A Pharaohly Big Deal - Stage 4 Comprehension Pack Chapter 1 PDF

STAGE 4 Unit focus: A Pharaohly Big Deal Text focus: Narrative Chapter 1 Life for Sen was simple enough. He spent his days helping out the master embalmer, Dje, as they sent...

STAGE 4 Unit focus: A Pharaohly Big Deal Text focus: Narrative Chapter 1 Life for Sen was simple enough. He spent his days helping out the master embalmer, Dje, as they sent rich and powerful Egyptians off on their adventures into the afterlife. He’d grown pretty good at reading the passages from the Book of the Dead and was pretty sure that Dje would let him have a go with the brain hook any day now. Filling the canopic jars and making sure that they didn’t run out of resin was ge ng a little bit boring. “It could be worse,” his father had always said. Of course, that was in the days before his father had been eaten by the great god Sobek whilst he was in his crocodile form. In a way, his death had only proved his point. Sen knew what he meant, though. There were slaves out there building pyramids in the hot sun, whereas he at least had the shade of their hut. There were the cats, though. The Pharaoh collected cats in the same way that the desert collected sand. Much like sand, the cats got everywhere and caused no end of a nuisance. They were revered, though. Sen knew that they were likely to be one of the gods watching over him, so he made sure he never kicked them away. Today was an easy day. The whole country was in mourning after the Pharaoh Qar died suddenly, and it had been Dje and Sen’s job to embalm him. Sen’s job now was to simply sit next to the body and make sure nobody stole it before it could be placed in the sarcophagus. Apparently, there was a delay in its construction because the carpenters were on strike or something like that. To pass the time, Sen was practising writing; nobody expected a poor boy like him to be able to write, but he’d heard that it might impress the girls when he grew up. He’d just finished writing a metaphor about how hot it was when he heard the voice. “Pssssssst!” it said. Sen glanced around him, but there was nobody there. Dje had gone to the market and wouldn’t be back for hours. “It must be the sand,” he thought. “Pssssssssssssssssssssssst!” the voice said again, more urgently this time. all resources ©2023 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com “Is somebody there?” Sen said, straining to see out of the doorway. He glanced up at Bastet, one of the palace cats who had made their hut its home. “Is that you?” Sen asked, desperately hoping that the cat wouldn’t answer. It shrugged its shoulders. “Down here,” the voice said again. When it spoke, it sounded muffled and distant. Slowly, Sen pivoted on his heels and stared at the mummy lying on the slab. “Please don’t move,” he said, as much to reassure himself as anything. “That thing isn’t going anywhere,” the voice said, this time from behind Sen. Sen spun around and thrust his hand into his mouth to muffle a scream. “You’re dead,” he said to the ghostly figure of the late Qar, which was hovering in front of him. “Not just dead, murdered! You’ve got to avenge my death, young man. I can’t possibly enjoy the afterlife until I know it’s all sorted.” Sen felt the blood drain from his head until he could barely stand. The disappointed face of the ghost was the last thing he saw before he fell to the sand. RETRIEVAL FOCUS 1. What is Sen’s job? 2. Who has just died? 3. What type of animal was in the hut? 4. What were the slaves building? 5. What material did Sen have to ensure they never ran out of? VIPERS QUESTIONS V Which word tells you how people were feeling about the death of the Pharaoh? S What was Sen doing just before he was disturbed by the ghost? V Find and copy a phrase that tells you that Sen was scared when he saw the ghost. I Why might Sen have been desperate for the mummy not to move? S Why was Sen better off in the hut than outside? all resources ©2023 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com