Chapter 3: The Stability of Ancient Egypt: Flood and Sun

Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Why did the ancient Egyptians call their land Kemet, or Black Land?
a. Black was the color associated with Osiris.
b. Egypt contained rich deposits of coal.
c. The Niles annual floods deposited black silt.
d. Narmer, the first king, was a Nubian.
2. The Egyptians believed that the constant aim of the individual, the state, and
the gods was to
a. achieve balance in all things.
b. make all people equal.
c. conquer all of the known world.
d. vanquish the ka.
3. Egyptian religion was primarily
a. monotheistic.
b. atheistic.
c. henotheistic.
d. polytheistic.
4. The god Osiris was primarily associated with
a. the unification of the two Egypts.
b. storms and violence.
c. death and renewal.
d. the creation of all things.
5. Why did the Egyptians believe that a good deity like Osiris required a bad
deity like Seth?
a. Without knowing bad, one had no basis for knowing good.
b. Opposites were necessary for balance, harmony, and cycles.
c. Good versus evil provided the most basic and intense conflict.
d. Seth had to murder Osiris so Osiris could be god of the dead.
6. The Palette of Narmer was created as a
a. surface for grinding pigments.
b. surface for mixing eye paint.
c. gift to a god or goddess.
d. shield for use in battle.
7. In the Palette of Narmer, Narmer is portrayed wearing a different crown on
each side of the palette to
a. symbolize the unification of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.
b. acknowledge the different gods he worshipped.
c. emphasize his perceived superiority over the gods.
d. channel the power of the kings who preceded him.

8. Egyptian artists painted human faces, arms, legs, and feet in profile, but
human eyes and shoulders frontally because they believed this to be the
a. favored format of the gods.
b. best way to fit a large number of figures into a scene.
c. most efficient way to align these body parts.
d. most characteristic view.
9. Most surviving Egyptian art and architecture is associated with
a. marriage rituals.
b. military campaigns.
c. everyday life.
d. burial and the afterlife.
10.The Egyptians went to great lengths to preserve the dead because of a belief
that the deceased
a. would eventually be resurrected.
b. should imitate Osiris, the prototype mummy.
c. had ka and ba, which would not be recognized in a decomposed body.
d. went through a period in which the body lived on but the soul did not.
11.Who is credited with the idea of stacking increasingly smaller mastabas to
create a monumental symbol of the kings everlasting power?
a. Imhotep
b. Khafre
c. Djoser
d. Khufu
12.The primary purpose of Egyptian funerary sculpture was to
a. intimidate potential tomb robbers.
b. preserve and guarantee the kings existence after death.
c. provide concealment for gold and jewels.
d. hold the kings preserved vital organs.
13.Egyptian sculptors idealized pharaohs anatomy in their sculptures to
a. make them appear attractive to potential queens.
b. convey the notion that their perfection mirrored that of the gods.
c. attempt to win favor of the gods of the underworld.
d. mask an inability to represent individual likenesses.
14.Which is one of the greatest changes that took place during the Middle
Kingdom?
a. Mummification procedures became more complex and ritualized.
b. Architects used mathematics and astronomy for pyramid construction.
c. Writing and literature moved from the sacred to the imaginative.
d. Upper and Lower Egypt split and remained separate kingdoms.

15.What change in royal funerary sculpture came about in the Middle Kingdom?
a. Portrayals became less formal.
b. Arms came to be crossed in a mummy-like pose.
c. Anatomy became more idealized.
d. Headdresses became more ornate.
e.
16.The squares in the Egyptian grid system are based on the measure of
a. the pharaohs hand.
b. an average foots length.
c. the hieroglyph for ankh.
d. one clenched fist.
17.Both Narmer in the Palette of Narmer and Senwosret in Senwosret Led by
Atum to Amun-Re display
a. a bulls tail.
b. bejeweled sandals.
c. a false beard.
d. a nearly transparent loincloth.
18.Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) decreed a radical change in Egyptian religion by
a. abolishing the priesthood.
b. mandating worship of one god exclusively.
c. elevating a woman as head priest.
d. declaring himself a god.
19.Which god did Akhenaten declare to be supreme?
a. Isis
b. Aten
c. Horus
d. Ammit
20.Why would Akhenatens change in the religion create change in the visual
arts?
a. Akhenaten declared artists to be dissidents, so they sought revenge
through art.
b. Artists were no longer constrained to portraying Aten.
c. The gods were no longer seen as perfect, so the subjects of art could also
be imperfect.
d. Akhenaten decreed art to be created by priests of Aten only.
21.What distinguished the Amarna style from earlier Egyptian art?
a. nudity in the portrayal of royals
b. idealized depictions of the gods
c. increased focus on scenes taking place in the afterlife
d. a sense of realism and immediacy

22.Akhenatens reforms to religion and art lasted until

a. the Late Period.
b. his death.
c. Tutankhamuns death
d. Alexander the Greats arrival.
23.Nubia was an important neighbor to Egypt primarily because it
a. offered better seacoast access for Egyptian sailors.
b. provided an ideal location for most of the Egyptian kings tombs.
c. provided Egypt with most of its slave labor.
d. served as a trade corridor to sub-Saharan Africa.
24.Why were the Kushites able to control Egypt during the eighth century BCE?
a. The Egyptians needed stronger leadership to thwart an Assyrian invasion.
b. The Egyptian pharaohs had become weakened due to inbreeding.
c. The Kushites invaded Egypt, killed the pharaoh, and seized control.
d. The Kushites controlled most of Egypts debt from building programs.
25.According to legend, how did the Macedonian Alexander the Great become
Egypts legitimate ruler?
a. The Kushite kings formed an alliance with him in exchange for gold.
b. The Egyptians declared him a god because he rode atop an elephant.
c. The god Amun, speaking through an oracle, acknowledged him as his son.
d. The Egyptians crowned him for driving out the invading Romans.