Ghosts and Ghouls - Stage 5 Comp - Mummies - Comprehension Pack.pdf

STAGE 5 Unit focus: Ghosts And Ghouls Text focus: Information Text Mummies One of the creepiest monsters in film history has to be the shuffling, groaning bag of bandages...

STAGE 5 Unit focus: Ghosts And Ghouls Text focus: Information Text Mummies One of the creepiest monsters in film history has to be the shuffling, groaning bag of bandages that is the mummy. The first mummy monster appeared on screen in 1899. Since then, they have appeared in countless films, cartoons and books. Mostly, they are scary, but sometimes they can be used for comic effect because they are so mindless and slow. Most people know that the most iconic mummies came from Ancient Egypt. They weren’t the first, though. Tribes in South America were mummifying their dead a few thousand years before the Egyptians. The Ancient Chinese and various island nations also practised the art. It was the Egyptian ones that became the focus of horror, though. We probably have to blame the Victorians for that. The Victorians discovered Ancient Egyptian tombs and were into mummies in a big way. They weren’t content with just digging them up and pu ng them in museums. The Victorians were a curious bunch, and they all wanted in on the mummy madness. It wasn’t uncommon to find wealthy people with a mummy propped up in their hallway. They had “unrolling” parties where they would unwrap the mummy to see what was inside, before marching the mummy around the room shaking people’s hands! There were so many mummies in Egypt at the time that “mummy mines” were set up to dig out poorer Egyptians and sell them. Tens of thousands were transported back to Europe. You could even travel to Egypt and “pick your own” mummy as though they were strawberries. They weren’t all treated with respect. Once they had been unrolled, they were often ground down to make fertiliser or perfume or burned in bonfires. It was these scenes of mummies being unwrapped and paraded around the room that inspired the early Victorian horror stories involving mummies. After all, these were once living humans who had dried out over thousands of years. What if they suddenly came back alive? There was something still eerily alive about them. Victorians were used A to people being buried and ro ng away to nothing. The Egyptian ding ro Rea und all resources ©2024 Literacy Shed e um C u r r ic ul Th http://www.literacyshedplus.com mummies had survived that process; perhaps they were waiting to return… Things began to get a bit mystical in 1923 when Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb. This was a time when Egyptmania was still in full swing, but there was also an air of mysticism about it. Shortly after, the man who had funded his trip died from a mosquito bite. One newspaper ran the story that it was a curse for disturbing the tomb, and suddenly, they were all repeating the story. People were excited by the idea of curses and magic, so they didn’t hesitate to believe it. The newspapers even deliberately mistranslated Egyptian writings to say that they were curses. Hollywood took notice of how terrified people were of the idea. There had been horror films involving mummies in 1899 and 1911, but Hollywood needed more. The film Mummy was released in 1932 to capitalise on the excitement (confusingly, the movie in 1911 was also called Mummy). People couldn’t get enough, and the shuffling mummy monster that we all know today was born. SUMMARY FOCUS 1. Why were the Victorians responsible for the lack of mummies left today? 2. How did the Victorians make the idea of the scary mummy popular? 3. How did Hollywood react to people being intrigued by mummies? 4. What did the expedition of Howard Carter do to the reputation of mummies? VIPERS QUESTIONS R When did Howard Carter discover Tutankhamun’s tomb? R When was the first movie featuring a mummy released? I What evidence is there in the text that wealthy Victorian’s wanted a piece of Egypt in their home? I What evidence is there that wealthy Victorians were curious about things? V Find and copy a word that means “paid for”. all resources ©2024 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com