Egyptian Art and Architecture

History · Ancient Egypt · ages 9-11

Name ______________________ Date ____________

What is a mastaba?
- A pyramid with smooth sides
- A flat-roofed tomb with sloped sides
- A pointed stone pillar
Egyptian artists drew people in the sideways pose because they had not learned how to draw any other way.
Circle one: True False
Each of the four giant statues at Abu Simbel shows a different god.
Circle one: True False
In Egyptian paintings, how is a person's eye usually drawn?
- From the side
- From the front
- Looking down
In Egyptian paintings, each person's drawn size shows how tall they really were.
Circle one: True False
Pyramids were built as tombs for pharaohs, while temples like Karnak were built to honor the gods.
Circle one: True False
Which order shows how Egyptian monument design changed over time?
- Mastaba, step pyramid, smooth pyramid, rock-cut temple
- Rock-cut temple, smooth pyramid, step pyramid, mastaba
- Smooth pyramid, mastaba, rock-cut temple, step pyramid
Each giant statue at Abu Simbel is about as tall as a six-story building. Zane's apartment building has 2 stories. About how many of Zane's buildings stacked up would match one statue?
- 2 buildings stacked up
- 6 buildings stacked up
- 3 buildings stacked up
An archaeologist finds an old tomb that is low and flat-roofed with sloped sides. What has she found?
- A step pyramid, built after the smooth pyramids
- A rock-cut temple, the latest design
- A mastaba, one of the earliest tomb designs
Egyptian artists did not draw people the way they really looked. What were the two big rules they followed instead?
- Show the body's clearest parts in one pose, and use size to show importance
- Draw everyone small, and only use the color black
- Copy nature exactly, and never draw gods

Answer key

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

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A flat-roofed tomb with sloped sides · The mastaba was the earliest tomb shape: a low, flat-roofed building with sloped sides.
False · Egyptian artists were skilled. They chose the pose on purpose because it showed every body part clearly.
False · All four giant statues at Abu Simbel show Ramesses II himself, not different gods.
From the front · Egyptian artists drew the eye facing forward even though the body faced sideways, so it looked whole and alive.
False · Drawn size showed importance, not real height. A pharaoh could be drawn huge next to servants who were really just as tall.
True · Pyramids were royal tombs. Temples like Karnak were built to honor the gods, and both showed the pharaoh's power.
Mastaba, step pyramid, smooth pyramid, rock-cut temple · Design moved from simple flat-roofed mastabas, to stepped pyramids, to smooth-sided pyramids, and later to temples cut into rock cliffs.
3 buildings stacked up · Six stories split into groups of 2 stories makes 3 groups, so 3 of Zane's buildings stacked up would match one statue.
A mastaba, one of the earliest tomb designs · A low, flat-roofed tomb with sloped sides is a mastaba, the design that came before the pyramids.
Show the body's clearest parts in one pose, and use size to show importance · Egyptian art followed two rules: a pose that showed every body part clearly, and bigger figures for more important people.