Ancient River Valley Civilisation: Egypt

The Egyptian society was divided into three distinct classes.

1. The upper class consisted of members of the royal family, rich landowners, high priests and government officials.
2. The middle class was made up of merchants, manufacturers, artisans or craftspersons. The ordinary priests were also members of this class.
3. The lower class consisted of farmers and unskilled workers. Slaves, who were mostly prisoners of war, were at the lowest level of society and had no rights.

Two features of the Egyptian religion are:

1. The Egyptians believed in many gods and goddesses, who were symbols of nature. Some of the important gods were Re, the Sun god; Isis, the wife of Osiris, the god of underworld and resurrection.
2. The pharaohs, who they believed were god's representatives on Earth, were also worshipped.

The Egyptians used paper, which was made from papyrus, a water reed. The word paper comes from the word 'papyrus'.

Two features of the Egyptian calender are:

1. The ancient Egyptian calendar had a year that was 365 days long.
2. The Egyptian civil calendar was divided into 12 months of 30 days each, plus 5 extra days at the end of the year for the celebration of religious festivals.

Herodotus

Divine Right Theory of Kingship.

three

a mechanical device for irrigation.

sacred carvings.

unskilled workers

i-c, ii-a, iii-b

Government and religion were intertwined in ancient Egypt. As the Egyptians believed that their kings or pharaohs were the descendants of gods, the pharaoh was not only the head of the state, but also God's representative on Earth.

Option 1 and 3 are true.

Reason — When a person died, the body organs were removed and the body was dried. The body was embalmed with oils and spices to preserve it. It was then wrapped in strips of linen (a very fine cloth). This preserved body is called a mummy. Mummies were prepared thousands of years ago, and yet they are well preserved today. Therefore, the process of mummification tells us that the ancient Egyptians had an advanced knowledge of medicine and the human body.

The ancient Egyptians also believed in life after death. As a result of this, when the mummies were put in a wooden coffin and buried in the tombs, food, wine, clothes, jewellery, furniture and weapons were kept there too to make the journey comfortable.