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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. What does Sinuhe do with the scarab that he finds?

2. What kind of houses do the people of Babylon live in?

3. How many men and boys are in Sinuhe's class at the House of Life?

4. Who is Sinuhe's first teacher, hired by his father?

5. Who paints the paintings that decorate Sinuhe's office?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the two truths of the young prince and Horemheb? How are they in conflict from the beginning? How does Horemheb argue with the sickly young prince about his truth when he first meets him? What does Horemheb fear of the future?

2. Why does Horemheb want Sinuhe to be his spy? What does Sinuhe have to offer that others cannot? What does Sinuhe have to gain from this experience? Will this affect Sinuhe's life if and when he returns to Egypt? Why? Why not?

3. Sinuhe meets a man in the City of Dead when he buries his parents. What is this man's story a moral for in the story? What lesson does this impart to Sinuhe or to the reader? What message is the author trying to tell?

4. Explain the process that Sinuhe is taught in school about life after death. Who is Osiris? Who is the Devourer? What does the Devourer look like? Who is the Backward-Gazer? Why is this important knowledge for the average Egyptian?

5. Why does Senmut take Sinuhe to meet Inteb, the warrior? What lesson does Senmut want Sinuhe to leave with?

6. By his description of his servant, Keftiu, Sinuhe's opinion of women comes to light. What does he think of Keftiu? What does this tell the reader about his opinion of women in general?

7. When Sinuhe opens a skull and finds that the "disease had laid its egg" what does he mean by that? What is the egg inside the man's head? What does Sinuhe do with it? How does he repair the opening? What is significant about the fact that the man falls from a wall three days later and breaks his neck and dies? What is that supposed to symbolize?

8. What does the Keeper of the Archives In Hatti tell Sinuhe about the King? What is he warning Sinuhe about? What will happen in the future for the lands around Hatti?

9. What is Ptahor's job? Is this a cure for any disease or is this a quick way to die? Why do you think Ptahor is called to the pharaoh?

10. What is important about being able to read more than one Egyptian character at a time? How does this make the reader different in the eyes of others?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the Pharaoh Akhnaton. When approached with news of war, what is his response? What does the pharaoh believe about his enemies? What does this say about his character? What does he spend his days doing?

Essay Topic 2

Sinuhe talks with Thothmes about asking the question "why?" What is Sinuhe discovering about being inquisitive in the House of Life? Why is asking "why?" so threatening to the others he is studying with? What answer does Thothmes give him? Do you think Thothmes is correct in his answer?

Essay Topic 3

When Sinuhe opens a skull what is usually the outcome? Why is this considered good? How do the people view his work? Is his work making progress throughout the novel? How?

(see the answer keys)

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