name living in ancient egypt pre-test

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LIVING IN ANCIENT EGYPT

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Directions : Answer the following questions True or False:

1. Most ancient Egyptians were Africans. _______

2. The rulers of ancient Egypt were called Pharisees. _______

3. Most Egyptians became Christians around the year 100 B.C. _______

4. Ancient Egyptians probably appreciated floods more than most people. _______

5. Ancient Egyptians had an excellent system of paved roads for transportation. _______

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Pre-Test

Name ________________________________


©2000 Chariot Productions Published and Distributed by AGC/United Learning

All rights to print materials cleared for classroom duplication and distribution 1560 Sherman Av., Suite 100 Evanston, IL 60201

1-800-323-9084 Fax 1-847-328-6706

Abu Simbel- A huge cliff temple built by pharaoh Ramses theGreat that contains four enormous statues of him that are eightstories high.

Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.) - Son of King Phillipof Macedonia, he conquered Egypt in 332 B.C.

amulet- A magical charm that protects against evil. Amuletswere added to the linen in which mummies were wrapped.

ankh- The Egyptian symbol for life; a hieroglyphic symbol.

architect- A person who designs buildings.

archaeologist (archeologist) - A person who studies thelives and cultures of ancient peoples. Through excavation,archeologists examine the things that were left behind by longforgotten people in order to understand how they lived.

Amen (Amun) - The ancient Egyptian god of life and ofreproduction.

Anubis - The jackal-headed Egyptian god. Anubis was believedto hold the scales of judgment.

barle y- A type of cereal grain raised by the ancient Egyptians.

cartouche - An oval frame used to surround the hieroglyphicname of an important person, especially a pharaoh, in ancientEgypt.

Cheop’s Pyramid - One of the great pyramids of Giza; thesame as the pyramid of Khufu.

civilization - The total culture of a people. Civilized people areusually more advanced in science, art and social organization thanuncivilized people.

Cleopatra - Ruler and Queen of Egypt during the time of theRoman emperors Julius Caesar and Augustus. As the last Greekruler or Ptolemy, Cleopatra committed suicide in 30 B.C. byallowing herself to be bitten by a poisonous snake after Egypt fellto the forces of Rome.

Crocodilopolis - A city in Egypt where a live crocodile waskept in a temple of the crocodile god Sobek.

customary - Something that has been done for a long time,according to custom. For example: It was customary for theancient Egyptians to mummify the dead.

delta - The triangle–shaped fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.A triangular or fan–shaped piece of rich land that forms at themouth of a river.

Vocabulary List

dynasty - Rulers who are all members of the same family. Egyptwas ruled by 19 different dynasties between 3000 B.C. and 1186B.C.

Edfu - A place in Egypt where a temple to the falcon god Horuswas built.

Egyptologist - A person who studies the ancient language,history, customs and buildings of Egypt.

Hatshepsut - A powerful woman who became a pharaoh andruled Egypt during the 18th dynasty.

Hathor - The Egyptian goddess of love and happiness, usuallyrepresented as having the ears and head of a cow.

Hieroglyphics - The picture writing of ancient Egypt.

Horus - The falcon–headed Egyptian god of heaven who was aprotector of the pharaohs.

Isis - The Egyptian goddess of fertility; wife of Osiris, mother ofHorus.

Ka - A person’s spirit. The Ka needed a body to live in after death.It was the Ka that received the offerings of food and drink at thetomb.

Kafre - A great king or pharaoh who had a huge pyramid–tombbuilt for himself at Giza.

Khufu - Another great pharaoh who built a huge pyramid at Giza.

Knum - An Egyptian god with a ram’s head who was believedto have created human beings from clay.

linen - A fabric woven from the beaten fibers of the flax plantthat was popular in ancient Egypt and is still being made today.

Menes - The king who united Upper and Lower Egypt into asingle kingdom around 3000 B.C.

magnificent - Great, glorious, splendid. For example: Wearinghis crown, the pharaoh looked magnificent.

mastaba - A burial building of ancient Egypt that looks like a flatbench with sloped sides.

Memphis - A great city that once serve as the capital of ancientEgypt.

mummy - A dead body which has been preserved by drying.(Continued on Blackline Master 3)

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Vocabulary List (continued)

Nile River - One of Africa’s great rivers. It flows from centralAfrica into the Mediterranean Sea. Egypt depends so much onthe waters of the Nile that it is sometimes called “The Gift of theNile.”

Nofretari - The favorite wife of pharaoh Ramses the Great.

Nut- Goddess of the sky.

Osiris - Ancient Egyptian god of rebirth and of vegetation; rulerof the dead; husband of the goddess Isis.

oasis - A fertile place in a desert with plants and water.

obelisk - A tall, slender, four–sided stone pillar shaped from asingle stone with a small pyramid on top. The ancient Egyptianscarved hieroglyphics on obelisks and usually placed them in pairsoutside of temples and tombs.

papyrus - A water plant that was abundant in the delta of theNile. Papyrus was used for many things by the ancient Egyptians,but it is best known as a source of papermaking material.

Pharaoh - Ancient Egyptian rulers who were believed bechildren of the sun god Re.

Ptolemy - The name of 14 different Greek (Macedonian) rulersof Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C. Ptolemy I was a general in thearmy of Alexander the Great.

pyramid - A huge building with a square base and triangularsides. In ancient Egypt the pyramids were built as tombs. Theywere designed to give the best possible protection to the bodyand the gifts the spirit would need in the afterlife. The largestpyramid in Egypt is 482 feet high (148M) and covers 13 acres ofland.

Rameses the Great- (Rameses II) (or Ramses) - Probablythe most powerful of all the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Manyhuge statues of Ramses the Great can still be seen in Egypt today.

Re - The Egyptian sun god, also called Ra.

represented - Stood for something else: for example: Theround stone carving on the temple represented the sun.

Roman Empire - A great and powerful empire that ruled nearlyall of Europe and parts of Africa and Asia for many centuries. Thecapital of this empire was Rome, which is today the capital ofItaly. The Roman Empire was most powerful from about 300B.C. to around 400 A.D. The Romans came to rule Egypt in30 B.C.

Rosetta Stone - This carved stone, which was covered withwriting in different languages, held the key to understanding thehieroglyphic writing of ancient Egypt.

sarcophagus - A coffin or burial box usually made of stone.

Sahara Desert - Located in North Africa, the Sahara is theworld’s largest desert. Most of the land of modern Egypt is desert.

scarab- A beetle that was sacred to the ancient Egyptians becauseit was believed to push the sun across the sky each day. Thescarab beetle was associated with the sun god, with immortality,and with rebirth. Amulets with scarab designs carved on themwere placed within the linen wrappings of mummies.

Sobek - The Egyptian god that had the body of a man and headof a crocodile.

sphinx - An Egyptian stone monument usually having the bodyof lion and the head of a pharaoh.

symbol - Something that stands for or represents another thing.For example, the cross is the symbol of Christianity.

Thebes - This city was the capital of ancient Egypt in the 21stcentury B.C. It was located in the southern part of Egypt andbecame one of the world’s wealthiest cities. It was famous for itsmarble temples, palaces and beautiful pools.

theocracy- A country ruled by a god. Ancient Egypt was atheocracy because everyone believed the pharaoh was a god.

Thoth - God of wisdom.

traditions - Beliefs and practices that are handed down fromgeneration to generation.

transformed - Changed into something else. For example, theGreeks transformed the culture of ancient Egypt.

Tutankhamon - King “Tut.”

vizier - In ancient Egypt, a high government official, somethinglike a prime minister.

Zoser - A powerful pharaoh who built one of the first pyramidsin Egypt.

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Directions: From the Vocabulary List found on Blackline Masters 2 and 3, find the following:

1. Two cities that served as capitals for ancient Egypt:

2. The names of two women who ruled Egypt:

3. The names of ten different gods of ancient Egypt:

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Vocabulary Activities

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•Pharaoh Menes and those who came after him organizedthe united kingdom of Egypt.•The Sothiac calendar, with 365 days a year, was inventedin Egypt. This was one of the first calenders ever used.•Egyptian buildings were made mostly of sun–dried bricksand statue making was just developing in Egypt.•Camels were domesticated in Arabia for the first time.•Cotton was cultivated in India for the first time.•Silkworms were raised in China for the first time.

2660–2180 B.C.“THE OLD KINGDOM” (DYNASTIES 3–6)2660–2600 B.C. (Third Dynasty)•Period when the first stone pyramids were built.•The first tombs called mastabas were being built.

2600–2480 B.C. (Fourth Dynasty)•The great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza were beingbuilt.•The high point of Egytptian statue making.•Cats were being domesticated for the first time in historyin Egypt.•Surgical operations were being done in Egypt.

2480–2330 B.C. (Fifth Dynasty)•The great people of the pharaoh’s court at this time werehaving scenes from daily life painted on the walls of theirtombs.

2330–2180 B.C. (Sixth Dynasty)•The power of the central government of Egypt was gettingweaker.•The world’s first maps were being made in Mesopotamia.

2180–1990 B.C. (7th–11th Dynasties)•The pharaoh’s government was falling apart, but near theend of this period unity was reestablished in Egypt.•The world’s first zoo was founded in China.•In Mesopotamia mathematics were becoming veryadvanced.•The first plows were developed in Persia.

Timeline of Ancient Egypt

3000–2660 B.C.

THE FIRST AND SECOND DYNASTIES

1990–1780 B.C.“MIDDLE KINGDOM“ (12TH DYNASTY)•A time of glorious pharaohs when the royal Egyptiansculpture workshops were making fine statues.•Records of the movement of the stars and planets werebeing kept in Babylonia.•The Babylonians developed the first multiplication tables.•The Egyptians were quite advanced in the type ofmathematics called geometry and were writing on papermade from papyrus.

1780–1560 B.C.SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD(13–17th Dynasties)•A time of great social and political disturbances in Egypt.Foreigners called the Hyksos invaded the Nile Delta fromthe north.•The first horses were introduced into Egypt from Asia.•The Phoenecians were using a 22-letter alphabet.

THE NEW KINGDOM 1550–1100 B.C.1552–1306 B.C. (The 18th Dynasty)•End of control of Egypt by the Hyksos.

1557–1494 B.C.•Pharaoh Amenhotep I worked to bring political stabilityto Egypt. Egyptian military forces reached the EuphratesRiver in northern Syria.

1490–1468 B.C .•Egypt was ruled by Queen Hatshepsut.

1402–1364 B.C.•Egypt reached the peak of its glory and splendor. Thetemple of Luxor was built at Thebes.

1347–38 B.C.•Pharaoh Tutankhamon (King Tut) ruled Egypt.•Books on medicine and surgery were being written inEgypt on papyrus scrolls.•Egyptians were building water clocks and making thingsout of glass.•Egypt controlled Syria, Palestine and Nubia—this was thetime of Egypt’s greatest geographical expansion.

(Continued on Blackline Master 6)

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1306–1186 B.C. (The 19th Dynasty)•1290–1224 B.C. Ramses the Great ruled Egypt. Thegreat temple of Abu Simbel was built.

1186–900 B.C.•Egyptian power declined: End of the New Kingdom periodin Egypt.

900–851 B.C.•A symbol for zero was being used in India for the firsttime in the world’s history, making great advances possiblein mathematics.

900–600 B.C.•There were no more conquests or expansions by Egyptafter this time.•Power in Egypt was split between princes in the Deltaand the High Priest of Amun at Thebes; later on, kings fromLibya and Ethiopia ruled Egypt.

800–751 B.C.•The Olmecs were building the first pyramids in Mexico.

776 B.C.•The first Olympic games were being held at Olympia inGreece in honor of the god Zeus.

663 B.C.•The great Egyptian city of Thebes was sacked by theAssyrians.

600 B.C.•Phoenecian sailors were travelling by ship all around Africa.

586 B.C.• Jerusalem was destroyed by King Nebuchanezzar ofBabylonia.

585 B.C.•May 28th of this year is believed to be the first accuratelyknown date in human history.

500 B.C.•Certain people in Greece were teaching that the earth isball shaped, not a flat disc. The first steel was being made inIndia.

483 B.C.•The Buddha, founder of Buddhism, died in India.

457 B.C.•Beginning of the “Golden Age” of Athens under Pericles.

400 B.C.•The Persians invaded Egypt.

390 B.C.•A Greek astronomer suggested that the planets Venusand Mercury may orbit the sun.

332 B.C.•The Macedonian Greek, Alexander the Great, conqueredEgypt, bringing Greek culture to that land. The Egyptiansbelieved he was a god and made him pharaoh. Alexandria,a great city of science and culture, was founded in Egypt inhonor of Alexander.

324 B.C.•Greece declared Alexander the Great to be a god.

323 B.C.•Alexander the Great died. The Macedonian rulers calledthe Ptolemies began to govern Egypt.

260 B.C.•The great wall of China was begun.

170 B.C.•The first paved roads were being built in Rome.

148 B.C.•Macedonia became a Roman province.

146 B.C.•Rome destroyed the Greek city state of Corinth.

91 B.C.•The great wall of China was completed.

31 B.C.•Rome conquered Egypt and made it a province of Rome.

30 B.C.•The death by suicide of the queen Cleopatra, the lastPtolemy, marked the end of independent rule for Egypt up

until modern times.

Timeline of Ancient Egypt (continued)

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Timeline Activity

Directions: Make a timeline with 1000 year divisions from 4000 B.C to 2000 A.D. that includes the following events:

1. The year you were born.

2. The year Columbus landed in the New World.

3. The period of time the pyramids of Giza were being built.

4. The period of time the temple of Luxor was being built.

5. The period of time during which the great wall of China was begun and completed.

6. The time Queen Hatshepsut ruled Egypt.

7. The year Alexander the Great conquered Egypt.

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ACROSS

1. In ancient Egypt, a dead body was usually preserved

for burial by making it into a _______________._

2. The rulers of ancient Egypt were called ___________. ______________

3. The god of rebirth and ruler of the dead in ancient Egypt was

named ____________.

4. A huge monument with the face of a human and the body of

a lion is called a ______________.

5. A plant that once grew thickly in the marshes of ancient Egypt

and was used for making paper is called _____________.

6. Re, also called Ra, was the god of the __________ in ancient

Egypt.

DOWN

1. In ancient Egypt, people could go to study reading and

writing at the __________.

2. The biggest buildings in ancient Egypt were tombs which

had triangular sides and square bottoms; they are called

the ___________.

3. Most of Egypt is covered by the sands of the ________Desert.

4. In ancient Egypt _______ were used for most

long distance transportation.

5. Ancient Egyptian writing is called ______________.

6. In ancient Egypt, before a person was

entombed, their__________ , such as livers and lungs,

were placed in clay jars.

7. Priests who prepared to body for burial wore the

mask of the jackal-headed god named

_______________.

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Crossword Puzzle

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Post-Test

A. Write a paragraph giving three of the main reasons why the Nile River was so important to the ancient Egyptians.

B. Write a paragraph describing some of the things that were done with the bodies of people in ancient Egypt after they

died.

C. Write a paragraph explaining some of the reasons how modern-day people have been able to understand the lives of

the ancient Egyptians.

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Video Quiz

Directions: Answer the following questions as directed by your teacher.

1. True or False? Pharaohs were believed to be the children of the sun god. ________

2. True or False? Re was the name of the moon god in ancient Egypt. _________ ___________ __

3. True or False? The god Horus was the ruler of the dead. __________

4. True or False? A sphinx was a type of large Egyptian boat. __________

5. True or False? The papyrus plant was very important in ancient Egypt. __________

6. True or False? Hathor was an ancient Egyptian goddess. _________

7. True or False? Pharaohs were not allowed to perform religious ceremonies. ________

8. True or False? The pyramids were built to be the palaces of the pharaohs. _________

9. True or False? Obelisks were tall monuments carved from stone. ___________

10. True or False? Hieroglyphics was the name of Egypt’s greatest pharaoh. __________

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Facts About Ancient Egypt

The capital city of Egypt today is Cairo, but long ago, the capital was the city of Memphis. Memphis had a population of

500,000 in ancient times. The city of Thebes was also a capital of ancient Egypt.

In ancient Egypt, girls married at about the age of 12, boys at 14. Marriage was a private, not a religious, ceremony.

The average lifetime was 40 years .

Every pharaoh had five names. We use their fifth name, but the Egyptians used their fourth name.

Egyptians ate lettuce, onions, beans, cucumbers, cabbages, lentils, garlic, peas, radishes, wheat, barley, grapes, figs,

dates, melons, pomegranates, honey, fish, ducks, oxen, and geese. They drank milk, water, beer, and wine.

At banquets, rich ladies wore perfume cones on their braided wigs. As the evening passed, the sweet smelling oily

perfume would melt and run down over their dresses. Women in ancient Egypt used special paints to outline their eyes

in black and to color their cheeks and lips red. They also used henna to dye their hands reddish-brown.

Music was played on harps, trumpets, clarinets, lutes, oboes, double flutes, bells, rattles, castenets, lyres, and tambourines.

Professional musicians and dancing girls were hired to entertain at banquets.

Heavy stones or statues were pulled across moistened ground on sleds. A 23-foot statue, such as the one of Pharaoh

Ramses the Great, weighed 60 tons and it took 172 men to pull it over the ground.

The great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is made up of over two million stone blocks and each block weighs 2-1/2 tons.

Land was so valuable in ancient Egypt that anyone who moved a boundary stone could be punished by having his/her

ears cut off and by being enslaved.

There were some towns in ancient Egypt, near the Valley of the Kings, where nearly every man was a worker who built

royal tombs. Workers were paid in food or other supplies since no money was used in ancient Egypt.

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The Ancient Egyptian Religion

Some gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt:

Amun- creator god

Anubis- cemetary god who led the dead to judgment

Hathor- goddess of love

Horus- god of heaven, royal protector god

Isis- queen of all the gods, goddess of women

Montu- god of war

Osiris- god of vegetation, death and rebirth, judge of the dead

Re (Ra)- the sun god

Sekhmet- goddess of war

Sobek- crocodile god

Thoth- god of writing and knowledge

Ancient Egyptian Religious Beliefs and Practices

_________________________________________________

The ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, meaning they worshiped many gods and goddesses. As is true of our modern-

day religions, their religion helped them understand the world around them, to deal with death, and with the daily

struggles of life.

Besides the gods listed above, the ancient Egyptians worshipped household gods and village gods. Most people had

small altars in their homes or had shrines in their gardens.

On special holy days, ancient Egyptians went to the state temples to see the statue of the god as it was carried out of the

temple. Ordinary people were not allowed beyond the temple’s first courtyard, for the inner part of the temple was

sacred and only priests were allowed to go there. It was in the inner temple that priests performed rituals and made

offerings to the gods.

It was because of their beliefs in an afterlife that the ancient Egyptians made complicated funeral preparations by mummifying

the dead body.

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Map Excerise

Directions : The map below shows the boundaries of ancient Egypt around 1450 B.C. Using textbooks, atlases,

encylopedias, or any other reference material, outline or mark the location of the following:

1. Syria 9. Jerusalem

2. Jordan 10. The Red Sea

3. Israel 11. The Mediterranean Sea

4. Saudi Arabia 12. The Nile River

5. Sudan 13. The Delta of the Nile

6. Libya 14. Thebes

7. Lebanon 15. Giza

8. Cairo 16. Sinai Penisula

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The Hieroglyphic Alphabet and Exercise

Exercise:

Write the word SHY in hieroglyphics.

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Ancient Egyptian Numbers and Exercise

Exercise:

Using ancient Egyptian numbers, write the year you were born.

Note: The biggest number goes on top....the smallest number is on the bottom:

4 tens makes forty

9 ones makes nine

name living in ancient egypt pre-test

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