The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle: Solving A Mystery Of Ancient Egypt

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Search for the secrets of a hidden tombIt is 1924, two years after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. Readers are invited to join a young boy, Will Hunt, as he and his family become part of an archaeological team led by world-famous Egyptologist Dr. George Reisner. Based on actual records of Reisner's history-making dig, Giza 7000X, this strikingly original picture book uses journal entries, funny postcards, and quirky cartoons to pull readers into an ancient unsolved mystery. Luminous paintings of the pyramids, informative sidebars and inventive collages, including authentic documents and archival photographs, help provide information and clues. When a secret tomb is uncovered, readers, along with Will, put together clues to discover: Whose tomb is this? Why was it hidden? And how can a mummy be missing from a sealed tomb?This illuminating book invites readers to participate in the process of archaeology as it provides a rare glimpse into the true stories that exist behind the objects in museums. The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Lexile Measure: 900L (What's this?)

Hardcover: 48 pages

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (May 8, 2002)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0374323356

ISBN-13: 978-0374323356

Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 0.4 x 10.7 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #210,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #12 in Books > Children's Books > Geography & Cultures > Archaeology #17 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Africa #66 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Music & Photography > Art > History

Age Range: 8 - 11 years

Grade Level: 3 - 6

I bought this book because it is recommended on the Livingmath.net booklists. Although there's not a lot of actual math in the book, it's a great living book for touching on archaeology, critical thinking, and Ancient Egypt (specifically burial practices). I am not disappointed with my purchase.It's laid out somewhat like a scrapbook with lots of sidebar notes, postcards, and sketches adorning the basic story's text. Plenty of other reviews have covered the story itself, so I won't go into that. What I liked about the book is that it's a view of Ancient Egypt from an early 19th century archaeologist's perspective. The modern Egyptians also play a part in the story; it's not all about the American scientists.If you have a child who loves archaeology and solving mysteries, this book will be a winner. My daughter enjoyed coming up with her own explanations as we read through the book. Actually the mystery is not definitively solved. There are two possibilities, but the open-ended nature of the tomb's discovery is a great opportunity to practice logical thinking - does your explanation fit the facts?

In 1924, two years after the famous discovery of King Tut's tomb with its amazing treasures, Dr. George Reisner, a world-famous Egyptologist, is exploring an archaeological site known as Giza 7000X. Joining the dig is young Will Hunt. The conceit here is that while Will and his family are fictitious, the rest of the information about Giza 7000X is true. Reisner was the director of the Harvard University/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and everything you see in "The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle: Solving a Mystery of Ancient Egypt" is based on the actual records of a history-making dig (diaries, object registers, photographs, and drawings) of the his expedition. Author Claudia Logan, a former museum educator and teacher, made this book with the cooperation of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.We follow Will's adventures through his journal entries and postcards back home to his friend Sam, another member of the King Tut Club. Artist Melissa Sweet's illustrations, created in acrylic and watercolor, consist of luminous paintings of the pyramids and inventive collages of authentic documents and artifacts. Throughout the book there are sidebars providing information on ancient Egypt regarding the layout of the Great Royal Cemetery at Giza, cartouches, and hieroglyphs, as well as explaining the tools and tricks of the archeological trade. From pouring over "The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle" young readers will come to appreciate the process by which archeologists unearth the past. Logan and Sweet also provide a sense of the time involved; Will saves a postcard telling about all the digging he has to do and there is a point where everyone sits around and waits for four months Dr. Reisner to return so they finally open the alabaster sarcophagus that has been found.Even more impressive is the revelation that the puzzle of this title is one still waiting to be solved. Consequently, after suffering with Will through the tedious and painstaking tasks that are involved in discovering and opening an Egyptian tomb, young readers get to exercise their minds as well to come up with an explanation that fits the eight clues revealed through the book (do not worry; they are listed at the end to help). Dr. Reisner and a modern archeologist offer their own explanations, but the key thing here is that no one knows for sure. Whether teachers find a way of using this book for a class discussion or assign a bright student to do a report on it for class, "The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle" is a great opportunity for challenging young minds to make their own judgments about each clue and come up with their own conclusions about "what really happened." The rests of us can hazard our own guesses as well.

For our summer homeschool unit on Egypt - this book is fascinating. I have a family of boys -- the youngest is 6 - and we all enjoyed and used this book. It describes an archaeological adventure undertaken by a boy (11 years old?) and his family in 1924. (The boy is fictitious, the dig was a real event.)The scrapbook style shows money and postage stamps, maps, brochures, and timetables. The information is broken into chunks, with letters and postcards from the boy to a friend back home carrying the plot forward. Very fine illustrations and descriptions of how a systematic archaeological dig works. Best of all: the mystery about this particular burial still persists. It's a very engaging book - problem solving, adventure, great illustrations, and a very good text.(Book tie-in: Let's-Read-and-Find-Out-Science has a very good archeology book called "Archaeologists Dig For Clues")Older children can try their hand at producing hieroglyphics in this book; younger children can copy shapes and patterns from Egyptian artifacts or even string beads in some of the colors shown in the book.Vocabulary builders; vizier, sarcophagus, natron, amulets, jumble

In 1924, Dr George Reisner led an expedition to Egypt to explore the archaeological site, Giza 7000X. There, he and his team discovered a secret underground tomb belonging to Queen Hetep-heres, the mother of King Khufu who built the Great Pyramid. The tomb was carefully opened and painstakingly examined, but the contents yielded many questions and mysteries as to what happened to the queen, how she lived and died. Join fictional character, Will Hunt, as he and his family travel with Dr Reisner and participate in this amazing expedition and discovery, and maybe you can help solve the 5000-year-old puzzle..... Author, Claudia Logan, and illustrator, Melissa Sweet, have joined forces to create a fascinating and inspiring book filled with history, drama, archeaology, fun facts, trivia, anecdotes, and much, much more. Ms Logan's engaging text, told in Will Hunt's easy to read, diary entries, pulls the reader into the story and sends him/her back in time to a faraway and mysterious place, for the adventure of a lifetime. Ms Sweet's bold, busy, and captivating arwork includes original paintings combined with postcards, cartoons, collages, ancient artifacts, photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, and informational sidebars. Young and old alike will enjoy poring over and exploring the illustrations, and finding something new and exciting with each page turn. Perfect for youngsters 8-12, The 5000-Year-Old Puzzle is a creative and inventive archaeology lesson, presented in an innovative and entertaining format. So come join the expedition. The secrets of Giza 7000X are waiting to be discovered

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