Grade 6 Week 1 - Arizona Department of Education

http://worldimages.sjsu.edu/
Tomb of Sennadjem: Harvest scene
The harvest scene shown above was painted in a tomb in Egypt over 3000 years ago.
Most of the art that survives from Ancient Egypt is from tombs and pyramids, so it often deals
with life after death. Having a painting of a grain harvest shows this is something important to
have in the afterlife.
Egyptian art usually shows people’s faces from the side or profile. Do you see this in
both of the paintings above Sometimes the body is not shown from the side, even when the
head is. Can you find an example of this in one of the paintings
The third myth you read was from the Aztec civilization of Mexico. In that story based on
the Legend of the Suns, a problem exists for the newly-formed humans. As with the other
ancient civilizations, Aztec gods were shown through art.
The Aztec created pictorial manuscripts called codices. One of these manuscripts is
called a codex. Some were created before the Spanish arrived in the Americas and some after.
Those made before the Spanish arrived are called pre-Columbian. Those after the arrival of the
Spanish are called colonial. They were all created by the Aztec.
A codex was usually made on a long strip of paper called amatl, made from the bark of a
tree. Pictures were the text of the book. They told of religion, calendars, wars, times of famine or
disease and other events in Aztec life.
Arizona Department of Education 31
Language Arts Grade 6 Week 1