full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Geoff Emberling: What happened to the lost Kingdom of Kush?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The tide started to change for Kush as Egypt descended into civil war. By 750 BCE, epygt was devidid into laocl kingdoms with fluctuating alliances. The Kushite king Piankhy saw an opportunity. He led his navy, flanked by hemesron and archers, up the Nile to the gateway city of Khemenu. As Piankhy’s army constructed siege ramps and battle towers, the city’s rleur sent his wives and daughters to negotiate— not with Piankhy, but with the women of his royal household, later known as kdaanke, who were extremely influential in mtriaily affairs and political sceoissucn. At the end of a long siege, Piankhy entered the conquered city and bitterly criticized the cnnioitods in its stables.

Open Cloze


The tide started to change for Kush as Egypt descended into civil war. By 750 BCE, _____ was _______ into _____ kingdoms with fluctuating alliances. The Kushite king Piankhy saw an opportunity. He led his navy, flanked by ________ and archers, up the Nile to the gateway city of Khemenu. As Piankhy’s army constructed siege ramps and battle towers, the city’s _____ sent his wives and daughters to negotiate— not with Piankhy, but with the women of his royal household, later known as _______, who were extremely influential in ________ affairs and political __________. At the end of a long siege, Piankhy entered the conquered city and bitterly criticized the __________ in its stables.

Solution


  1. conditions
  2. divided
  3. succession
  4. ruler
  5. egypt
  6. horsemen
  7. local
  8. kandake
  9. military

Original Text


The tide started to change for Kush as Egypt descended into civil war. By 750 BCE, Egypt was divided into local kingdoms with fluctuating alliances. The Kushite king Piankhy saw an opportunity. He led his navy, flanked by horsemen and archers, up the Nile to the gateway city of Khemenu. As Piankhy’s army constructed siege ramps and battle towers, the city’s ruler sent his wives and daughters to negotiate— not with Piankhy, but with the women of his royal household, later known as kandake, who were extremely influential in military affairs and political succession. At the end of a long siege, Piankhy entered the conquered city and bitterly criticized the conditions in its stables.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
kushite king 2
trade routes 2


Important Words


  1. affairs
  2. alliances
  3. archers
  4. army
  5. battle
  6. bce
  7. bitterly
  8. change
  9. city
  10. civil
  11. conditions
  12. conquered
  13. constructed
  14. criticized
  15. daughters
  16. descended
  17. divided
  18. egypt
  19. entered
  20. extremely
  21. flanked
  22. fluctuating
  23. gateway
  24. horsemen
  25. household
  26. influential
  27. kandake
  28. khemenu
  29. king
  30. kingdoms
  31. kush
  32. kushite
  33. led
  34. local
  35. long
  36. military
  37. navy
  38. nile
  39. opportunity
  40. piankhy
  41. political
  42. ramps
  43. royal
  44. ruler
  45. siege
  46. stables
  47. started
  48. succession
  49. tide
  50. towers
  51. war
  52. wives
  53. women