The Unification of Egypt
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Ancient History: Egypt › The Unification of Egypt
The red and white crown worn by pharaohs during the First Dynasty (see image) represented __________________.
A unified Egypt through, where the red crown represents Lower Egypt and the white represents Upper Egypt
The unification of the royal dynasty through the marriage of two families during the First Dynasty
The red and white contrast between the land and the built landscape
The combination of the divine and mortal powers of the pharaoh
The unification of land and water, as seen in the annual rise and fall of the Nile river
Explanation
There is only one correct answer. The crowns represented the two divided sections of Egypt that were united during the First Dynasty.
Image from Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Double\_crown.svg
Which of these might be most likely to wear a Pschent?
a ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt
a ruler of Upper Egypt
a ruler of Lower Egypt
the God’s Wife of Amun
the Pharaoh’s mother
Explanation
A Pschent was a crown worn by many Egyptian rulers during the New Kingdom period. The Pschent was a double crown, both red and white, demonstrating the wearer’s authority over both Upper and Lower Egypt. The Pschent was an important part of Egyptian iconography.
For what reason did Menes, the first pharoh of unified Egypt, abdicate the throne?
He was killed by a hippopotamus
He was assassinated by his team of advisors
He was killed by a lion
None of these
Explanation
According to legend (details are scarce since Menes is estimated to have lived around 3100 BCE), Menes ruled for just over 60 years, until he was killed by a hippopotamus.
Please select the correct date for the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
3100 BCE
5500 BCE
525 BCE
3400 BCE
332 BCE
Explanation
For centuries, Upper and Lower Egypt were two separate social and political entities, divided by the many branches of the Nile River and its surrounding Delta plains. The historical record of the unification is murky and filled with inconsistencies, half-truths, and possible legends. In all likelihood, in 3100 BCE, the King Mena (sometimes also known as Narmer) unified the two areas, most likely through military force (either threatened or actually deployed). Mena consolidated his rule over both the Upper and Lower regions by erecting a new capital city, named Memphis, right along the border between the two previously separated locales. Ancient symbolic depictions of this unification portray Upper Egypt as a reed of papyrus and Lower Egypt as a Nile waterlily, often bound together by each plants’ lower tendrils.