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What Is a Mural?

What Is a Mural?
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.51

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    biblical, canvas-covered, formula, papyrus, pharaohs, waxy, underworld, exotic, pope, directly, wealthy, moldy, fresco, design, easily, assignment
     content words:    Wealthy Egyptians, In Egyptian, In India, Pope Julius II, Patient Michelangelo, Old Testament, Sistine Chapel, Poor Michelangelo, One Mexican, Diego Rivera

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What Is a Mural?
By Colleen Messina 		  
1     Many, many years ago, when you were little, you may have had a great idea. You grabbed some waxy crayons. You made bold sweeps of blue, yellow, and red...on your bedroom wall! Not everyone liked your colorful picture. Now that you are older and wiser, you will be happy to learn about a special kind of art called a mural.
 
2     A mural is a picture on a wall. The word "mural" comes from the French word for wall. A mural can be painted right onto the wall's surface. It can also be painted on a panel that is fixed to the wall. A mural that is painted on wet plaster is called a fresco. Murals have been painted for thousands of years. Murals have been painted on cave walls, pyramid walls, and chapel ceilings.
 
3     If you lived in ancient Egypt, you could have turned your interest in drawing on walls into a career. All tombs had murals. Wealthy Egyptians built fancy tombs. Pharaohs built exotic pyramids. The murals showed happy scenes. Girls playing fancy flutes and plates of juicy food made the dead feel right at home...or so the Egyptians thought.
 
4     The ancient Egyptian murals also told the stories of gods and goddesses. Osiris was the god of the underworld, so he was in many of the brightly colored murals on the walls of tombs. Families prayed to Osiris and honored him with their art so that he would help their dead relatives.

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