting methods to solve
mathematical problems or geometry of the Pyramids.
LOTE – Asian language – pictographic scripts – students look at
Egyptian hieroglyphics and compare with Asian . Students
Egyptian Hieroglyphs – rosetta stone – handout – students would
translate their name and divinity from English to heiroglyphs
Egyptian Symbols – handout would explore different cultures use of
colour as important symbols. Students would translate universal
symbols from Egypt, Western Culture and Asian Culture – could be
past or present.
<egypt.html> there is a brief outline of URL and the value of URLs
are rated.
Eg. Unwrap a Mummy 5****
Student Guide
Associated Web Links