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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When does Minea know that she must return to the land of Crete?

2. What does Sinuhe tell his mother and father he wants to be when he grows up?

3. After Sinuhe gives everything over to Neferrneferrnefer, what does he learn when he returns home?

4. The morning after Sinuhe and Minea have slept on the boat escaping from Babylon, what is the noise they hear?

5. How many days does Sinuhe serve in the House of Death?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the Keeper of the Archives In Hatti tell Sinuhe about the King? What is he warning Sinuhe about? What will happen in the future for the lands around Hatti?

2. Why does Senmut take Sinuhe to meet Inteb, the warrior? What lesson does Senmut want Sinuhe to leave with?

3. Why do Kipa and Senmut tell their neighbors that Kipa gave birth to Sinuhe? Why does Senmut register Sinuhe in the book of births? What will this do for Sinuhe later in life? What difference will this make in his life?

4. Why does Sinuhe feel that Mitanni is doomed? Where is Mitanni in relation to other countries? Why does this mean extinction for these people?

5. Explain how embalming works int he House of Death. What do the priest tell people who bring their loved ones for preparation for burial? What do they actually do? How does Sinuhe view this?

6. Sinuhe speaks of a remedy from the Hittites that cures the body of heat. What is this remedy called today? How do you think the Hittites created this drug?

7. How does Sinuhe defend the young prince to Horemheb? What does Sinuhe think of the young prince's beliefs? Do you think he is affected in this way because of his experiences in the House of Life? Why? Why not?

8. Why does Sinuhe continue to give Nefernefernefer all he possesses? Why can he not pull himself away from her? What is her appeal to Sinuhe? What is his behavior a metaphor for?

9. When Sinuhe opens a skull and finds that the "disease had laid its egg" what does he mean by that? What is the egg inside the man's head? What does Sinuhe do with it? How does he repair the opening? What is significant about the fact that the man falls from a wall three days later and breaks his neck and dies? What is that supposed to symbolize?

10. What message do Sinuhe's parents leave behind for him? How does this make him feel? How do his parents die? Why do they do this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sinuhe talks with Thothmes about asking the question "why?" What is Sinuhe discovering about being inquisitive in the House of Life? Why is asking "why?" so threatening to the others he is studying with? What answer does Thothmes give him? Do you think Thothmes is correct in his answer?

Essay Topic 2

How and why does Nefernefernefer warn Sinuhe of her future actions? What does it say about Nefernefernefer's character that she warns Sinuhe and what metaphors does she use? Give a description of her warnings and decide what Sinuhe should learn from her words.

Essay Topic 3

The last paragraph of the novel, Sinuhe talks about what it means to him to be a human being. What does he say and what does he mean? Is this his way of saying that life is eternal?

(see the answer keys)

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