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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the festival pageant, who plays the role of Seth, an evil god?
(a) Rasfer.
(b) Tanus.
(c) Lord Intef.
(d) Taita.

2. What is the name of Taita's friend who gives him information and supplies prior to the battle with the Shrikes?
(a) Remrem.
(b) Kernit.
(c) Tiamat.
(d) Safaga.

3. Why does Tanus send Taita away before the second battle?
(a) Taita is too faint-hearted to be much help.
(b) Tanus is going into battle with only fifty men and no physician.
(c) Taita needs to take care of Lostris.
(d) Tanus needs to prepare for another battle.

4. Why does Pharaoh boast of Taita's abilities as a physician?
(a) Taita cured Pharaoh's impotence.
(b) Taita healed Pharaoh of pneumonia.
(c) Taita made Lostris more fertile to carry a male child.
(d) Taita cured Pharaoh's ringworm.

5. Why does Nembet, the Great Lion of Egypt, become angry with Tanus?
(a) Tanus is revealed as next in line for the crown.
(b) Tanus is allowed to present the city's greeting to Pharaoh.
(c) Tanus saves Pharaoh's ship because Nembet cannot.
(d) Tanus has recently become popular with all of Thebes.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Pharaoh treat Lostris?

2. What is the symbol of Pharaoh's power?

3. How does Taita explain his absence to Pharaoh?

4. What kind of horoscope does Pharaoh demand of Taita on his wedding night?

5. Why do Taita and Tanus kill six Shrikes on the road?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Taita's emotions during and after the battle with the Shrikes? How do these emotions explain several facets of his personality? What does this say for Smith's ability to create a complex character?

2. What are Taita's first descriptions of Lostris? How are his emotions different from what the reader might expect of a eunuch? How does it help explain his character?

3. What is the significance in the fact that Tanus is nicknamed Akh-Horus? Is it important that Hui, a boy who defected from the Shrikes in exchange for his life, gives him this name?

4. What happens in the tombs during the three-day sandstorm? How does Taita reveal the deepest sadness that is in his heart? What does this say about his character?

5. What is the song that Tanus and his men sing during the thick of battle? What effect would this song have on the enemy?

6. What is Tanus's reaction to the news of Lostris's coming marriage? What does this reveal about his character? Is this an admirable reaction?

7. When the people cry out to Pharaoh to give Tanus mercy from the death sentence, what does Pharaoh do? What leads to this decision? Does it show Pharaoh's mercy or his weakness?

8. Throughout this first section, what evidence does Taita give that he is a favored slave? What was the cost of this favor?

9. When Taita disguises himself as a priest so that he is not recognized in his native city Thebes, how is he treated? What does this say about the Egyptian people's attitude toward their religion? What does this say about the priests' ethics?

10. How does Taita describe the hippo hunt? How does he see the animal in relation to divinity? What is the effect of the hippo hunt on Taita?

(see the answer keys)

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