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NSWAncient HistoryQuick questions
Section II (Ancient Societies): New Kingdom Egypt to the death of Thutmose IV
Quick questions on Religion and society in New Kingdom Egypt (HSC Ancient History Section II)
15short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the pharaoh as divine?Show answer
The pharaoh was god-king. Religious authority and political authority were inseparable. The pharaoh performed key rituals at major temples (or delegated to high priests).
What is karnak Temple?Show answer
Amun's main sanctuary. The largest temple complex in Egypt. Continuously expanded by Eighteenth Dynasty pharaohs (Thutmose I's pylons, Hatshepsut's obelisks, Thutmose III's Festival Hall, Amenhotep III's later additions).
What is luxor Temple?Show answer
Smaller than Karnak. Connected by an avenue of sphinxes. Site of the Opet Festival.
What is priesthood?Show answer
Hierarchical: high priest of Amun (often a royal appointee, sometimes the pharaoh's son or close relative), priests of various ranks, lay priests serving rotationally.
What is wealth?Show answer
Temple of Amun owned vast estates. Annual revenue from agriculture, mining, and royal grants. The wealth of the Amun priesthood would become politically problematic by the later New Kingdom.
What is osiris?Show answer
God of the afterlife. Central to mortuary religion.
What is isis?Show answer
Wife of Osiris. Goddess of motherhood, magic, healing.
What is horus?Show answer
Son of Osiris and Isis. The pharaoh as Horus-incarnate.
What is thoth?Show answer
God of wisdom, writing, the moon.
What is hathor?Show answer
Goddess of love, joy, music.
What is belief in afterlife?Show answer
The deceased's spirit (ka and ba) continued existence. The body must be preserved (mummification). The tomb must be provisioned with goods and magical texts.
What is book of the Dead?Show answer
Funerary text containing spells to navigate the afterlife.
What are valley of the Kings?Show answer
Tombs of New Kingdom pharaohs from Thutmose I. Approximately 65 tombs catalogued (KV1 to KV65, with some lower numbers reused or revised). Rock-cut, hidden, separate from mortuary temple.
What are mortuary temples?Show answer
Built separately from the tomb. Hatshepsut's Deir el-Bahari is the masterpiece. The temple maintained the cult of the deceased pharaoh.
What is monumental architecture?Show answer
Temples (Karnak, Luxor, Deir el-Bahari), tombs (Valley of the Kings), and palaces. Use of cut stone (limestone, sandstone, granite). Pillared halls (hypostyle), obelisks, pylons, sphinx avenues.