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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. How does Tanus get back into shape after his weeks of drinking and laziness?
(a) Two weeks' worth of difficult training.
(b) Three weeks' worth of sword practice.
(c) Fighting the Shrikes on the road.
(d) A four-day march with his regiment.

2. Who is the first Shrike willing to help Tanus in exchange for keeping his life?
(a) Gebel-Umm-Bahari.
(b) Khargi.
(c) Hui.
(d) Basti.

3. Why is Taita nervous about the pageant at the end of the festival?
(a) He is playing the main role of Horus.
(b) He must direct the play.
(c) Lostris has not learned her lines properly.
(d) He wrote a new script to replace the thousand-year-old version.

4. When Tanus disappeared, to whom did he hand over his squadron and Pharaoh's seal?
(a) Safaga.
(b) Taita.
(c) Lord Intef.
(d) Kratas.

5. How much time is Tanus given to restore order to the Upper Kingdom?
(a) One year.
(b) Two months.
(c) Two years.
(d) Ten years.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Tanus's father die an unhappy death?

2. What does Taita conspicuously display over the harem wall the morning after Lostris's wedding?

3. What is ironic about the double crown of Egypt that Pharaoh wears?

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

5. What does Tanus name as one of the single worst afflictions to settle on Egypt?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

3. What danger does Taita find in his basket of pomegranates and mangoes? What does this danger say about his place in society?

4. How does Taita foreshadow the coming marriage for Lostris? How does this affect the element of surprise within the novel?

5. What scheme does Taita dream up to help Tanus engage the Shrikes in battle for the first time? How is this scheme something that perhaps only Taita would think of?

6. What does Taita learn from his friend Tiamat about the Shrikes? How does this explain the destitution of Egypt and the weakness of Pharaoh?

7. What is the significance of the double crown of Egypt? Why might Taita mention it so often when he describes Pharaoh?

8. Why does Lostris want to die on her wedding night? Does Taita respond properly to her demands for poison? Why?

9. In the days leading up to Lostris's wedding, Taita is not allowed to go near her. Even during the wedding ceremony, he stands at the back of the crowd and cannot see much. What is the literary significance of Taita's inability to see Lostris? How does this relate to Smith's silence about Tanus's reaction?

10. Explain Tanus's bow Lanata. How does this story about the weapon reveal Tanus's character?

(see the answer keys)

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