Gods, temples and beliefs in ancient Egypt

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Some gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt

   Name	What Egyptians believed
   Ra (also called Atum)	?
   Amun	a god of Thebes who became the chief state god; joined with Ra as Amun-Ra
   Ptah	in some accounts, brought people into being by the force of his thoughts
   Khnum	in other accounts, shaped people on a potter's wheel
   Thoth	the god of knowledge and writing
   Maat	the goddess of truth and balance, the right order of the world

   The cell marked ? is blank. Below the chart: Egyptian writings give several different creation accounts, side by side. Gods could be shown in human, animal or mixed form; scholars think an animal form showed something about what a god was like.

2. 1.

   Pia's chart has a blank: what did Egyptians believe about Ra?

   • The goddess of truth and balance
   • The creator and sun god
   • The god of knowledge and writing
   • The god who shaped people on a wheel
3. 2.

   Ren's chart has a blank: which goddess stood for truth and balance?

   • Maat
   • Khnum
   • Thoth
   • Amun
4. 3.

   Tala's chart has a blank: what did some accounts say Khnum did?

   • Became the chief state god
   • Brought people into being by thought
   • Crossed the sky by boat each day
   • Shaped people on a potter's wheel

5. Some gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt

   Name	What Egyptians believed
   Ra (also called Atum)	the creator and sun god, who crossed the sky in a boat
   Amun	a god of Thebes who became the chief state god; joined with Ra as Amun-Ra
   Ptah	in some accounts, brought people into being by the force of his thoughts
   Khnum	in other accounts, shaped people on a potter's wheel
   Thoth	the god of knowledge and writing
   Maat	the goddess of truth and balance, the right order of the world

   Below the chart: Egyptian writings give several different creation accounts, side by side. Gods could be shown in human, animal or mixed form; scholars think an animal form showed something about what a god was like.

6. 4.

   Which two accounts in the chart tell how people came to be, Ari asks?

   • Thoth's writing and Maat's balance
   • Maat's balance and Amun's city
   • Ptah's thoughts and Khnum's wheel
   • Amun's city and Ra's boat
7. 5.

   Amun and Ra were joined into one name. What was it, Bo asks?

   • Amun-Ptah
   • Ra-Thoth
   • Maat-Ra
   • Amun-Ra
8. 6.

   Esme reads the word temple. In ancient Egypt, what was a temple?

   • A market for selling grain
   • A fort that guarded the river
   • A god's house, served by priests
   • The king's family palace
9. 7.

   Kira reads the word maat. What did maat mean to Egyptians?

   • A creator god's thoughts
   • Truth and right order
   • A city of the god Amun
   • A boat used at festivals
10. 8.

    Which sentence about Ra is written the careful history way, Luz asks?

    • Egyptians believed Ra was the god of writing
    • Ra crosses the sky by boat each day
    • Egyptians believed Ra crossed the sky
    • Ra was the one god Egyptians honored
11. 9.

    Milo's friend says some gods were shown as animals because Egyptians worshipped animals. What is the best reply?

    • Scholars think it showed a god's nature
    • Disagree: no god had an animal form
    • Agree: the gods had animal shapes alone
    • Agree: the animals themselves were the gods
12. 10.

    Egyptian writings give several creation accounts. How should Noah describe them?

    • Each account came from Greece
    • One account was true; the rest were false
    • Several accounts side by side
    • Egyptians had no ideas about creation