Tales of The Kingdoms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nile Delta

Please remember that the Nile River flows from south to north after the Blue and White Niles join together at the modern-day city of Khartoum in Sudan. Upper Egypt was located along the Nile River, while Lower Egypt began at the Nile River Delta and continued to the Mediterranean coast. Pliny, an ancient Roman author, wrote that the Nile split into seven branches at the delta; today there are only two.

Answer: Papyrus

Literally "Ta-Mehu" means "land of papyrus". Papyrus grew in abundance in the marshy areas of the Nile River. While the most famous use of papyrus might have been in the form of paper, the ancient Egyptians used it in the manufacturing of a variety of goods.

Other items constructed from the reed include boats, baskets, mats, sandals, and rope. The earliest evidence of the use of papyrus as paper, dating to c. 2500 BC, was found at Wadi al-Jarf on the Red Sea coast. It remained an important source of writing material for many centuries.

Answer: Memphis

The administrative districts in ancient Egypt were called nomes, which were in existence early in Egyptian history during the Predynastic Period. Each nome, which existed as a self-governing city-state, was led by a nomarch. It is estimated that Lower Egypt was divided into twenty nomes, with Memphis being the most important. Menes, who is also called Narmer, used Memphis as the first capital of the unified Egypt because of its location where Upper and Lower Egypt joined. After unification, the nomarch became more of a provincial governor who was under the control of pharaoh.

Today the site of ancient Memphis is an open-air museum.

Answer: Wadjet

Cobras were very common in Lower Egypt, and Wadjet was usually portrayed as a woman with a cobra's head or the snake itself. Wadjet portrayed with a solar disk was called an "uraeus", and this symbol was placed on the crown of the ruler of Lower Egypt. Also the protector of the leader and women in childbirth, Wadjet remained an important deity in the Egyptian pantheon; she eventually became the joint protector of a unified Egypt.

In the picture, Wadjet is depicted as Wadjet-Bast, with the body of a woman, the head of a lion, wearing the "uraeus". Bast, a warrior goddess, was seen as a protector of ancient Egypt much in the same way as Wadjet.

Answer: Red Crown

The leader of Lower Egypt was not the only one who could wear the Red Crown; Wadjet and Neith, the patrons of Sais in the upper Nile Delta, are goddesses who are also shown wearing the Deshret. The color red was probably taken from the dessert, which was highly visible from either side of the Nile River.

It was believed that this land, as well as foreign lands beyond the early kingdom, were ruled by Seth and were full of danger.

Answer: Nubia

Today the area called Nubia by the ancient Egyptians is located in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Ancient Nubia was also divided into two sections: Upper and Lower. It is believed that Nubia was the first nome of Upper Egypt in the Predynastic Period, and was an important trading partner during the Old Kingdom. During the Middle Kingdom it appears that the ancient Egyptians began pushing further into Nubia to gain more control of the area.

The Nubians were incorporated into the Egyptian army, and by the time of the New Kingdom they were considered an elite force.

Not only did they assimilate into the army, but some historians believe that by the Twelfth Dynasty the two groups were intermixing genetically as well as culturally; eventually, they believe, there was no distinction between the two groups.

Answer: Cataract

The areas of cataracts in the Nile River effectively halted passage in ancient times; in some places the river is extremely shallow, while in others there are obstacles such as rocks that block the way. There were six cataracts that stretched from Aswan in southern Egypt to Bagrawiya in Sudan, ending just north of the confluence of the Blue and White Niles. Serving as a natural barrier to invasion, the cataracts also kept the ancient Egyptians from exploring as far south as they would have liked, as they were not able to overcome the first cataract until the time of the Middle Kingdom.

It was an extremely slow and difficult process. Some of the cataracts had to be passed during flood season, and others during time of low waters. Small boats could be taken apart, carried past the cataracts, and reassembled; larger boats were towed on sledges on slipways, or dirt roads that were constructed.

Answer: Vulture

The Hedjet was a White Crown and the symbol that was used depicted the vulture goddess, Nekhbet. Nekhbet was portrayed as either wearing the Hedjet or as a woman with the head of a vulture. Vultures, like cobras, were commonly seen in ancient Egypt, and became the symbol for maternal protection. Over time the vulture headdress became linked not only to Nekhbet, but also to queens and other royal women.

When Menes unified the two kingdoms, he put the Hedjet and Deshret together to form the double crown, which was called the Pschent.

Answer: Thebes

The capital of a nome of Upper Egypt, Thebes was inhabited from around 3200 BC. It was just a small trading post at the time, but became prominent during the Middle Kingdom because of its association with the Egyptian god, Amun, who had became the city's patron.

After the defeat of the Hyksos invaders and the reunification of ancient Egypt, Thebes was chosen as the new capital by Ahmose I.

Answer: The Two Lands

After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, the area was commonly referred to as "The Two Lands". There does not appear to be any other name for Egypt in antiquity. Menes, or Narmer, became the first pharaoh; the pharaoh was known as "Lord of the Two Lands", and as such, he owned and controlled everything. With all of the power and authority centralized under the control of one person, unification was complete. It was time to write history!

In the picture, The Two Ladies, Wadjet and Nekhbet, as they were called after unification, protect the pharaoh, Ptolemy VIII. This bas-relief is seen on the wall of Temple of Edfu.