On a Mission Stage 3 Comp - Comprehension Pack.pdf

STAGE 3 Unit focus: The Ancient Egyptians Text focus: Narrative On A Mission Ahmes looked at his master and gulped. Seth was the chief embalmer and highly respected. Ahmes knew that he had to do as he was told, but he really didn’t want to. “It is very important that we have everything with us when...

STAGE 3 Unit focus: The Ancient Egyptians Text focus: Narrative On A Mission Ahmes looked at his master and gulped. Seth was the chief embalmer and highly respected. Ahmes knew that he had to do as he was told, but he really didn’t want to. “It is very important that we have everything with us when we begin the ceremony,” Seth said, growing angrier by the second. “But, Master,” Ahmes said. “What if I drop it?” “That is very simple. Don’t.” With a sigh, Ahmes set off out of the tomb. It wasn’t his fault that his master had left the king’s lungs back at the workshop. Ahmes knew how important it was for the king to be buried with his organs ready for the afterlife, but it was a long walk. It was also a li le bit disgusting, Ahmes thought, to carry the jar with the lungs sloshing around inside it. Luckily, Ahmes knew which jar it was that he wanted. The workshop was filled with canopic jars - they always had more than one mummy on the go at once - but the kings had been gilded in gold and decorated with beautiful lapis lazuli stones. It was a jar for the lungs, so it would also be decorated with Hapi, the baboonheaded god. Suddenly, a howling wind picked up and swirled the desert sand into a thick cloud. Ahmes staggered forward but quickly lost all sense of direction. He stumbled onward until his head bumped into something hard. He rubbed the sand from his eyes and could just make out the soft orange of a sandstone structure. “Oh great,” he moaned out loud. “I’ve turned around, and I’m back at the pyramid.” “Not quite,” came a booming voice from high above him. Ahmes fell to his knees in prayer. Whatever was up there was taller than any man, and that meant it could only be one thing: a god. As quickly as it had arrived, the wind died down. Ahmes looked up, and his eyes widened. In front of him was an enormous stone lion with the head of a man. He all resources ©2020 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com recognised the sphinx from legends but had never heard of it speaking before. “Who are you who tries to pass by?” the sphinx bellowed. His voice had a sandy quality but was loud enough to be heard for miles. Ahmes spun around but saw nothing but endless desert. He hadn’t been walking long enough to be this far from the tomb, but it was nowhere to be seen. “I…I am Ahmes,” he said. He had to fight to stop his voice wavering. “You cannot pass unless you answer my riddle,” the sphinx said. “What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening?” A smug look passed over the stone face. Ahmes thought for a second, before answering. “Set, my father’s cat.” The sphinx looked perplexed, so Ahmes continued. “It had four legs yesterday morning, but then it went too close to the river. It got away from the crocodile, but with only two legs. When my dad found it, he made it a wooden leg from a stick. The answer is Set the cat.” “Well…I guess…” the sphinx began, but Ahmes knew it wasn’t the answer he’d expected. Before the giant stone statue had the chance to work out what had happened, Ahmes sprinted past it and into the desert. Whatever was out there, it wasn’t likely to be as scary as the sphinx! VOCABULARY FOCUS 1. Which word describes how the lungs will move in the jar? 2. Find and copy a word that means something has been covered in a thin coat of gold. 3. Which word gives you the impression that the wind was noisy? 4. Find a word that lets the reader know that the sphinx was loud. 5. Find and copy from the text a synonym for “confused”. I R I R P VIPERS QUESTIONS What evidence is there in the first paragraph that Ahmes is nervous? What kind of head does Hapi have? Find evidence that Ahmes was afraid of the gods. What was Set’s spare leg made from? What do you think happened to Ahmes after he fled? all resources ©2020 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com