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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. Just past the fourth cataract, what do the Egyptians encounter for the first time in their lives?
(a) Snow.
(b) Hunger.
(c) Rain.
(d) Trees.

2. What crude surgery does Taita perform to save the horses stricken with the gnu illness?
(a) Cuts out their tongues so they do not swallow them and choke.
(b) Cuts a hole in their windpipes and inserts a straw.
(c) Slits their nostrils so they can breathe.
(d) Cuts a slit in their sides so the pus does not reach their lungs.

3. How does Taita escape from Arkoun?
(a) He pretends to be the king's ambassador but does not return.
(b) He bribes four guards to smuggle him out of the castle.
(c) He is swept away in the river when they are returning to the castle.
(d) He sneaks through the sewer passages of the castle.

4. How does the goddess Hapi answer the travelers' prayers at the beginning of their voyage?
(a) The Nile floods several weeks late.
(b) The Hyksos do not attack them again.
(c) The Nile floods several weeks early.
(d) They do not lose any ships in the first cataract.

5. How is Tanus injured in the first elephant hunt?
(a) His chariot loses a wheel.
(b) The elephant's trunk strikes his chariot.
(c) He is struck by another warrior's arrow.
(d) He loses his balance and falls out of the chariot.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to ancient Egyptian belief, what causes the Nile to flood?

2. What idea of Tanus's is shot down in the military council?

3. How does Lord Intef die?

4. When some Egyptians want to leave the caravan ships traveling south, what does Queen Lostris do?

5. What does Memnon argue so that he can go hunting with Taita and the other charioteers?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Lord Intef die? Considering his life, is this a suitable death? Why?

2. How does Pharaoh bring justice following the revelation of Lord Intef as Akh-Seth? How is his punishment for the Shrikes suitable? Additionally, how is it the harshest punishment an Egyptian can suffer?

3. What is the bittersweet ending to Tanus's life? Why does he never tell Memnon the truth of his paternity? Do you think Tanus dies in peace?

4. What is the attitude of the Hyksos as they face the Egyptians in battle? What do you think is the reason for this arrogance? What has led them this far west?

5. Why will so few people ride astride a horse? (Throughout the novel, only Hui, Taita, and Memnon dare this.) What reaction do they get when people see them astride the horses? Why do you think they get this reaction?

6. What happens when the Nile floods? How does this event bring together science and religious observation? How is it also an opportunity for vice, particularly greed?

7. Why do you think Smith goes into details about the mummification of Pharaoh's body? Is this fitting to the novel? Especially in relation to Taita's character, since he is involved in the embalming, do the details add to or detract from the story?

8. At age five, how does Memnon begin to assert himself? How does Smith draw out the contradictions between his age and his social position? What does Memnon's attitude predict for the future?

9. How does Taita justify the enslavement of the Shilluk people? What does he observe about their customs and what does he seek to change? How do the Shilluk customs of marriage differentiate, in a large part, their culture from that of the Egyptians?

10. How do the Egyptian ships navigate through the cataracts? How is this a testimony to their technological skill, especially because of Taita?

(see the answer keys)

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