Year 7 History Excursion
On Wednesday, the 6th of December 2023, grade 7 embarked on a journey to the Australian Museum in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. The excursion was related to the Ancient Egyptian history unit completed by the students earlier in the year and aimed to improve their historical knowledge.
Upon arriving at the museum, we entered the Ramses exhibition, an exclusive collection centering around the life and reign of Ramses II. The exhibition held a range of invaluable artefacts, from sarcophagi, treasure and royal masks to jewellery, amulets and even animal mummies.
An immersive experience for all of grade 7, my favourite exhibit was the granite tomb casing. This artefact was a meticulously carved pink granite structure with the form of a human body and other details carved into it. It was supported by 4 pillars on each corner with a mirror placed underneath, to reveal the carvings on the underside. The artefact had an eerie frigidity and an intriguing sense of mystery. Another exhibit earning high praise from many students was the astonishing sarcophagus of Ramses II himself. This exquisite artefact consisted of ornately carved cedar wood to the pharaoh’s features, paint used to outline the details on the sarcophagus.
After marveling at the exhibition, grade 7 moved into Hyde Park for recess. Relaxing beside the park’s primary fountain, we ate morning tea before setting out to complete a historical scavenger hunt. The student booklet contained many questions concerning the history of Hyde Park, encouraging students to investigate the area’s historical monuments.
The first portion of the scavenger hunt was in Hyde Park North, where I was particularly interested in the picturesque Archibald Fountain, a towering granite structure topped with magnificent bronze statues of Greek gods. The attention to detail in the construction of this fountain truly amazed me and I enjoyed learning about its history.
Moving to Hyde Park South ,we sat beneath the shade of the towering trees, resting on the fields of the public area as we ate lunch. Then, we began the remainder of the scavenger hunt. Here, I admired the prominent ANZAC Memorial, an enormous structure built to commemorate the soldiers who served in the Great War (1914-1918).
Overall, the excursion was a breathtaking experience with immense value, both educational and social. We gained vast knowledge on the history of Ramses II and Australia’s warfare, admiring the art and culture of ancient Egypt.
Evie Cairns
Last week on Friday, all the year 7 classes went on an excursion to the Australian History Museum to see the Ramses II and the gold pharaohs exhibition! It was a really nice sunny day which made the day even better!! First, we looked at various artefacts, such as weapons and obelisks mostly from the Middle Kingdom, which we then completed source analysis on. Everyone completed theirs really efficiently so we could go see the next parts of the exhibition, the most anticipated being the tombs!
We learnt a lot in class but it was super cool to see them in person!! The tombs were amazing to look at, it was really crazy to think how someone would have handmade it and that a Pharaoh would have been in there. There were many tombs, all of them very detailed and I found it super interesting!!
Everything we saw in the museum was extremely interesting and we also had background knowledge from our history classes which, I personally think, allowed us to enjoy the museum more 🙂
Rita Munoz
On the 6th of December, Year 7 departed school to attend a history excursion, wherein we would visit the Australian Museum to marvel at the “Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs” exhibition with respect to our recently covered Ancient Egypt unit in history, and complete a scavenger hunt in Hyde Park. During this activity, we were to locate various historically significant statues and landmarks and explain their importance.
Year 7 departed for Museum station early that day. Upon arrival, we were escorted to the Australian Museum, where we were given free reign to explore the exhibition “Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs” and complete three source analyses on three interesting artefacts of our choice. We had recently completed a unit on Ancient Egypt and this visit was relevant, refreshing and helpful in further cementing our understanding of Ancient Egypt, its society and the importance of the pharaohs. Once this was complete, we were allowed to wander the impressive and immersive exhibition where we observed many different artefacts including sculptures, short videos and religious items.
When we had all seen the whole exhibition, we were taken to Hyde Park for a quick recess and a scavenger hunt, where we were to spend the rest of our trip on both the north and south sides of the park and locate historically significant points of interest. These locations included important statues, fountains and monuments. We were to visit these locations and answer questions regarding the background of these landmarks and what could be learnt from them about Australia in the time period they were most relevant in.
Year 7 departed from Museum station around 2:30 and returned to Petersham to be dismissed, bringing with them much newfound knowledge. Here are some reflections from the students who attended the trip:
“The museum was fun and interactive and the Hyde Park activity made me think not only about the monument but also about why it was created and how things have changed over time.”
“It was useful to use skills such as map reading and teamwork. It was fun and a great learning experience.”
Thanks once again to Ms Bui for organising the excursion and all other teachers that attended to supervise and organise.
Jayden Nguyen, Chip Humphreys, Tilen Jazbec
