Deck 1: The Ancestors of the West

Question 1

Discuss the religious ideas and practices of the peoples featured in Chapter 1, particularly the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians.How did their beliefs affect their culture? Could any of the early civilizations be described as atheistic?

Answer 1

The key importance of religion in defining and shaping culture is the focus here.Students should give specific examples to illustrate their points.

Question 2

Discuss some of the chief differences between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods.Discuss how the advancements that were made helped to further humanity in its development of Civilization.

Answer 2

Students should discuss the establishment of permanent settled habitations, the rise of agriculture, the role of military and religion, as well as innovations in metalworking, food storage, and human language and law.

Question 3

Discus the role of queens in Egyptian rule.How did their reigns differ from their male counterparts? Give specific examples to illustrate your point.

Answer 3

Essay will name female Egyptian leaders, and describe their unique contributions, as well as the distinguishing marks of their various periods in power.They may also perhaps reference female leaders from other early societies.Examples that should be included in the answer are such leaders as Hatshepsut, and Nefertiti.A good answer will include why the student thinks there are so few female Egyptian rulers, and why it takes until the New Kingdom for them to become manifest.

Question 4

The term prehistory refers to

A)time periods before 1900.
B)the period before the invention of writing.
C)the earliest civilizations.
D)only the civilization of Mesopotamia.
E)the era prior to homo erectus.

Question 5

The new civilized states were characterized by

A)hunting and farming.
B)complex urban organization.
C)the use of stone implements.
D)oral recordkeeping but no writing.
E)dynasties based on matriarchal descent.

Question 6

Compare the type of writing used by the early Mesopotamians and Egyptians.In what way was the development of writing influential to the development of their cultures? Discuss how the development of a written language further informs our understanding of these civilizations today.

Question 7

How would you go about formulating a definition of civilization? What elements are essential to civilized life and what sort of things would you consider desirable but not essential for your definition? Can warlike peoples be considered civilized? Give historical examples to illustrate your point.

Question 8

In which of the earliest civilizations discussed in the chapter would you have preferred to live, and why?

Question 9

The primary geographical feature early civilizations developed near was

A)Deserts
B)Rivers
C)Montians
D)Sea coasts
E)All of the above

Question 10

Which of the following statements about Neandertals is true?

A)They lived primarily in Northern Africa and the Middle East.
B)They were unable to adapt to the steamy forestlands of Africa
C)They were sensitive to loss, especially death.
D)They were not considered to belong to a human group.
E)They were not tool makers.

Question 11

What features were common to all the political structures of the civilizations surveyed in the chapter? Give examples of the major similarities, and point out two or three of the main differences found among the various regimes.Are any of the points you mentioned still characteristic of political life today?

Question 12

Modern science indicates that the first human beings

A)appeared in Africa.
B)lived millions of years ago.
C)developed stone tools.
D)developed a complex language.
E)All of these

Question 13

The revolution in human culture between 70,000 and 10,000 B.C.included all of the following except

A)improved manipulation of the environment through technology and/or organization.
B)cave paintings and notations on bones.
C)a dramatic increase in information being communicated.
D)carefully worked bone tools.
E)the establishment of cities.

Question 14

Look at paintings from the Chauvet or Lascaux caves in books or on the Internet.What do they represent? What do they indicate about Stone Age people?

Question 15

The remains of the Iceman discovered in Northern Italy left clues as to his

A)diet.
B)climate and or time of year he died.
C)probable occupation.
D)early humans technological advancements in tools.
E)all of the above.

Question 16

Early Paleolithic cave art often depicted

A)Early forms of writing.
B)Map making.
C)Animals.
D)Farming.
E)All of the above.

Question 17

Upon finding the remains of the Iceman, what physical and material remains gave scientists clues to his personal life as well as the environment that he lived in?

Question 18

The earliest civilizations developed about

A)3,500,000 B.C.
B)50,000 B.C.
C)3500-3000 B.C.
D)1000 B.C.
E)70,000 B.C.

Question 19

Symbols of the Neolithic Revolution include all except

A)a information revolution.
B)bone and cave painting.
C)the dawn of written languages.
D)the change from hunter-gatherer to farming life.
E)development of technology and organization..

Question 20

How did the course of ancient Egyptian history differ from that of Mesopotamia? How did this difference affect the mentality of the two civilizations? What role did geography play in the history of each area?

Question 21

Sargon was all of the following except

A)an Akkadian-speaking conqueror of the Sumerians.
B)the reforming king of Lagash who sought to "protect the mother that is in distress."
C)the father of the first known woman poet.
D)Conquer of Mesopotamia.
E)Commander of history's first professional army.

Question 22

The Mesopotamian religion is characterized by

A)the belief in one god.
B)anthropomorphic gods who inspire awe and fear.
C)a covenant between the gods and people.
D)a belief in an afterlife as a reward or punishment.
E)goddesses who sit in assemblies.

Question 23

The Egyptians viewed the pharaoh as

A)a cruel tyrant.
B)a leader who received power from the people.
C)an unimportant figurehead.
D)a benevolent god.
E)the Nile God.

Question 24

The chief god of the Sumerians was

A)Enlil
B)Enki
C)Ishtar
D)Osiris
E)Isis

Question 25

Which of the following are characteristics of the emergence of human civilization?

A)A large and specialized labor force
B)Complex political systems
C)Clear class stratification
D)Development of city-states
E)All of these

Question 26

Egyptian doctors

A)had poor reputations in antiquity.
B)had no medical treatises to rely on.
C)were popular practitioners of a variety of techniques.
D)believed that only the gods could heal injuries and illnesses.
E)relied totally on magic and use of temple priest's charms.

Question 27

The "Levant" refers to what area

A)Egypt
B)Anatolia
C)Sumeria
D)east coast of the Mediterranean (modern day Syria, Lebanon, Israel)
E)Arabian desert

Question 28

A distinctive feature of Egyptian religion was

A)its emphasis on the afterlife.
B)monotheism.
C)a consistent, analytical mythology.
D)a small number of gods.
E)a lack of priests and temples of worship.

Question 29

The Epic of Gilgamesh teaches all of the following except

A)the need for a tyrannical government.
B)the value of deep friendships.
C)a philosophy of fatalism.
D)a "biblical" Flood.
E)the inevitability of death.

Question 30

The Mesopotamians developed all except

A)two systems of numbers: decimal and sexagesimal.
B)the Pythagorean Theorem.
C)very rudimentary surgery..
D)charts on the movement of the planets.
E)a complex irrigation system.

Question 31

Sumerian cities were all of the following except

A)interconnected webs of culture, commerce, and competition.
B)economically and politically organized.
C)culturally creative.
D)characterized by large temples to their gods called Ziggurats.
E)peaceful and sparsely populated.

Question 32

In which way was Ancient Egypt the product of the Nile River?

A)It provided for a prosperous culture.
B)Yearly floods were generally destructive.
C)Fear of the river created a dark and pessimistic society.
D)The river and its marshes created a clear political, economic, and social division between Upper and Lower Egypt.
E)The Nile isolated Egypt from the peoples around them.

Question 33

The monotheism of the Amarna Reform

A)permitted universal, direct worship of a "solar disk" god.
B)permanently replaced the worship of Amun-Re.
C)introduced the concept of an all-powerful, jealous god.
D)died along with its founder, the pharaoh Akhenaton.
E)increased the power of temple priests.

Question 34

Hammurabi's Code provided for each of the following except

A)ownership of property by women.
B)the principle of an eye for an eye.
C)justice dependent on a person's social class.
D)the elimination of mutilation, drowning, and impaling.
E)a detailed portrait of Mesopotamian society.

Question 35

Egypt's pyramids represented

A)a symbol of the pharaoh's divinity.
B)the ability to organize a labor force.
C)a monument to the pharaoh's ego.
D)a statement of power.
E)All of the above.

Question 36

All of the following accurately refer to cuneiform except it

A)initially developed for economic purposes.
B)consisted of wedge-shaped impressions on clay.
C)developed in Mesopotamia.
D)inspired Egyptian writing.
E)developed into an abstract collection of symbols.

Question 37

The Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom included all of the following except

A)a warrior-pharaoh who expanded Egyptian control over neighboring countries.
B)an important female pharaoh.
C)the building of the Great Pyramids at Giza.
D)a pharaoh who undertook a bold attempt at religious innovation.
E)the era known as the First International System, an era of peace and prosperity.

Question 38

Egypt was the first government in recorded history to

A)have a monotheistic national religion.
B)govern a large territory
C)use epic poetry to honor their kings.
D)to have a set of written laws.
E)to be a great trading power.

Question 39

Ancient Egypt owed its fertile soil to

A)irrigation.
B)chemical fertilizer.
C)use of animal waste.
D)crop rotation.
E)the yearly flooding of the Nile.

Question 40

One of the strengths of Akkadian culture was

A)Peacefulness
B)Ability to assimilate other cultures
C)Learning
D)Strong priestly caste
E)Agriculture

Question 41

The first Indo-European civilization in Western Asia was that of the

A)Israelites.
B)Hittites.
C)Chaldeans.
D)Greeks.
E)Assyrians.

Question 42

The Statues at Abu Simbel represent which Pharaoh

A)Tutankamun
B)Hatshepsut
C)Akhenaten
D)Amenhotep
E)Rameses II

Question 43

Hatshepsut was

A)the great warrior king of the 18th dynasty of Egypt.
B)the king who brought advanced military technology to Egypt
C)a queen best known for public works and commercial expositions across the Red Sea.
D)a prominent temple priest.
E)responsible for the conquest of Nubia and Canaan

Question 44

The first people with a robust, optimistic view of the afterlife were

A)Sumerians
B)Akkadians
C)Hebrews
D)Egyptians
E)Hittites

Question 45

The Semitic Hyksos did all of the following except they

A)invaded from Canaan and occupied Egypt.
B)ended the humane attitudes of the Middle Kingdom.
C)introduced advanced military technology to Egypt.
D)made the world's first peace treaty between equals.
E)helped bring modern warfare to Egypt.

Question 46

Which of the following statements is not true?

A)All humans are descended from a single African ancestor.
B)The earliest humans lived in hunter-gatherer societies.
C)Africa is the cradle of humanity.
D)Scientists theorize that human language appeared with the hominids.
E)Scientists have a very clear theory as to the disappearance of the Neanderthals.

Question 47

All of the following can be attributed to the Hittites except

A)a strong nobility competing for power with the king.
B)having the oldest recorded Indo-European language
C)a number of powerful queens and queen mothers.
D)a loose and chaotic government.
E)texts giving a vivid sense of history.

Question 48

The Battle of Qadesh was between

A)Egyptians and Sumerians
B)Egyptians and Hyksos
C)Egyptians and Hittites
D)Hittites and Hebrews
E)Hittites and Sumerians

Question 49

The treaty between the pharaoh and the king of Hatti provided for all of the following except

A)eternal peace between Egypt and the Hittites.
B)the promise of mutual aid if one was attacked.
C)the return of refugees.
D)reparations for losses incurred at the Battle of Qadesh.
E)both Egypt and the Hittites to worship Amon.

Question 50

Which Egyptian deity was considered the creator, friend of men, and later lord of the underworld?

A)Set
B)Osiris
C)Thoth
D)Horus
E)Isis

Question 51

What do ancient sculptural pieces tell the modern world about the history of the past?

A)They often represent a religious theme.
B)They illustrate an abstract theme.
C)They illustrate the importance and rank of civil, religious, and military leaders.
D)They display various aspects of military life.
E)All of these

Question 52

The Sea Peoples were

A)the peaceful inhabitants of Egypt's coastal areas.
B)mysterious raiders of eastern Mediterranean states.
C)the founders of the Hattian state.
D)the first settlers of Greece.
E)pirates out of Africa.

Question 53

Which of the following statements is not true?

A)The years from 1450 to about 1300 B.C.mark a period of peace among the powers of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
B)The Amarna Archives was written in Sumerian cuneiform and was a formal treaty among states.
C)War was unlikely because of the equality of power among the leading states.
D)The era was marked by a period of dynastic marriages, commerce, and alliances.
E)Kings addressed each other as equals.

Question 54

The Hittites were based in what geographical region

A)Anatolia
B)Levant
C)Mesopotamia
D)Indus Valley
E)Nile Valley

Question 55

Which of the following is the correct chronological order in human development?

A)Hunter-gatherers, invention of agriculture, food producers, development of towns
B)Hunter-gatherers, development of towns, food producers, invention of agriculture
C)Invention of agriculture, hunter-gatherers, food producers, development of towns
D)Food producers, invention of agriculture, hunter-gatherers, development of towns
E)Development of towns, hunter-gatherers, invention of agriculture, food producers

Question 56

The period from 1500 to 1200 BC was characterized by

A)Absence of imperial ambition
B)Plagues and famines
C)Warfare and new states
D)The middle kingdom of Egypt
E)The continuing dominance of the Hyksos

Question 57

The collapse of the international system between 1200 and 1150 B.C.

A)resulted in the disappearance of the ancient cultures.
B)is thoroughly understood.
C)seems to have occurred because of foreign invasion, domestic problems, and possibly other factors.
D)resulted in a universal empire ruled by the Sea Peoples.
E)was caused most likely by a climatic catastrophe.

Question 58

In arts and sciences, the Egyptians developed all of the following except

A)irrigation systems.
B)abstract sculpture.
C)literature.
D)various written treatises in hieroglyphics.
E)astronomy and the calendar.

Question 59

What year is generally identified with the downfall of the great near eastern empires of the 2nd millennium BC?

A)1500 BC
B)1400 BC
C)1300BC
D)1200BC
E)1100BC

Question 60

Which of the following are characteristics of the emergence of human civilization?

A)A large and specialized labor force
B)Complex political systems
C)Clear class stratification
D)Development of city-states
E)All of these

Question 61

Early hunter-gatherers were the first to cultivate crops and livestock.

Question 62

Mesopotamia was bordered by the Tigris and the Nile rivers.

Question 63

Political power in a Sumerian city rested primarily with the priests

Question 64

Egypt owed its prosperous economy and optimistic culture to its great engineering

Question 65

Writing was developed to meet economic rather than creative needs

Question 66

Modern Humans entered Europe about 35,000 years ago

Question 67

Mesopotamian religion was characterized by its pessimism.

Question 68

Sargon was a native speaker of Sumerian

Question 69

Hittite is the oldest recorded Indo-European language.

Question 70

Egyptian religion focused on the after life