Howard Carter and the Valley of the Kings
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe Howard Carter's great discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Key learning points
- On the 6 November 1922, an excavation in the Valley of the Kings led by Howard Carter discovered something incredible.
- His team discovered a set of stone steps leading down a doorway covered in hieroglyphs.
- Inside the doorway Carter could see a room filled with beautiful objects made from precious woods and metals.
- Howard Carter and his team had discovered the tomb of an Egyptian ruler called Tutankhamun.
- He was buried with objects as Egyptians believed he needed them in the afterlife and they wanted to show off his wealth.
Keywords
Excavation - an excavation is a project to dig something from the past out of the ground
Valley of the Kings - the Valley of the Kings is a part of Egypt where many pharaohs were buried in tombs
Hieroglyphics - the Ancient Egyptians wrote using a kind of writing called hieroglyphics; each symbol and picture was called a hieroglyph
Tomb - a tomb is a structure built to hold the body of a dead person
Common misconception
Pupils may find it hard to comprehend the slow and painstaking nature of carrying out excavations.
Carter began excavating the Valley of the Kings many years before finding Tutankhamun's tomb; they were about to give up when they found it.
Teacher tip
For the drama activity, recreate the atmosphere of excavating in tunnels by laying large cloths over tables so pupils can crawl along underneath them. You could even use props for artefacts they they find along the way!
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Risk assessment required - physical activity
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which ancient civilisation built the Valley of the Kings?
Q2.If you travel to Giza, what ancient monuments will you see there?
Q3.Put the Ancient Egyptian kingdoms in order of first to last.
Q4.Which title was given to the ruler of the land in Ancient Egypt?
Q5.True or false? Many Ancient Egyptians were very good at farming.
Q6.What happened at the Valley of the Kings?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What was Howard Carter's job?
Q2.If you are excavating something, what are you doing?
Q3.Put these events in the order they happened, starting with the earliest.
Q4.Match the keywords to the definitions.
a structure built to hold the body of a dead person
a kind of writing from Ancient Egypt
a ruler in Ancient Egypt
Q5.Whose tomb did Howard Carter discover?
Q6.True or false? Within the tomb of Tutankhamun, there were rooms filled with special objects made from precious wood and metals.
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: Howard Carter and the Valley of the Kings, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: Howard Carter and the Valley of the Kings, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 history lessons from the Ancient Egypt: what stayed the same across 3,000 years? unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.