Difference between revisions of "History 8 Workbook Questions"

Revision as of 13:50, 3 February 2013

Return to History 8 Egypt Workbook

Egypt the Way We Saw It

1. Explain what the flood did and why it was so important to the people of ancient Egypt.

Once a year, the Egyptians were blessed with a flood. The flood season lasted from June to September. This flood occurred when rain flooded the river all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. These floods were valued in ancient Egyptian culture because they left behind a new layer of rich, fertile soil. The land that was washed over by the floods could be farmed on for many years. The farmers did not have to find new land to farm because their land was never worn out. The Egyptians were very good at guessing when the flood would occur. However, they never knew exactly how much water would come.

LM Pages 135 For more information about the flood: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200603/the.last.nile.flood.htm -Grace Amandes

2. In looking at illustration 2 page 136, what sudden change in the land do you notice? Except for the delta, desert lands often stretched from both sides of the river for hundreds of miles. This was actually a big help to the leaders of ancient Egypt. Why might that have been so?

3. Boats like the skiff in Illustration 3, page 137, were much more useful for travel on the river than in open seas, such as the Mediterranean Sea. Why do you think this was so?

4. Travel was easy on the lower Nile, but much harder farther upstream because of the cataracts. What are the cataracts? Both of these aspects helped ancient Egypt develop into a strong and secure civilization. Why?

5. What do the details of illustration 4, page 138, show about farming, technology and daily life in Egypt?

6. What do they show about family life and the roles of men and women in it?

7. Illustration 5 page 139, shows various source of food being prepared.... Yet they played a role in producing the surplus since it took a strong central government to make sure the Nile was used efficiently. Can you explain how the central government did this?

8. Using illustration 6, describe the kinds of skill you think the ancient Egyptians would have needed to plan and build a pyramid with technology available to them then. Refer to details from the picture to back up what you say.

9. The people saw such buildings as helpful to all of Egypt, not just the pharaohs. Why do you suppose that was so?

10. What ideas or feelings do the pharaohs in illustration 7 give you? Why? Be specific in your response.

11. Explain how writing and written records might have helped the pharaohs and other officials in all four of these areas: political; economic; military; religion.

12. Looking at illustration 9, what if anything, do you think the illustration can tell us about slavery in ancient Egypt or about any aspect of the its social system.

13. How does the belief about the ka help explain the practice of turning corpses into mummies?

14. In what ways do you think the Egyptian belief in the ka was like the religious beliefs about the soul or spirit in our own society today? In what ways was this belief different from common religious beliefs about the soul today?

15. Egyptians believed the heart was where a person's thoughts, feelings and memories were located. Why do you think they believed this? Looking at illustration 11, what do you think this would show about the person?

16. What does illustration 12 show about Egyptians, their feeling about life in this world AND their hopes for the next?