For centuries children of all ages and cultures have been fascinated with ancient Egypt.

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Because of this, Egyptian art can be a valuable tool in helping children both learn about and create art, because studying it strengthens their observational powers as it inspires their own art making.

And, leaving aside mummies, nothing in Egyptian art interests children more than hieroglyphic writing (pronounced “highrowgliffick”). In this writing system, which the Egyptians called “the gods’ words,” scribes wrote “words,” called hieroglyphs, which were actual pictures of the thing being meant by the word. So these Egyptian writers, called scribes, were artists as well as writers! But that wasn’t all. These pictures could also stand for things connected with themselves; for instance, the picture for mouth could have the meaning of “speak;” the arm, the meaning of “give.” And some of the pictures could even stand for sounds, like the letters of our alphabet do.

These Web links to Egyptian art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art show how the ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphic writing in their world:

Relief of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep

Coffin of Khnum-nakht

Section from the "Book of the Dead" of Nany

A great way to introduce your child to ancient Egyptian art is to visit a museum, or a Web site of a museum, and then do this activity. If you are lucky enough to live near a museum, check to see if it has an Egyptian exhibit, and take your child to see it!

Here's How to Do It: Making a Hieroglyphic Picture

This activity helps children understand some aspects of pictograms, which made up part of the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system.

What You Need: Drawing paper Pencils or crayons or paint Scissors Glue

As a warm up, try to communicate the following words through poses or simple actions: “cat,” “walking,” “dog” or “tree.” Now, using pencils or crayons, make two separate pictures, one from each of the following sentences: “Under a hot sun, a cat went into a house” and “The light of the moon showed the dog the tree.” Can you point out which part of the picture means the “sun,” or a “cat,” or a “house;” or a “moon,” a “dog,” or a “tree?” Next, cut out these parts of the pictures (best done with the help of an adult). On a fresh sheet of paper, glue the parts that make up the sentence: “The cat went to the tree in the moonlight.” Ask someone not familiar with the activity to say what this “Egyptian” sentence means!

Dr. Mike Norris is associate educator in charge of family programs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

December 2005