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?
- All the words but no sounds
- All of it, like Egyptian
- None of its sounds
- Only a few words
What clue helped Francis Griffith decipher Meroitic, Ari asks?
- A dictionary of Meroitic words left by Kush
- Very short inscriptions
- The Rosetta Stone's Greek text
- Meroitic spellings of Egyptian names
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?
- No
- Yes, from the Rosetta Stone
- A few words
- Yes, since Griffith
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
- Reading aloud a language you don't know
- Reading a picture book
- Not knowing any of the letters
Why did Egyptian names help with Meroitic sounds, Jun asks?
- The names told what each word meant
- Known names showed what sounds the signs made
- Egyptian names were in Greek
- Names have no sounds
Which script do we understand best of the three, Kira asks?
- Egyptian hieroglyphs
- The three equally well
- The Indus script
- Meroitic, since it was deciphered
Meroitic cursive was based on Egyptian Demotic. What does that show about Kush and Egypt, Milo asks?
- The neighbors shared ideas about writing
- Egypt copied its writing from Kush
- Kush and Egypt had no contact with each other
- The two spoke the same language
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
- Neither: both began in CE
- Both began in the same year
Pia's note says, "Since Griffith deciphered Meroitic, scholars can read every Meroitic text." Which fix is right?
- Change "Griffith" to "Champollion"
- Change it: they read the sounds, not the meaning
- Change "Meroitic" to "Indus"
- Leave it: deciphered means understood
Ren's note says, "Most Meroitic inscriptions use the hieroglyphic script." Which fix is right?
- Change "hieroglyphic" to "cursive"
- Change "Meroitic" to "Greek"
- Change "Most" to "No"
- Leave it: hieroglyphs came first in Egypt