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Ancient Egypt Study Guide ~~~~Test Date: ___________________
Map Labeling:
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Nile River
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Nile Delta
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Upper Egypt
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Lower Egypt
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Mediterranean Sea
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Red Sea
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Cataract
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Eastern & Western Desert
Vocabulary:

Cataracts – strong rapid on the Nile River that would make it hard for invaders to attack.
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Delta – a fan shaped area of land at the end of a river where it feeds into a larger body of water.
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Pharaoh – Created by the Greeks- it is the word used for the title of kings of Egypt.
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Dynasty – A series of rulers from the same family .
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Afterlife – life after death.
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Mummies – a specially treated body wrapped in cloth to preserve it for the after life
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Ka – A person’s lifeforce, the ka is a duplicate of the person’s body
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Pyramid – a triangular shaped tomb built for the burial of the pharaohs of Egypt
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Hieroglyphics – Egyptian writing using picture symbols
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Papyrus – a reed plant that grows in the Nile River, often used to make the first form of paper and
baskets.
People to Know:

Menes – The Pharaoh who united Lower and Upper Egypt into one land around 3100BC
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King Tutankhamen – A New Kingdom Pharaoh who tomb is the only one that we have ever found
that wasn’t robbed.
Fill in the Blank
1.
A pharaoh was considered 1/2 god and ½ human
2.
Ancient Egypt is split into 3 periods known as the Old, Middle, and New kingdoms
3.
Who did people blame if the crops did not grow? The Pharaoh
Short Answer Questions:
1. Why was Egypt called “the Gift of the Nile?”
Because is provided Egypt with life. If the Nile didn’t flow through Egypt, there would be no fresh water in
the desert. Also, the river flooded every year and helped them grow crops because the floods left behind a
fresh layer of silt to fertilize the crops.
2. Why was Egypt a very hard place for outsiders to attack? Name two reasons and explain both.
Examples: Deserts, mountains, the flow of the Nile, Seas, Cataracts (See Egypt Map)
3. Why did Egyptians mummify their dead?
They believed that if the body was not preserved that the Ka could not have an afterlife. It would wander for
eternity trying to find its body.
4. Describe (with at least two details) the general religious beliefs of ancient Egypt. (Not mummies)
Book of the Dead- They believed they needed to be buried with a scroll of spells that could guide them
safely through the afterlife.
Polytheistic- The Egyptians had over 2,000 gods for almost everything in their lives. The gods had powers
over the people of Earth.
Pharaohs were half man and half god, they were sent to Egypt to manage it for the gods.
Burial- They believed that if you buried yourself with “stuff” that the person’s soul would use those items in
the afterlife.
5. Name three primary sources we have in today from ancient Egypt. Also, what can we learn from it?
Mummies- We can learn how they mummified, what the people looked like, what their burial practices were.
Pyramids- We can learn how they built things, what they built them out of, why they built them from
hieroglyphics written inside.
Canopic Jar- We can learn what organs they removed, what gods protected them, why there were made
Papyrus Scrolls- The Egyptians wrote a lot of information out on Papyrus Scrolls that tells us their beliefs
and history.
6. Compare and Contrast Mesopotamia to Ancient Egypt (2 unique qualities and 2 similarities)
Mesopotamia
Same
Egypt
Believed the Priests talked to
Both were polytheistic (Many
Believed the Pharaoh was ½ god
the gods.
gods)
and ½ man
Built Ziggurats as temples for
Both used the silt from rivers to
Built pyramids during the Old
their gods to live in.
help to fertilize their crops.
Kingdom for the pharaoh