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

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Kush along the Nile

   Feature	What it is	Why it mattered
   Nubia	?	home of the Kingdom of Kush
   Cataracts	shallow, rocky stretches of the Nile with rapids	they lie along the river between Aswan and Khartoum
   Kush	a kingdom of Nubia, south of Egypt	it traded with its neighbors for many centuries

   The cell marked ? is blank.

2. 1.

   Jun's chart has a blank: what is Nubia?

   • Land along the Nile, now in Egypt and Sudan
   • A desert far from any river
   • A kingdom of Nubia, south of Egypt
   • Rocky stretches of the Nile
3. 2.

   Kira's chart has a blank: what are cataracts?

   • Shallow, rocky stretches with rapids
   • Waterfalls much taller than the mountains
   • Land along the Nile
   • A kingdom south of Egypt
4. 3.

   Luz's chart has a blank: why did Kush matter?

   • It was home of the Kingdom of Kush
   • They lie between Aswan and Khartoum
   • It had no neighbors nearby
   • It traded with its neighbors for centuries

5. Kush along the Nile

   Feature	What it is	Why it mattered
   Nubia	the land along the Nile from south of Aswan to near Khartoum, now in Egypt and Sudan	home of the Kingdom of Kush
   Cataracts	shallow, rocky stretches of the Nile with rapids	they lie along the river between Aswan and Khartoum
   Kush	a kingdom of Nubia, south of Egypt	it traded with its neighbors for many centuries

6. 4.

   Noah reads that the Nile has six cataracts. What is a cataract on a river?

   • A shallow, rocky stretch with rapids
   • A wide, deep lake found far away from the sea
   • The mouth of the river
   • A canal dug by people
7. 5.

   Pia reads that Nubia is now divided between Egypt and Sudan. What is Nubia?

   • A river in Sudan
   • A country of its own today
   • A city in Egypt
   • A region that is now in two countries
8. 6.

   Why would shallow rocks and rapids make boat travel on the Nile hard, Ren asks?

   • The water there is far too deep for boats
   • Rocks and shallow water block boats
   • Rapids make the river flow uphill
   • Boats cannot float on rivers
9. 7.

   Why did people in Kush live close to the Nile, Tala asks?

   • To stay away from neighbors
   • Because rain fell just by rivers
   • To escape the cataracts
   • For water, farming and travel
10. 8.

    How did the Nile help Kush trade with Egypt, Zee asks?

    • Trade made the river
    • The river linked Kush to Egypt
    • Egypt was south of Kush
    • The river ran far away from the land of Egypt

11. How Kerma grew

    Period	Dates	Size
    Early Kerma	2500–2000 BCE	a small, newly founded village
    Middle Kerma	2000–1750 BCE	a settlement of 3 hectares
    Classic Kerma	1750–1500 BCE	a city of about 25 hectares

12. 9.

    Which period of Kerma was the largest, Ari asks?

    • They were the same size
    • Classic Kerma, about 25 hectares
    • Early Kerma, a small newly founded village
    • Middle Kerma, 3 hectares
13. 10.

    How did Kerma change from 2500 BCE to 1500 BCE, Esme asks?

    • It shrank from a city to a village
    • It moved to Egypt
    • It grew from a village into a city
    • It stayed the same size