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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 does Lostris wait in the palace as the Hyksos approach?
(a) She will not board the ship until all her people are onboard.
(b) She does not realize the Hyksos are so close.
(c) She wants to test Tanus's love.
(d) She would rather die in her palace than be a wanderer.

2. Why are the Egyptians easily able to capture the Shilluk village in Cush?
(a) The men are out on the plain hunting oryx.
(b) The village is small and insignificant.
(c) The people are not hunters and thus not prepared to defend themselves.
(d) The people had been betrayed by their chief.

3. When do the Egyptians begin to flee toward their ships away from the Hyksos?
(a) When the battle changes to a massacre.
(b) When Pharaoh is hit with an arrow.
(c) When Tanus calls them to retreat.
(d) When the men in front begin stampeding toward the back.

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

5. How does Pharaoh spend the treasure he recovered from Lord Intef?
(a) He pays the troops for the past year that they have not been paid.
(b) He sends half of it to the temple of Horus.
(c) Half of it goes into his tomb.
(d) He awards a quarter of it to Tanus.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to the reward that Pharaoh gives to Taita?

2. Just past the fourth cataract, what do the Egyptians encounter for the first time in their lives?

3. What happens when Memnon sees Masara again?

4. What is the name of the place where the two rivers meet?

5. Why do the Hyksos pass by their victims rather than running straight into them?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

3. Why does Queen Lostris demand an elaborate tomb for her husband? What does this say about her loyalty to Pharaoh and does it contradict her order that Egyptians would not make their home in the land of Cush?

4. When Tanus returns to Thebes to reveal Akh-Seth and exonerate himself from the death penalty, what sounds are there? How do the sounds, especially voices, help to explain the scene?

5. How does Lostris deal with Lord Aqer's disgruntlement? Including previous instances of dissatisfied people, what does this say about her leadership? Is she well suited to lead the Egyptian people?

6. What does Taita call the worst day in Egypt's history? Why does he say this? How is he one of the central characters in the actions of this day, though it may not seem like it?

7. How does Taita explain Lostris's second pregnancy? Why does the council believe him? What from Lostris's reputation prepares them to believe Taita's story?

8. 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?

9. 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?

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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