Question

pharaoh at home
james baikie
the time is coming on now for the king to go in state to the great temple at karnak to offer sacrifice, and as we go up to the palace to see him come forth in all his glory, let me tell you a little about him and the kind of life he leads. pharaoh, of course, is not his real name; it is not even his official title; it is just a word which is used to describe a person who is so great that people scarcely venture to call him by his proper name. just as the turks nowadays speak of the \sublime porte,\ when they mean the sultan and his government, so the egyptians speak of \per-o,\ or pharaoh, as we call it, which really signifies \great house,\ when they mean the king.
for the king of egypt is a very great man indeed; in fact, his people look upon him, and he looks upon himself, as something more than a man. there are many gods in egypt; but the god whom the people know best, and to whom they pay the most reverence, is their king. ever since there have been kings in the country, and that is a very long time now, the reigning monarch has been looked upon as a kind of god manifest in the flesh. he calls himself \son of the sun\; in the temples you will see pictures of his childhood, where great goddesses dandle the young god upon their knees (plate 2). divine honours are paid, and sacrifices offered to him; and when he dies, and goes to join his brother-gods in heaven, a great temple rises to his memory, and hosts of priests are employed in his worship. there is just one distinction made between him and the other gods. amen at thebes, osiris at abydos, and all the rest of the crowd of divinities, are called \the great gods,\ pharaoh takes a different title. he is called \the good god.\
which best represents a central idea of the passage?
a pharaohs were considered gods among men and had little to no effect on the actual events in egypt.
b pharaohs were considered gods among men, but they had to be real kings and tend to real life issues.
c pharaohs were considered gods among men, and their chief role was to lead the people in a religious manner.
d pharaohs were not considered gods among men, rather they were considered to be wise kings who care little for riches.

Explanation:

The passage emphasizes that Pharaohs were considered gods among men. It mentions that people scarcely venture to call him by his proper name, indicating his divine status. Options B, C, and D either downplay this divine aspect (like B suggesting they had to be real kings with real - life issues, which contradicts the divine focus) or introduce incorrect elements (C about a religious manner as the chief role is not the central idea, D about being wise kings caring little for riches is not the main point). The central idea is the divine perception of Pharaohs.

Answer:

A. Pharaohs were considered gods among men and had little to no effect on the actual events in Egypt.