Kush: the kingdom south of Egypt that traded gold and worked iron

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. 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.

2. 1.

   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
3. 2.

   What clue helped Francis Griffith decipher Meroitic, Ari asks?

   • Meroitic spellings of Egyptian names
   • The Rosetta Stone's Greek text
   • Very short inscriptions
   • A dictionary of Meroitic words left by Kush
4. 3.

   Scholars can sound out Meroitic words but know few meanings. What is that like, Esme asks?

   • Reading a picture book
   • Reading aloud a language you don't know
   • Not knowing any of the letters
   • Reading your own language easily and understanding it
5. 4.

   Why did Egyptian names help with Meroitic sounds, Jun asks?

   • Egyptian names were in Greek
   • Names have no sounds
   • The names told what each word meant
   • Known names showed what sounds the signs made
6. 5.

   Which script do we understand best of the three, Kira asks?

   • Meroitic, since it was deciphered
   • The three equally well
   • Egyptian hieroglyphs
   • The Indus script
7. 6.

   About 90% of Meroitic inscriptions use one of its two scripts. Which one, Luz asks?

   • Greek letters
   • The cursive script
   • The Indus script
   • The hieroglyphic script
8. 7.

   Meroitic cursive was based on Egyptian Demotic. What does that show about Kush and Egypt, Milo asks?

   • The two spoke the same language
   • The neighbors shared ideas about writing
   • Egypt copied its writing from Kush
   • Kush and Egypt had no contact with each other
9. 8.

   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 "Meroitic" to "Indus"
   • Change it: they read the sounds, not the meaning
10. 9.

    Ren's note says, "Most Meroitic inscriptions use the hieroglyphic script." Which fix is right?

    • Change "Most" to "No"
    • Change "hieroglyphic" to "cursive"
    • Change "Meroitic" to "Greek"
    • Leave it: hieroglyphs came first in Egypt
11. 10.

    Tala's note says, "The Indus script is read the same way as Meroitic." Which fix is right?

    • Change "Indus" to "Egyptian"
    • Leave it: both were deciphered
    • Change "Meroitic" to "Greek"
    • Change it: the Indus script can't be read yet