Deck 1: The Ancient Near East: the First Civilizations

Question 1

Which of the following was not part of or pertained to Mesopotamian religion?

A)The belief that humankind was shaped from clay by divine craftsmen and given life in order to execute the will of the gods.
B)The belief that heaven is the reward for a life of absolute obedience to the gods.
C)Religion dominated and inspired all other human activities.
D)Cities were seen as sacred communities dedicated to serving the gods.
E)The belief that the gods were everywhere in nature but showed little love for humankind.

Answer 1

The belief that heaven is the reward for a life of absolute obedience to the gods.

Question 2

Which of the following best explains the Mesopotamian belief about disease?

A)Diseases are caused by bacteria.
B)Disease is caused by gods or demons.
C)Enemy shamans are the cause of diseases.
D)Disease is caused by humans themselves.
E)Disease can be avoided through good hygiene.

Answer 2

Disease is caused by gods or demons.

Question 3

Agriculture-the deliberate planting and cultivation of crops-and the domestication of animals directly led to all of the following except

A)a shift of population to larger, more permanent villages.
B)an awareness of private property and the rise of a ruling elite that possessed wealth and wielded power.
C)increasingly egalitarian and isolated communities.
D)technological inventions such as pottery, copper and bronze implements, the wheel, and the sail.
E)a new tempo of life including considerable toil, routine, and loss of personal freedom.

Answer 3

increasingly egalitarian and isolated communities.

Question 4

Çatal Hüyük, Jericho, and Jarmö are most remembered

A)as sites of the first urban societies.
B)for containing numerous cave paintings.
C)for producing an astounding number of fertility figures.
D)as sites of well-preserved royal tombs of that time.
E)as founders of Sumerian civilization.

Question 5

The Neolithic Revolution

A)began about ten thousand years ago in the Near East.
B)included the invention of agriculture, which resulted in a more reliable food supply.
C)included the domestication of animals and the development of polished stone tools.
D)resulted in more organized and complex societies.
E)All of these

Question 6

Paleolithic mythic-religious ideas included the

A)belief that natural elements were spirits.
B)belief that the forces of nature could be influenced by rituals, trances, and chants.
C)belief in some existence after death.
D)importance of female figurines representing fertility.
E)All of these

Question 7

In contrast to Egypt, Mesopotamian life was

A)stable and peaceful.
B)permeated by anxiety.
C)hopeful and seen as a step towards eternal life.
D)barely civilized.
E)far more sophisticated and literate.

Question 8

Sargon and Hammurabi were

A)Mesopotamian deities.
B)Mesopotamian rulers, famous for issuing a code of law for their people.
C)nomadic tribes who conquered Mesopotamia.
D)important Mesopotamian rulers.
E)successful in extending Mesopotamian civilization into Egypt and Persia.

Question 9

The author of your textbook refers to which of the following as the central force in primary civilizations?

A)Secular kings
B)Warfare
C)Religion
D)Trade
E)Fatalism

Question 10

Who were the creators of the earliest civilizations?

A)Egyptians and Babylonians
B)Sumerians and Egyptians
C)Sumerians and Assyrians
D)Persians and Egyptians
E)Greeks and Romans

Question 11

Significant features of the Paleolithic Age include each of the following except

A)toolmaking.
B)scavenging for food was no longer necessary.
C)the use of fire for cooking and protection.
D)pictures of animals on cave walls.
E)cooperation through language.

Question 12

Each of the following is true about civilization except

A)civilization is tied to urban life.
B)a system of writing is characteristic of a civilization.
C)civilization first arose with the creation of humankind five thousand years ago.
D)the first civilizations appeared along Near Eastern river valleys.
E)civilization is an act of human creativity.

Question 13

With the progress of civilization, one could find

A)increased epidemic diseases.
B)inadequate sewage systems.
C)more dangerous warfare.
D)slavery.
E)All of these

Question 14

The emergence of civilization

A)no longer intrigues historians; its causes are clear and non-controversial.
B)had one, well-defined and universally-accepted source: the end of the Ice Age.
C)is most often attributed to the harnessing of rivers for agriculture.
D)marks the division between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic Ages.
E)came with the development of the first tools.

Question 15

Which of the following cannot be attributed to the Sumerians?

A)Development of the first urban civilization in Mesopotamia
B)Transformation of swamps into fields of barley and groves of date palms
C)Frequent warfare amongst themselves and with invaders from the north and the south
D)Incorporation into various kingdoms and empires
E)Establishment of Sumerian as the common language for 3000 years of Mesopotamian history

Question 16

The "land between the rivers" refers to

A)Mesopotamia.
B)Lower and Upper Egypt.
C)ancient irrigation systems.
D)the Nile Delta.
E)Persia.

Question 17

In Mesopotamia, temple priests

A)coordinated a city's economic activities.
B)collected rents, operated businesses, and received contributions for festivals.
C)lived in a special complex around a city's ziggurat.
D)interpreted the will of the gods and acted as stewards of a city's deity.
E)All of these

Question 18

Which of the following provided the basis for Mesopotamian civilization?

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

Question 19

The author identifies all of the following as characteristics of the first civilizations except

A)specialization of labor.
B)art such as fertility figurines and cave paintings.
C)cities and monumental architecture.
D)organized government and a willingness to work for the common good.
E)river valley agriculture.

Question 20

During the Paleolithic Age, humankind illustrated each of the following developments except

A)a nomadic life dependent on hunting and gathering.
B)a division of labor between men and women and the emergence of shamans, and medicine men.
C)the making of stone tools.
D)discovered farming, domesticated animals, and established villages.
E)extinction for groups where cooperation was absent or weak.

Question 21

During the New Kingdom, Egypt

A)became more militaristic and pursued an expansionist foreign policy.
B)briefly experimented with monotheism.
C)counted a woman among its rulers.
D)experienced accelerated commercial and cultural interactions with other peoples.
E)All of these

Question 22

All of the following were features of Egyptian belief in the afterlife except

A)a renunciation of this life and a longing for death.
B)a deep faith that inspired the pyramids.
C)mummification to preserve the dead.
D)funerary art.
E)a continuation of pleasures enjoyed on earth.

Question 23

According to the authors, the "finest work of Mesopotamian literature" was the

A)Pentatuch.
B)Epic of Gilgamesh.
C)Code of Hammurabi.
D)Book of Instructions.
E)Iliad and the Odyssey.

Question 24

The Egyptian writing system, known as hieroglyphics, was

A)a wedged shaped writing system also known as cuneiform.
B)a form of picture writing in which figures such as crocodiles, sails, and eyes represented words or sounds that could be combined to form words.
C)the world's first writing system.
D)the only writing system of the earliest civilized societies.
E)used exclusively to record business transactions.

Question 25

Cuneiform refers to

A)the first stage of planning for a ziggurat.
B)the instrument used for writing on parchment.
C)the records dealing with commercial transactions.
D)the earliest system of writing-symbol writing on clay tablets with a reed stylus.
E)astronomical calculations necessary for river agriculture.

Question 26

Akhenaton's monotheism

A)may be viewed as the vision of a great prophet who replaced traditional polytheism with a single god, Aton, depicted as the sun disk.
B)may have been intended to stem the growing power of Egypt's priests.
C)had little impact on the Egyptian population and was quickly eliminated after Akhenaton's death.
D)is a continuing controversy among historians.
E)All of these

Question 27

Mesopotamian mathematics included

A)multiplication and division tables, cubes, and cube roots.
B)the division of circles into 360 degrees.
C)the basis for the Pythagorean theorem and for quadratics equations.
D)the ability to calculate the area of right triangles and rectangles.
E)All of these

Question 28

Which of the following was not true of Mesopotamian trade?

A)Trade was conducted almost exclusively by the state bureaucracy.
B)The Mesopotamian economy depended heavily on trade.
C)Written records were required of all business transactions.
D)Weights and measures were standardized and interest on loans was limited.
E)The most important imports were stone, timber, and silver.

Question 29

Which of the following is an accurate statement about Mesopotamian education?

A)Education was limited to the priestly class.
B)Both men and women of the upper class were usually literate.
C)Education was accomplished through memorization, therefore, there was no need for textbooks.
D)The Sumerian system of writing did not spread to other parts of the Near East.
E)None of these

Question 30

Which of the following best describes Egyptian religion until the end of the New Kingdom?

A)With its consistent and systematized polytheism and its belief in an afterlife, religion dominated Egyptian civilization.
B)Three of the most important features of Egyptian religion were polytheism, the belief in an afterlife, and an ethical code emphasizing truth and compassion.
C)Egyptian religion evolved.Over time, access to the afterlife was extended to more and more Egyptians and eventually, polytheism was permanently replaced with monotheism.
D)In Egyptian religion, the universe was alive with malevolent and unpredictable divinities.
E)Although it lacked an ethical code, religion dominated all aspects of Egyptian society.

Question 31

In Egypt, the qualities of truth and justice

A)were almost totally absent from religion.
B)were associated with the universal, divinely ordained order of Ma'at.
C)were traditions that Egyptians absorbed from the Hebrews during their captivity.
D)were the primary code of loyalty to pharaoh.
E)differed according to social status.

Question 32

Which of the following was contained in the Code of Hammurabi?

A)The principle of "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."
B)Punishment depended on the status of both the victim and the perpetrator.
C)Extenuating circumstances are never considered and neither women nor children had any rights.
D)Government officials are exempt from punishment.
E)All of these

Question 33

Mesopotamian astronomy

A)concentrated on abstract principles similarly to Mesopotamian mathematics.
B)devised a calendar based on the motion of the sun.
C)was used mainly to determine the will of the gods.
D)focused on the cause and effect connections between phenomena.
E)All of these

Question 34

Which factor best explains why a Mesopotamian king was not perceived as an all-powerful ruler?

A)The king became a god only after his death.
B)Kings shared power equally with priests.
C)The king was selected to rule by the gods, but was subservient to them like everyone else.
D)Kingship never became hereditary.
E)Except in war, kings were subservient to the priests.

Question 35

Which of the following cannot be attributed to the Egyptians?

A)An effective system of mathematics that contributed to superb engineering skills
B)The development of a solar calendar that proved to be more accurate than the Mesopotamian lunar calendar
C)Medical care based exclusively on spells, prayer, and divine intervention
D)A recognition of the connection between lack of cleanliness and contagion
E)A scientific approach to medicine among some doctors

Question 36

The Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom periods of Egyptian history

A)were separated by two Intermediate Periods.In each of these periods, the growing power of the nobility brought instability with foreign invasion, an additional factor in the Second Intermediate Period.
B)formed one seamless continuum of stable government.
C)were separated by two Intermediate Periods caused by foreign invasion.
D)demonstrate the dynamic nature of Egyptian civilization.
E)All of these

Question 37

All of the following features were true of the Middle Kingdom except

A)restoration of political stability.
B)economic revival.
C)reinvigoration of cultural life.
D)control of Nubia.
E)liberation from Hyksos domination.

Question 38

Which of the following best describes the role of the Nile in Egyptian civilization?

A)Although the Nile provided fertile, well-watered land, ancient Egypt was shaped more by frequent foreign invasions.
B)Due to its unpredictability, the Nile helped to establish the intensely pessimistic quality of Egyptian culture.
C)Together with the Tigris and Euphrates, the Nile ensured stability and abundance in Egypt.
D)The predictability of the Nile and the abundant natural resources it delivered gave Egypt an unusual sense of security and stability.
E)The Nile effectively divided Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.

Question 39

Which of the following is the name of the ruler of Upper Egypt who conquered Lower Egypt?

A)Menes
B)Ramses
C)Amenhotep
D)Tutankhamen
E)Hatshepsut

Question 40

Established at the beginning of the Old Kingdom, the pharaoh

A)was regarded to be both a man and a god.
B)governed as an absolute ruler.
C)was believed to control the flooding of the Nile and to express the will of the gods.
D)ruled, in part, through nobles who served as district governors.
E)All of these

Question 41

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Neolithic Revolution

Question 42

Which of the following groups built an empire base on an all-consuming concern for war and the use of terror?

A)Assyrians
B)Canaanites
C)Medes
D)Neo-Babylonian (Chaldeans)
E)Persians

Question 43

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
ziggurat

Question 44

The two ancient passages about salt and fire, presented in the textbook, reveal that Mesopotamians believed

A)people can be bewitched.
B)salt is the food of the gods.
C)fire has some similarity to the sun and the moon.
D)each is alive and can be convinced to aid people in breaking spells.
E)All of these

Question 45

Considered a small nation, the Phoenicians are, nonetheless, recognized for

A)being the greatest sea traders in the ancient world.
B)establishing cities along the Mediterranean from what is now Lebanon to Spain.
C)inventing the alphabet.
D)transmitting the cultural achievements of the ancient Near East to the western Mediterranean.
E)All of these

Question 46

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Paleolithic

Question 47

Which of the following groups ruled Egypt after the fall of the New Kingdom?

A)Libyans and Nubians
B)Assyrians
C)Persians
D)Greeks
E)All of these

Question 48

Which of the following was not a characteristic of the world-state built by the Persians?

A)A large measure of provincial self-rule and respect for local cultures
B)The use of a uniform language, Aramaic, written in a modified version of the Phoenician alphabet
C)An effective system of governors (satraps) and special agents who watched over the governors
D)A close modeling on all aspects of Assyrian rule
E)An impressive infrastructure of roads, a postal service, common weights and measures, and an empire-wide coinage

Question 49

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
sympathetic magic

Question 50

Which of the following cannot be associated with the emergence of international empires after 1500 B.C.?

A)The extension of civilization beyond the river valleys
B)A sharp break with the past that prevented the first civilization from influencing what would become the West
C)The migration of Indo-European peoples
D)An intermingling of peoples and cultural traditions
E)New languages which were derived from an Indo-European core.

Question 51

The author of your textbook makes all the following statements about the view of the world held in ancient Near Eastern civilizations except

A)Mesopotamians and Egyptians adopted prehistoric imagery, rituals, and tales to explain the origins of the universe, the workings of nature, and the meaning of human history.
B)the mythopoeic world-view of these civilizations was based more on imagination and emotion than on reason.
C)despite serious differences, both the ancient world-view and modern science hold that the world is governed by consistent, predictable laws.
D)unlike modern science, the ancient world-view believed that all material objects (such as a river or wind) were alive and had a will of their own.
E)while the ancients observed nature, recorded data, and developed technology, they did not develop logically deduced abstractions, hypotheses, and generalization that would be considered scientific today.

Question 52

Zoroastrianism is best described as

A)the Babylonian astrological system.
B)Egypt's experiment in monotheism.
C)the Persian religion that stressed ethics; envisioned a cosmic battle between good and evil; and promised eternity in paradise to those who chose good and eternal torment to those who chose evil.
D)the monotheistic religion whose god expelled humankind from paradise, nearly ended the world with a flood, and established a special relationship with one nation.
E)the highest expression of Persian universalism, combining all of these into a single universal religion.

Question 53

Surveying human history from its origins until the Persia Empire, it would be reasonable to conclude all of the following except

A)to ensure continued physical existence, humankind had to develop successful means of manipulating the physical environment.
B)changing means of survival tended to lead to increased complexity in human society.
C)spirituality of some kind seemed to be common in humankind from the Paleolithic Age onward.
D)new solutions to the problem of survival brought new challenges.
E)law codes were common features of all early civilizations.

Question 54

At which point in human history did people first develop mythic-religious ideas?

A)Paleolithic Age
B)Neolithic Age
C)The creation of the first civilization by the Sumerians
D)The Middle Kingdom
E)The international empire-building period of the ancient Near East

Question 55

Which of the following statements is true of the Hittite Empire?

A)The empire blended the culture of Indo-Europeans, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor.
B)The empire came to control Asia Minor, Syria, and the trade routes along the Euphrates leading to Syria.
C)The Hittites possessed a well-trained army of light horse-drawn chariots and well-armed foot soldiers.
D)The Hittites were the first to develop a substantial iron industry.
E)All of these

Question 56

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
cuneiform

Question 57

Which name is best associated with the Wise Lord or the god of light and justice?

A)Ahriman
B)Ma'at
C)Ahura Mazda
D)Isis
E)Yahweh

Question 58

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
civilization

Question 59

Which of the following is the most accurate statement about the relationship of Greek and Hebrew culture to Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations?

A)There is no significant connection.
B)The Greeks and Hebrews shared the rational approach to the study of nature that was pioneered by the Mesopotamians.
C)By rejecting and transforming elements of the older civilization, the Greek and Hebrew cultures helped to create "new points of departure for the human mind."
D)The Hebrews drew primarily from the Egyptians, while the Greeks drew mainly from the Mesopotamians.
E)There is no significant difference between the two.

Question 60

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Mesopotamia

Question 61

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Egypt

Question 62

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Locate and label the areas where the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations were found.Locate and label the regions inhabited by the Hittites, Phoenicians, and Canaanites.

Question 63

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Code of Hammurabi

Question 64

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Ma'at

Question 65

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Clearly draw in the boundaries of the Assyrian and Persian Empires.

Question 66

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Clearly mark the location of Lower and Upper Egypt.Locate and label the Nile.Locate and label the body of water into which the Nile flows.

Question 67

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Why do some scholars attribute great significance to the development of the earliest civilizations in major river valleys?

Question 68

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Indo-Europeans

Question 69

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Zoroastrianism

Question 70

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
What factors contributed to the development of Egyptian civilization? What was their impact on the nature of the Egyptian monarchy and Egyptian society in general?

Question 71

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
The enormity of the past has led historians to devise more manageable segments called time periods.What were the time periods used in Chapter One? Clearly identify each time period and explain its main features.How do these periods fit together? Evaluate the usefulness of this division of history into periods.

Question 72

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Refer to some ways that people during the Paleolithic era showed evidence of an ability to form abstractions.

Question 73

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
mythopoeic

Question 74

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Clearly mark the location of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.Locate and identify the body of water into which the rivers flow.

Question 75

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain the major differences between the Neolithic Age and the Paleolithic Age.

Question 76

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain, in detail, the Paleolithic Age.Why is the Paleolithic Age considered to be prehistory?

Question 77

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain Mesopotamian government, law, and science.Is there a common theme among the three?

Question 78

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Hatshepsut

Question 79

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
hieroglyphics

Question 80

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
What is civilization? What were the main characteristics of the first civilizations? How were the first civilizations related to life in prehistory?