North Africa's landscape is covered by the world's largest hot desert--the Sahara.

 This
massive Arid climate makes it a strange place for a large population of people.  Most of the
Sahara is too harsh for people to live. The Nile Valley, coastal areas, and the rare oases
(plural for oasis) provide the only places that can support life.  An oasis is an area of natural
water in a desert that allows plant life. The Nile is the world’s longest river. It flows north
through the Sahara creating a long oasis in the desert eventually dumping into the
Mediterranean Sea. The Nile’s water comes mainly from highland areas near the center of
Africa that receives frequent rain, which flows north, downhill into the Nile.  The Nile is
divided into sections by cataracts.  A cataract is a rocky area that creates a waterfall or rapids.
There are six cataracts in the Nile River.

For thousands of years, the Nile flooded when the rainy season began in Central Africa. The
Nile flowed over the river banks and after several months it soaked into the ground,
evaporated or flowed into the Mediterranean. As the water level lowered, it left behind rich,
fertile soil for farmers. The flooding usually began around June and it happened every year,
so it was a dependable source of water and fertilizer for farmers. Egyptians dug canals to pull
water out of the flooded river, which they saved for irrigation later on. It didn’t rain in the
Sahara, so Egyptians relied completely on irrigation from the Nile to farm. Fresh water,
irrigation, fertile soil – this is why people called it the “gift” of the Nile.

10,000 years ago North Africa was a grassland with many plants and animals. North Africa
took its current desert form around 6000 BCE. Around 6000 BCE the climate began to
change, which might explain why humans changed from hunting and gathering to farming.
Before civilization, early humans came to the Nile River to hunt, fish, and gather food, but
gradually as people learned to farm and domesticate animals, and therefore live in permanent
settlements, areas around the Nile became more crowded. Several towns grew and eventually,
kingdoms developed. The change from nomadic hunter-gatherers to civilized living followed
the same pattern as other places around the world: farming provided extra food, which
allowed the division of labor, which allows the development of government and religion and
creates social classes.

We know so much about the Egyptians because there are so many written resources and
because their culture lasted so long with few interruptions.  The Mesopotamian culture was
constantly changing and disrupted by war.  Another reason we know so much about Egypt is
that they made their architecture out of stone, which has lasted for the most part.
Religion was the center of Egyptian life.  Egyptians believed in many Gods, so they were
polytheistic.  The Egyptian king was the absolute ruler and owner of all the land, water,
people, etc. in his or her kingdom.  Later Egyptians would call their kings “pharaoh”.
Egyptian people believed the pharaoh was a living God, so the Egyptians developed a
theocracy or a government ruled by religious leaders.  This is important to understanding why
Egyptian people were so willing to give their grain to the Pharaoh and build him or her
incredible temples—they thought the Pharaoh was a living God that would be with them
forever in eternity.  The first pharaohs established a dynasty, or family control of the
government, and a capital city of Memphis from which they could control the work force,
agriculture, and trade routes in and out of Egypt.  A total of 31 dynasties controlled Egypt
during nearly 4000 years of history.  Egyptians had many religious rituals and ceremonies.
The most well-known ritual was mummification.  Egyptians believed in life after death, and
they wanted the body to look life-like.  Anyone could be mummified if they had enough
money.  First, they removed the organs.  Then they removed as much moisture from the body
as possible using a salt called natron to preserve the body and then wrapped it in linen cloth.
The body was placed in a sarcophagus, which is similar to a coffin.

Egyptians were a very advanced civilization due to their inventions and technology.
Egyptians developed a writing system called Hieroglyphics that combined pictures and
symbols.  Eventually, they created an alphabet from their symbols.  In 1822 CE a European
explorer found what is called the Rosetta Stone--a stone with the same message written in 3
different languages, which finally allowed historians to translate ancient Hieroglyphics.
Egyptians developed a 365-day calendar and used a number system based on 10. Egyptians
figured out amazing ways to cut stone to use in their temples and obelisks.  An obelisk is a
tall narrow monument that becomes more narrow as it goes up.  They created a writing
material similar to a paper called papyrus from reeds found in the Nile.  Egyptians were
excellent ship builders and excelled at mathematics.  They used fractions, decimals, addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division and basic ideas of geometry.

Egyptian life depended on what social class you were a part of.  At the top of society was the
Pharaoh.  Below the Pharaoh was the royal court (Pharaoh's family), high priests, government
officials, and scribes and nobles (rich land owners).  Below them were doctors and engineers,
craftsman, and then farmers and unskilled workers at the bottom.  Egyptians did use some
slaves, but slavery is hardly mentioned in their writings.  Most people lived in mud-brick
homes.  Women raised the children and men usually made an income for the family.
Egyptians enjoyed music, dancing, and playing games such as Senet. When farmers were not
working the fields they often worked on construction projects including temples and
irrigation canals.  Bread was the main food source, but they would have eaten meat during
festivals

Questions 1-4

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage
TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information 
FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information 
NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this

1. In the course of Nile river, there are 6 cataracts

2. North Africa was once lush green and its dry, arid and desert form came into being
around 5000 BCE
a) True
b) False
c) Not given

3. A total of 31 dynasties controlled Egypt during nearly 4000 years of history

4. Egyptians developed a "Solar Calendar" system which had 365 days in one year
a) True
b) False
c) Not given

Questions 5-9
Read the passage and find the information given in the sentence and tally it with the options
provided below.

A:        Oasis
B:        Source of water
C:        Natron
D:        Rosetta stone
 1. This area in North Africa helped people to survive.
2. Flooding around the Nile.
3. Dead bodies were preserved using this.
4. Different languages were used to deliver the same message.
5. Helpful in the study of ancient hieroglyphics.

Questions 10-17
The below note has numbered blanks that you will complete using ONLY ONE WORD. Write
your answers in the blank space provided below. Please note that grammatical errors
including incorrect spellings will be marked as wrong. 

10. The Sahara in North Africa has a ____________ environment to live in.

11. The riverbanks of the Nile provided the farmers with the required ___________ soil.
12. It took a long time for early humans to transform from hunter-gatherers to
a _________life.

13. The Egyptians had a strong belief about the __________ as a living God.

14. They had a council of ____________ people who ruled the people.
15. _____________ was an ancient form of communication using symbols and pictures.
16. _____________ were useful in making papyrus for writing.
17. The Egyptian _______________ had a structure based on the class one belonged to.