Ancient Nubia Educational Resources

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ASOR partnered with Archaeology in the Community (AITC), a local D.C.-based organization specializing in archaeological education, to produce a series of educational videos and lesson plans on Ancient Nubia. The videos are designed for 6th grade teachers to use in fulfillment of Social Studies, Civics, and Geography requirements. Funding for this project was provided by all of the donors to ASOR’s Diversity Initiatives Endowment and the Argosy Foundation.

The Resources

Ancient Nubia Videos

The videos feature interviews with scholars who study Ancient Nubia: Dr. Solange Ashby (Egyptology-Nubiology), Debora Heard (Archaeology), Jenail Marshall (Bioarchaeology), and Dr. Shayla Monroe (Zooarchaeology). They were produced by Sydney A. Pickens, Ali Bavugamenshi, and Dr. Alexandra Jones. Music was provided by 2 Nice Guys Music Production (Teddy Burgh and Teddy Thompson).

The first video introduces Ancient Nubia, its history, geography, and environment. The scholars discuss Nubian religion and cultural traditions such as burial practices, attire, and cattle pastoralism. The first video also covers interactions between Kerma, the first Kingdom of Kush, and Ancient Egypt.

The second video beings with the second Kushite Kingdom at Napata and discusses a period of renaissance and revival of Egyptian customs and religion. The video covers royal cemeteries, pyramids, and burial customs as well as the role of the queen mother. It concludes with the final Kushite Kingdom of Meroe, including Meroitic writing systems, local religious traditions and animal deities, and powerful queens.

Ancient Nubia Curriculum: Lesson Plans and Activities

The lesson plans and activities, created by AITC’s Sydney A. Pickens, meet social sciences requirements for Geography, Economics, Civics, and Historical Thinking and Inquiry. As a bonus, they also cover Cultural Identity and Expression. Activity sheets can be printed out and distributed to students. The Curriculum also includes a teacher kit with guidelines and answer keys for the various activities.

AITC-ASOR Ancient Nubia Curriculum

Ancient Nubia Video Activity Sheets

Part One:

Time, Space, and Geography
Cultural Traditions
Kerma

Part Two:

Napata
Meroe

Video activity sheets include map quests, fill-in-the-blank sheets, word finds, diagram labelling, and word scrambles.

Learning to Look: Artifact Observation and Analysis. Curartorial Responsibilities.

33 Questions to Ask an Artifact
Loan Acquisition Pitch
Artifact Label Writing
Exhibition Tours

The Remix: Cultural Continuity, Change, and Comparison.

Pyramids
Shawabtis
Coffins & Sarcophagi
Ritual Smiting Scene

Who Tells Your Story: Primary Source Analysis and Uncovering Source Bias.

Kamose’s Second Stela at Karnak
Strabo’s Geography
Meroë Head/Head of Augustus
Kawa V: Taharqa’s Donation Stela
Temple of Apedemak at Naqa
Senworset III: The Semna Stela
Acts of the Apostles VII: 26-39, KJV
The Baptism of Chamberlain and Queen Candace of Ethiopia

The Process

Part 1: Research and Development

The team began by asking how to make a resource that will be useful for the greatest number of teachers. We wanted our Ancient Nubia resources to be easy to use for teachers and fit well within the requirements of what they need to teach. This involved a detailed examination of common core teaching standards across the U.S. Based on what we found, we chose to focus on educational resource for the 6th grade level.

It was important to the team to feature black scholars who study Ancient Nubia, so that students viewing the video could identify and see themselves in the scholars. We worked with members of the William Leo Hansberry Society as well as ASOR members to find our scholar partners for the videos.