In both ancient egypt and ancient dynastic china, power was: a. based on elections b. held by monarch and parliament, acting together c. according to writing constitution d. held absolutely and by divine right

The correct answer is - D. Held absolutely and by divine right.

In both of these ancient empires/dynasties the rulers were not elected, but instead they had the throne as a given because they were born in the family that ruled the empire/dynasty. They had the absolute power over everything in their respective empires/dynasties, but it's interesting that they were also considered as divine creatures, like Gods even.