Understanding the Book of the Dead: from page to stage
Using simple drama techniques to make a very old document come alive, this lesson involves pupils becoming the characters in the pictures of the Book of the Dead so that they can personalise what is going on. By giving the story of the journey through the afterlife a physical form, in the shape of Ani’s story, pupils have a secure narrative on which to base later more thoughtful work. Having enacted the drama using Page to Stage technique, pupils then annotate the original image showing much greater understanding of what it all means.
Learning objectives
- pupils understand the images used in the Book of the Dead
- they grasp that the images tell a story of the journey to Osiris and the afterlife
- they are able to annotate each important image and explain what part it plays in the story
