full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Abdallah Ewis: The forgotten queen of Egypt

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In May of 1250, with the support of the mamaleek military, Shajar Al-Durr was inaugurated as Sultana of Egypt. Days later, she negotiated the ransom of the fnrceh king and his army in exchange for an enormous sum of money and the suedrnrer of the occupied port city. In stipe of her success leading Egypt through this military crisis, she had to work to cement her credibility in the eyes of the plibuc. As a formerly enslaved person, her rise to power wasn’t linked to royal ancestry, while as a woman, societal rtetoniriscs prevented her from participating in many of the events a sultan would typically attend. To irnaecse her vitiblisiy and solidify her claim to the throne, she ctctnuorsed a public mausoleum for her hnbuasd, issued the currency under her name, and seingd decrees as Walidat Khalil, the mother of Khalil.

Open Cloze


In May of 1250, with the support of the mamaleek military, Shajar Al-Durr was inaugurated as Sultana of Egypt. Days later, she negotiated the ransom of the ______ king and his army in exchange for an enormous sum of money and the _________ of the occupied port city. In _____ of her success leading Egypt through this military crisis, she had to work to cement her credibility in the eyes of the ______. As a formerly enslaved person, her rise to power wasn’t linked to royal ancestry, while as a woman, societal ____________ prevented her from participating in many of the events a sultan would typically attend. To ________ her __________ and solidify her claim to the throne, she ___________ a public mausoleum for her _______, issued the currency under her name, and ______ decrees as Walidat Khalil, the mother of Khalil.

Solution


  1. spite
  2. signed
  3. french
  4. increase
  5. constructed
  6. husband
  7. visibility
  8. public
  9. restrictions
  10. surrender

Original Text


In May of 1250, with the support of the mamaleek military, Shajar Al-Durr was inaugurated as Sultana of Egypt. Days later, she negotiated the ransom of the French king and his army in exchange for an enormous sum of money and the surrender of the occupied port city. In spite of her success leading Egypt through this military crisis, she had to work to cement her credibility in the eyes of the public. As a formerly enslaved person, her rise to power wasn’t linked to royal ancestry, while as a woman, societal restrictions prevented her from participating in many of the events a sultan would typically attend. To increase her visibility and solidify her claim to the throne, she constructed a public mausoleum for her husband, issued the currency under her name, and signed decrees as Walidat Khalil, the mother of Khalil.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
french king 3
king louis 2
louis ix 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
king louis ix 2

Important Words


  1. ancestry
  2. army
  3. attend
  4. cement
  5. city
  6. claim
  7. constructed
  8. credibility
  9. crisis
  10. currency
  11. days
  12. decrees
  13. egypt
  14. enormous
  15. enslaved
  16. events
  17. exchange
  18. eyes
  19. french
  20. husband
  21. inaugurated
  22. increase
  23. issued
  24. khalil
  25. king
  26. leading
  27. linked
  28. mamaleek
  29. mausoleum
  30. military
  31. money
  32. mother
  33. negotiated
  34. occupied
  35. participating
  36. person
  37. port
  38. power
  39. prevented
  40. public
  41. ransom
  42. restrictions
  43. rise
  44. royal
  45. shajar
  46. signed
  47. societal
  48. solidify
  49. spite
  50. success
  51. sultan
  52. sultana
  53. sum
  54. support
  55. surrender
  56. throne
  57. typically
  58. visibility
  59. walidat
  60. woman
  61. work