In the first day of hook week we became real-life ancient Egyptians… by mummifying a tomato!
To kick off our new history topic about the Ancient Egyptians, we wanted to understand how and why the civilization spent 70 days preparing a dead body. Ancient Egyptians believed in life after death, and preserving the body was very important so the person’s soul could live on. By doing this experiment, we were able to see the science behind this fascinating tradition. Instead of using a real body (of course!), we used tomatoes to represent a human body because they are soft and full of water – just like our organs.
First, we carefully observed our tomatoes and made predictions about what might happen to them over time. Then came the exciting (and slightly messy!) part. We covered the tomatoes in salt, which represented natron – a natural substance the Ancient Egyptians used to dry out bodies.
Over the next week, we will observe our tomatoes and recorded any changes. This will help us understand how mummification preserved bodies for the afterlife.
