Egypt

Question 1

What 2 grass crops did the first Egyptians grow?

Answer 1

Wheat and barley

Question 2

What kind of animals did the ancient Egyptians keep?

Answer 2

Wild cattle, goats and sheep

Question 3

The Egyptians got meat from the animals they kept. What other important food did they get from them?

Answer 3

Milk

Question 4

What 3 things did the Nile and its valley provide for the farmers?

Answer 4

The Nile gave them plentiful water, fertile soil and good grazing

Question 5

What 2 reasons could you give to suggest why people moved from Syria, Palestine and Libya to settle along the Nile?

Answer 5

They moved because they couldn’t grow any crops in the desert. They moved to get closer to the Red Sea to sell their crops to other countries

Question 6

How did farming start along the banks of the nile

Answer 6

Ancient Egyptians collected wild grasses from along the banks of the Nile to grind into flour. Later on, they started planting and growing the best grasses. They also started to keep animals.

Question 7

How long ago did farming start along the Nile?

Answer 7

About 8000 years ago.

Question 8

Why is the flooding of the Nile important ?

Answer 8

Floodwaters carried fertile mud which was deposited in the river valley once the flood waters receded. This fertile soil was excellent for farming.

Question 9

What 2 rivers is the Nile river made up of?

Answer 9

The White Nile and the Blue Nile. These join as 1 river in Sudan.

Question 10

Where are the sources of the white nile and the blue Nile?

Answer 10

Uganda and Ethiopia

Question 10

Where did Egyptians build their houses?

Answer 10

On higher ground away from the river, so that they weren’t flooded

Question 11

How did towns develop in Egypt?

Answer 11

The Egyptians built their houses in settlements together, which became small towns.

Question 12

Why were canals dug?

Answer 12

To irrigate the crops which were not next to the river

Question 13

What is the shaduf?

Answer 13

A way of lifting water out of the canal and pouring it into smaller irrigation channels. The water was lifted with a bucket.

Question 14

Explain the process of the shaduf being used?

Answer 14

A wooden pole is balanced on a cross beam. On one end is a weight and on the other a bucket. The farmer pulls down the bucket and fills it. Then he empties the water into the irrigation ditches.

Question 15

What sort of jobs did the ancient Egyptains have in their society?

Answer 15

Farmers, potters, weavers, leather workers,seamstresses (sewing), scribes.

Question 16

How did the Kings of Egypt come about?

Answer 16

Eventually a strong leader was needed and he became king. There was a king of Lower Egypt and a king of Upper Egypt

Question 17

How did the social structure in Egypt come about?

Answer 17

After ploughs were invented, farmers could produce more food. As the population in settlements grew, leaders were needed. They organized the farming, canals, and trade.

Question 17

What different types of people made up the social structure in Egypt?

Answer 17

The King ( Pharoah)
Tax collectors and officials
Farmers and skilled workers

Question 18

What did the farmers have to give the Pharoah as tax?

Answer 18

Part of their produce.

Question 19

Who was the Pharaoh?

Answer 19

The king of Egypt.

Question 20

What did the Egyptian people believe about the Pharoah?

Answer 20

They believed he as a god. That he controlled the flooding of the Nile.

Question 21

What did the Pharoah do to make sure the Nile would flood every year?

Answer 21

He would perform a ceremony next to the Nile.

Question 22

What was the ancient Egyptains religion?

Answer 22

They believed in many gods. They believed they would go to another world when they died - the After Life.

Question 22

Who was the god of the After Life?

Answer 22

Anubis. He was replaced by Osiris. He had a jackal head and he was in charge of the Pharoah’s after life.

Question 23

How did a man get to the after life?

Answer 23

His heart had to be juged to see if he was a good person

Question 24

Who were tombs made for when they died?

Answer 24

Pharaoh s and other important people.

Question 25

How was a persons body preserved for life after death?

Answer 25

Spices and chemicals were used to preserve the person’s body before it was put into the tomb.

Question 26

What was inside the tombs?

Answer 26

All things a living person would want : furniture, jewellery, clothes, food and drink.

Question 27

How long did pharoahs rule Egypt for?

Answer 27

About 3000 years.

Question 28

How did the pharoahs get their money?

Answer 28

Government officials collected taxes for the Pharoah. These were produce from farmers and craftsmen, such as fish, tanned skins and pottery.

Question 29

How was the amount of tax calculated?

Answer 29

By the scribes.

Question 30

What are the sphinxes?

Answer 30

Huge stone statues. The great sphinx has the body of a lion and the head of a man. The man was Pharoah khafre. This sphinx seems to guard the pyramids and tombs at Giza.

Question 31

What are the sphinxes built out of?

Answer 31

Limestone and sandstone

Question 32

Describe the Great Sphinx

Answer 32

It is huge. 241 feet long, 20 feet wide, 66 feet high.

It is carved out of the bedrock in a trench at the Giza site. The nose has fallen off

Question 34

What is the legend of the sphinx?

Answer 34

After the sphinx was built, over the next 1000 years it started to get ruined. The entire body was covered in sand. The legend is that a young prince named Thutmouse fell asleep near the sphinx’s head. In his dream he was told that if he restored the sphinx he would become Pharoah . He restored the sphinx and later became Pharoah . Thanks

Question 36

Why were temples built close to the pyramids?

Answer 36

So that people could go to temple in their after life.

Question 37

What is Egyptian writing called?

Answer 37

Hieroglyphics

Question 38

Wy did Egyptian writing start?

Answer 38

When scribes needed to write down what produce each farmer had brought for the king, in order to keep a record of the taxes paid.

Question 39

What did the ancient Egyptians write on?

Answer 39

Papyrus.

Question 40

What were their pens made of?

Answer 40

Made from the tips of reeds that were dipped in ink. The ink was made from soot mixed with sticky plant gum and a little water.

Question 41

How did the hieroglyphic system develop?

Answer 41

The Egyptians first drew pictures of animals and crops. Later they developed symbols that stood for sounds. During the time of the pharoahs, they had an alphabet of 24 sounds.

Question 42

Where can we still see hieroglyphics today?

Answer 42

On the stone walls of the pyramids and tombs

Question 43

Why did the Egyptian farmers need to know more about the seasons?

Answer 43

So that they knew when to expect the Nile to flood .

Question 44

How did the Egyptians work out the worlds first calendar?

Answer 44

By studying the changing positions of the sun and stars throughout the year.

Question 45

What else did the Egyptians need to use maths for?

Answer 45

They measured the size of the nile’s flood plain to work out what the size of their harvest might be.
They also used calculations to plan and build the pyramids
They used maths to keep records of the taxes paid to the Pharoah .

Question 46

How did the Egyptians learn about the human body?

Answer 46

From preparing dead bodies for the after life.

Question 47

Who used the produce that was paid to the Pharoah as tax?

Answer 47

His household used most of it. Government officials were also paid in produce.

Question 48

How did the Egyptians prepare the dead bodies for the after life?

Answer 48

They removed the brain and the stomach. They washed out the body with palm wine and filled the spaces with herbs and spices to preserve it. The body was left for 70 days to dry out. Then it was washed, wrapped in cloth and placed in a tomb. This was a mummy.

Question 49

Does hieroglyphics have any vowel sounds?

Answer 49

No, only consonants. There was also no punctuation.