BGS History GCSE Revision Tests Ancient Egypt

1) Who was in charge of Egypt? The Pharaoh (good example of strong central government)

Strong government meant 2) This strong government had what effect on where people lived – how was their life now different to prehistoric people? Strong government meant people were safe. As a result they could stay in one place, and start to farm. People were no longer nomadic (moving from place to place). They could now live more settled lives.

3) Why could people now do specialist jobs? Because people were now farming, more and more food was produced. This is called an AGRICULTURAL SURPLUS. As a result not everyone had to farm all day. People became builders, traders as well as DOCTORS.

4) Religious beliefs led to Egyptians doing what to dead bodies? Embalming or mummifying dead bodies. They believed the soul left the body when you died, but at some point it would return and need to re-use the body. It was vital therefore that the body was preserved.

5)How did this process help medical knowledge improve? Priest-doctors learnt about all the major organs – heart, lungs, liver – as they removed them from dead bodies.

6) At the same time how did this process limit medical progress? Full dissection was banned – as the soul would need to re-use the body. As a result their understanding of ANATOMY (structure of the body) remained limited.

7) Who was the Egyptian god of healing? Imhotep

Theory of the Blocked Channels 8) What was the first ever natural theory of disease which the Egyptians developed? Theory of the Blocked Channels F irst E ver N atural T heory O f D isease

Willow was used as an antiseptic. 9) Give an example of a common-sense (natural) cure from Egyptian times. Willow was used as an antiseptic.

10) Why did the Egyptians think it was important to keep clean? Priest-doctors kept clean for religious reasons – out of respect for the gods. They shaved their hair, and always wore clean clothes – but they did it for religious reasons. Others in society copied them.