Persia: a huge empire held together by roads and governors

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Many peoples, one empire (cards A to D; summaries in our words). Card A, a stone statue of Darius I, found at Susa in 1972. It is carved with writing in Egyptian hieroglyphs and in cuneiform in three languages, and its inscription says it was made in Egypt. Card B, Aramaic documents: letters and records in Aramaic from Persian times have been found in Egypt in the west and in Bactria in the east. The Bactria documents are dated between 353 and 324 BCE. Card C, a papyrus copied in Egypt long after Darius's time: it says Darius ordered Egypt's wise men to collect the country's old laws and write them down. Card D, the empire's dates: Cyrus the Great founded it about 550 BCE, and Alexander of Macedon conquered it by 330 BCE.

2. 1.

   Card A has writing in Egyptian hieroglyphs and in cuneiform. What does that suggest about its audience, Ari asks?

   • It was made to help scholars of today read hieroglyphs beside cuneiform, long after Persia's rule
   • It spoke to Egyptians and to Persian officials alike, in each one's own script
   • It was a statue of an Egyptian king, made before Persia ruled Egypt
   • It shows that people across the empire could read Egyptian hieroglyphs
3. 2.

   Cards A and B come from Egypt and Bactria, far apart. What do they together suggest about Persian rule, Bo asks?

   • Rulers wrote in Old Persian alone, which made Aramaic an unofficial language
   • Rulers forced each people to give up its own language and customs
   • Rulers used local forms and a shared written language to reach many peoples
   • Rulers sent Egyptian clerks to Bactria, so the two lands shared officials
4. 3.

   Card C was copied in Egypt long after Darius's time. How should a historian use it, Jun asks?

   • As worthless, because Egyptians who disliked Persian rule would not write it
   • As a record made during Darius's reign, so it needs no further checking
   • As a later account of a tradition, drawn from sources from his time
   • As a modern summary that lists the laws of Egypt for a textbook on ancient Egypt
5. 4.

   Why was a shared written language such as Aramaic useful, as the documents in card B suggest, Kira asks?

   • It stopped provinces from keeping their own languages for daily life
   • It let Alexander's officers read Persian records after they conquered the empire
   • Officials in far provinces could write to each other without translating
   • It was the language of the statue in card A, so orders used it
6. 5.

   Card D says the empire began about 550 BCE and ended by 330 BCE. About how many years did it last, Luz asks?

   • About 36 years, the length of Darius's reign from 522 to 486 BCE
   • About 220 years, since 550 minus 330 is 220
   • About 880 years, found by adding 550 and 330 together
   • About 22 years, from reading 220 as 22
7. 6.

   Card A was made for Darius. Card C was copied in Egypt long after. How do their viewpoints differ, Noah asks?

   • Card A shows how Darius chose to appear; card C shows how he was remembered
   • Card A shows how Egyptians later remembered him; card C shows how he chose to appear
   • Both were made in Susa, so both show the Persian court's view
   • Both show Egypt's own view, because both were carved by Egyptian craftsmen
8. 7.

   Which new find would best test card C's claim that Darius had Egypt's laws collected, Pia asks?

   • Another copy of the same papyrus, since a papyrus cannot be checked
   • A new copy of the Behistun carving, found in the same Persian cliff
   • A new book that retells the papyrus story in plain words for students
   • A legal text from Darius's reign in Egypt that cites the collected laws
9. 8.

   Why might Darius have wanted a statue in Egyptian style, as card A suggests, Tala asks?

   • To show that Egypt had no king before Darius ruled it
   • So archaeologists could date it after it was found at Susa in 1972
   • To record the amount that Egypt paid in fixed payments each year to the Persian court
   • To present himself as a rightful ruler to Egyptians in forms they knew
10. 9.

    Card B dates the Bactria documents from 353 to 324 BCE. About how many years do they cover, Zee asks?

    • About 39 years, since 353 minus 324 is 39
    • About 677 years, found by adding 353 and 324 together
    • About 29 years, since 353 minus 324 is 29
    • About 2,350 years, counted from 324 BCE to today
11. 10.

    A student says, "Card B proves Persians never used Old Persian for records." Which card challenges that, Ren asks?

    • Card D, since it shows that Old Persian was spoken in each province
    • Neither, since an Aramaic document means the Persian language was not written
    • Card A has cuneiform in three languages, so royal writing was not just Aramaic
    • Card C, since it says Darius wrote the laws of Egypt himself in Old Persian script