"Mummies"explores the world of the ancient Egyptians through the discovery of the Rosetta stone, the ancient tablet that unlocked the meaning of the hieroglyphs for modern scholars. It examines the function of this ancient script and recounts the ancients' beliefs about death, their concept of proper entombment, and the myth of the journey from death to the afterlife.

Part 3

The film provides a detailed discussion of the complex process of designing and inscribing hieroglyphs on the walls of a tomb or monument. It is recommended for students interested in ancient history.

• belief system
• decipher
• dehydration
• evoke
• hieroglyphs
• immortality
• inscriptions
• metaphor
• papyrus
• proxy
• ritual
• synonymous
• theology
• transcend
• vindicatedc

1. Why did the ancient Egyptians mummify their dead? Why did they consider preserving the body important?

2. Describe the Rosetta stone. Why was its discovery significant? What was written on it? Who found it?

3. What have scholars learned from the hieroglyphs? Could scholars have gained this information without the Rosetta stone?

4. What is the difference between the hieroglyphs and alphabetic scripts, like English?

5. Describe the process of crating hieroglyphs. Why were most Egyptians unable to read them?

6. Why were the hieroglyphs sometimes written in incomplete form? Why was it important to write the name of an individual in hieroglyphic?

7. Describe the journey taken by the individual after death. What are some of the obstacles the individual might face? How could an individual prepare to overcome these obstacles? What were the circumstances under which the dead were held accountable for their earthly actions?

8. What, according to the ancient Egyptians, was life like in the afterworld? How do scholars know about these beliefs?

1. Imagine you are a French soldier in Napoleon's army. Write a story describing your discovery of the Rosetta stone. What did it look like? Did you know it was an important discovery?

2. Compare the funerary rituals of the ancient Egyptians to those of contemporary Jews, Christians, or Moslems. How is the body prepared for the ritual? Is it buried, cremated, or placed in a tomb? What do these different rituals tell us about the different belief systems of each group? What can scholars learn from studying funerary rituals?

3. Draw a map of Egypt showing important sites for ancient and contemporary civilizations, including the Nile, the town of Rosetta, the Valley of the Kings, and Cairo.

4. (For a clip summarizing Egyptian history, see the first five to ten minutes of the video).

Air Dates

• September 29, 1999

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