Essential Questions: What can we learn about a society from its stories and myths? How can stories promote certain values? What role do the gods play in ancient myths?

Watch the Video (10 minutes)

• Watch the Time Machine video to take your students on a journey to ancient Egypt. Have students respond to the Video Discussion Questions (available in your Resources tab) in small groups or pairs.

View a Slideshow (10 minutes)

• View the Background Builder slideshow “What to Know About Ancient Egypt” to learn more about the legacy of this powerful and sophisticated civilization. After viewing, invite students to share what they found most interesting or surprising.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Project Vocabulary: Definitions and Practice. Review the definitions and practice using the words as a class. Highlighted words: amulet, conjured, inscribed, necropolis, papyrus, procure, sarcophagus. Optionally, print or share the interactive link directly to your LMS and have students preview the words and complete the activity independently beforehand. Audio pronunciations of the words and a read-aloud of the definitions are embedded in the interactive slides. 

• Project the Pronunciation Guide and play its audio at Scope Online to teach students how to pronounce the names of characters and places in the play.

• Have a volunteer read the As You Read box on page 13 of the magazine or at the top of the digital story page.

• Assign parts and read the play aloud as a class.

• Break students into groups to discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (20 minutes)

• Why is Setna important in society? (text features) Setna is important in society because he is not only a prince but also a scribe. The play’s text feature “Scribes: Ancient Egypt’s Smarties” explains that scribes went to special schools and were a big deal as the readers and writers of their time period. In Scene 1, Inaros calls Setna “the most learned man in all of Egypt.” Clearly, knowledge was highly valued in ancient Egyptian society, and Setna possessed a great deal of it.

• How are Setna and Naneferkaptah similar? (character) Setna and Naneferkaptah are similar in that they are both the sons of a pharaoh, both magicians, and both scribes. In addition, they are both consumed by their desire to possess and learn from the Book of Magic. They think the knowledge within it will give them great power—specifically, the powers of the gods. 

• What story do the spirits of Ahwere, Naneferkaptah, and Merib tell Setna? Why doesn’t their story convince Setna to leave the Book of Magic alone? (summarizing, theme) The spirits tell Setna the story of how Naneferkaptah procured the Book of Magic from the bottom of the Nile, and how doing so brought death and sorrow upon their family: After seeing Ahwere and Naneferkaptah with the stolen book, casting spells that controlled the weather, Thoth and Ra drowned them and their son, Merib. Naneferkaptah’s father buried the Book of Magic with Naneferkaptah to prevent any further harm the book might cause. This story doesn’t convince Setna to leave the Book of Magic alone, though. He says, “Your tale is sad indeed. But it is not my tale.” Setna seems to have excessive pride in his own abilities and thinks he can outsmart Thoth.

• Compare Setna’s and Naneferkaptah’s experiences with the Book of Magic. (key ideas and details) Setna’s and Naneferkaptah’s experiences with the Book of Magic start off similarly. Both men steal the book—Naneferkaptah from the bottom of the Nile and Setna from Naneferkaptah’s tomb. Both men are giddy with power after they learn the book’s secrets and begin casting its spells. Then their experiences become quite different. The gods intervene in Naneferkaptah’s spell-casting before his power gets out of control, and they kill Naneferkaptah along with his wife and child. In Setna’s case, his spell-casting leads to the brink of catastrophic damage, and he begs Thoth for help. Thoth, rather than killing Setna, shows Setna mercy after he admits that the power in the book is too great for him. 

Critical-Thinking Questions (5 minutes)

• One big idea of the story is that there are some powers with which humans cannot be entrusted. Do you agree? Answers will vary. 

• A common theme of Greek mythology is that a human’s belief that they are able to outsmart the gods or nature leads to that person’s downfall. This sort of excessive pride that makes you think you can ignore the limits of human power is called hubris. How does the idea of hubris connect to the play? Can you think of other stories featuring characters who possess this flaw? Setna is warned about the dangers of the Book of Magic but thinks there is no way its powers will be too much for him to handle. He will stop at nothing when it comes to obtaining the book; he even uses magic to break the deal he and Naneferkaptah make involving the checkers games. When Setna’s father sees the damage Setna is causing and tells Setna that the book’s powers are not meant for humans, Setna continues to believe that his mind is so fine that he is indeed worthy of the book. When Setna can’t stop the flooding he has caused, he finally realizes that there are limits to his power, and he is spared the downfall his hubris was leading him to. Answers to the second question will vary but may include the stories of Pandora’s Box, Daedalus and Icarus, Frankenstein, and Odysseus (all available in the Scope Archives).

• Have students complete the Writing Planner: The Book of Magic. This activity will help them organize their ideas in preparation for the writing prompt on page 17 in the printed magazine and at the bottom of the digital story page.

• Alternatively, have students choose a culminating task from the Choice Board, a menu of differentiated activities.