A Mummy Joke and Ancient Egypt Words for Kids

Travel to ancient Egypt with this mummy word search. The pharaoh rests in his sarcophagus inside the pyramid, guarded by the sphinx, with his treasure, a lucky scarab and an amulet for the journey to the afterlife.

When every word is marked, read the letters that are left to find a mummy joke. Anubis, the god with the head of a jackal, was the protector of the dead and of embalming. Egyptian mummies were wrapped in many layers of linen, and scribes wrote hieroglyphs on papyrus, a paper made from a reed that grew along the Nile.

How the hidden message works

In this puzzle, every letter that is not part of a word belongs to a secret message of 37 letters. Find all 12 words first. Then read the letters that are left over, starting at the top left and going row by row from left to right, and write them down in order. Online, the message lights up on the grid the moment you find the last word. On the printable PDF there is a blank space for each letter, and the answer key shows the full message.

Ancient Egypt Vocabulary: 12 Words to Find

Words run across, up and down, and diagonally; 5 of the 12 read backwards. The longest word is Sarcophagus, with 11 letters.

Pyramid: A huge stone building with a square base and four sloping sides, built as a royal tomb in Egypt.
Pharaoh: A king of ancient Egypt. Many were mummified and buried in great tombs.
Bandages: Strips of cloth wrapped around a wound. Mummies were wrapped from head to toe in linen ones.
Treasure: Gold, jewels and other riches. Pharaohs were buried with theirs.
Sarcophagus: A stone coffin, often carved, used in ancient Egypt.
Sphinx: A creature with a lion's body and a human head. The Great Sphinx guards the pyramids of Giza.
Scarab: A beetle that was a sacred symbol of the sun and rebirth in ancient Egypt.
Amulet: A small charm worn on a cord or chain, believed to protect its owner from harm or bad luck.
Papyrus: A paper made by the ancient Egyptians from a river reed.
Desert: A very dry land with little rain. Egypt's pyramids stand at the edge of one.
Anubis: The ancient Egyptian god of the dead, drawn with the head of a jackal, who guarded tombs.
Hieroglyph: A picture symbol from the writing of ancient Egypt.

How to Solve the Mummy Joke Hidden Message Word Search

Three words start with P and three with S, so check them all. "Sarcophagus" is the longest word, eleven letters. Four words run diagonally from bottom left to top right.

Ancient Egypt Lesson Ideas With a Joke

Use the glossary below for a quick lesson on ancient Egypt before or after the puzzle.
Ask students to find Egypt on a map and the place where the Great Sphinx stands.
Have kids write their name in hieroglyphs on the back of the sheet.