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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. Why do the Shrikes lose the battle?
(a) They have Tanus at their faces and the "slave girls" at their backs.
(b) They come over the mountain pass too quickly.
(c) They are outnumbered.
(d) The leaders are quickly killed and the men cannot fight without leadership.

2. Why was Taita made a eunuch when he was sixteen?
(a) He had been unfaithful to Lord Intef and slept with a slave girl.
(b) He had refused to sacrifice to Lord Intef's favorite god.
(c) He had attempted to escape from the palace.
(d) He had stolen several jewels from Lord Intef's treasury.

3. What color does Lostris wear to prove she is a virgin bride?
(a) Blue like water lilies.
(b) Red like fine wine.
(c) White like a pure heart.
(d) Gold like the sun.

4. Why did Tanus name his bow Lanata?
(a) It was his mother's name.
(b) It was the Queen Mother's name.
(c) It was his first girlfriend's name.
(d) It was Lostris's baby name.

5. After leaving Thebes, where do Pharaoh and his court go?
(a) The land of Cush.
(b) Memphis.
(c) Safaga.
(d) Elephantine Island.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where do Taita and Lostris go when they want to talk privately?

2. How do the soldiers respond when Tanus orders them to put on the dresses of slave girls?

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

4. How does Taita conquer Shufti?

5. Why does Taita implicitly trust Aton, the royal chamberlain?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

3. Why is Taita angered when he sees Lord Intef in Thebes? What does this reveal to the reader about Taita's character?

4. What condition is Tanus in when Taita finally finds him? How is this condition similar to Lostris's desire for death on her wedding night? How is Taita able to save Tanus in much the same way he saved Lostris?

5. What is the immediate effect as Tanus begins to rout the Shrikes? How does this change affect people's loyalty to Pharaoh? What do you think might be the long-term effects of this new loyalty?

6. What account does Taita give of the girl he loved when he was sixteen? How does his telling of it, half his lifetime later, show the changes he has gone through? Is he more cynical or more understanding of what happened?

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

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

9. What power does Pharaoh's seal have? Why must a man acknowledge it, as Tanus does when Neter comes to arrest him? Is this seal a sign of power or of weakness?

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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