When Richard Briggs’s little boy asked him to help with the school craft project on ancient Egypt, he had a good long Sphinx about it...
And created a life-size sarcophagus, with a mummified pharaoh inside.
Richard, 47, an engineer, was volunteered for the job by seven-year-old Alexander, a Year Three pupil.
They studied the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun before Richard crafted a replica out of foamboard, polystyrene and papier-mache – all for £250.
The model, complete with the mummified pharaoh, was a huge hit with Alexander’s classmates and his teacher.
Richard, chairman of Moorside Primary School PTA in Lancaster, Lancs, said: “I have a history of making stuff for the PTA, so my boy’s teacher asked him if he thought I could build one and he came out of school one day with the message to have a chat with her.
“It was a challenge, but I thought I could give it a good go, so I went away, had a think and managed to create this.” He spent 60 hours painstakingly crafting his sarcophagus over five or six weeks, getting to work in the evenings after Alexander had gone to bed.
Richard said: “I’m really pleased with how it all came together – it turned out better than expected.
“I looked up the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun for inspiration and a few styling cues to make it at least a little historically accurate for the school rather than totally made up.
“The mummified pharaoh was a leftover Halloween prop, which I bulked out with more polystyrene and pipe insulation before using papier-mache for the head.”
He then dyed the mummy’s bandages with tea. He said: “It was a failure. Apart from making the whole house stink like a tea merchants, when we washed the smell of tea out, they were nearly a normal colour again.”
But the sarcophagus has been a success with pupils and teachers. Richard said: “The kids were showing it off to the parents and various classes.”
