INSTRUCTIONS TO WORK ON THE VIDEO :

It’s another sweltering morning in Memphis, Egypt. As the sunlight brightens the Nile, Peseshet checks her supplies. Honey, garlic, cumin, acacia leaves, cedar oil. She’s well stocked with the essentials she needs to treat her patients.

Peseshet is a swnw, or a doctor. In order to become one, she had to train as a scribe and study the medical papyri stored at the Per Ankh, the House of Life. Now, she teaches her own students there.

Before teaching, Peseshet has a patient to see. One of the workers at the temple construction site has injured his arm. When Peseshet arrives, the laborer’s arm is clearly broken, and worse, the fracture is a sed, with multiple bone fragments. Peseshet binds and immobilizes the injury.

Her next stop is the House of Life. On her way, a woman intercepts Peseshet in the street. The woman’s son has been stung by a scorpion. Peseshet has seen many similar stings and knows exactly what to do. She must say an incantation to cast the poison out. She begins to recite the spell, invoking Serqet, patron of physicians and goddess of venomous creatures. Peseshet recites the spell as if she is Serqet. This commanding approach has the greatest chance at success. After she utters the last line, she tries to cut the poison out with a knife for good measure.

Peseshet packs up to leave, but the woman has another question. She wants to find out if she is pregnant. Peseshet explains her fail-safe pregnancy test: plant two seeds: one barley, one emmer. Then, urinate on the seeds every day. If the plants grow, she’s pregnant. A barley seedling predicts a baby boy, while emmer foretells a girl. Peseshet also recommends a prayer to Hathor, goddess of fertility.

When Peseshet finally arrives at the House of Life, she runs into the doctor-priest Isesi. She greets Isesi politely, but she thinks priests are very full of themselves.

Inside, the House of Life is bustling as usual with scribes, priests, doctors, and students. Papyri containing all kinds of records, not just medical information, are stored here. Peseshet’s son Akhethetep is hard at work copying documents as part of his training to become a scribe. He’s a particularly promising student, but he was admitted to study because Peseshet is a scribe, as was her father before her. Without family in the profession, it’s very difficult for boys, and impossible for girls, to pursue this education.

Peseshet oversees all the female swnws and swnws-in-training in Memphis. The men have their own overseer, as the male doctors won’t answer to a woman. Today, Peseshet teaches anatomy. She quizzes her students on the metu, the body’s vessels that transport blood, air, urine, and even bad spirits.

Peseshet is preparing to leave when a pale, thin woman accosts her at the door and begs to be examined. The woman has a huge, sore lump under her arm. Peseshet probes the growth and finds it cool to the touch and hard like an unripe hemat fruit. She has read about ailments like this, but never seen one. For this tumor there is no treatment, medicine or spell. All the texts give the same advice: do nothing.

After delivering the bad news, Peseshet goes outside. She lingers on the steps of the House of Life, admiring the city at dusk. In spite of all her hard work, there will always be patients she can’t help, like the woman with the tumor. They linger with her, but Peseshet has no time to dwell. In a few short weeks, the Nile’s annual flooding will begin, bringing life to the soil for the next year’s harvest and a whole new crop of patients.

Comprehension questions :

1. Who is Peseshet? What are her professions?
2. Before going to teach, she needs to see a patient. What is his problem? How did it happen?
3. How does Peseshet get the poison out of the arm of the little boy?
4. What does the mother of the boy want to know?
5. What does Akethetep, Peseshet’s son, want to be?
6. What is Peseshet responsible for in Memphis?
7. What is the problem of the last woman she encounters?
8. What Peseshet can do to help her?

Answers :

1. Peseshet is an Egyptian woman. She is a doctor and a teacher.

2. The arm of the patient is broken. It happened at the temple construction site.

3. She recites an incantation, a spell.

4. She wants to know if she is pregnant.

5. He wants to be a scribe.

6. She is responsible and oversees all the female doctors in Memphis.

7. The woman has a big tumor under her arm.

8. She can’t do anything because for tumors there is no treatment, medicine or spell.

 

Exercice 1 : chose the right answer.

1. George _______ the bus to go to school

1. Uses
2. Takes
3. Goes in

2. My sister and I _______ completely different.

1. Look
2. Is
3. Go

3. I ________ love this song.

1. Very
2. Listen
3. Really

4. I made an appointment ________ the doctor.

1. With
2. For
3. To

5. I am French. I come _______ France.

1. At
2. From
3. In

 

 

Exercice 2 : find the right answer to the questions.

Questions :

1. How much does it cost ?

2. Is everything ok at school?

3. How many students are there in you class?

4. Do you want a chewingum?

5. What do you like? Meat or fish?

6. Can you pass me the salt, please?

7. Do you want to come to the market?

8. I love this song! Who is it?

 

Answers :

A. Here you are.

B. 16 in total.

C. Oh, I can’t remember!

D. No, thanks. I am tired.

E. Yes, I got an A in math!

F. I like them both.

G. 54,20 £

H. Yes, please.

Answers

 

Exercice 1 :

1-B;   2-A;   3-C,   4-A,   5-B.

 

Exercice 2 :

1 – G,   2 – E,   3 – B,   4 – H,   5 – F,   6 – A,   7 – D,   8 – C

Traduire les phrases suivantes en anglais, issues du texte, puis retrouver ces phrases dans le texte en anglais:

1) Peseshet se prépare à partir mais la femme lui pose une autre question. Elle veut savoir si elle est enceinte. Peseshet lui explique comment faire un test de grossesse. Elle doit planter deux graines : une d'orge et l'autre de blé amidonnier. Elle doit ensuite uriner sur les graines tous les jours. Si les graines éclosent, elle est enceinte. Des semis d'orge prédisent un garçon, alors que le blé amidonnier prédit la venue d'une fille. Peseshet recommande enfin de prier Hathor, la déesse de la fertilité.

2) Quand Peseshet arrive à la Maison de vie, elle croise le prêtre-médecin Isesi. Elle le salue poliment mais elle pense que les prêtres sont imbus de leur personne. Elle n'envie nullement le rôle d'Isesi, en tant que neru pehut, ce qui se traduit littéralement par berger de l'anus de la famille royale, soit, le gardien de l'anus royal.

 

Essential Grammar in Use :

Lesson 1 : am / is / are

• Page 10 of Second Edition.
• Page 12 of Third Edition.

Essential Grammar in Use :

Exercise - Lesson 1 : am / is / are

• Page 11 of Second Edition.
• Page 13 of Third Edition.

Essential Grammar in Use :

Corrections of Lesson 1 : am / is / are

• Page 291 of Second Edition.
• Page 293 of Third Edition.

To outline : souligner, mettre en évidence

Supplies : approvisionnements

Injury : une blessure

Sting : une piqûre

Spell : un sort

To be pregnant : tomber enceinte

Politely : gentiment

Record : un registre

To oversee : surveiller

Thin : maigre

To beg : supplier

Advice : conseil

Peseshet is a doctor and a teacher. The video describes a typical day of her life.

Now it is you turn. Write a text :

- Present yourself.

- Describe your profession.

- Tell what you did to get this job.

- Describe a typical day of your life : what usually happens when you are at work?

 

You can book a one to one class with a teacher who will correct your writing exercise.  One to one classes can be online, with a video call, anytime of the day. 

This gives you full flexibility for your timetable.

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