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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 on the banks of
the Nile River. The king there wore a red
crown. It looked something like a chair.
The Kingdom of Lower Egypt lay in the
north in the lush Nile Delta. The king
there wore a white crown. It looked like
a bowling pin. The kings of these lands
fought one another for control of all of
Egypt. They fought each other 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 one
kingdom for the next 2,000 years. It was
one of the longest-lived cultures in
history.
For 400 years after Narmer, the
sons of two dynasties sat on the throne
of Egypt. These ruling families set up
the power of the kingship in the Two
Lands. In doing so, they firmly made the
king the most powerful man in Egypt.
The word of these kings was law.
Everyone had to obey them. Also, the
people of Egypt began seeing these kings
as the god, Horus, made flesh. So, the
king was the link between this world and
the realm of the gods. As a god, 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 (Emerging) Updated 2012
During this time, the Egyptians created
some of the greatest works of ancient
Egypt. They built the pyramids. The
first was Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid at
Sakkara. As time passed, they built
smoother and larger pyramids. These in
time included the Great Pyramid of
Khufu at Giza. They also carved the
Great Sphinx nearby. It is an image that
has come to represent Egypt itself.
By the end of the reign of Pepy II,
the power of the pharaohs had begun to
weaken. No longer did they rule with
total power. Instead, local strongmen
gained control. They ruled over many
small kingdoms up and down the Nile
Valley. They waged war against each
other to claim the crown. This kept
farmers from working. This in turn
caused hunger 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 civil war,
King Amenemhet I came to power c.
2100 BC. He quickly brought all the
warlords of Egypt under his control.
This event marked the start of the Middle
Kingdom. For the 300 years that
followed, Egypt enjoyed a golden age.
Arts and literature thrived during this
era of peace. During this time, the
pharaohs restarted their building of
pyramids. But they used cheap mud
brick to build their pyramids, not stone.
These have not stood the test of time.
Most of them have collapsed into
shapeless mounds.
In time, however, the kings of
Egypt once again lost their control of the
kingdom. This time was called the
Second Intermediate Period. A group of
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nomads called the Hyksos came from the
Middle East. They took over the Nile
Delta c. 1800 BC. They set up a walled
capital city of Avaris. From there, 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.
This started the New Kingdom. During
this new age, the pharaohs of Egypt
warred on their neighbors. They ruled
lands far from their borders for about
600 years. Great warrior-kings like
Tuthmosis III launched campaigns into
Libya, Nubia, and the Levant. They
conquered these lands. In doing so the,
bringing riches and slaves back to the
lands of Egypt from their empire.
Amid the prosperity of the New
Kingdom, one pharaoh tried to sweep
change religion of Egypt. He no longer
wanted his people to worship many gods
as polytheists. His name was
Akhenaton. He closed the temples of the
old gods. Then he introduced the
concept of monotheism to the Egyptian
people. He worshiped only one god. His
god was 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 smashed his face and name
from every stone in Egypt. Later
generations called him “That Criminal.”
They refused even to speak his name.
This showed their great hatred for him.
The kings who followed him
became some of the greatest known to
the Egyptians. Ramses the Great was
chief among them. He led his soldiers
into battle. He fought the Hittites at the
famous Battle of Kaddish. He left his
mark all over Egypt. He built huge
statues and temples to his own memory.
One of the greatest of these was at Abu
Simbel 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 to civil war. This started the Third
Intermediate Period ca. 1100 BC. The
native Egyptians never again ruled a
united Egypt. Rival kings fought over
control of the land. Some came close to
reuniting Egypt during this 350 year
time of strife. All failed.
Around 750 BC, the Late Period
began with the Nubian invasion. This
African kingdom saw 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 beat
the Assyrians. Finally the Persians
crushed the Babylonians. Each of these
peoples took Egypt as a crown in their
empires.
Around 330 BCE, the Greeks
under Alexander the Great marched into
the Persian Empire. By this, they
launched the Greco-Roman period in
Egyptian history. They took Egypt,
much to the joy of the Egyptians. They
had chaffed under the yoke of their
Persian masters. The priests of Egypt
expressed this joy by making Alexander a
god. For the next 300 years, the Greeks
ruled Egypt.
In 30 BC, the last Greek ruler of
ancient Egypt, Cleopatra, took her own
life. She had lost a war with Rome.
Rome soon took 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. Only then
would when the Muslim Empire take the
Two Lands and drive the Romans out.
Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level 5.5
Assignment 4B1 (Emerging) Updated 2012
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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 (Emerging) 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 (Emerging) Updated 2012
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