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What Greek historian called Egypt "the gift of the river"?

Hecataeus. The river was the Nile. Egypt's entire society was centered around this river and its yearly flood. Hecataeus was a Greek traveler who lived between the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.

The earliest form of Egyptian writing is called hieroglyphs. What was the Egyptian definition of the word "hieroglyphs"?

sacred engravings. Egypt's earliest written hieroglyphic texts date to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt in c.a. 3100 B.C. Using a combination of pictorial and phonetic symbols, these beautiful and elaborate hieroglyphic writings were used mainly on temples, tombs, and monuments.

What was the durable writing surface that was made of broken pottery?

Ostraka. Plentiful and long-lasting, ostraka were also used for fill in temples, walls, and monuments.

Who united the two Egypts, upper and lower, ca. 3100 B.C.?

King Menes. Menes became the first king of the unified Egypt. Memes named the city of Memphis as his capital. Part legend perhaps, Menes is credited with bringing law to the land of Egypt.

In 1819 Champollion deciphered the Rosetta Stone. What were the three scripts that the text was written in?

Greek, Hieroglyphs, and Demotic. Discovered in 1799 by one a Napoleon's soldiers, the Rosetta Stone was made of black basalt.

The Sphinx was carved out of a natural outcropping of rock. Whose face is on the Sphinx?

King Khafre. King Khafre also built the largest of the Giza pyramids.

In the fourteenth century B.C. who was the first monotheist king of Egypt?

Akhenaten. Akhenaten worshiped only Aten, at the newly built city of Armana. This "cult" was short lived, dissolving on Akhenaten's death. Akhenaten's wife was Nefertiti, who name means "the beautiful one has come".

Most evidence about Bronze Age Egypt comes from which kingdom?

New Kingdom. The New Kingdom lasted from 1567-1085 B.C. Many sites are tombs, or desert locations, away from the big cites. Much data remains incomplete.

Who are the people believed to have brought about the decline of the Bronze age in Egypt ca. 1200 BC?

The Sea Peoples. Called a "conspiracy of islands" the sea peoples remain an mysterious group.

Who finally brought an end to the Egyptian Bronze Age, once and for all?

The Persians. Ca. 600 B.C., the Persians conquered and reunited Egypt.