Ancient Egyptian Cartouche

​Ancient Egyptian Cartouche

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A cartouche is a hieroglyphic symbol that was given to the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. A cartouche is an oval that has a name written inside of it.​ This symbol was important so people would know who they were serving.

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​What is an Egyptian Cartouche?

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Multiple Choice

What is a cartouche?

• a piece of jewelry given as a gift from a Pharoah.

• a picture of the deceased found in the tomb.

• an oval that has a name written inside of it.​

• a unique piece of wood placed in the tomb of the pharaoh.

A cartouche is an oval picture that has a line that goes horizontal or left and right at the bottom and then the words written inside the oval are the words of the king, pharaoh or the royal person.

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​What Does a Cartouche Look Like?

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Multiple Choice

What does a cartouche look like?

• an oval picture that has hieroglyphics.

• a piece of metal with hieroglyphics.

• a rectangular tombstone.

• an upright casket adorned with jewels.

The cartouche started being used when Sneferu was pharaoh and this was during the Fourth Dynasty.​

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​When was the cartouche made?

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Multiple Choice

During which dynasty did the cartouche's use begin?

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• 7th dynasty

• 6th dynasty

• 5th dynasty

• 4th dynasty

The cartouche was basically like a name plate that was shaped like an oval and it would have the name written in the middle of it.

The important thing about the cartouche is that when a person died, it would be connected to the coffin.​

​Cartouche

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Multiple Choice

What is a cartouche similar to?

• A cartouche is similar to a license.

• A cartouche is similar to a nameplate.

• A cartouche is similar to an address.

• A cartouche is similar to a piece of jewelry.

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​The reason that a name plate or a cartouche was so important in Ancient Egyptian times was because of the Ba and Ka.

The Ba and Ka are two parts of a person’s soul. When a person dies, the Ba goes to a place to have fun and enjoy life and the Ka goes to take care of the person’s family and friends and to make sure they are safe and happy.

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​Ba and Ka

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​ At the end of each night, the Ba and Ka come together to meet the mummy and the mummy has a nice peaceful rest. If the Ba and Ka cannot find the body, which it recognizes because of the name plate, then the person can never be able to go to the afterlife and they will just disappear forever.

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​Ba and Ka cont...

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Multiple Choice

Why was a cartouche important in Ancient Egyptian times?

• Ancient Egyptians believed that the family would be cursed if their relative didn't have a cartouche.

• Ancient Egyptians believed that grave robbers would only steal from tombs that had no cartouche.

• Honestly, the cartouche really wasn't that important.

• Ancient Egyptians believed their Ba & Ka could only find the person if they had a cartouche.

Sometimes, instead of a writing on the wall, a person that died would be given an amulet with their cartouche on it. This would be like having a name plate, but they could attach the amulet on the mummy so that it would not get lost or broken.

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​Amulets

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Multiple Choice

True or False:

An amulet would not be attached to the mummy in fear of it being lost, stolen, or broke.

• True

• False

Sometimes a cartouche would have the name of an Egyptian god on it.The oval is supposed to be like a rope that is meant to have magical powers.The cartouche not only helped to Ba and Ka find the body, it also was used to help protect people from evil spirits and to help protect people from evil spirits in the afterlife.

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​More Facts About Ancient Egyptian Cartouches:

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Multiple Choice

Would the cartouche help protect people from evil spirits in the afterlife?

• Yes

• No

The cartouche does not have to be left and right it can also be up and down. Hieroglyphs are pictures that are used to represent a word or a group of words. This was the Ancient Egyptian language. Each cartouche was different and looked different. The symbols were always different depending on who the cartouche was for.​

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​More Facts About Ancient Egyptian Cartouches cont...:

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Multiple Choice

Each cartouche was ______________.

• different

• inexpensive

• similar

• expensive