What the Evidence Says About Egypt: teacher key

Ancient Egypt, grade 12 edition, written for 12th grade and up. How historians and archaeologists know what they know about ancient Egypt: farms and floods, pyramid builders, papyrus diaries, tomb robbers, mummies and the code that opened hieroglyphs.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. Why did farming thrive along the Nile?
   • The desert was wet
   • The yearly flood left rich dark soil (answer)
   • Snow fed the fields
2. What did archaeologists find at Giza that bears on who built the pyramids?
   • A slave market
   • A list of prisoners
   • Two workers' towns side by side (answer)
3. What do the Wadi al-Jarf papyri show about pyramid workers?
   • At least some were skilled and well rewarded (answer)
   • All were forced to work
   • None were paid
4. Why did the tomb workers at Deir el-Medina strike?
   • The tombs were finished
   • They wanted to leave Egypt
   • Their pay was 18 days late (answer)
5. Why were tombs filled with things like food and games?
   • Tomb robbers asked for them
   • Egyptians believed the afterlife would be like life on Earth (answer)
   • Kings wanted to trade
6. What did Champollion show about hieroglyphs?
   • They mixed signs for sounds with signs for meanings (answer)
   • They were only pictures
   • They were numbers

Words

• irrigation: watering system
• mortar: stone glue
• embalmers: body preservers
• ostraca: pottery notes
• deciphered: decoded