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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the goddess Hapi answer the travelers' prayers at the beginning of their voyage?

2. When do the Egyptians begin to flee toward their ships away from the Hyksos?

3. What does Taita name the gnu illness?

4. How does Pharaoh react to the accusations of Lord Intef's guilt?

5. What dream does Taita have to explain Lostris's pregnancy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why will so few people ride astride a horse? (Throughout the novel, only Hui, Taita, and Memnon dare this.) What reaction do they get when people see them astride the horses? Why do you think they get this reaction?

2. How does Lostris deal with Lord Aqer's disgruntlement? Including previous instances of dissatisfied people, what does this say about her leadership? Is she well suited to lead the Egyptian people?

3. What happens when the Nile floods? How does this event bring together science and religious observation? How is it also an opportunity for vice, particularly greed?

4. What is Pharaoh's reaction to the revelation of Akh-Seth? How does this demonstrate his weakness as a leader?

5. How does the love between Memnon and Masara mirror the love between Tanus and Lostris? How is it different?

6. What does Taita call the worst day in Egypt's history? Why does he say this? How is he one of the central characters in the actions of this day, though it may not seem like it?

7. When Tanus returns to Thebes to reveal Akh-Seth and exonerate himself from the death penalty, what sounds are there? How do the sounds, especially voices, help to explain the scene?

8. How does Taita justify the enslavement of the Shilluk people? What does he observe about their customs and what does he seek to change? How do the Shilluk customs of marriage differentiate, in a large part, their culture from that of the Egyptians?

9. What is the reaction of both Tanus and Pharaoh to the news of Lostris's pregnancy? What do their reactions say about their personal priorities?

10. At age five, how does Memnon begin to assert himself? How does Smith draw out the contradictions between his age and his social position? What does Memnon's attitude predict for the future?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role does Rasfer play in the novel? To what extent is he the obvious incarnation of Lord Intef's evil thoughts? What is Rasfer's role in Taita's life? Does Taita, in the end, forgive him?

Essay Topic 2

What value of the story comes in its historical background? Does the story become any richer or more plausible because of the history? How might you read the novel if you knew it was completely fictional?

Essay Topic 3

Taita usually refers to his country as "this very Egypt". How does this show respect? How does it reveal his sentiments toward his nation? How is this sentiment bound up with his belief in the gods?

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