Deck 3: Egypt

Question 1

During the period from 3100 B.C.E. to about 2500 B.C.E., Egypt

A) had a series of pharaohs from different dynastic lines.
B) experienced its most significant cultural achievements.
C) began to practice agriculture for the first time.
D) founded its first hamlets and villages.
E) experienced extended periods of warfare with its neighbors, causing societal stagnation.

Answer 1

experienced its most significant cultural achievements.

Question 2

Because of the achievements of this period, including the economic prosperity and the construction of the pyramids, we consider Egypt's most successful period to have been that of the

A) New Kingdom.
B) First Intermediate Period.
C) Middle Kingdom.
D) Second Intermediate Period.
E) Old Kingdom.

Answer 2

Old Kingdom.

Question 3

Describe the exchanges of goods and cultural aspects that occurred between Egypt and its trading partners.

Answer 3

Answer not provided.

Question 4

Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt

A) suffered from intermittent floods and droughts.
B) enjoyed over 1,000 years of almost constant peace.
C) developed a comprehensive law code.
D) developed a polytheistic form of worship.
E) failed to develop a workable system of writing.

Question 5

During Egypt's Empire period, many free farmers

A) became wealthy enough to go into business for themselves.
B) became debtors and then, usually, serfs.
C) left farming to become professional soldiers.
D) bought prisoners of war and then enslaved them to work the land.
E) began to trade their crops with people in other regions.

Question 6

Although the pharaoh governed through a group of officials, he

A) often chose not to take their advice.
B) never directly asked them for advice.
C) was the one mystical link between the people and the gods.
D) seldom involved himself in giving direct orders to the people.
E) gave them hardly any local control, maintaining instead a highly centralized system of government.

Question 7

Which of the following would not describe the Middle Kingdom?

A) political stability for half a millennium
B) Increased trade with neighbors
C) Worsening conditions for poor laborers
D) A more "democratic" sense of who would be able to enjoy the afterlife
E) Development of the first real empire

Question 8

Egyptian climate is noted for

A) supporting two crops per year.
B) its volatility.
C) the predictable flooding of the Nile.
D) very few storms, but violent ones.
E) extensive rain for three months of the year.

Question 9

Analyze the significance of the Nile River Valley on the development and character of Egyptian Civilization.

Question 10

Compare and contrast the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Analyze the differences, and identify the common traits.

Question 11

In which of the following respects did Egypt differ from Mesopotamia?

A) Intensive irrigation farming
B) Dependence upon a river system
C) Geographic isolation
D) A polytheistic religion
E) Size of the population

Question 12

Through their use of the Nile's flood waters, the Egyptians showed an early mastery of

A) flood control.
B) irrigation.
C) aqueducts.
D) both irrigation and flood control.
E) both agriculture and irrigation.

Question 13

In what ways was ancient Egypt unique? Examine both positive and negative aspects of this "uniqueness".

Question 14

According to the Egyptian belief system, the pharaoh was

A) a demi-god.
B) divine.
C) a reincarnation of the god Horus.
D) a semi-god related to Horus.
E) Horus come to rule the Egyptians through his divinity.

Question 15

One of the main purposes of Egyptian religion was to provide

A) control over the populace.
B) a sense of purpose to the common folk.
C) a feeling of contentment for the people.
D) a sense of stability for the society as a whole.
E) justification for the pharaohs to serve as god-kings.

Question 16

In what ways and to what extent did a preoccupation with death influence Egyptian society?

Question 17

The historian Herodotus deemed Egyptians religious "above all the other people." Would you agree? What does Egypt's religion reveal about its civilization?

Question 18

What role did the Pharaoh play in ancient Egypt? How significant was the Pharaoh in maintaining a proper functioning of society?

Question 19

All of these natural barriers effectively protected Egypt from invasion except the

A) Sinai Peninsula.
B) western deserts.
C) Mediterranean Sea.
D) Nile cataracts.
E) eastern deserts.

Question 20

The Hyksos peoples are described as

A) having crossed the Sinai to conquer the lower Nile.
B) rulers of an Egyptian dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.
C) people with near magical powers that rivaled those of the pharaoh.
D) the leaders who governed Egypt's southern provinces.
E) invaders who stole the loyalty of the people and permanently changed Egypt's value system.

Question 21

The pharaohs continually worked to improve trade with other regions and peoples, because they

A) hoped to expand their territorial base.
B) hope to sell their excess crops for a profit.
C) needed such Egyptian rarities as timber, ivory, and gold
D) hoped to purchase large numbers of slaves.
E) wanted to serve as middlemen between the Mediterranean west and Southwest Asia.

Question 22

Their religious beliefs suggest that, to Egyptians, the most important need for their society was

A) order, "rightness," and stability.
B) caring for friends and family.
C) acceptance of the pharaoh's divinity.
D) accepting one's place in society without complaint.
E) moral preparation for the afterlife.

Question 23

After ancient Egypt's end as an independent state, the people

A) reluctantly altered their lifestyles to fit those of their conquerors.
B) developed their belief in Aton as their single deity.
C) attempted one last rebellion in 500 B.C.E., in an effort to regain their empire.
D) held closely to their own cultural traits and belief system.
E) overthrew the pharaoh because they viewed him as weak.

Question 24

Pharaoh Akhnaton attempted to introduce the cult of the newly-named sun god, ____________________, as that of the universal god.

Question 25

The word "pharaoh" means literally

A) "divine ruler."
B) "god on earth."
C) "from the great house."
D) "of the sun."
E) "omnipotent leader."

Question 26

Regarding an afterlife, most Egyptians believed that

A) they would receive a reward.
B) no afterlife existed.
C) eternity would be peaceful, but they would be required to work for it.
D) they would go on to revolve around the moon throughout eternity.
E) only descendants of the Sun god would be able to go to Heaven.

Question 27

All the pharaohs' tombs were robbed of their treasure save that of ____________________.

Question 28

Which of the following was true of Egypt's religion?

A) It was strongly polytheistic, with over 300 separate gods and goddesses.
B) The ruling pharaoh was believed to be a reincarnation of the son of Osiris and Anubis.
C) Osiris ruled the afterlife, and Anuket served as goddess of the Nile and of fertility.
D) Early Egyptian religion focused very little on eternity and very much on good behavior while living.
E) A commonality that Egyptian religion shared with numerous other religions was that humans were created from the earth itself.

Question 29

Which of the following groups had the greatest impact on Egypt?

A) Persians
B) Nubians
C) Hyksos
D) Hittites
E) Kushites

Question 30

The peoples who were most heavily impacted by Egyptian culture were those in

A) Arabia.
B) southwest Asia.
C) the western Mediterranean Sea.
D) India.
E) Nubia.

Question 31

Ptah was the god in charge of

A) weather
B) the sky.
C) the afterlife.
D) mummification.
E) life on earth.

Question 32

The deity Anuket was

A) god of all earthly life.
B) goddess of the sun.
C) a twin to Ra.
D) ruler of the afterlife.
E) goddess of fertility.

Question 33

Akhnaton and Nefertiti are usually associated with

A) the introduction of serfdom.
B) the expulsion of the Assyrians.
C) an experiment in monotheism.
D) the pyramids at Giza.
E) the development of Egyptian art.

Question 34

Egypt's greatest monuments, including the Great Pyramids, were built during the

A) Old Kingdom.
B) First Intermediate Period.
C) Middle Kingdom.
D) New Kingdom.
E) Second Intermediate Period.

Question 35

The end of Egypt's independent existence was the conquest by the

A) Phoenicians.
B) Hittites.
C) Kushites.
D) Sudanese.
E) Persians.

Question 36

Ancient Egypt's "superiority complex"

A) turned Egypt into a "melting pot."
B) often choked off necessary reform.
C) made for violent, unpredictable change.
D) turned free tenant farmers into serfs.
E) led to the development of a new religion.

Question 37

Aton was the

A) goddess of the Nile.
B) god of Akhnaton.
C) god of living creatures.
D) god of the individual's Ka.
E) goddess of harvests.

Question 38

According to Egyptian belief, the souls of the dead underwent a judgment from

A) Isis.
B) Ptah.
C) Aton.
D) Osiris.
E) Akhnaton.

Question 39

In later Egypt, many free farmers became serfs through

A) royal decree.
B) climatic changes.
C) criminal activities.
D) indebtedness.
E) Nubian invasions.

Question 40

The largest of the great pyramids was believed to have been built for Pharaoh ____________________, or ____________________.

Question 41

____________________ attempted to introduce monotheism to the Egyptians but was repulsed.

Question 42

____________________ was Egypt's goddess of fertility, and ____________________ ruled the afterlife.

Question 43

Explore some of the myths surrounding the Great Pyramids. Why do you think these structures have generated such interest?

Question 44

The British archaeologist ____________________ ____________________ discovered King ____________________'s tomb in Egypt in the 1920s.

Question 45

Prepare a journal entry that would describe your feelings as you entered Tutankhamen's tomb along with those adventurers in the 1920s.

Question 46

The most fertile and successful time for Egypt is commonly acknowledged to have been the ____________________ ____________________.

Question 47

Hieroglyphics meant, literally, ____________________ carvings.

Question 48

Explore Egyptian cartouches (names written in hieroglyphics online), and try to determine your name in hieroglyphics.

Question 49

Obtain photos of some of the main artifacts discovered in King Tutankhamen's tomb. List in order the ones that you find most interesting.

Question 50

The Nile River is ____________________ miles long, and its valley averages about ____________________ miles wide.

Question 51

Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt had no real ____________________.