Name:



Name: _____________________________________________ Period: _______ Date: __________

Ancient Egypt

Directions: Read the following article on the Ancient Egypt. Take the quiz which follows. Then construct a timeline from what you have read. You should find ten events within the text for your timeline.

For thousands of years, Egypt was a divided land. The Kingdom of Upper Egypt lay in the south on the banks of the Nile River. The king there wore a red crown. It looked something like a chair. The Kingdom of Lower Egypt lay in the north in the lush Nile Delta. The king there wore a white crown. It looked like a bowling pin. The kings of these lands fought one another for control of all of Egypt. They fought each other in the country’s deserts, marshes, and farmlands.

Around 3100 BC, King Narmer united the Two Lands. He wore a double crown as a symbol of a united Egypt. It joined the white crown of Upper Egypt with the red crown of Lower Egypt. The kings of Egypt reigned over this one kingdom for the next 2,000 years. It was one of the longest-lived cultures in history.

For 400 years after Narmer, the sons of two dynasties sat on the throne of Egypt. These ruling families set up the power of the kingship in the Two Lands. In doing so, they firmly made the king the most powerful man in Egypt. The word of these kings was law. Everyone had to obey them. Also, the people of Egypt began seeing these kings as the god, Horus, made flesh. So, the king was the link between this world and the realm of the gods. As a god, he was to be obeyed without question.

Around 2700 BC, a new family took power under King Djoser. His reign launched a new age, the Old Kingdom. During this time, the Egyptians created some of the greatest works of ancient Egypt. They built the pyramids. The first was Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid at Sakkara. As time passed, they built smoother and larger pyramids. These in time included the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. They also carved the Great Sphinx nearby. It is an image that has come to represent Egypt itself.

By the end of the reign of Pepy II, the power of the pharaohs had begun to weaken. No longer did they rule with total power. Instead, local strongmen gained control. They ruled over many small kingdoms up and down the Nile Valley. They waged war against each other to claim the crown. This kept farmers from working. This in turn caused hunger in the otherwise rich lands of Egypt. This time of civil war was called the First Intermediate Period. It began around 2200 BC and lasted about 100 years.

After a hundred years of civil war, King Amenemhet I came to power c. 2100 BC. He quickly brought all the warlords of Egypt under his control. This event marked the start of the Middle Kingdom. For the 300 years that followed, Egypt enjoyed a golden age. Arts and literature thrived during this era of peace. During this time, the pharaohs restarted their building of pyramids. But they used cheap mud brick to build their pyramids, not stone. These have not stood the test of time. Most of them have collapsed into shapeless mounds.

In time, however, the kings of Egypt once again lost their control of the kingdom. This time was called the Second Intermediate Period. A group of nomads called the Hyksos came from the Middle East. They took over the Nile Delta c. 1800 BC. They set up a walled capital city of Avaris. From there, the Hyksos warred with the native kings of Upper Egypt for a hundred years. In time, however, the Egyptians drove them out of the Delta.

It was King Ahmose who drove the Hyksos from Egypt around 1700 BC. This started the New Kingdom. During this new age, the pharaohs of Egypt warred on their neighbors. They ruled lands far from their borders for about 600 years. Great warrior-kings like Tuthmosis III launched campaigns into Libya, Nubia, and the Levant. They conquered these lands. In doing so the, bringing riches and slaves back to the lands of Egypt from their empire.

Amid the prosperity of the New Kingdom, one pharaoh tried to sweep change religion of Egypt. He no longer wanted his people to worship many gods as polytheists. His name was Akhenaton. He closed the temples of the old gods. Then he introduced the concept of monotheism to the Egyptian people. He worshiped only one god. His god was the sun disk which the Egyptians called the Aten. But his ideas were far too foreign to the Egyptians. They turned away from his faith soon after his death. They wrecked his temples and smashed his face and name from every stone in Egypt. Later generations called him “That Criminal.” They refused even to speak his name. This showed their great hatred for him.

The kings who followed him became some of the greatest known to the Egyptians. Ramses the Great was chief among them. He led his soldiers into battle. He fought the Hittites at the famous Battle of Kaddish. He left his mark all over Egypt. He built huge statues and temples to his own memory. One of the greatest of these was at Abu Simbel near the Nubian border. Many scholars believe he was the pharaoh Moses went toe-to-toe with during the Exodus.

Again the pharaohs lost control of Egypt to civil war. This started the Third Intermediate Period ca. 1100 BC. The native Egyptians never again ruled a united Egypt. Rival kings fought over control of the land. Some came close to reuniting Egypt during this 350 year time of strife. All failed.

Around 750 BC, the Late Period began with the Nubian invasion. This African kingdom saw Egypt’s weakness and conquered it. For the next 400 years, Egypt was ruled by foreign conquerors. In time, the Assyrians swept away the Nubians. The Babylonians beat the Assyrians. Finally the Persians crushed the Babylonians. Each of these peoples took Egypt as a crown in their empires.

Around 330 BCE, the Greeks under Alexander the Great marched into the Persian Empire. By this, they launched the Greco-Roman period in Egyptian history. They took Egypt, much to the joy of the Egyptians. They had chaffed under the yoke of their Persian masters. The priests of Egypt expressed this joy by making Alexander a god. For the next 300 years, the Greeks ruled Egypt.

In 30 BC, the last Greek ruler of ancient Egypt, Cleopatra, took her own life. She had lost a war with Rome. Rome soon took Egypt after her death and brought it under its control. From that point on, Egypt became a jewel in the Roman Empire. It would remain such for over 600 years. Only then would when the Muslim Empire take the Two Lands and drive the Romans out.

Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level 5.5

Name: _____________________________________________ Period: _______ Date: __________

Ancient Egypt

Directions: Read the article on ancient Egypt Read the following questions and all their responses carefully. Circle the response that best answers the question.

1. Where did the Kingdom of Lower Egypt lie?

a. In the Sinai Peninsula.

b. In the lush Nile Delta.

c. Along the banks of the Nile.

2. What king united Upper and Lower Egypt for the first time?

a. The Scorpion King

b. King Djoser

c. King Narmer

3. “For 400 years after Narmer, the sons of two dynasties sat on the throne of Egypt.” What is the most likely meaning for the word “dynasty?”

a. a king

b. a ruling family

c. the concept of kingship

4. What king’s reign launched the Old Kingdom?

a. King Snefru

b. King Djoser

c. King Khufu

5. Which of the following monuments was created during the Old Kingdom?

a. Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid

b. The Great Pyramid at Giza

c. The Great Sphinx

d. All of the above

6. What did the civil wars of the First Intermediate Period cause?

a. food shortages

b. the unification of Egypt

c. violent desert sandstorms

7. What king unified Egypt after the First Intermediate Period to launch the Middle Kingdom?

a. King Khufu

b. King Pepy II

c. King Amenemhet I

8. What material did the kings of the Middle Kingdom use to make their pyramids?

a. mud brick

b. stone

c. baked clay bricks

9. What group of nomads made their capital in Avaris in the Nile Delta?

a. Hyksos

b. Hebrews

c. Hittites

10. What king drove the Hyksos from Egypt?

a. King Amenemhet I

b. King Ahmose

c. King Tuthmosis III

11. What king tried to sweep away the polytheistic religion of Egypt?

a. King Akhenaton

b. King Ramses the Great

c. King Tutankhamen

12. “He closed the Temples of the old gods and introduced the concept of monotheism to the Egyptian people.” What is the most likely meaning of the word, “monotheism?”

a. the belief in many gods

b. the belief on one god

c. the belief in no gods

13. What pharaoh do many scholars believe Moses went toe-to-toe with in the Exodus?

a. King Akhenaton

b. King Ramses the Great

c. King Tutankhamen

14. What battle did Ramses the Great fight against the Hittites?

a. the Battle of Gaugamela

b. the Battle of Marathon

c. the Battle of Kaddish

15. What invasion started the Late Period?

a. the Nubian

b. the Libyan

c. the Greek

16. What Greek ruler took over Egypt to begin the Greco-Roman Period?

a. Alexander the Great

b. King Leonidas of Sparta

c. King Agamemnon

17. Who was the last Greek ruler of Egypt?

a. King Ptolmey

b. Queen Cleopatra

c. Caesar Augustus

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