Critical Reasoning

The Nile Delta of Egypt was invaded and ruled from 1650 to 1550 B.C. by a people called the Hyksos. Their origin is uncertain, but archaeologists hypothesize that they were Canaanites. In support of this hypothesis, the archaeologists point out that excavations of Avaris, the Hyksos capital in Egypt, have uncovered large numbers of artifacts virtually identical to artifacts produced in Ashkelon, a major city of Canaan at the time of the Hyksos invasion.

In order to evaluate the force of the archaeologists' evidence, it would be most useful to determine which of the following?

(A) Whether there were some artifacts found at Avaris that were unlike those produced in Ashkelon but that date to before 1700 B.C.

(B) Whether the Hyksos ruled any other part of Egypt besides the Nile Delta in the period from 1650 to 1550 B.C.

(C) Whether Avaris was the nearest Hyksos city in Egypt to Canaan

(D) Whether Ashkelon after 1550 B.C. continued to produce artifacts similar to those found at Avaris

(E) Whether many of the artifacts found at Avaris that are similar to artifacts produced in Ashkelon date to well before the Hyksos invasion

The right answer to an Evaluate the Argument question will provide information key to determining how strong the argument is; typically this is information useful in determining whether the assumptions made were correct. In this case, we want to evaluate the evidence archeologists use to conclude that the Hyksos were Caananites. The evidence presented is the presence of artifacts (in the Hyksos capital) virtually identical to those found in Canaan. What you should ask yourself is "Does this evidence prove that the Hyksos were Canaanites? Why not?" Below are some of the predictions we can make for what information would be useful.

1) does "virtually identical" mean that the artifacts were in fact Canaanites?
2) how did the artifacts make it to the Hyksos capital? (were they brought by the Hyksos, traded etc..)
3) when did the artifacts first appear? (was it during the Hyksos rule? before or after?)

The full solution below is taken from the GMATFix App.



-Patrick