Worksheet

Egypt and Kush: Two Kingdoms in the Data

Grade 6 history: compare ancient Egypt and Kush using a passage, a table of rulers and pyramid data on beliefs, achievements and daily life along the Nile.

Grade 6Social StudiesInteractive · Printable

Aligned toHIS.6.3

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Single worksheet
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1 C3 Framework standard
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10 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 6
Subject: Social Studies
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students describe the rulers, beliefs and daily life of ancient Egypt and Kush.
Students read data tables to compare the pyramids and rulers of the two kingdoms.
Students argue from evidence how Kush borrowed from Egypt and kept its own traditions.

How to use

Read the passage together, then have partners study the two tables and mark which rows show borrowing and which show Kush's own traditions before answering on their own.

Curriculum

C3 Framework standard covered

HIS.6.3

Describe the rulers, beliefs, achievements and daily life of ancient Egypt and its neighbor Kush along the Nile.

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Egypt and Kush: Two Kingdoms in the Data

Use a ruler table and pyramid data to compare the beliefs, achievements and daily life of two Nile kingdoms.

Two kingdoms on one river

Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

Neighbors Along the Nile

1The Nile flows north out of Africa's interior to the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Egypt lay along the river's lower course in the north. Upstream to the south, past a series of rocky rapids called cataracts, lay Kush, in what is now Sudan. Kush had gold, ivory, ebony and cattle, and its archers were so skilled that Egyptians called part of the region "Ta-Seti," the land of the bow.

2Egyptians believed that their king, the pharaoh, was a link between the gods and the people, responsible for keeping ma'at, the order and balance of the world. They also believed that a person's spirit could live on after death if the body was preserved and the tomb was supplied. Kings were buried in pyramids or rock-cut tombs filled with food, furniture and tools.

3Egypt and Kush traded, fought and borrowed from each other for centuries. About 1500 BCE, Egypt's armies conquered Kush and ruled it for roughly 400 years. Many Kushite nobles learned Egyptian writing and worshiped Egyptian gods such as Amun. After Egypt weakened, Kush became independent again. About 728 BCE, the Kushite king Piye marched north and took control of Egypt. For more than 60 years, Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs over both lands, restoring old temples in Egypt and building new ones.

4Later, Kush's center moved south to the city of Meroë. There, Kushites kept building pyramids, but they also went their own way. They wrote their own language in a new script, Meroitic, that scholars still cannot fully understand. They honored Apedemak, a lion-headed god, alongside Amun. Workers at Meroë smelted iron ore into tools and weapons, leaving huge heaps of slag that can still be seen. Several queens, called kandakes, ruled Kush; one of them, Amanirenas, led its army against the Romans.

5For most people in both kingdoms, daily life followed the river. Each summer the Nile rose, covered the fields and then went down, leaving wet, dark soil behind. Farm families planted wheat, barley or sorghum in that soil and harvested in spring. They lived in mud-brick homes and ate bread, and many families in Kush counted their wealth in cattle.

Based on paragraph 1, which was most likely a reason Egypt wanted to control Kush?

A. To reach the Mediterranean Sea through Kush
B. To get valuable goods such as gold and ivory
C. To learn how to build pyramids from Kush
D. To escape the Nile's yearly summer flood

Royal tombs in Egypt were filled with food, furniture and tools. Based on paragraph 2, what is the best explanation?

A. Egyptians believed the dead would need them after death.
B. The goods were stored there for years of bad harvests.
C. The goods were payment for the tomb's builders.
D. The goods were hidden there to keep them from thieves.

Influence did not flow only from Egypt to Kush. Circle the sentence from paragraph 3 that shows Kush shaping Egypt.

Many Kushite nobles learned Egyptian writing and worshiped Egyptian gods such as Amun.After Egypt weakened, Kush became independent again.For more than 60 years, Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs over both lands, restoring old temples in Egypt and building new ones.

Which detail from paragraph 4 best shows that Kushites at Meroë kept a tradition of their own, not one borrowed from Egypt?

A. They built pyramids for their rulers.
B. They kept Egyptian gods in their temples.
C. They worshiped the god Amun.
D. They wrote their language in Meroitic script.

Read the data

Use the two tables and the passage. All dates are approximate.

Table 1. Selected Rulers of Egypt and Kush
Ruler	Kingdom	Key date	Known for
Khufu	Egypt	about 2560 BCE	Great Pyramid at Giza
Hatshepsut	Egypt	about 1470 BCE	Trade voyage to Punt
Ramses II	Egypt	about 1260 BCE	Temples at Abu Simbel, in Nubia
Piye	Kush	about 728 BCE	Took control of Egypt
Taharqa	Kush	about 690 BCE	Temples in Egypt and Kush
Amanirenas	Kush	about 25 BCE	Kandake who led an army against Rome

Table 2. Pyramids of Egypt and Kush (historians' estimates)
Feature	Egypt	Kush
Main building period	about 2700–1700 BCE	about 750 BCE–350 CE
Number known	about 120	more than 200
Slope of the sides	about 50°–55°	about 70°
Who was buried	kings and queens	kings, queens and nobles

Using Table 1, Piye took control of Egypt about years after the time of Khufu.

Which conclusion does Table 2 support best?

A. Egypt's pyramids have steeper sides than those of Kush.
B. Kush built more pyramids than Egypt, later and steeper.
C. Kush stopped building pyramids before Egypt began.
D. Kush built its pyramids at about the same time as Giza.

Using Table 2, Kush's main period of pyramid building lasted about years.

Table 1 shows that Ramses II built temples in Nubia and that Taharqa built temples in Egypt. What do these two facts suggest together?

A. At different times, each kingdom held power in the other's land.
B. Kush learned to build temples from the Romans.
C. Ramses II and Taharqa ruled at about the same time.
D. The two kingdoms had little contact before Roman times.

A farm family lives beside the Nile in Kush. Based on paragraph 5, when would they most likely plant their sorghum?

A. Just before the river rises, so the flood spreads the seeds
B. In the driest weeks of the year, before any flood
C. After the flood goes down and leaves wet soil
D. In midsummer, while the fields are underwater

Make a claim

Use the passage and both tables.

10.

Claim: Kush borrowed from Egypt, but it was more than a copy of Egypt. Do you agree or disagree? Give at least two pieces of evidence from the passage or the tables, and explain your reasoning.