Chapter 3 - Early Africa and Egypt

Question 1

Timeframe for Egypt’s Old Kingdom? What were its achievements?

Answer 1

3,100 to 2,200 B.C.E..

• Constructed Gize pyramids.
• Art, architecture, stability, prosperity

Question 2

Timeframe for Egypt’s Middle Kingdom? What were its achievements?

Answer 2

2,100 to 1,650 B.C.E..

• Extended Egyptian influence further south
• Increased trade, religion was more democratic.
• Laboring conditions worsened, middle class appeared.

Question 3

Timeframe for Egypt’s New Kingdom? What happened during this period?

Answer 3

1,550 to 770 B.C.E.., also known as the Empire.

• Egypt expanded and fought lots of wars
• Would eventually fall to the Kushites, Assyrians, and Persians.

Question 4

Who experimented with monotheism?

Answer 4

Akhenaton, once the pharaoh of Egypt.

Question 5

The writing system of Ancient Egypt?

Answer 5

Hieroglyphics

Question 6

5 Climatic Zones of Africa:

Answer 6

• Rain Forest
• Savanna
• Sahelian/Sudan
• Desert
• Coastal

Question 7

How many dynasties ruled Egypt?

Answer 7

31

Question 8

God of the Underworld:

Answer 8

Anubis

Question 9

Administrative districts in Egypt are called…

Answer 9

Nomes

Question 10

After 5,500 BCE, Afro-Asian migrated where?

Answer 10

Along the Nile Valley

Question 11

Who was Tutankhamen?

Answer 11

Tutankhamen was once the king of Egypt but died young - at just 18 years old. He had not really done anything of consequence during his short reign, but he was made famous after his tomb was discovered around the 1920s.

Question 12

Who was Amun-Ra?

Answer 12

The god of the sun, who came to represent the embodiment of all gods.

Question 13

What did Akhenaton do?

Answer 13

Attempted (but failed) to force the people of Egypt to worship only one god - that was Aton, who was a monotheistic cult of the sun god.

Question 14

Who was Hathor?

Answer 14

Hathor was a goddess, and the protector of women during pregnancy.

Question 15

What was Punt? Describe it.

Answer 15

Punt was the term used by the Egyptians to refer to the Arabian peninsula.

Question 16

What was Kush? Describe it.

Answer 16

Kush was the land south of Egypt and higher up the Nile. They were influenced by Egyptian civilization.

Question 17

What is monotheism?

Answer 17

Monotheism is the belief in one god.

Question 18

What was Maat?

Answer 18

Maat was a goddess who weighed the hearts of people who had already passed away against her feather. The heart was to be weighed to determine if they could go on to a good afterlife, which they believed in.

Question 19

Who were the Hyksos?

Answer 19

The Hyksos were foreign invaders who invaded Egypt during the second intermediate period of Egypt, from around 1,600 B.C.E..

Question 20

4 Language groups of Africa (and the subgroup):

Answer 20

The Khoisan, the Nilo-Saharan speakers, the Afro-Asiatic speakers, and the Niger-Congo speakers. The subgroup is the Bantu languages.

Question 21

What were Egypt’s most important achievements?

Answer 21

• Egypt built great monuments, especially the Great Pyramids, which was a great feat of engineering for the people of that time.
• Egypt developed a good form of government system which was generally pretty efficient, and in some cases, women held powerful positions in government.
• Egyptians also developed a form of writing, using Hieroglyphics, which the priests and other important officials used to keep records.
• Ancient Egypt made good developments in agriculture, which can be partly due to a good climate and geography along the Nile.

Question 22

Describe the ancient Niger-Congoans:

Answer 22

These people were farming yams and rice around 5,000s B.C.E. They moved southward into Savana and were skilled boat-builders.

Question 23

Who are the Semites?

Answer 23

Many of the Nilo-Saharan speakers and the Afro-Asiatic speakers who reached the Sinai Peninsula around 10,000-11,000 B.C.E., and migrated into the Near East.

Question 24

When was the food-producing revolution in Africa?

Answer 24

c. 8,000 to 3,000 B.C.E.

Question 25

What and when was the “wet Sahara?”

Answer 25

In the period 11,000-3000 B.C.E., Africa had higher rainfall than today.

• More grassy steppes, woodlands
• Lakes and rivers covered the “wet” Sahara
• Supported a variety of foods

Question 26

What is known about the Bantu speakers?

Answer 26

• Niger-Congo sub-group
• Spread south and east from West Africa to the Congo Basin.
• There is little trace of them left behind, and knowledge of them comes from linguistic analysis.

Question 27

The flooding of the Nile River was…

Answer 27

predictable.

Question 28

Who is the Pharoah, and how was this person able to keep his (or her) position?

Answer 28

The ruler of Egypt.

• People believed in the divinity of rulers.
• Believed pharaohs were the gods.
• Climate/geography made agriculture abundant.

Question 29

When were the pyramids of Egypt built?

Answer 29

During the Old Kingdom.

Question 30

Where and what was the Kingdom of Kush? Describe it:

Answer 30

• Located in Nubia
• Engaged in maritime trade
• Influenced by Egypt, culturally and religiously
• Capital was “Meroe”
• Traded mostly gold and slaves, as well as ivy and spices.