Egypt OPTIC
POST-MORTEM
The Palette of Narmer (Menes), First Pharaoh of Egypt, c. 3200 BCE (carved from a single piece of flat stone)
(Think: What reason would ancient Egyptians have for creating this? What is the message of the art?)
If you scored in the 50s and 60s
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You need to be more specific in your conclusion
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Listing/identifying only scores credit for Part 1
Explain why parts of the visual are there or what
those parts mean, using historical evidence
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Parts: “On the back side of the palette, two
creatures with long-necks circle around each other,
which represents how Egyptian society was unified
under the power of a pharaoh, a ruler who was both
god and king.”
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Interrelationships: “On the front side, the pharaoh
Menes is depicted as much larger than all the other
figures, signifying his political authority over the
lower classes.”
If you scored in the 70s and 80s
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Title and interrelationships are the most commonly
missed points in the conclusion
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Title

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Use information from the title or caption to draw a
conclusion about the visual (can’t just state info)
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What did Menes do?
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What was happening in Egypt in 3200 bce?
Interrelationships
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Identify connections between parts of the visual
(the “big idea”) and use them to draw a conclusion
about Egyptian society

What’s the pharaoh’s role in society? What is this
palette supposed to represent?
Examples of Reliability
(from other students – all of these got points!)
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This visual is reliable because it’s so well-preserved for it’s age
that it must have been important to the Egyptians

This visual is reliable because it was created in 3200 bce and
depicts events from that time period, so the author could
have had first-hand knowledge of Menes

This visual is unreliable because we’re not sure if Menes was a
real pharaoh

This visual is a reliable source of information about the
pharaoh’s political & religious role, even if the events didn’t
happen exactly as depicted

This visual is unreliable because only the upper-classes knew
how to write in hieroglyphs, so it only represents their
perspective

This visual is unreliable because government scribes would
have wanted to portray the pharaoh in a positive light, so the
lower classes wouldn’t challenge his authority
OPTIC TUTORIALS
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All this week!
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Before school – Jensen in B231
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After school – Storck in B225
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You have a major grade OPTIC on
Wednesday/Thursday! Make sure you study for it –
you won’t have the textbook in class