Egypt's Trade and Wealth

History · Ancient Egypt · ages 9-11

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Where did Egypt get its cedarwood?
- Punt
- Afghanistan
- Lebanon
What is barter?
- Saving food in a storehouse
- Trading goods directly for other goods, without coins
- Paying for goods with gold coins
In a barter swap, 1 cedar log trades for 3 sacks of grain. A trader wants 2 logs. How many sacks of grain does he need?
Answer: ______________
Every year, the Nile flooded and left behind rich black soil.
Circle one: True False
Why could some ancient Egyptians become priests or craftworkers instead of farmers?
- The Nile stopped flooding
- Farming was against the law for them
- Farmers grew more food than their families needed, so others didn't have to farm
Egypt traded gold for cedarwood from Lebanon. Why did Egypt need this trade?
- Lebanon had no gold of its own
- Egypt had no forests to grow cedarwood
- Egypt had too much cedarwood already
Because of the food surplus, Egypt's cities and temples could grow.
Circle one: True False
A farmer barters 4 baskets of grain for 2 jars of oil. At that rate, how many baskets of grain would 1 jar of oil cost?
Answer: ______________
Even without a food surplus, Egypt could have supported just as many craftworkers, priests, and officials.
Circle one: True False
Khaled says, 'Egypt became rich because it already had everything it needed at home.' What is wrong with Khaled's idea?
- Egypt lacked things like forests, so trade brought what it could not grow or mine itself
- Nothing, Egypt never needed anything from other lands
- Egypt stayed poor because it traded too much

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Egypt's Trade and Wealth W1-mt_5OxKnrGEMP-s1

Lebanon · Traders sailed down the Nile and across the Mediterranean Sea to Lebanon, and traded gold for cedar logs.
Trading goods directly for other goods, without coins · Barter means swapping goods for goods. Egypt had no coins yet.
6 · Each log costs 3 sacks, so 2 logs cost 3 + 3 = 6 sacks.
True · The yearly flood left rich black soil, which is why farms along the Nile grew so much food.
Farmers grew more food than their families needed, so others didn't have to farm · A surplus of food from farming freed other people to do different jobs.
Egypt had no forests to grow cedarwood · Egypt lacked cedar forests, so traders sailed to Lebanon and swapped gold for the wood they needed.
True · The surplus freed people from farming, and their work helped cities and temples grow.
2 · 4 baskets buy 2 jars, so each jar costs half of 4 baskets, which is 2 baskets.
False · The surplus is what fed the people who did not farm. Without it, everyone would have had to farm, and far fewer could specialise.
Egypt lacked things like forests, so trade brought what it could not grow or mine itself · Egypt had no forests and no lapis lazuli mines. Trade made Egypt rich by bringing in what it lacked.