Kush: the kingdom south of Egypt that traded gold and worked iron
Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Three ancient scripts
Script Can scholars read the sounds? Can they understand the language? Main clue Egyptian hieroglyphs yes yes the Rosetta Stone, with the same decree in Greek Meroitic (Kush, from the 200s BCE) yes, since Francis Griffith deciphered it in the early 1900s only a few words Meroitic spellings of Egyptian names Indus script no no inscriptions are very short Meroitic had two scripts: a cursive script based on Egyptian Demotic, used in about 90% of inscriptions, and a hieroglyphic script based on Egyptian hieroglyphs.
How much of the Meroitic language can scholars understand, Zee asks?
- Only a few words
- All of it, like Egyptian
- None of its sounds
- All the words but no sounds
What clue helped Francis Griffith decipher Meroitic, Ari asks?
- Very short inscriptions
- The Rosetta Stone's Greek text
- Meroitic spellings of Egyptian names
- A dictionary of Meroitic words left by Kush
Three ancient scripts
Script Can scholars read the sounds? Can they understand the language? Main clue Egyptian hieroglyphs yes yes the Rosetta Stone, with the same decree in Greek Meroitic (Kush, from the 200s BCE) yes, since Francis Griffith deciphered it in the early 1900s only a few words Meroitic spellings of Egyptian names Indus script ? no inscriptions are very short The cell marked ? is blank. Meroitic had two scripts: a cursive script based on Egyptian Demotic, used in about 90% of inscriptions, and a hieroglyphic script based on Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Bo's chart has a blank: can scholars read the sounds of the Indus script?
- Yes, from the Rosetta Stone
- Yes, since Griffith
- A few words
- No
Three ancient scripts
Script Can scholars read the sounds? Can they understand the language? Main clue Egyptian hieroglyphs yes yes the Rosetta Stone, with the same decree in Greek Meroitic (Kush, from the 200s BCE) yes, since Francis Griffith deciphered it in the early 1900s only a few words Meroitic spellings of Egyptian names Indus script no no inscriptions are very short Meroitic had two scripts: a cursive script based on Egyptian Demotic, used in about 90% of inscriptions, and a hieroglyphic script based on Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Scholars can sound out Meroitic words but know few meanings. What is that like, Esme asks?
- Reading your own language easily and understanding it
- Not knowing any of the letters
- Reading aloud a language you don't know
- Reading a picture book
Why did Egyptian names help with Meroitic sounds, Jun asks?
- Names have no sounds
- Known names showed what sounds the signs made
- Egyptian names were in Greek
- The names told what each word meant
Meroitic cursive was based on Egyptian Demotic. What does that show about Kush and Egypt, Milo asks?
- The neighbors shared ideas about writing
- Kush and Egypt had no contact with each other
- The two spoke the same language
- Egypt copied its writing from Kush
Meroitic writing began in the 200s BCE. Which came first, Meroitic writing or Egyptian hieroglyphs, Noah asks?
- Meroitic, which Egypt then copied
- Egyptian hieroglyphs, which Meroitic built on
- Both began in the same year
- Neither: both began in CE
Pia's note says, "Since Griffith deciphered Meroitic, scholars can read every Meroitic text." Which fix is right?
- Change "Griffith" to "Champollion"
- Leave it: deciphered means understood
- Change it: they read the sounds, not the meaning
- Change "Meroitic" to "Indus"
Ren's note says, "Most Meroitic inscriptions use the hieroglyphic script." Which fix is right?
- Change "Most" to "No"
- Change "hieroglyphic" to "cursive"
- Leave it: hieroglyphs came first in Egypt
- Change "Meroitic" to "Greek"
Tala's note says, "The Indus script is read the same way as Meroitic." Which fix is right?
- Change "Meroitic" to "Greek"
- Leave it: both were deciphered
- Change it: the Indus script can't be read yet
- Change "Indus" to "Egyptian"