Thinkabara

🏺 Escape room: The Pharaoh’s Tomb

Google Classroom

An Ancient Egypt escape room for teens and adults: decode hieroglyphs, solve a number pyramid and find which coffin hides the treasure.

The story

You are a team of archaeologists entering a forgotten pharaoh’s tomb. The door creaks shut behind you, and riddles are carved on the walls. Solve them to find the treasure and the way out.

They say this pharaoh loved riddles more than gold.

Run it at home or in class

What to prepare

  • Printed station sheets
  • A hieroglyph key card
  • Three boxes numbered 1, 2, 3 (the coffins)
  • A 3-digit code lock
  • Chocolate gold coins as treasure

Tips for the facilitator

  • Print the symbols large on brown paper so they look like ancient stone.
  • Build the number pyramid from upside-down paper cups with numbers on them.
  • Use three shoeboxes as coffins, and put the treasure only in coffin 2.

Difficulty level

The story clues stay the same on every level; harder levels add more locks in between. You can ask for a hint at every stage.

0 of 6 stages solved · Easy · 15–25 minutes

Stage 1: Writing on the wall

1/6

Four symbols are carved on the wall: 👁️🌾🐞🦅. Luckily, you found a key underneath: 🐍 = S, 🦅 = E, 👁️ = N, 🌾 = I, 🐞 = L.

👁️ 🌾 🐞 🦅

Run it in real life too

Print a facilitator kit for the easy level: a sheet with the opening story, the setup and every answer, plus a big card for each of the 6 stages.

🏺 The Pharaoh’s Tomb: facilitator kit

Teens 13+ and adults · 15–25 minutes · Level: Easy · 6 stages

Opening story: You are a team of archaeologists entering a forgotten pharaoh’s tomb. The door creaks shut behind you, and riddles are carved on the walls. Solve them to find the treasure and the way out. They say this pharaoh loved riddles more than gold.

Setup

  1. Printed station sheets
  2. A hieroglyph key card
  3. Three boxes numbered 1, 2, 3 (the coffins)
  4. A 3-digit code lock
  5. Chocolate gold coins as treasure
  6. Print the 6 stage cards and put them in order, or hide each card around the room so every answer leads to the next one.
  7. Read the opening story to the group and start a timer.
  8. When the group gets stuck, give one hint from the table, one at a time.
  9. Print the symbols large on brown paper so they look like ancient stone.
  10. Build the number pyramid from upside-down paper cups with numbers on them.
  11. Use three shoeboxes as coffins, and put the treasure only in coffin 2.

Answers and hints (facilitator only)

StageAnswer / codeHints
1. Writing on the wallNileSwap each symbol for its letter using the key.
2. The stone pyramid8Call the missing number X. · The middle row is 4+X and X+1, and together they make 21.
3. The three coffins2Test each possibility separately. · If the treasure were in coffin 1, how many inscriptions would be true? And in coffin 3?
4. Egyptian numbers235Count how many of each symbol there are. · How many ropes, heel bones and strokes?
5. Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock4Every symbol is a number. What is one symbol worth? · Add: 2 plus 2.
6. The exit door219First the multiplication (8 times 2). · Then subtract from 235.

Read at the end: The door grinds aside and sunlight floods the tomb. In coffin number 2 the treasure awaits, with a note from the pharaoh: “At last someone solved my riddles. I waited 3,000 years!”

🏺 The Pharaoh’s Tomb · Stage 1 of 6

Writing on the wall

Four symbols are carved on the wall: 👁️🌾🐞🦅. Luckily, you found a key underneath: 🐍 = S, 🦅 = E, 👁️ = N, 🌾 = I, 🐞 = L.

👁️ 🌾 🐞 🦅

Which word is written on the wall?

✍️ Our answer:

🏺 The Pharaoh’s Tomb · Stage 2 of 6

The stone pyramid

In front of you is a pyramid of numbered stones. Each stone shows the sum of the two stones beneath it. The bottom row: 4, ?, 1. The top of the pyramid says 21.

21 / ? ? / 4 ? 1

Which number is missing in the bottom row?

✍️ Our answer:

🏺 The Pharaoh’s Tomb · Stage 3 of 6

The three coffins

Three stone coffins. Coffin 1 says: “The treasure is here.” Coffin 2 says: “The treasure is not here.” Coffin 3 says: “The treasure is not in coffin 1.” The pharaoh left a note: “Only one of these inscriptions tells the truth.” The treasure is in exactly one coffin.

Which coffin holds the treasure? (Write a number.)

✍️ Our answer:

🏺 The Pharaoh’s Tomb · Stage 4 of 6

Egyptian numbers

The ancient Egyptians wrote numbers with symbols: 🌀 (a coil of rope) = 100, ∩ (a heel bone) = 10, | (a stroke) = 1. You add up the values of all the symbols. On the altar it says: 🌀🌀∩∩∩|||||

🌀🌀∩∩∩|||||

Which number is written on the altar?

✍️ Our answer:

🏺 The Pharaoh’s Tomb · Stage 5 of 6

Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock

On the way to the last clue of “The Pharaoh’s Tomb” you find another corridor of locks. Every 🏺 is worth 2. Add two symbols.

🏺 + 🏺 = ?

Which number opens the lock?

✍️ Our answer:

🏺 The Pharaoh’s Tomb · Stage 6 of 6

The exit door

On the exit door it says: “Multiply the answer from station 2 by the answer from station 3, and subtract the result from the answer from station 4. That is the code.”

What is the code?

✍️ Our answer:

Facilitator guide: 🏺 The Pharaoh’s Tomb

What the room practices

Symbol substitution, a number pyramid, truth-telling logic and Egyptian numerals.

The 5 stations (without the answers)
  1. Writing on the wall: Which word is written on the wall?
  2. The stone pyramid: Which number is missing in the bottom row?
  3. The three coffins: Which coffin holds the treasure? (Write a number.)
  4. Egyptian numbers: Which number is written on the altar?
  5. The exit door: What is the code?

Age and group size

Best with teams of 4–6 players. With more people, split into two teams racing the clock, each with its own kit.

Giving hints in this room

Online the hints open one at a time; in the printed kit they sit in the facilitator table next to each answer. Give the first hint after a couple of minutes of silence, not at the first wrong guess.

Questions and answers

What age is “The Pharaoh’s Tomb” for, and how long does it take?

It was written for teens 13+ and adults, at medium difficulty, and usually takes 30–40 minutes. It has 5 story stations, and online you can choose between three difficulty levels that add more locks.

What do I need to run “The Pharaoh’s Tomb”?

A printer and these props: Printed station sheets; A hieroglyph key card; Three boxes numbered 1, 2, 3 (the coffins); A 3-digit code lock; Chocolate gold coins as treasure. The printable kit includes a facilitator sheet with every answer and a card for each stage.

What if the players get stuck?

Every stage has graded hints. Online they open one at a time; in the printed kit they sit next to each answer on the facilitator sheet. The first hint never gives the answer away.

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