Download Ancient Egypt

Name: _____________________________________________ Period: _______ Date: __________
Ancient Egypt
Directions: Read the following article on the
Ancient Egypt. Take the quiz which follows.
Then construct a timeline from what you have
read. You should find ten events within the
text for your timeline.
For thousands of years, Egypt was
a divided land. The Kingdom of Upper
Egypt lay in the south along the banks of
the Nile River Valley. The king there
wore a red crown which looked
something like a chair. The Kingdom of
Lower Egypt lay in the north in the lush
Nile Delta. The king there wore a crown
which looked like a white bowling pin.
The kings of these lands fought one
another for control of Egypt in the
country’s deserts, marshes, and
farmlands.
Around 3100 BC, King Narmer
united the Two Lands. He wore a double
crown as a symbol of a united Egypt. It
joined the white crown of Upper Egypt
with the red crown of Lower Egypt. The
kings of Egypt reigned over this united
kingdom for the next 2,000 years,
making it one of the longest-lived
civilizations in history.
For 400 years after Narmer, the
sons of two dynasties sat on the throne
of Egypt. These ruling families
established the power of the kingship in
the Two Lands, firmly making the king
the most powerful man in Egypt. The
word of these kings was law; all had to
obey them. Moreover, the people of
Egypt began seeing these kings as living
embodiment of the god, Horus. As the
link between this world and the realm of
the gods, he was to be obeyed without
question.
Around 2700 BC, a new family
took power under King Djoser. His reign
launched a new age, the Old Kingdom.
Assignment 4B1 (Grade Level) Updated 2012
During this time, the Egyptians created
some of the greatest works ancient Egypt
ever produced. They built the pyramids,
starting with Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid at
Sakkara. As time passed, they built
smoother and larger pyramids. These
eventually included the Great Pyramid of
Khufu at Giza. They also carved the
Great Sphinx nearby, an image that has
come to symbolize Egypt itself.
By the end of the reign of Pepy II,
the power of the pharaohs had begun to
wane. No longer did they rule with
absolute power. Instead, local
strongmen gained control. They ruled
over many petty kingdoms up and down
the Nile Valley. They waged war against
each other, trying to claim the title of
pharaoh. This kept farmers from
working, causing food shortages and
famine in the otherwise rich lands of
Egypt. This time of civil war was called
the First Intermediate Period. It began
around 2200 BC and lasted about 100
years.
After a hundred years of bitter
struggle of the First Intermediate Period,
King Amenemhet I came to power c.
2100 BC. He quickly brought all the
squabbling provinces of Egypt under his
yoke, launching the Middle Kingdom. In
the three hundred years that followed,
Egypt enjoyed a golden age. Arts and
literature flourished during this era of
peace and stability. During this time,
the pharaohs resumed their building of
pyramids. But instead of stone, they
built them with cheaper materials, like
mud brick. They have not stood the test
of time, and many have collapsed into
shapeless heaps of rubble.
In time, however, the kings of
Egypt once again lost their control of the
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kingdom in a time called the Second
Intermediate Period. A group of nomads
called the Hyksos arrived from the
Middle East, taking over the Nile Delta c.
1800 BC. From their walled capital city
of Avaris, the Hyksos warred with the
native kings of Upper Egypt for a
hundred years. In time, however, the
Egyptians drove them out of the Delta.
It was King Ahmose who drove the
Hyksos from Egypt around 1700 BC,
ushering in the New Kingdom. During
this new age, the pharaohs of Egypt
would war on their neighbors and rule
lands far from their borders for about
600 years. Great warrior-kings like
Tuthmosis III launched campaigns into
Libya, Nubia, and Palestine. They
conquered these lands, bringing riches
and slaves back to the lands of Egypt
while forging a great empire.
Amid the prosperity of the New
Kingdom, one pharaoh tried to sweep
away the polytheistic religion of Egypt.
His name was Akhenaton. He closed the
temples of the old gods and introduced
the concept of monotheism to the
Egyptian people. He worshiped only one
god, the sun disk which the Egyptians
called the Aten. But his ideas were far
too foreign to the Egyptians; they turned
away from his faith soon after his death.
They wrecked his temples and chiseled
his face and name from every stone in
Egypt. Later generations called him
“That Criminal,” refusing to speak his
name and expressing their great hatred
for him.
The kings who followed him
became some of the greatest known to
the Egyptians. Ramses the Great was
foremost among them. He led his
soldiers into battle, fighting the Hittites
at the famous Battle of Kaddish. He left
his mark all over Egypt, building huge
statues and temples to his memory. One
of the greatest was that at Abu Simbel
Assignment 4B1 (Grade Level) Updated 2012
near the Nubian border. Many scholars
believe he was the pharaoh Moses went
toe-to-toe with during the Exodus.
Again the pharaohs lost control of
Egypt during the Third Intermediate
Period, which began ca. 1100 BC. Never
again would the native Egyptians rule
over a united Egypt. Rival kings fought
over control of the land. Some came
close to reuniting the land during this
350 year period of turmoil, but all failed.
Around 750 BC, the Late Period
began with the Nubian invasion. This
African kingdom took advantage of
Egypt’s weakness and conquered it. For
the next 400 years, Egypt was ruled by
foreign conquerors. In time, the
Assyrians swept away the Nubians. The
Babylonians conquered the Assyrians.
Finally the Persians conquered the
Babylonians. Each warring people took
control of Egypt as a crowning jewel in
their empires.
Around 330 BCE, the Greeks
under Alexander the Great swept into the
Persian Empire to start the Greco-Roman
period in Egyptian history. They
conquered Egypt, much to the joy of the
Egyptians who chaffed under the yoke of
their Persian masters. The priests of
Egypt expressed this joy by proclaiming
Alexander a god. For the next 300
years, the dynasty started by a Greek
general named Ptolemy ruled over Egypt.
In 30 BC, the last Greek ruler of
ancient Egypt, Cleopatra, took her own
life after she had lost a war with Rome.
Rome soon conquered Egypt after her
death and brought it under its control.
From that point on, Egypt became a
jewel in the Roman Empire. It would
remain such for over 600 years when the
Muslim Empire conquered the Two
Lands and drove the Romans out.
Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level 7.8
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Name: _____________________________________________ Period: _______ Date: __________
Ancient Egypt
Directions: Read the article on ancient Egypt Read
the following questions and all their responses
carefully. Circle the response that best answers the
question.
1. Where did the Kingdom of
Lower Egypt lie?
a. In the Sinai Peninsula.
b. In the lush Nile Delta.
c. Along the banks of the
Nile.
2. What king united Upper and
Lower Egypt for the first time?
a. The Scorpion King
b. King Djoser
c. King Narmer
3. “For 400 years after Narmer,
the sons of two dynasties sat
on the throne of Egypt.” What
is the most likely meaning for
the word “dynasty?”
a. a king
b. a ruling family
c. the concept of kingship
4. What king’s reign launched
the Old Kingdom?
a. King Snefru
b. King Djoser
c. King Khufu
5. Which of the following
monuments was created during
the Old Kingdom?
a. Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid
b. The Great Pyramid at Giza
c. The Great Sphinx
d. All of the above
Assignment 4B1 (Grade Level) Updated 2012
6. What did the civil wars of the
First Intermediate Period
cause?
a. food shortages
b. the unification of Egypt
c. violent desert sandstorms
7. What king unified Egypt after
the First Intermediate Period
to launch the Middle
Kingdom?
a. King Khufu
b. King Pepy II
c. King Amenemhet I
8. What material did the kings of
the Middle Kingdom use to
make their pyramids?
a. mud brick
b. stone
c. baked clay bricks
9. What group of nomads made
their capital in Avaris in the
Nile Delta?
a. Hyksos
b. Hebrews
c. Hittites
10.
What king drove the
Hyksos from Egypt?
a. King Amenemhet I
b. King Ahmose
c. King Tuthmosis III
11.
What king tried to sweep
away the polytheistic religion
of Egypt?
a. King Akhenaton
b. King Ramses the Great
c. King Tutankhamen
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12.
“He closed the Temples
of the old gods and introduced
the concept of monotheism to
the Egyptian people.” What is
the most likely meaning of the
word, “monotheism?”
a. the belief in many gods
b. the belief on one god
c. the belief in no gods
13.
What pharaoh do many
scholars believe Moses went
toe-to-toe with in the Exodus?
a. King Akhenaton
b. King Ramses the Great
c. King Tutankhamen
14.
What battle did Ramses
the Great fight against the
Hittites?
a. the Battle of Gaugamela
b. the Battle of Marathon
c. the Battle of Kaddish
15.
What invasion started
the Late Period?
a. the Nubian
b. the Libyan
c. the Greek
16.
What Greek ruler took
over Egypt to begin the GrecoRoman Period?
a. Alexander the Great
b. King Leonidas of Sparta
c. King Agamemnon
17.
ruler
a.
b.
c.
Who was the last Greek
of Egypt?
King Ptolmey
Queen Cleopatra
Caesar Augustus
Assignment 4B1 (Grade Level) Updated 2012
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