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Chapter 2
EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
Directions: Use your textbook to answer the following questions. Write your answers in complete
sentences and on your own sheet of paper. Refer to Chapter 2.
Chapter 2, Section 1 (pp. 38 – 46)
DUE DATE:____________________
Egypt is often called “the gift of the Nile”. Why do you think this is?
How are cataracts created along the Nile?
What geographic features protected the Egyptians?
Describe the flood patterns of the Nile.
Explain how the Egyptians controlled the Nile’s flood waters.
How did the Egyptians use geometry?
Describe the uses of papyrus.
Describe hieroglyphics.
From which group do historians believe Egyptians gained ideas about writing and government and
why did they learn from these people?
10. Why was government needed in Egypt?
11. How did the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt evolve?
12. Who is credited with uniting Upper and Lower Egypt?
13. What symbolic act signified the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt?
14. Draw a pyramidal representation of Egypt’s social classes.
15. Which group composed the largest percentage of Egyptian population?
16. Choose one group from Egypt’s social classes and describe their lifestyle.
17. Describe women’s rights in Egypt.
18. Describe the life of a boy or girl in Egypt.
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Chapter 2, Section 2 (pp. 47 - 52)
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Who was the pharaoh in Egyptian society?
Why was the Egyptian pharaoh held in such high esteem?
List the four major Egyptian deities and their jobs or roles.
Describe the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
How did embalming advance Egyptian medical knowledge?
What was the purpose of the pyramids?
List and explain three advances Egyptians made while building pyramids that affect our lives
today.
Chapter 2, Section 3 (pp. 59 – 67)
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DUE DATE:____________________
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What is the historical significance of Thebes?
How did emperors of the Middle Kingdom use tribute to gain wealth?
How were pharaohs’ tombs constructed in the Valley of the Kings?
Why were the Hyksos able to easily defeat the Egyptians?
Name the prince that drove the Hyksos out of Egypt.
Describe the historical significance of Queen Hatshepsut.
How did Hatshepsut increase Egypt’s wealth?
How did Thutmose III increase Egypt’s empire?
Describe the life of an Egyptian prisoner of war.
10. Why did Amenhotep change his name to Akhenaton?
11. Describe how Akhenaton’s rule affected Egypt’s empire.
12. Why is “King Tut” such a recognizable figure in Egyptian history?
13. What is the historical significance of Ramses II?
14. What was the purpose for building temples in Egypt if most people prayed at home?
15. Why did the Egyptian empire decline and fall?
Chapter 2, Section 4 (pp. 68 - 72)
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DUE DATE:____________________
Where was Nubia located?
What region was Nubia later called?
Why was Egypt willing to trade with Kerma?
List the many Egyptian cultural attributes Nubians adopted during Egypt’s occupation of Nubia.
Explain the historical importance of Kashta and Piye.
How did iron tools and weapons impact the kingdom of Kush and all of Africa?
Describe the geographic location of Meroe and the reasons (2) Kushites moved the capital from
Napata to this city.
8. How did Meroe reflect the admiration Kushites had toward Egyptian culture?
9. Describe the fall of the Kushite kingdom and the power that rose in its place.