Deck 1: The Ancient Near East: the First Civilizations

Question 1

define the following term:
Homo sapiens sapiens

Answer 1

Answers may vary.

Question 2

define the following term:
Çatal Hüyük

Answer 2

Answers may vary.

Question 3

define the following term:
Hominids

Answer 3

Answers may vary.

Question 4

define the following term:
Australopithecine

Question 5

Which society presented in Chapter 1 would you have preferred to live in, and why?

Question 6

Some scholars refer to Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations as "hydraulic" cultures. Check the definition of "hydraulic," and write an essay justifying the application of this term to these cultures.

Question 7

define the following term:
Neolithic Revolution

Question 8

define the following term:
Homo erectus

Question 9

define the following term:
Paleolithic Age

Question 10

The Code of Hammurabi was one of the first of all ancient legal codes. In what ways was it "modern"? How was it different from modern day Western legal codes? What do you believe constituted "justice" for the inhabitants of Mesopotamian city-states?

Question 11

What were the causes and the consequences of the migration of Indo-European speakers into the Near East during the second millennium B.C.E.?

Question 12

In what ways would the transition from hunting and gathering to a settled, agricultural society have improved people's lives, and in what ways would the transition have decreased the quality of life?

Question 13

Discuss some of the similarities and the differences between the religions and religious practices of the Mesopotamian region with those of Egyptian civilization.

Question 14

Why begin the history of Western Civilization with a study of ancient societies in Mesopotamia and Egypt?

Question 15

Compare and contrast the role of women and families in Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies.

Question 16

define the following term:
Neanderthals

Question 17

In the modern Western world, we often draw a distinction between religion and secular society. Would this distinction have made sense to the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt?

Question 18

Define the differences between the terms "society" and "civilization."

Question 19

Discuss the possible reasons why early Mesopotamia saw so many different civilizations and empires, from the Sumerians to the Akkadians and the Babylonians, while civilization in the Nile Valley remained essentially unchanged for three millennium.

Question 20

define the following term:
cave paintings at Chauvet

Question 21

define the following term:
Naram-Sin of Akkad

Question 22

define the following term:
Eridu, Ur, Uruk, and Lagash

Question 23

define the following term:
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Question 24

define the following term:
Old Kingdom

Question 25

define the following term:
Mesopotamia

Question 26

define the following term:
epic of Enuma elish

Question 27

define the following term:
the pyramids

Question 28

define the following term:
The Epic of Gilgamesh

Question 29

define the following term:
Agricultural Revolution

Question 30

define the following term:
theocracy

Question 31

define the following term:
Menes

Question 32

define the following term:
ziggurat

Question 33

define the following term:
Code of Hammurabi

Question 34

define the following term:
Southwest Asia

Question 35

define the following term:
cuneiform

Question 36

define the following term:
Sargon of Akkad

Question 37

define the following term:
Upper and Lower Egypt

Question 38

define the following term:
Sumerians

Question 39

define the following term:
"The Gift of the Nile"

Question 40

define the following term:
Indus and Yellow Rivers

Question 41

define the following term:
Amenhotep III

Question 42

define the following term:
Megaliths

Question 43

define the following term:
Middle Kingdom

Question 44

define the following term:
Hatshepsut

Question 45

define the following term:
Osiris

Question 46

define the following term:
Ramesses II

Question 47

define the following term:
Akhenaten

Question 48

define the following term:
Ahmose I

Question 49

define the following term:
Isis

Question 50

define the following term:
Seth

Question 51

define the following term:
Tutankhamun

Question 52

define the following term:
New Kingdom

Question 53

define the following term:
Hittites

Question 54

define the following term:
Amon-Re

Question 55

define the following term:
Stonehenge

Question 56

define the following term:
Hyksos

Question 57

define the following term:
Sea Peoples

Question 58

define the following term:
polytheism

Question 59

define the following term:
hieroglyphs

Question 60

define the following term:
Indo-Europeans

Question 61

The early Neolithic era saw

A)a slow transition from hunting and gathering to an agricultural society.
B)the appearance of cities and urban life.
C)the domestication of the horse in ancient Egypt.
D)the smelting of iron.
E)all of the above

Question 62

The term "civilization" refers to human societies which, amongst other features,

A)have an urban focus and a distinct religious structure.
B)have art and music.
C)support themselves mainly by trading and manufacturing.
D)have learned to live in peace with their neighbors.
E)have given up religion and adopted rational thinking.

Question 63

All of the following are believed to be developments of the Paleolithic Age except

A)the utilization of tools.
B)origins of religious and decorative art.
C)a social system with rough equality between the sexes.
D)the controlled use of fire.
E)the regular production of food through agriculture.

Question 64

Hominids existed as long as 3 to 4 million years ago in

A)Europe
B)Asia
C)Africa
D)South America
E)North America

Question 65

In ancient civilizations, bronze would replace copper because

A)bronze was harder and more durable.
B)it was prettier and therefore made prettier jewelry.
C)bronze took less time to smelt.
D)bronze ore was easier to find.
E)copper tools and weapons became too soft because of the hot weather of the Middle East.

Question 66

Mesopotamian religion was

A)monotheistic.
B)very simple with few rules and tenets.
C)severely critical of cultures that practiced divination.
D)one in which no one god reigned supreme and deities were closely related to cities.
E)abstract and metaphorical.

Question 67

The written script of the Sumerians is known as

A)cuneiform.
B)alphabetic.
C)phonogram.
D)hieroglyphs.
E)Cyrillic.

Question 68

define the following term:
Suppiluliumas I

Question 69

The vast majority of the population in Sumerian city-states worked as

A)farmers.
B)merchants.
C)textile-makers.
D)royal officials.
E)priests.

Question 70

What historians refer to as an agricultural revolution

A)occurred prior to 10,000 B.C.E.
B)began in Asia and then spread to other regions.
C)developed independently in seven different areas of the world.
D)encouraged the continuation of a nomadic way of life in the Near East.
E)included the growing of crops and the taming of food-producing animals.

Question 71

The Sumerians

A)defeated the Hittites in 2600 B.C.E.
B)were plagued by incessant warfare between their many city-states.
C)had a complicated religion with a sophisticated belief in life after death.
D)were warriors who instituted totalitarian government.
E)built damns and irrigation canals along the Indus River.

Question 72

The physical environment of the Mesopotamians generally led to

A)an optimistic outlook emphasizing the secular life.
B)a pessimistic outlook and loathing of religion.
C)a pessimistic outlook with an emphasis on satisfying their angry gods.
D)an optimistic outlook with a belief in providing for benevolent gods.
E)profound apathy and lack of any material accomplishments.

Question 73

Sumerian kings derived their authority from

A)the will of the people.
B)the parliamentary councils of the city-states.
C)success in athletic tournaments.
D)the gods.
E)their military victories over the "barbarians".

Question 74

All of the following are consequences of the Neolithic revolution except

A)the building of structures for housing and storage.
B)the development of towns and villages dominated by women.
C)the division of labor between men and women.
D)The specialization of labor in certain crafts.
E)the practice of patriarchy.

Question 75

Mesopotamia means the land "between the ____"

A)valleys.
B)mountains.
C)rivers.
D)deserts.
E)plains.

Question 76

The ancient city of Çatal Hüyük was

A)a farming community located in Greece.
B)a Neolithic walled community sustained by food surpluses.
C)a large city with an elaborate water and sewer system.
D)an autocracy in which ruling religious elders exercise all political power.
E)the capitol of Egypt during the Old Kingdom.

Question 77

The first anatomically modern humans, known as Homo sapienssapiens,

A)first appeared in Africa between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago.
B)were skilled hunters who had mastered the bow and arrow.
C)lived mostly in small groups near the sea.
D)mastered the art of making bronze tools and weapons.
E)appeared in Europe about one million years ago.

Question 78

define the following term:
bronze and iron

Question 79

The cave in southern France, discovered in 1994 and that contains three hundred paintings of animals, is known as the ____ cave.

A)Lascaux
B)Chauvet
C)Andalusia
D)Pyrenees
E)Poitiers

Question 80

The Sumerian government

A)came to view kings as agents of their gods.
B)saw the various city-states erect different types of governments.
C)was a theocracy in which the priest ruled.
D)was a type of aristocracy where nobles were appointed by an assembly.
E)was controlled by the merchant and artisan class.