Ancient Egypt Flashcards
(132 cards)
0
Q
Would Egyptians have probably had more contact with other civilizations in Asia or Africa?
A
Africa because their empire is surrounded by (and located in) Africa
1
Q
What geographical features supported the development of advanced civilization? Explain.
A
The Nile was the source of water, and, since it flooded, the soil was provided with nutrients for crops to grow year-round
2
Q
Was the geography more of a help or hindrance to Egypt’s expansion?
A
A hindrance- it is blocked off by cataracts, deserts, and seas.
3
Q
What were the northernmost areas reached by the Egyptian traders?
A
Syria
4
Q
How did the Hittite Empire compare in size to the Egyptian Empire?
A
The Hittite Empire was slightly smaller than the Egyptian Empire
5
Q
What are the five major barriers protecting Egypt?
A
Cataracts, Libyan (western) desert, Nubian (eastern) desert, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea
6
Q
How many cataracts were there?
A
Five
7
Q
List the Egyptian social structure from highest to lowest
A
Pharaoh Nobles Priests Merchants/artisans/craftsmen Peasants/farmers Slaves
8
Q
What two animals symbolize the pharaoh?
A
Falcon and bull
9
Q
Pharaohs in smiting poses hold what weapon?
A
Mace
10
Q
What two symbols formed Narmer’s name?
A
Catfish and chisel
11
Q
What is the hierarchical proportion in Egyptian art?
A
The larger they are, the more important they are
12
Q
What was the First Intermediate Period?
A
A dark age lasting for more than 200 years
13
Q
Who carried the royal blood in ancient Egypt?
A
The women
14
Q
How did a man become a pharaoh?
A
He had to marry a royal woman
15
Q
How did Hatshepsut become pharaoh?
A
After her husband, Thutmose II, died, she claimed herself pharaoh
16
Q
How long did Hatshepsut rule?
A
20 years
17
Q
What male characteristics did Hatshepsut develop?
A
Dropped her titles only women can hold
Wore men’s clothing: shendyt kilt, nemes headdress with its uraeus, khat headcloth, false beard
Dropped female ending “-t” from her name (making her Hatshepsu
18
Q
Hatshepsut planned an expedition to where?
A
Punt
19
Q
What was brought back from the expedition to Punt?
A
Myrrh, frankincense, woods, sweet-smelling resin, ivory, etc
20
Q
What modern day country could Punt be?
A
Somalia or Eritrea
21
Q
How were Egyptians treated by the king and queen of Punt?
A
They were treated like gods by the king and queen
22
Q
Who attempted to erase much of what was inscribed by Hatshepsut? Why?
A
Thutmose III because he thinks she took his rightful spot to be pharaoh and prolonged his wait to be pharaoh
23
Q
What did an emerging Egyptian civilization depend on?
A
The control of river waters
24
Why is Egypt literally the "Gift of the Nile"?
Without the Nile, Egypt would be just the barren desert that surrounds the river
25
What major crops were grown near the Nile?
Wheat and flax
26
Where were the headwaters of the Nile located?
The highlands of Ethiopia
27
What did Ancient Egyptians do to control the Nile's flooding?
Built dikes, reservoirs, and irrigation ditches.
28
What two major regions divided Egypt?
Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Egypt
29
What is a cataract?
A waterfall
30
What is a delta?
A triangular area of marshland formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of some rivers
31
Who united the two lands of Egypt around 3100 BC?
Menes (Narmer), king of Upper Egypt
32
What role did the Nile play in governing Egypt?
It was used as a highway, linking North and South. They could send armies or officials to towns along the river.
33
What role did the Nile play in trade?
It was a trade route. Merchants would travel up and down the river exchanging the products of Egypt, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean
34
What three major time periods is Egyptian history divided into? Know the dates.
The Old Kingdom (2575 BC- 2130 BC)
The Middle Kingdom (1938 BC- 1630 BC)
The New Kingdom (1539 BC - 1075 BC
35
What is a dynasty?
A ruling family
36
What is a pharaoh?
An Egyptian king
37
What is the special status held by pharaohs?
They held absolute power and played key roles in government and religion. They were thought of as human gods.
38
What is a bureaucracy?
A system of government that includes departments and levels of authority
39
What is a vizier?
A chief minister
40
What did the vizier do?
He supervised the government
41
Major social classes in Egypt?
Pharaohs
Aristocrats
Merchants and scribes
Peasants
42
What did the writings of vizier Ptah-hotep emphasize in the training and behavior of young officials?
The importance of being humble and honest, being obedient to one's father and superiors, and fair in dealing with other officials of all ranks
43
When and for whom were pyramids built?
Old Kingdom as a tomb for pharaohs
44
What three major factors likely contributed to the fall of the Old Kingdom?
Power struggles, crop failures, cost of building pyramids
45
major accomplishments Middle Kingdom pharaohs were able to make?
Large drainage project, creating vast new stretches of farmable land, the end of powers and privileges of the regional aristocrats, Egyptian armies occupied part of the gold-rich land of Nubia, traders had greater contacts with the people's of the Middle East and the Mediterranean island of Crete
46
What group invaded Egypt and ended the Middle Kingdom
The Hyksos
47
What did Egypt learn from the Hyksos and what did the Hyksos learn from Egypt?
Egyptians learned to use horse-drawn war chariots.
Hyksos adopted Egyptian customs, beliefs, and names
48
Why characterizes the accomplishments of New kingdom pharaohs?
They created a large empire, reaching as far north as Syria during its height
49
Accomplishment of Hatshepsut?
Encourage trade with the eastern Mediterranean lands and along the Red Sea coast of Africa
50
Where did Hatshepsut carve her accomplishments?
The walls of funeral temples
51
What accomplishment did Thutmose III have?
He was a great military general who extended Egypt's borders to their greatest extent
52
What is Ramses II famous for writing?
His accomplishments/ conquests
53
With whom did Ramses II sign a treaty? Why is it significant?
The Hittites. It is the first document in history known to have survived
54
What area south of Egypt was conquered by Ramses II?
Nubia
55
What was the impact on Egypt after its contact with Nubia?
The gold was used to pay charioteers on the army. Nubians served in the Egyptian armies and now much Egyptian art shows Nubian soldiers, musicians, and prisoners
56
Four conquerers of Egypt after 1100 BCE?
Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Greek
57
What pharaoh built the Great Pyramid of Giza?
Khufu
58
Who built the pyramid?
Farmers
59
Who was the most powerful of all the gods in Ancient Egypt?
The sun god. (Amon-Re, Re, Amon, Amun)
60
From where did pharaohs claim to get the right to rule during the new kingdom?
Amun
61
Explain Osirus's role in mythology
God of Underworld and Nile. Ruled Egypt until killed by Set. Controlled the Nile's flooding
62
Explain Isis' role in mythology
Wife and sister of Osirus. Reassembled Osirus and brought him back to life. Controlled the Nile's flooding. Special appeal to women who believed she taught women to grind corn, spin flax, weave cloth, and care for children
63
Explain Set's role in mythology
Killed Osirus and chopped him into pieces
64
What test needed to be passes to get into Underworld?
Dead person's heart must be weighed against the feather of truth
65
What was contained in the book f the dead?
Spells, charms, and formulas to be used in the afterlife
66
What did mummification tell us about religious views?
Body is needed in afterlife
67
What did Egyptians believe afterlife to be like?
Much like life on Earth
68
What is mummification?
The preservation of dead bodies by embalming and wrapping them in cloth
69
Who originally could be mummified and how did this change in the Middle Kingdom?
Originally rulers and nobles ONLY
| Middle Kingdom- everyone, including pets, can be mummified
70
What eventually happened to most tombs in the Valley of the Kings?
Robbed
71
Who discovered King Tutankhamen's tomb?
Howard Carter, a British archaeologist
72
What was King Tut's status as a ruler?
Minor King
73
What was the occupation of most Egyptians?
Peasant farmers
74
Some women's rights?
Inherit property, enter business deals, buy and sell goods, go to court, obtain a divorce
75
Women's status?
Higher than men's generally
76
Women's occupations?
Manufactured perfume and textiles, managed farming estates, served as doctors
77
What areas of learning did scribes make progress in?
Mathematics, medicine, and engineering
78
What are hieroglyphics?
A system in which symbols or pictures represent objects, concepts, or sounds
79
What was recorded with hieroglyphs?
Important economic, administrative, and royal information
80
What is a hieratic?
A simpler script for everyday use
81
What script grew out of the hieratic system?
Demotic
82
What is a papyrus?
A plant that grew along the banks of the Nile
83
Who deciphered the Rosetta Stone (according to book)?
Jean Champollion
84
What is the Rosetta Stone?
A flat stone that presents the same passage carved in hieroglyphics, demotic script, and Greek
85
Egyptian advancements in medicine?
Performed complex surgical operations and prescribed medicines such as anise, castor beans, and saffron
86
What did Egyptian astronomers develop that we still use?
Calendars
87
What did Egyptians develop to survey the land flooded by the Nile?
Mathematics
88
Common characteristics of Egyptian art?
Gods an pharaohs are larger. Size indicated importance. Heads and limbs profile but eyes and shoulders facing viewer
89
What types of Egyptian literature do we have?
Hymns and prayers to gods, proverbs, love poems
90
What famous folk-tale helps us see what is important to Egyptians!
The Tale of Sinuhe
91
How were boats built?
Skin first held together by reeds and ropes
92
Nefertiti is portrayed in carvings and papyrus as...
Nearly equal to her husband
93
The function of the Narmer Palette is...
To ceremonially put makeup on the god in the temple
94
After the death of Akhenaten...
There were only two royal people alive that we know of
95
Important elements of Egyptian society and religion taken from mythology include...
Pharaoh as hero, anthropoid coffins, Egyptian burial
96
The step pyramid of Saqqara was...
Simply a mastaba on top of a mastaba, designed by Imhotep, and possiy influenced by the ziggurat of the Middle East
97
Evidence of Tutenkhamen being murdered is supported by...
Aye's marriage to Ankhesenamen, Ankhesenamen's letter to the Hittite king, and a blow to the back of his head
98
About help many miles did the Nile flow?
4,000
99
Who brought 100s of scholars to Egypt to study with him?
Napoleon
100
Why did Egyptian wear eye makeup? (3 reasons)
To prevent bugs, to prevent sun glare, to look good
101
What city did Akhenaten move to?
Akhetaten
102
West Bank of Nile represents?
Death
103
East bank of Nile represents?
Life
104
Akhenaten's original name?
Amenhotep IV
105
Who took over akhenaten's death, wife, and throne?
Aye
106
Who did Tutankhamen marry?
Ankesenamen, his half sister
107
King Tut enjoyed...
Hunting
108
Who erased all traces of Akhenaten's rule?
Horemheb
109
An earlier form of a cartouche is a...
Serekh
110
What are the three pillars Akhenaten changed?
The role of the pharaoh, religion, and military
111
Bench in Arabic?
Mastaba
112
Basic idea?
Ideagram
113
Main foods eaten?
Bread and beer
114
Last queen of Egypt?
Cleopatra
115
God of artisans?
Ptah
116
Snefru built the first...
Corbelled ceiling
117
Substance originally used to preserve bodies?
Sand
118
Who laid out a city in Lower Egypt and installed Greek pharaohs?
Alexander the Great
119
Who is the goddess of magic? (She who knows all names)
Isis
120
Pyramids built by snefru?
Bent, broken, red
121
Nubian reign order?
King to brother to king's son
122
What Nubian king was pushed out of Egypt by the Assyrians?
Taharka
123
How many stones did the Great pyramid of Giza have?
3 million
124
What early pharaoh built the first step pyramid?
Zoser (Djoser) (designed by Imhotep)
125
Who is the goddess of divine order?
Ma'aat
126
Learned sounds from this language...
Coptic
127
Who Realized hieroglyphs were not picture writing?
Thomas young
128
What cloth was mainly used in ancient Egypt?
Linen
129
What color is the crown of Upper Egypt?
White
130
Who is the destructive lion headed goddess?
Sekhmet
131
Hatshepsut took control of Egypt while she was acting as regent to...
Thutmose III
