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Chapter 3
Ancient Egypt and Nubia
The Lifeline of the Nile
The Nile River Valley:
1. What do you think that the study of ancient peoples is important?
2. What caused the soil deposits at the Nile delta?
3. Why do you think that Herodotus called Egypt “ the gift f the Nile”?
4. Why was the Nile River Valley important to the development of civilization in
Egypt?
5. Is Lower Egypt located in the northern or southern part of Egypt?
6. What is the difference in elevation between Upper and Lower Egypt?
The Giver of Life:
1. What was the “black land” in Egypt? How did it get its name?
2. A hymn is a song of praise. Why do you think the Egyptians wrote a hymn to the
Nile?
3. The Nile provided life for ancient Egyptians, but it may have also produced
problems. What problems might have been caused by the Nile?
4. Explain the steps the Egyptians used to make paper.
5. What made the Nile River an important recourses to people living near it?
Taker of Life:
1. What natural occurrence might the Egyptians have believed the god Amon-Ra
helped explain?
2. Why did the Egyptians consider the Nile a taker of life?
Life in Egypt
Unifying Egypt:
1. Why do you think the two kingdoms may have united?
2. Who was the first king to wear the double crown?
3. Why were the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt combined?
4. What makes Manetho so important to historians?
5. Why do we not know for certain who united Upper and Lower Egypt?
6. The word pharaoh was a reference to the king’s palace but was later used for the
king. Do you think this was an appropriate name for a ruler in Egypt?
Egyptian Records:
1. What discovery led to the eventual decoding of hieroglyphics? How did this
discovery help archaeologists decode the writing?
2. What types of information did scribes record?
3. Who decoded the Rosetta Stone?
4. What are Egyptian hieroglyphics, and how are they different from Sumerian
picture writing?
Egyptian Writing:
1. Why was hieroglyphic writing made so difficult?
2. How is hieroglyphic wring the same as or different from the writing in this book?
Pyramid Building:
1. The pyramids “were like palaces.” What does this tell you about the culture in
ancient Egypt?
2. Why were pharaohs mummified?
3. What were the steps in the process of mummification?
4. Who built the pyramids? When did they work on the construction?
5. Why and how did the Egyptians build pyramids?
Social Life:
1. Compare and contrast the Egyptian social structure during the Old Kingdom and
the Middle Kingdom.
2. What do the jobs described and the social structure reveal about what was
important to the ancient Egyptians?
3. How were the social class structures similar and different in Sumer and Egypt?
Trade and Technology:
1. What made the Egyptian economy more prosperous?
2. How did the growth of trade in the Middle Kingdom affect Egypt’s economy?
New Kingdom Pharaohs:
1. Why did Akhenaten’s advisors take control?
2. What was different about how some pharaohs ruled during the new Kingdom?
Nubia and Egypt
Lands South of Egypt:
1. How long ago did civilization emerge in Nubia?
2. Compare and contrast the way Egyptians and Nubians cultivated their crops.
Why were these ways different?
3. Why do you think that the Nubians and Egyptians borrowed from each other’s
culture?
4. Why do you think no one has been able to decode Meroitic?
5. How do archaeologists know that a different civilization lived to the south of
Egypt?
6. What do Egypt, Nubia, and Kush have in common?
Interaction:
1. For what goods did Egypt rely on Nubia?
2. What events led to the decline of Egyptian civilization?
3. Why did Egypt invade Nubia?
Kush Rises:
1. Describe the role of women in the kingdom of Kush.
2. How did Egypt’s decline affect Kush?