Ancient Egypt…
Name __________________________
Unit Test “OK!” Study Guide
“O K!”
What I OUGHT to Know What I KNOW about Ancient Egypt!
Nile River Valley
What is irrigation?
What is a delta?
What direction does the Nile
flow?
How long (miles) is the Nile?
How did the river benefit the
Egyptians?
Writing
What are hieroglyphics?
What was the Rosetta Stone?
Who was Jean-Francois
Champollion?
Irrigation – digging ditches to bring water closer to crops.
Delta – triangular piece of fertile land near the mouth of the river.
The Nile flows from north to south, opposite of most major rivers in the
world.
The Nile is approx. 4,000 miles long.
The river benefitted Egyptians for many reasons – drinking/bathing, food,
agriculture (good, fertile soil), flooding, transportation, and providing
protection to name a few!
Hieroglyphics – the ancient Egyptian form of writing.
Rosetta Stone – an ancient stone that was used to translate hieroglyphics. It
had writing in three languages: early Egyptian, hieroglyphics, and Greek.
The Greek translation is what helped historians crack the code and
translate the hieroglyphics into English.
Jean-Francois Champollion was the scholar/historian who first cracked the
code and translated the Rosetta Stone.
Pyramids
How was the Great Pyramid
built?
What are mastabas?
What is the Sphinx?
The Great Pyramid – It took 23 years for farmers to build the Pyramids out
of limestone. Most stones weighed about 2.5 tons.
Mastabas – rectangular tombs near the pyramids.
Sphinx – the guardian of the pyramids. A mythical creature with the head of
a man and the body of lion.
Religious Beliefs
What are the Egyptian beliefs
about the afterlife?
What is polytheism?
Who is Osiris?
Who is Ra?
What is the ka?
Mummification
What are the steps to
mummification?
What materials did they use?
What are canopic jars?
What is a sarcophagus?
Egyptians believe that the “ka” would live on in the afterlife. Any treasures
or valuables buried with the dead would be available to them in the
afterlife. They saved the heart because they believed that the god Anubis
would weigh the heart against the “feather of truth” to determine if they
had lived a good life or not.
Polytheism – the religious belief in multiple gods/goddesses
Osiris – the Egyptian god of the dead.
Ra – the Egyptian god of the sun.
Ka – the person’s soul in the afterlife.
Steps to Mummification – 1) The body is washed in palm wine, 2) The body
is cut open with a sacred knife, 3) All organs – except the heart – are
removed and placed in canopic jars, 4) The brain is removed through the
nose and discarded, 5) The body is dried in natron for 40 days, 6) The body
is stuffed with sawdust to keep its shape, 7) The body is massaged with oil
and spices, 8) The boyd is wrapped in linen cloths, and 9) The body is placed
into a sarcophagus and entombed.
Canopic Jars – sacred jars used to hold the soft inner organs during
mummification.
Sarcophagus – an ancient Egyptian coffin.
Pharaohs of Egypt
Who was Narmer?
Who was King Tutankhamen?
Who was Khufu?
Who was Khafre?
Narmer – the ancient Egyptian king who united the kingdoms of Upper and
Lower Egypt.
King Tutankhamen – also known as “King Tut” is mostly famous for having
his tomb discovered in 1922. It was filled with several treasures and
artifacts that taught historians about daily life in ancient Egypt.
Khufu – the ancient Egyptian king who was credited for building the Great
Pyramid.
Khafre – the ancient Egyptian king who was credited for building the
Sphinx.
Discoveries
Who is Howard Carter?
When was the tomb of King Tut
discovered?
When and where was the
Rosetta Stone found?
Howard Carter – the man who discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922 and
unleashed “the curse of the mummy”!
The tomb of King Tut was discovered in 1922.
The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 in the city of Rosetta, Egypt by
some of Napoleon’s soldiers.