Deck 2: Peoples,Gods,and Empires: 1700-500 B.C.E

Question 1

The division of property and wealth in New Kingdom Egypt:

A) favored the pharaoh, the military aristocracy, and the temples of the gods.
B) guaranteed employment for all, from soldiers to peasants and artisans.
C) led to discontent among the masses and calls for reform.
D) was among the most generous of all ancient civilizations.
E) was equitable for all and represents the earliest communitarian society.

Answer 1

favored the pharaoh, the military aristocracy, and the temples of the gods.

Question 2

By the fourteenth century B.C.E.,international relations were marked by:

A) suspicions and hostility: states wanted as little contact as possible.
B) strictly limited trade in essential goods only: grain, oil, wine, and salt.
C) feelings of brotherhood between the Hittites and the Assyrians.
D) diplomatic standards, polite forms of address, gifts, and alliances.
E) continual warfare between the regional powers.

Answer 2

diplomatic standards, polite forms of address, gifts, and alliances.

Question 3

As part of his religious reform,Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten and:

A) emphasized his father's manner of devotion.
B) founded a new capital called Akhetaten, located between Thebes and Memphis.
C) sponsored artwork that depicted the new pharaoh as a masculine god in the shape of a falcon-headed man.
D) constructed the Great Pyramid at Gaza as a memorial to his family.
E) returned the capital of Egypt to Memphis from Thebes.

Answer 3

founded a new capital called Akhetaten, located between Thebes and Memphis.

Question 4

Hatshepsut was regularly portrayed as masculine in Egyptian statuary because:

A) she had become a priest of Amon-Ra.
B) she needed to demonstrate that, like male pharaohs, she ruled in her own right.
C) she regularly led her troops in battle in men's clothing.
D) her court-appointed artists wanted to defame her.
E) she wanted to challenge traditional masculine authority.

Question 5

In 1786,the scholar Sir William Jones suggested that:

A) Mesopotamian civilization died out because of drought.
B) out of respect for the dead, ancient sites should not be excavated.
C) bones found in Anatolia matched those of an Egyptian mummy.
D) ancient Greek and Sanskrit descended from a common linguistic source.
E) the remains of the Trojan civilization could be found in northern Greece.

Question 6

"Indo-European," as used in historical or anthropological texts,refers to:

A) someone whose parents belong to different races from India and Europe.
B) shared characteristics of languages spoken in India, the Near East, Europe, and perhaps the Far East.
C) the inhabitants of a strip of land connecting Asia and Europe.
D) the view that Hindus and ancient Goths had much in common.
E) all Western cultures that arose out of western Europe.

Question 7

When the Hyksos conquered Lower Egypt in the Egypt's Second Intermediate Period,they:

A) dismantled all Egyptian forms of government.
B) desecrated Egyptian temples dedicated to Ra.
C) moved the capital of Lower Egypt to Thebes.
D) used a military aristocracy to govern.
E) adopted the machinery of pharaonic government.

Question 8

During the first millennium B.C.E.:

A) bronze slowly replaced iron as the primary component of tools and weapons.
B) iron slowly replaced bronze as the primary component of tools and weapons.
C) tempered copper slowly replaced bronze as the primary component of tools and weapons.
D) scholars from India to Ireland used the Sanskrit language in academic treatises.
E) Anatolia lost influence and was no longer a major player in Near East politics.

Question 9

During the Middle Kingdom,Egypt avoided invasion and attack by:

A) ensuring that their large standing army was well equipped and easily maneuverable.
B) defeating the Mitannians, the most powerful people in the ancient Near East.
C) a strategy of accommodation with its rivals and neighbors.
D) hiring mercenaries to defend its borders.
E) practicing a policy of political isolationism.

Question 10

In the Late Bronze Age,transnational trade:

A) was extremely rare.
B) always made economies engaged in it stronger.
C) was a conduit for ideas and technology.
D) fostered the development of strict social hierarchies.
E) always occurred over land routes.

Question 11

The people who settled in Anatolia around 2000 B.C.E.and built a powerful,militaristic kingdom there over the next 400 years are known as the:

A) Philistines.
B) Assyrians.
C) Babylonians.
D) Hittites.
E) Chaldeans.

Question 12

After her death,Hatshepsut's rule was called into question because:

A) later pharaohs did not believe a woman should have ruled in her own right.
B) her nephew Thutmose III resented Hatshepsut's power over him.
C) she had no significant military victories.
D) Amenhotep II wanted to deny the legitimacy of her descendants' claim to the throne.
E) Akhenaten saw her as a rival and wanted to deny her legacy.

Question 13

Thutmose I was remarkable for:

A) his attempt to obliterate the memory of his Horus-Ra predecessors.
B) changing the Egyptian religion from polytheism to monotheism.
C) military campaigns in Palestine, including the capture of Jerusalem.
D) ruling territory from Nubia to the Euphrates River.
E) his defeat at the hands of the Hyksos at the battle of Kadesh.

Question 14

The New Kingdom,particularly the Eighteenth Dynasty,was marked by:

A) a return to traditional values of peaceful rule and indifference to the world.
B) the ultimate triumph of the Hyksos and the fall of the Egyptian empire.
C) the failure of pharaoh Amuse to control his military forces.
D) the peak of Egyptian power.
E) the conversion of the entire Egyptian society to monotheism and their rejection of their traditional gods and goddesses.

Question 15

The priests at the greatest Egyptian temple complexes at Thebes:

A) were discredited by their association with the hated Hyksos.
B) required believers to approach on their knees and beg forgiveness.
C) received special favor from the Eighteenth Dynasty, which worshiped Amon-Ra.
D) supported Amenhotep IV's religious reform program.
E) led the change in Egyptian religion from polytheism to monotheism.

Question 16

The system of writing developed by the citizens of Ugarit:

A) combined Egyptian hieroglyphics and Mesopotamian cuneiform.
B) used an alphabet of about thirty symbols for the consonants.
C) was hopelessly inefficient for the needs of trade.
D) constituted a secret language used by diplomats and spies.
E) was adopted throughout the region as an easier alternative to Phoenician.

Question 17

When Akhenaten died and was succeeded by Tutankhaten:

A) Tutankhaten continued the religious reforms of his predecessor.
B) the priests of Amon knew their cause was hopeless.
C) the young pharaoh stepped down from the throne, knowing he was too young to rule.
D) the Hebrews took advantage of the opportunity to flee Egypt.
E) the new pharaoh returned to traditional ways of worship.

Question 18

Akhenaten represents one of the earliest moves,in Western history,toward:

A) a centralized government with all authority resting with the ruler.
B) centralized planning of all aspects of the country's economy.
C) a regulated system of delivering messages throughout the country.
D) monotheistic religious practices.
E) a theocracy.

Question 19

The land of Kush was founded when:

A) the Upper Kingdom of Egypt separated from the Lower.
B) the Hyksos conquest weakened Upper Egypt's control over the Nubians.
C) the Hyksos conquest weakened Upper Egypt's control over the Ethiopians.
D) a civil war erupted among the nobles of Egypt for the right to be pharaoh.
E) unable to conquer Egypt, the Hyksos established their own territory to the south of the Egyptian kingdoms.

Question 20

The Hittite Empire was able to survive even attacks by rivals because:

A) the Hittites were strongly militaristic to the exclusion of all other aspects of governance and diplomacy.
B) its leaders made an alliance with their rivals, the Mitannians.
C) the Hittite government made good use of espionage and assassination to defeat its rivals.
D) their military readily adopted new technologies, even those of their enemies.
E) the Hittites adopted the culture of those attacking them.

Question 21

The Neo-Assyrian king:

A) was regarded as the representative of the god Assur on earth.
B) was in constant conflict with the chief priests of the Neo-Assyrian religion who used their power over the people to challenge the powers of the ruling class.
C) did not act as a military leader but as a god embodied on earth.
D) was chosen from a band of select warriors rather than being a hereditary position.
E) was purely a military leader who ruled with a co-king who was the political leader.

Question 22

The Hebrew Bible is an unparalleled historical source that describes the cultural practices and theological development of the Hebrew people.However,most historians believe that:

A) the biblical stories are essentially unique to the Hebrews, with no parallels in other Near Eastern societies.
B) few historical events actually happened as they are described in the text.
C) it represents a factual account of the events it relates-the most accurate record of the period we have today.
D) the Hebrew people never really struggled with the Canaanites.
E) the Bible's composite nature means that each biblical book should be analyzed within the particular context in which it was written.

Question 23

The Heroic Age of Greece described by Hesiod and other ancient poets was long thought to:

A) have a firm basis in historical reality.
B) be legends or fables with little basis in historical reality.
C) have been invented by Virgil, Lucretius, and other ancient Roman poets.
D) be metaphors for the political events of the poets' own time.
E) have been lost with the sinking of Atlantis.

Question 24

The twelve Hebrew tribes were united under a single king to:

A) more easily resist Philistine incursions.
B) build a holy temple to house the Ark of the Covenant.
C) invade Egypt.
D) found the city of Jericho.
E) travel across the Sinai Desert.

Question 25

The Phoenicians are also known as the:

A) Assyrians.
B) Babylonians.
C) Canaanites.
D) Hebrews.
E) Levants.

Question 26

Around 1176 B.C.E.,an inscription by pharaoh Ramses III records:

A) the end of the Late Bronze Age and the first use of iron.
B) an Egyptian victory over the "Sea Peoples," invaders from the north.
C) drastic measures because of overpopulation, food shortages, and war.
D) the terror felt by the kings of Ugarit and Alashiya.
E) his release of the Hebrew people from Egypt.

Question 27

Many small kingdoms arose in the Levant during the Early Iron Age as a result of the:

A) collapse of the Hittite civilization.
B) importation of grapes to the area.
C) collapse of the Egyptian Eighteenth Dynasty.
D) defeat of the Philistines by the Hebrews.
E) bronze mines of the Hittites being depleted.

Question 28

The Hebrew people,according to archaeological and linguistic evidence,were essentially:

A) Egyptian.
B) Philistine.
C) Chaldean.
D) Canaanite.
E) Hyksos.

Question 29

Influenced by their long struggle to survive,the Neo-Assyrians:

A) tried to appease their neighbors' demands for food and land.
B) refused to share their advanced culture and political system.
C) created a multicultural union of civilized states.
D) acted very aggressively toward other peoples.
E) developed a diverse cultural empire that outlasted its political influence.

Question 30

The Minoans:

A) remained isolated politically and economically from the rest of the ancient world.
B) were civil servants in a redistributive economy, not warriors.
C) wrote tablets in Linear A to record their economic transactions.
D) can be identified as non-Greek allies of the Hittites and Egyptians.
E) were a warrior people who conquered most of the eastern Mediterranean.

Question 31

Heinrich Schliemann and Sir Arthur Evans:

A) were archaeologists who dug up Troy, Mycenae, and Knossos.
B) refused to accept the historical character of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.
C) argued that the Greeks had taken all their ideas from African cultures.
D) discovered the source of the annual flooding of the Nile.
E) were archaeologists who discovered Pharos, the lighthouse of Alexandria.

Question 32

Greek heroic poetry and archaeological evidence attest to the Mycenaean culture's:

A) interest in drama and the arts.
B) devotion to their household gods.
C) militaristic nature.
D) peaceful nature.
E) massive textile and pottery production.

Question 33

In the Book of Judges,the Hebrew people:

A) begin to settle and organize themselves into twelve tribes.
B) build a magnificent temple to their God in Jerusalem.
C) receive detailed laws on marriage, divorce, property, and the like.
D) are ruled by kings who pay tribute to the Assyrians.
E) establish a court in Jerusalem to hear cases concerning property rights.

Question 34

The wealth of the Minoan civilization came from:

A) silver mines on the island of Crete.
B) conquest of foreign territories.
C) agricultural production.
D) trade in natural resources.
E) trade in manufactured goods.

Question 35

Members of the group known in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)as the Philistines shared cultural affinities with the:

A) Egyptians.
B) Minoans.
C) Mycenaeans.
D) Hyksos.
E) Hittites.

Question 36

The division of the ancient kingdom of Israel was:

A) the result of its being conquered by the Chaldeans.
B) the result of Solomon dividing his united kingdom into halves for his two sons to inherit equally.
C) in response to popular demands to revive Ba'al worship.
D) God's way of protecting the faithful from foreign aggression.
E) provoked by Solomon's oppressive regime.

Question 37

The earlier Assyrian Empire had been devastated by the _________ ,but in the ninth century B.C.E.,the foundations for a Neo-Assyrian Empire were laid by Assurnasirpal II.

A) Phoenicians
B) Mycenaeans
C) Minoans
D) Sea Peoples
E) Egyptians

Question 38

King David's rule was significant in establishing:

A) the principle of monarchy: in God's eyes, whatever a king does is right.
B) a unified Israelite people with a new national capital at Jerusalem.
C) Israeli claims to rule over the East Bank of the Jordan.
D) an empire that dominated its neighbors for centuries.
E) a ruling family that has lasted to the present day.

Question 39

The Phoenicians created a trade network that stretched from:

A) Asia Minor to Iberia and beyond.
B) Greece to Sicily.
C) Anatolia to the Black Sea.
D) Carthage to Sardinia.
E) Egypt to Carthage.

Question 40

Relations after 1500 B.C.E.are more appropriately referred to as "transnational" because:

A) of the transcendence of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty.
B) the superpowers of the Near East created the first multinational governing body.
C) the political and economic networks transcended national boundaries and identities.
D) of the emergence of the Persian Empire as the sole political entity in the region.
E) boundaries between kingdoms in this period were flexible and changed often.

Question 41

The followers of Zoroastrianism believed in:

A) polytheism, animal sacrifice, and magical rituals.
B) a god of light who constantly battled a god of darkness.
C) individual guardian angels who protect believers and punish wrongdoers.
D) public cult worship sponsored by the Persian government.
E) reincarnation through multiple lives to achieve perfection.

Question 42

The Minoans worshiped an early form of the Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses.

Question 43

The Hyksos invasion of Lower Egypt allowed the Nubians to establish an independent kingdom.

Question 44

The Greek term Phoenician means "purple people."

Question 45

The effect of the arrival of the Sea Peoples on the Near East was to force fledgling kingdoms to unite,through conquest or consent,in order to stand up to this new threat.

Question 46

The fundamental tenet of Neo-Assyrian political and military ideology was:

A) that peace was necessary to foster trade.
B) that holy war and the extraction of tribute through war should be constant.
C) that holy war should continue until Assur was worshipped by all.
D) that wars should only be fought to defend the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
E) that all wars fought should be just wars with just causes and just ends.

Question 47

Trade in the Late Bronze Age fostered war between nations.

Question 48

The Hittite occupation of Babylon ended when the Mitannians invaded and captured the city and its surrounding territory.

Question 49

The accomplishments of King Darius of Persia included:

A) recruiting foreign mercenaries for his armies.
B) building roads for transport and postal service.
C) extending Persian rule over Greece and the Aegean.
D) capturing the bandits that had terrorized Persepolis.
E) conquering the civilization of the Indus River Valley.

Question 50

An official who administered a province in the Persian Empire was called a:

A) governor.
B) senator.
C) consul.
D) wali.
E) satrap.

Question 51

The center of Mycenaean society was the village,which gave a sense of family and responsibility to the people and encouraged loyalty to the king,who was depicted as a father to his people.

Question 52

Due to a period of captivity in Babylon,ancient Hebrews:

A) rebelled against their Chaldean conquerors.
B) developed a religion that transcended local politics and geography.
C) adopted the worship of Assur.
D) established stringent purity laws.
E) turned to prophets to explain their fate.

Question 53

One distinct belief that later Western religions took from Zoroastrianism is the idea:

A) of an ultimate battle between the forces of good and evil.
B) of a Day of Judgment.
C) that one ought to live a life of helping others.
D) of a rewarding afterlife for believers.
E) of the necessity of ritual sacrifice.

Question 54

Unlike other rulers,Cyrus of Persia (559-529 B.C.E.):

A) introduced metallic coinage in Asia Minor.
B) took the Hebrew people into captivity in his capital city.
C) lost a great empire to the barbarian tribes of Central Asia.
D) granted self-rule and religious freedom to conquered peoples.
E) granted self-rule to conquered peoples who accepted the Persian religion.

Question 55

Anatolia grew in wealth and became urbanized in part due to the Assyrians who changed from a nomadic lifestyle to become caravan merchants.

Question 56

The term thalassocracy means "sea empire."

Question 57

Zarathustra attempted to redefine religion:

A) as a set of ritual practices centered on animal sacrifice.
B) so that it would be concerned more with dietary rules and ritual.
C) as the mystical insights achieved through fasting.
D) as ethical practices common to all people.
E) as practices centered on temple worship conducted by priests.

Question 58

The defeat of the Neo-Assyrians and the destruction of Nineveh were:

A) the work of Medes and the Chaldeans.
B) the work of the Phoenicians and the Egyptians.
C) attributed to a loss of popular confidence in Assur.
D) commemorated by sculptures and plaques in the palace wall.
E) the work of an alliance between the Canaanites, Philistines, and Phoenicians.

Question 59

The Hebrew people became unified in their worship of Yahweh due to:

A) Moses forbidding the worship of false gods.
B) Saul outlawing all other activities of worship.
C) the kings of Judah imposing the worship of Yahweh on the kingdom of Israel.
D) prophetic insistence on the need for a united Hebrew identity under Neo-Assyrian rule.
E) the destruction of the city of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.

Question 60

Thutmose I was the pharaoh who expelled the Hyksos and restored Egyptian confidence and reunification.

Question 61

Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the Davidic dynasty in the Hebrew Kingdom.

Question 62

Describe the effect of the Sea Peoples on the kingdoms and economies of the Late Bronze Age.

Question 63

The Neo-Assyrians Empire adopted the law code of Hammurabi.

Question 64

How did the cultures of the Minoans and Mycenaeans contribute to the development of Greece?

Question 65

In what ways was Zoroastrianism a radical departure from other Near Eastern religions?

Question 66

What was the effect of the Hyksos invasion on Egypt?

Question 67

What factors contributed to the success of the Persian Empire?

Question 68

Although the Phoenicians were great colonizers of the Mediterranean,they remained strict separatists,having little cultural interaction with the non-Semitic peoples they encountered.

Question 69

What are the advantages of monotheism as illustrated through the experiment of Akhenaten and that of the Hebrew nation?

Question 70

Analyze the role of warfare and terror in the formation,rulership,and fall of the Assyrian Empire.

Question 71

The two great powers of the second millenniumB.C.E.were Egypt's New Kingdom and the Hittite Empire.

Question 72

We know very little about the Philistines because they left no written records.

Question 73

What was the Phoenician sphere of influence in the Early Iron Age?

Question 74

The Hebrew Babylonian Captivity refers to a time when the Persian king Cyrus captured Jerusalem.

Question 75

In what ways can it be said that the Late Bronze Age was an "international system?"