Name Class Date

Ancient Egypt and Kush Literature

The Egyptian Cinderella

by Shirley Climo

ABOUT THE READING The story of VOCABULARY

Rhodopis (ra-doh-pes) was first recorded in din loud noise
the first century BC. Rhodopis was a real life
slave girl who marries Pharaoh Amasis. She rushes a kind of plant that
was queen 570526 BC. The story below grows in wet lands
is both fact and fiction. This excerpt begins
after a falcon swoops down and steals one
of Rhodipiss rose-red gold slippers and then
gives it to the Pharaoh.

As you read the passage below, note how the

story resembles the fairy tale Cinderella.
Horus was the Egyptian sun god.
Horus was often portrayed in
The god Horus sends me a sign! exclaimed Egyptian art as that as a falcon.
the Pharaoh. He picked up the rose-red slipper. The Pharoah interprets the
appearance of a falcon as a sign
Every maiden in Egypt must try this shoe! She from Horus.
whose foot it fits shall be my queen. That is the
will of the gods.
Amasis dismissed the court, called for his chariot,
and began his search at once.
The Pharaoh journeyed to distant cities. He Many pyramids were built in
Ancient Egypt. The Great
tracked the desert where pyramids tower over the Pyramids are Menkaure, Khufu,
sand, and he climbed the steep cliffs where falcons and Khafre.

nest. The rose-red slipper was always in his hand.

Wherever he went, women and girls, rich or poor,
flocked to try on the slipper. But none could fit into
so small a shoe.
The longer Amasis searched, the more
determined he became to marry the maiden who
had lost the tiny slipper. He summoned his royal
barge and vowed to visit every landing along the
Nile. The barge was hung with sails of silk.
Source: The Egyptian Cinderella, by Shirley Climo. New York: Thomas
Y. Crowell,l 1989.

Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.

16 Ancient Egypt and Kush
Name Class Date

The Egyptian Cinderella, continued Literature

Trumpets blared and oarsmen rowed to the beat of

gongs. The din was so dreadful that, when the barge
rounded the bend in the river, Rhodopis fled in
Do you think the servant girls
alarm. But the servant girls ran to the waters edge. liked Rhodopis? Support your
Now we will see the Pharaoh! cried Kipa. answer with a detail from the
reading.
Amasis held up the rose-red slipper. Whoever
can wear this shoe shall be my queen.
The servant girls knew that shoe, and knew its owner,
too. Yet they clapped their hands over their mouths and
said nothing. If one of them could wear it...
First Kipa, then the others, tried to put on the
slipper. Each cramped her foot and curled her toes
and squeezed until tears ran down her cheeks. Still
her heel hung over.
Enough! said Amasis wearily. He would have
set sail again had he not chanced to see Rhodopis
peering through the rushes.
Come! he commanded. You must try this
rose-red slipper.
The servant girls gawked openmouthed as the
Pharaoh kneeled before Rhodopis. He slipped the
tiny shoe on her foot with ease. Then Rhodopis
pulled its mate from the folds of her tunic.
Behold! cried Amasis. In all this land there is
none so fit to be queen!

ANALYZING LITERATURE
1. Main Idea What is the purpose of the Pharoahs search?

2. Critical Thinking: Making Comparisons How are Rhodopis and Cinderella alike?
How are they different?

ACTIVITY On a separate sheet of paper, create a wedding invitation for

the Pharoah and Rhodopis.
Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
17 Ancient Egypt and Kush

Biography Khufu
WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
1. Because his tomb was robbed during
ancient times, which would have
contained many clues about his life.
2. The Great Pyramid is very different from
a tomb in America. American graveyards
are generally small, and with many people
buried in them. The Pyramid is very large,
and was just built for Khufu and his
family.
ACTIVITY
3. Answers will vary.
Biography Queen
Amanirenas
WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
1. Possible Response: Since the most
important religious icon was Isis, a
female, it probably made the Kushites
view women rulers as very powerful
and capable.
2. Possible Response: She did not give up.
She also attacked first.
ACTIVITY
3. Answers will vary.
Biography King Taharqa
WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
1. Taharqa built many buildings, rebuilt
temples, and tried to defend Egypt from
invasion by the Assyrians.
2. Shebaka was the first King of the
Twenty-fifth Dynasty, who was succeeded
by his nephew Shebitku. Shebitku and
Taharqa were brothers: Shebitku was the
Second King of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty,
and Taharqa was the Third.
ACTIVITY
3. Answers will vary.
Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
49
Answer Key
Literature The Egyptian
Cinderella
CALL OUT BOX
1. The servant girls did not tell the Pharaoh
that the shoe belonged to Rhodopis.
ANALYZING LITERATURE
1. He believes that the god Horus sent him
a message and that he needs to find the
owner of the shoe to marry her and make
her his queen.
2. Similarities: both lose slippers; both
marry and become queen; both are poor;
Differences: Rhodopiss slippers are
rose-red, Cinderellas slippers are glass;
Rhodopis marries a Pharaoh, Cinderella
marries a prince.
Literature The Fall of
Meroe
CALL OUT BOXES
1. Answers may vary. Students may under-
line the following sections: they boasted;
When they did violence to the peoples
Mangurto and Hasa and Barya; the Blacks
Waged war on the Red Peoples; broke
their oath; slew their neighbors and plun-
dered our envoys and our messengers;
they did not hear me, and reviled me
2. Answers may vary. Students may circle the
following sections: I burnt their towns;
and (there were) many who perished in
the water; a multitude of people / Men
and women were drowned
ANALYZING LITERATURE
1. They taunted the king saying that he
would never invade Meroe, they broke
their promise, they killed their neighbors,
they attacked messengers from Aksum,
and they verbally attacked the king.
2. The people were violent during and after
battles, killing even women, burning vil-
lages, and taking all the possessions of
those they conquered.
Ancient Kush and Egypt