Unit Test on Ancient Egypt
Study Guide Answers
1. Because one physical feature was so
vital to ancient settlers of Egypt, where
did they decide to build their houses?
Next to the Nile River
2. How did the yearly flooding of the
Nile River affect the people of Egypt?
•Pros – the floods brought rich soil in which
to plant crops and the river was used to
irrigate the crops
•Cons – the floods could destroy crops,
houses, and people would sometimes
drown
3. List the names of two types of
vegetation that were used in the creation
of hieroglyphs
Papyrus - to make paper
reeds – to use as pens
4. Why is King Tut one of the most wellknown pharaohs?
• When his tomb was discovered his mummy and artifacts
were still intact, giving archaeologists a lot of information
about life during ancient Egypt
5. Why did the ancient Egyptians make
mummies?
•They made mummies to preserve their
bodies to have a long afterlife
6. What was the major purpose for building
the pyramids?
•The pyramids were the tombs for
the pharaohs who had died.
7. What was one method Khufu used to
ensure that his power would be accepted?
•He declared himself a god
8. It was built from more than 2 million
stone blocks. It had tunnels inside. What
was it?
•The Great Pyramid
9. Senusret I controlled a source of natural
resources that were used in beautiful works of art.
What was the source?
(Where did he get the gold and gems to make the
jewelry and other items?)
•From mines that he controlled
10. Which pharaoh did the following:
• A. built the great pyramid
• B. was the first woman pharaoh?
• C. loved the arts and had the White Chapel built?
• D. ruled for 67 years and made the world’s first peace treaty?
•A. Khufu
•B. Hatshepsut
•C. Senusret I
•D. Ramses II
11. Why are the social classes of Egypt shown
in the form of a pyramid/triangle?
•The social classes show the amount of
power and people in each class. The
person at the top was the one pharaoh
and he had the most power. The
peasants were at the bottom because
they had no power and the population
was mostly peasants.
12. Who built the giant temples of the
pharaohs?
•The peasants and farmers
13. What did the Egyptians put in the tombs
of the people who died? Why?
• They put their mummy, food, gold,
furniture, their pets, games, jewelry,
clothes, and anything they might
need in their afterlife.
14. How did archaeologists figure out
what the hieroglyphs meant?
•The Rosetta Stone was the key
to decoding hieroglyphs.
15. Why did it take many years to become a
scribe?
•It took many years to
become a scribe bc there
were over 700 hieroglyphs
to learn and memorize
16. What did the Egyptians write on? What
was it?
•They wrote on papyrus
which was a type of plant
17. Rank the order of the social classes from
most important to least important.
• Pharaoh
• Government officials, priests, nobles
• Scribes
• Merchants and artisans
• Peasants, farmers, and slaves
18A. What kinds of things did the artisans
make?
•They made stone pottery, statues,
jewelry, dinner ware, tools, weapons,
sarcophagus, furniture, musical
instruments, decorated tombs
18B. Why do archaeologists study
these objects today?
• These items give clues about
what life was like in ancient
Egypt
19. For a community to be considered a
civilization, it needs to have the following seven
characteristics:
• 1. government
• 2. stable food supply
• 3. religion
• 4. social structure
• 5. culture and arts
• 6. technology
• 7. written language
20. Into which characteristics does each of
the following examples fit?
•1. sacrcophagus
•2. calendar
•3. hieroglyphs
•4. artisans
•5. pharoah
•1. religion, art
•2. technology
•3.writing, art
•4. social class, art, technology
•5. government, social class
Vocabulary
•1. social class- group in a society that is ranked
by factors such as wealth, property, and rights.
• 2. afterlife – an existence after death
• 3. embalm – a method that preserved bodies
from decay.
Vocabulary
• 4. treaty – a written agreement by which two or
more states agree to peaceful relations
• 5. peasant – a person who does farm work for
wealthy landowners