WORKSHEET: ANCIENT SOCIETIES                 EGYPT

 

The responses to the following will be found in the textbook readings, lectures and labs. Students are responsible for  this list and the questions at the end of the unit.

 

SIFT:            VOCABULARY and TERMS

Upper Egypt/Lower Egypt

Pharaoh

The Archaic Period

The Old Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom

The New Kingdom

Pyramid

Stele

Hieroglyphics

Demotic

Coptic

Sphinx

 

 

 

SIFT:             PLACES

Memphis

Thebes

Heliopolis

 Tanis

 

SIFT:            BIOGR APHY

Menes

Khufu (Cheops)

Hyksos

Ahmosis

Tuthmosis II

Amon-Re

Amenhotep

Aten

Osiris


 

 

 

SIFT:            CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

  1. Why is Egypt the “gift of the Nile”?
  2. Describe the historical annual flooding of the Nile. How did this influence agriculture?
  3. Why did the tribes which became the Egyptians move to this area? (hint: it has to do with the change in climate)
  4. Why did invasion come to Mesopotamia before Egypt? Why was Egypt safe from external dangers for hundreds of years?***
  5. What special crafts, occupations and trades developed as the cities grew?
  6. What is bronze and why was its invention so important? Why was bronze largely kept out of the hands of the common people?
  7. When did Egyptians start the effective use of iron and why was this important?
  8. What was the importance of the wheeled vehicle?
  9. Describe the emergence of maritime transportation and its importance.
  10. With whom did the Egyptians trade and for what did they trade? (why was trade especially important in southern Mesopotamia?)***
  11. Why did the rise of cities enable groups of accumulate wealth and establish social distinctions?
  12. Discuss the role of women in society as opposed to the role of women in Mesopotamia..***
  13.  What was the form of writing? What were its uses? What was  the form of the writing?
  14. Why were schools essential to the orderly running of the government?
  15. What was the importance of astronomy and the development of calendars?
  16. Describe Egyptian  religion. What was the attitude about death?
  17. How did the difference in geography and the characteristics of the rivers cause the differences in Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies? Why was one “pessimistic” and the other “optimistic”?  ***
  18. Describe Egyptian funerary practices.
  19. Describe Egyptian mythology.
  20. Describe the empire during the New Kingdom.
  21. Why was it easier to attain a high position in Egypt than in Mesopotamia? ***

*** These questions can best be answered after we finish the unit on Mesopotamia