1) Egyptologists traditionally distinguish between the major periods of the pharaonic history on the basis of the _______ __________ of the country.

2) 'Kingdoms' are defined as times of political unity and strong, centralized government. The alternate, in contrast, is characterized by rivalries of local rulers in their claims for power and are known as ____________ periods.

3) After the 8th Dynasty power was held by a succession of rulers originating from ____________ _______ in northern Middle Egypt.

4) During the 11th Dynasty two competing States confronted each other within the territory of Egypt until the Theban king managed to defeat his Herakleopolitan opponent and reunite the country thus inaugurating the ________ __________.

5) The First Intermediate Period is the time between the end of the ____ Dynasty and the reign of Mentuhotep II at the beginning of the 12 th Dynasty.

6) Based on figures reported by Manetho regarding the length of the 10th Dynasty it is estimated that the entire First Intermediate Period lasted nearly______ centuries.

7) The First Intermediate Period was a time of disorder in terms of the succession to the throne, a period of crisis, and a time of new developments, all of which deeply affected the whole of Egyptian _________ and ___________.

8) The glaring gap in the monumental record during the First Intermediate Period therefore suggests that the Egyptian social system had become ___________.

9) Rather than being an outright collapse of Egyptian society and culture, the First Intermediate Period was characterized by an important, though temporary, __________ in its centers of activity and dynamism.

10) Until well into the 5th Dynasty there was a vast chasm of social and cultural ______________ between the country and its rulers.

11) Profound changes in the social system began to appear in the 5th Dynasty and by the end of the 6th Dynasty _______ Egypt but had become economically richer and culturally more complex.

12) During the late Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period, ordinary _________ became considerably larger and ________ began to be provided with much better grave goods.

13) From an archeologist's point of view, what is clearly the most important type of artifact?

14) During the First Intermediate Period the heads of many mummies began to be covered with colored _________ masks.

15) In the Old Kingdom, the grave goods of poor burials had been chosen entirely from among the types of objects used in daily life, but in the First Intermediate Period objects began to be made ___________ for funerary use.

16) The fact that many pieces of art created during the First Intermediate Period were ugly and incompetently made might signal the emergence of _________ __________.

17) During the Old Kingdom, provincial districts were usually run by a two-tiered administration; an 'overseer of priests' and a 'great overlord of the nome' often translated as __________ .

18) What kinds of crises are often regarded as an essential hallmark of the First Intermediate Period?

19) Documented historical variations of the (annual) flood of the Nile, makes it clear that the specter of famine due to the Nile failure in individual years must have haunted the Egyptians throughout _____ periods of their history.

20) During the First Intermediate Period the principle of caring for the weak was greatly elaborated. Provincial rulers were expected to take responsibility for the whole of ___________.

21) During the Old Kingdom, the local ___________ were obliged to organize the military service of the people under their jurisdiction and to lead such troops.

22) Far from being a period of cultural decline, the turbulent years of the First Intermediate Period witnessed an upsurge of outstanding __________.