Document-Based Questions - Debra J. Housel, M.S. Ed. 2008

Egypt: One Nation on Two Continents
Interesting Places

Egypt is in the northeast corner of Africa. Most of it lies in Africa. But its Sinai Peninsula is in Asia. The Suez Canal runs between these two continents. It joins the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The French completed the Canal in 1869. It shortened the distance between Europe and India by 6,000 miles.

Egypt has the second-biggest population in Africa. Cairo, its capital city, is the largest city in Africa. More than 9 million people live there. Most Egyptians think of themselves as Arabs. They speak Arabic. Educated people know English, too. But just half of the adults can read and write. About 96 percent of the land is desert. Yet one of the first civilizations began here. Why? The Nile River is the longest on Earth. It runs through the nation. Rich farmland lies along its banks. Most of the people live along its banks, too.

Rounded towers filled with holes stand scattered across the land. Made of mud and clay, they are birdhouses. Pigeons nest in them. Egyptians eat these birds. And their droppings make great fertilizer. That’s important in a country in which most people work in farming. They grow cotton, oranges, rice, and sugar cane. The Nile provides the water for these crops. Enough is raised to sell to other nations.

Egypt is famous for its pyramids. Ancient Egyptians believed in life after death. They felt that a person needed a human body forever. So they preserved the bodies of dead rulers. They made them into mummies. Some mummies have been found in good condition after thousands of years. From 2700 to 1700 B.C.E. the mummies were put inside pyramids. A total of 35 big pyramids were built for kings. Forty smaller ones were made for queens. The biggest is the Great Pyramid. It has about two million stone blocks. Each one of them had to be placed carefully. And each one weighed two tons! How did they do it without modern equipment? No one knows.

Egypt: One Nation on Two Continents

The Egyptians buried their kings and queens inside pyramids. No one knows why they chose this odd shape. Some people think that the sides represent the sun’s rays. The three biggest pyramids were built along the Nile River near Cairo. It is now the capital city of Egypt.

These pyramids were built between 2600 and 2500 B.C.E. The largest one is called the Great Pyramid at Giza. It was built for King Khufu. To make it, 100,000 workers worked for 20 years. Then the king was laid inside it along with many treasures.

When it was done, the Great Pyramid stood 481 feet tall. For more than 4,300 years it was the tallest building on Earth. But now it no longer comes to a point at the top. It has lost about 30 feet due to weathering.

Even though each pyramid was designed to stop thieves, just one tomb has been found untouched. The robbers who broke into the Great Pyramid took the treasures and the mummy. It has never been found.

Egypt: One Nation on Two Continents

1. Egypt lies on which two continents?

a. Africa and Asia

b. Africa and Europe

c. Asia and Europe

d. Asia and Australia

2. The largest city in Egypt is

a. Nile.

b. Arabic.

c. Sinai.

d. Cairo.

3. Which of these people would likely be made into a mummy after death?

a. the king’s brother

b. the king’s most trusted advisor

c. the queen

d. the queen’s favorite servant

4. The largest pyramid in Egypt is the Great Pyramid at Giza. True or False? Explain.

5. What happened to King Khufu’s mummy?

6. Should Egyptian leaders be concerned that only half of the nation’s adult population can read and write? Why or why not?