Deck 5: Ancient Egypt

Question 1

In Amarna period art, the Aten, or chief god, is

A) depicted in human form.
B) never depicted.
C) depicted as a disk.
D) depicted in animal form.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The columned hallway of an Egyptian temple is known as a

A) pylon.
B) hypostyle.
C) pyramidion.
D) clerestory.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

All the following terms refer to architectural elements of New Kingdom temples EXCEPT

A) obelisk.
B) hedjet.
C) pylon.
D) hypostyle.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Especially as pertains to their size, the royal pyramids of Meroë most closely resemble those used in Egypt for

A) kings during the Old Kingdom.
B) kings during the New Kingdom.
C) private individuals in the Old Kingdom.
D) private individuals in the New Kingdom.

Question 5

Among the new colors that Egyptian artists developed was a striking blue made from

A) arsenic trisulfide.
B) malachite
C) opriment.
D) lapis lazuli.

Question 6

One of the best preserved groups of the New Kingdom, that of the tomb of Nefertari, consist of low-relief plaster carvings covered in a layer of which material?

A) clay
B) ivory
C) terra-cotta
D) gypsum

Question 7

The pointed tip of an obelisk is known as a

A) pylon.
B) hypostyle.
C) pyramidion.
D) clerestory.

Question 8

In Egyptian iconography the ankh is a symbol of

A) the gods.
B) life.
C) the one god, the Aten.
D) death.

Question 9

Which Egyptian king exerted his authority over the Nubians through monumental structures such as his rock-cut temple at Abu Simbel?

A) Menkaure
B) Narmer
C) Khafre
D) Ramses II

Question 10

Tutankhamon is a well-known pharaoh because

A) he lived a long time.
B) his tomb was discovered intact.
C) he was a great scribe.
D) he was a revolutionary thinker.

Question 11

Canopic jars contain preserved

A) foods.
B) works of art.
C) items of clothing.
D) organs.

Question 12

Hatshepsut's greatest architectural achievement is the temple at

A) Karnak.
B) Thebes.
C) Amarna.
D) Deir-el-Bahri.

Question 13

Which of the following statements about Tutankhamon's tomb is FALSE?

A) It included a solid-gold coffin.
B) It depicted the pharaoh in a naturalistic style.
C) It included four coffinettes containing the pharaoh's organs.
D) It became associated with a "mummy's curse" when a patron of the archaeologist who discovered it died shortly after its discovery.

Question 14

A distinctive trait of Amarna period art was the increase in

A) stylization.
B) rigidity.
C) conventionalism.
D) naturalism.

Question 15

Middle Kingdom depictions of pharaohs differed from Old Kingdom depictions primarily in what way?

A) more emphasis on the link between the pharaohs and the gods
B) more naturalism and individuality
C) more emphasis on the pharaoh's supreme power
D) more reliance on formal tropes

Question 16

The Amarna period is associated with the monotheistic rule of

A) Hatshepsut.
B) Akhenaten.
C) Ramses II.
D) Menes.

Question 17

What was a cartouche?

A) the ceremonial beard worn by Egyptian pharaohs
B) a crown that represented rule over Lower Egypt
C) a crown that represented rule over Upper Egypt
D) a rectangle with curved ends that framed the name of an Egyptian pharaoh

Question 18

In Old and New Kingdom paintings, it was customary to portray women

A) as indistinguishable from men.
B) with lighter skin than men.
C) as taller than men.
D) in more rigid poses than men.

Question 19

Thutmose I was the first pharaoh to be buried in what type of grave, first introduced in the Middle Kingdom?

A) pyramid
B) pylon temple
C) rock-cut tomb
D) mastaba

Question 20

The massive sloping towers on either side of an Egyptian temple, which give this type of temple its name, are known as

A) hypostyles.
B) pyramidions.
C) pylons.
D) clerestories.

Question 21

From its unification in c. 3000
B.C. until the modern era, Egypt consistently maintained its independence from foreign rule.

Question 22

What was the primary function of Egyptian pyramids?

A) administrative centers from which the pharaohs and their courts governed
B) religious centers where Egyptian commoners met regularly to worship their gods
C) burial places and gateways to the afterlife for pharaohs
D) residences for pharaohs and their retinues

Question 23

Egyptian temples were designed to house large gatherings of people irrespective of rank.

Question 24

The only major internal organ not removed from the body of the dead in the mummification process was the heart. The brain was viewed as worthless and was discarded.

Question 25

What function does the size of figures in Egyptian artwork such as the Palette of Narmer serve?

A) to create a sense of depth
B) to render the natural world as realistically as possible
C) to depict the equality of kings and subjects alike in the eyes of the gods
D) to illustrate the relative importance of individual figures

Question 26

Old Kingdom Egyptian statuary only emphasized individual features of pharaohs, whereas people of lower ranks, such as scribes, were depicted in a stylized manner with no individual attributes.

Question 27

Although most pharaohs were men, a significant exception was which woman, who attained pharaonic status from c. 1479 to 1458

A) Thutmose
B) Menes
B)C.?
C) Hatshepsut
D) Akhenaten

Question 28

A predecessor to the pyramids (and a component of the step pyramid) was the single-story trapezoidal structure known as a

A) serekh.
B) nemes.
C) mastaba.
D) serpopard.

Question 29

The most important geographical feature of Egypt is the Nile River.

Question 30

Scholars believe that the king depicted on the Palette of Narmer is Menes.

Question 31

The great pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure at Giza were all built during the Late Dynastic period from 688 to 343
B.C.

Question 32

The first pharaoh of Egypt might be credited with introducing what development to the kingdom?

A) the proliferation of monumental art
B) the institution of republican government
C) the establishment of settled farming communities
D) the use of the horse-drawn chariot for military purposes

Question 33

Ancient Egyptian painters were the first ever to use synthetic pigments in their paintings.

Question 34

The Palette of Narmer depicts the king as

A) a violent destroyer of his enemies.
B) a patron of arts and industry.
C) a benevolent man of peace.
D) a king who rules by the will of his people.

Question 35

Queen Amanishakheto's pyramid exemplifies the influence of Egyptian culture on what nearby civilization?

A) Nubia
B) Meroë
C) Assyria
D) Greece

Question 36

Along with frescoes, examples of Egyptian painting have survived in the form of paintings on papyrus.

Question 37

Female pharaohs were rare, and were sometimes depicted in art with ceremonial beards.

Question 38

Which Egyptian deity's name was synonymous with divinely ordained order?

A) Isis
B) Horus
C) Hapy
D) Maat

Question 39

Egyptian statuary of the Old Kingdom emphasized the power of pharaohs through all of the following means EXCEPT

A) naturalistic poses.
B) clenched fists.
C) one leg extending forward.
D) rigid stances.

Question 40

Which of the following statements about Egyptian pharaohs is FALSE?

A) The pharaohs were seen not only as intermediaries between the people and the gods but as gods themselves.
B) The pharaohs maintained power primarily by providing their subjects with a model of human behavior for all the people to follow.
C) The pharaohs sometimes entered into incestuous marriages to cement their political authority.
D) Despite the occasional female pharaoh, women in royal Egyptian families were generally seen as vessels for maintaining the king's power rather than as rulers in their own right.

Question 41

Trace the change of style from Old to New Kingdom using specific examples. Consider especially the Amarna period. How did it differ from earlier styles and why were its innovations not retained?

Question 42

Describe the Egyptian process of mummification. What does it suggest about Egyptian understandings of the afterlife and of the human body? What does it reveal about the Egyptian social order?

Question 43

Describe the Egyptian concept of kingship. What does it suggest about Egyptian society? How is it reflected in monumental sculpture?

Question 44

Analyze the imagery on each side of the Palette of Narmer. Discuss its political message, as well as its artistic conventions. What message was it intended to convey, and how did that message compare with those of other works of Egyptian art?

Question 45

What was the relationship between Egypt and Nubia and Meroë? How were those relationships revealed in architectural structures?

Question 46

Describe the Egyptian view of death, and give some examples of its expression in art and architecture. In particular, how did views of death enhance the power of pharaohs generally, even as individual pharaohs died?

Question 47

Discuss the conventions of Egyptian painting. How were members of different groups-men versus women, commoners versus royalty, Egyptians versus foreigners-depicted in different ways? Based on these conventions, what was the most important aspect of a person in Egyptian society?