George C Marshall High School, Falls Church VA
Meet with professors, museum curators, and organizations in both Egypt and the United States who are actively changing the way that women are remembered to bring women’s history into the classroom through a new, more equitable curriculum.
Typical statues show the woman as smaller but in this one, Queen Tiye is larger to demonstrate her power and intellegence
Hatshepsut's temple had to be restored because her stepson removed her memory from the temple due to his hatred of her. She was a powerful ruler and a woman.
I met an Egyptian family who took me into their home where I cooked with them. I interviewed the wife about her experiences as a wife and a mother of daughters in Egypt. We also visited a mosque where we discussed women in religion.
I visited the tomb of Seshseshet Idut a princess in dynasty six. She was represented with yellow skin which was typical of women in royalty. There was also the false door and depictions of daily life in Egypt.
During a tour, I was asked to be interviewed for Egyptian National TV about my experiences being an American in Egypt. My guide and I joked that it was karma for interviewing her about her experiences as an Egyptian in Egypt.
I was able to climb into multiple pyramids from the different eras of pyramid building. I was also able to enter numerous tombs. While in both the pyramids and the tombs, I looked for female representation, usually through goddesses.
While in the Valley of the Kings, I had the opportunity to pay extra to visit the tomb of Seti. This tomb had a high cost so it was empty when I was exploring. For thirty minutes, I was the only person in one of the best preserved tombs in Egypt. The bright blue and gold shined from the ceiling to walls. It was extremely moving to sit in the tomb. I specifically walked around looking for representation of the goddesses which were on many of the walls.
Traveling solo as a woman presents addition challenges but I was able to remain calm throughout the trip. Professionally, I realized that even if someone says no, it is worth asking for opportunities. Prior to this opportunity, I never considered reaching out to directors of museums or professors to interview them. Now I understand that they are just as excited to share their knowledge and experiences as I was to talk to them about it.
I realized how difficult it is to find women in specific fields. I had hoped to talk to more women in throughout the trip, but finding female tour guides was difficult so I booked multiple tours with the same two women so that I would still have their insight.
The students will be creating museum exhibits dedicated to the representation of women in specific aspects of Egyptian history. They will be evaluating and contributing to the plaques that were near the artifacts. Additionally, the students will be watching the videos from the interviews that they contributed the questions for.
My students were the ones who created the interview questions for the museum director, professor, and my tour guides. While I was in Egypt, multiple of the people I interviewed offered to zoom into my classroom so they could talk to my students directly. The museum director offered to do a tour of the museum for my students and show them aspects of the museum.
I have inspired my other coworkers to learn more about Egyptian history. Additionally, I will be sharing the information I learned with the other teachers of women's history throughout the county through our google site.