Download Do Now - Edgewater School District

Ancient History
Name/Class: _________________
Date: _________________
Enlightened Egyptologist
The Divine and Dangerous Pharaoh
Pre-Reading Directions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. How did the nobles hurt the peasants in Ancient Egypt?
2. Why did the nobles not let the peasants own their own land? Be specific! What did the nobles
gain by picking on the peasants?
During-Reading Directions: Underline every time that you find evidence that shows that the
pharaoh was powerful.
No one on the entire planet was as powerful as the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. He held the
ancient world in the palm of his hand. Ancient Egypt was the wealthiest and most powerful society of
its time, and the pharaoh was the wealthiest and most powerful person in Ancient Egypt.
Because the Nile Delta was so fertile, the peasants of Ancient Egypt grew an enormous
surplus of food. Although the peasants did not keep this surplus, the nobles used the surplus to
become rich. The pharaoh of Egypt was even richer than the nobles.
The palace of the pharaoh was dazzling because it was filled with gold. The Ancient Egyptians
used gold in many works of art and sculpture. Many of the buildings that the pharaohs of Egypt built
are still standing after thousands of years.
Ancient History
Name/Class: _________________
Date: _________________
Enlightened Egyptologist
The social classes of Egypt were very rigid, however. If you were born as a peasant, you could
not become a noble. If you were born a noble, you could not become a pharaoh. In order to become a
pharaoh you had to be born a pharaoh. The pharaoh was so powerful that the people saw him as
divine, which means that they believed he was a god. The nobles and the peasants were all
supposed to be completely devoted to the pharaoh. Sometimes, however, the peasants and nobles
rebelled, or fought against, the pharaoh.
If the nobles or peasants did not follow the pharaoh's orders, he could torment or kill them. The
pharaoh also could decide to go to war with other countries. This gave the pharaohs power over life
and death in Ancient Egypt.
Over the course of Ancient Egypt's history, there were male and female pharaohs. Some
pharaohs were crueler than other pharaohs. Some pharaohs were more effective rulers than others.
All pharaohs, however, were extremely powerful.
Post-Reading Activity
Directions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1) How was the pharaoh dangerous? Give one piece of evidence.
2) What does it mean that people thought that the pharaoh was divine?
Ancient History
Name/Class: _________________
Date: _________________
Enlightened Egyptologist
3) Fill out the T-Chart below in sentence fragments:
Evidence that shows that the Pharaoh was
powerful
Evidence that shows that peasants were not
powerful
5) What was the relationship between the pharaoh and the peasants in Ancient Egypt? Use each of
the following words at least once and circle them: pharaoh, peasant, agriculture, surplus, nobles.
Ancient History
Name/Class: _________________
Date: _________________
Enlightened Egyptologist