Deck 2: The Middle East and the Mediterranean

Question 1

German businessperson and archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann sought t o prove that Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were based on fact by excavati ng

A) the ziggurat at Ur.
B) shaft graves in Mycenae.
C) several palaces on Crete.
D) pyramids in Kush.
E) the Hittite capital.

Answer 1

shaft graves in Mycenae.

Question 2

The Hittites were the first to develop

A) writing.
B) iron tools and weapons.
C) purple dye.
D) sailing ships.
E) pottery kilns.

Answer 2

iron tools and weapons.

Question 3

Scholars are able to trace the shift from Minoan to Mycenean dominance in long-distance trade by looking at

A) texts in Linear A.
B) the geographical distribution of pottery and crafted goods.
C) the Hebrew Bible.
D) Homer's Iliad .
E) changing religious practices.

Answer 3

the geographical distribution of pottery and crafted goods.

Question 4

The Late Bronze Age in the Middle East was a "cosmopolitan era" because

A) elements of culture were widely shared.
B) it was primarily an urban-based society.
C) lifestyles were radically different from any previous.
D) different groups of people remained isolated.
E) most civilizations adopted identical religions, laws, and social structures.

Question 5

The era of the New Kingdom in Egypt is characterized by restoration of Egyptian rule and

A) a return to isolationism.
B) an alliance with the Hittites, with the aim of conquering Kush.
C) expansion north into the Levant and south into Nubia.
D) a return to democracy.
E) Nubian rebellion.

Question 6

The Minoan civilization was established in

A) southern Greece.
B) Mesopotamia.
C) the island of Crete.
D) the north coast of Africa.
E) the hills of Anatolia.

Question 7

Long-distance trade in the Mediterranean lands depended on

A) sailing ships.
B) camel caravans.
C) the invention of the chariot.
D) the marathon runner.
E) horses.

Question 8

The pharaoh Akhenaten is credited by some historia ns with

A) the invention of monotheism.
B) implementing political reforms that harmed the majority of Egyptians.
C) linking his wealth to the traditional system.
D) damaging the economy beyond repair.
E) permanently reforming corrupt temple priests in Egypt.

Question 9

Which civilization collapsed first?

A) The Minoan, about 1450 B.C.E.
B) The Mycenaean, at the end of the second millennium B.C.E.
C) The Hittite, in 1200 B.C.E.
D) The Assyrian, with the destruction of Nineveh in 612 B.C.E.
E) The Neo-Babylonian, in the mid-sixth century B.C.E.

Question 10

What made the Neo-Assyrian Empire different from previous states?

A) It was ruled by a hereditary monarch.
B) Its military used iron weapons.
C) It conquered distant lands and intensively exploited them to benefit the capital.
D) It closely linked religious and governmental power.
E) It funded monumental construction projects.

Question 11

The pharaoh Tutankhamun is famous today because

A) he had more gold than any other ruler in his time.
B) of his unique way of walking.
C) he reinstated Amon as Egypt's chief god.
D) his tomb was unusually complete when archaeologists discovered it.
E) he died young.

Question 12

Transportation in western Asia was revolutionized in the Later Bronze Age by the introduction of

A) zebras.
B) oxen.
C) horses.
D) elephants.
E) the wheel.

Question 13

Which segment of society benefited most from the cultural and economic developments that occurred in the Late Bronze Age Middle East?

A) slaves
B) city-dwellers
C) peasants
D) governing and commercial elites
E) the military

Question 14

Mycenaean clay tablets in Linear B do not give us information about

A) an early form of the Greek language.
B) the legal system.
C) rations paid to workers.
D) offerings to gods.
E) the number of chariot wheels in storerooms.

Question 15

Many important centers of the Middle East and Mediterranean region were destroyed around

A) 1500 B.C.E.
B) 1200 B.C.E.
C) 900 B.C.E.
D) 550 B.C.E.
E) 300 B.C.E.

Question 16

The homeland of the Assyrian Empire was in

A) western Anatolia.
B) northern Mesopotamia.
C) Syria-Palestine.
D) northern Arabia.
E) western India.

Question 17

The Hyksos were able to conquer Egypt because they had

A) horse-drawn chariots carrying archers with composite bows.
B) iron weapons.
C) restricted irrigation of the Nile River to Egyptian agriculture.
D) massive armed forces from a consolidated army of the Near East.
E) superior administrative organization.

Question 18

The Assyrian ruler was

A) a king.
B) a priest.
C) the strongest warrior of the tribe.
D) both A and B.
E) chosen in a manner we have yet to discover.

Question 19

The foremost power in Anatolia from 1700 to 1200 B.C.E. was the

A) Assyrians.
B) Hittites.
C) Babylonians.
D) Akkadians.
E) Medes.

Question 20

Scholars believe that after her death, images of Hatshepsut were defaced by

A) ordinary people who disapproved of her rule.
B) soldiers in the pay of Egypt's enemies.
C) merchants angered by corruption in government.
D) officials opposed to the idea of a woman ruler.
E) foreign invaders.

Question 21

Israel is important partly because it

A) is the site of religious shrines for Akkadians.
B) was where a new religious current based on monotheism began.
C) is the only access to the Mediterranean from Egypt.
D) is the site of perfect center under the North Star.
E) had access to the murex snail, which produced purple dye.

Question 22

In the time of King Solomon, the commercial wealth of Israel was derived from trade with

A) the people living in the Mediterranean area.
B) Anatolia and Greece.
C) India and China.
D) Phoenicia, Arabia, and East Africa.
E) West Africa.

Question 23

Before the Assyrian king made a state decision, he

A) consulted the gods.
B) met with his cabinet of advisers.
C) consulted his ancestors.
D) consulted his astrologers.
E) slaughtered a goat and read its entrails.

Question 24

The word diaspora means

A) faith.
B) separation.
C) fulfillment.
D) dissatisfaction.
E) scattering.

Question 25

Which of the following poses a problem for interpreting the history of the early Israelites from the Hebrew Bible?

A) They were pastoralists who did not write down their history for nearly 1,000 years.
B) The Bible was written for religious, not historical, purposes.
C) The Hebrew Bible was written in several phases by different people.
D) Hebrew civilization was interrupted by conquest several times.
E) All of these.

Question 26

The exile of Hebrews to Babylon in 587 B.C.E. occurred under

A) Cyrus the Great.
B) Nebuchadnezzar.
C) Ashurbanipal.
D) Darius of Persia.
E) Ramesses as pharaoh.

Question 27

Which of the following rituals did not aid the Jews in maintaining a strong cultural identity after the loss of their state?

A) Dietary rules.
B) Keeping the Sabbath.
C) Ritual baths.
D) Banning marriage with non-Jews.
E) Abstinence from alcohol.

Question 28

The Assyrians preserved Mesopotamian art, literature, and science in the

A) Fortress of Sargon.
B) First Temple.
C) Dome of the Rock.
D) Library of Alexandria.
E) Library of Ashurbanipal.

Question 29

Women in Israelite society

A) could inherit from the family estate.
B) had more power before the society became urbanized.
C) could initiate divorces.
D) were allowed to become rabbis.
E) did not have to do agricultural work.

Question 30

The basic tenets of Israelite belief and practice prohibit

A) murder, adultery, theft, and lying.
B) banking, trading, and traveling.
C) alcohol consumption, meat eating, and violence.
D) facial hair, pastoralism, and mercantile trade.
E) gambling, money lending, and begging.

Question 31

The Israelites became devoted to their stern and warlike god, Yahweh, during

A) the wars that drove them from Israel.
B) the forty years of wandering in the desert.
C) their enslavement in Egypt.
D) their migration from Mesopotamia to Israel.
E) the Roman occupation.

Question 32

Solomon began an ambitious building project to create

A) a defensive wall around Jerusalem.
B) the Library of Alexandria.
C) the Wailing Wall.
D) the First Temple.
E) aqueducts and irrigation canals.

Question 33

After Solomon's death, the kingdom of Israel was split into

A) Judah and Israel.
B) Syria and Jerusalem.
C) Mesopotamia and Canaan.
D) Lebanon and Assyria.
E) Assyria and Egypt.

Question 34

The story of Cain and Abel reflects

A) an accurate historical account of past events.
B) the polytheistic nature of Israelite religion.
C) friction between the nomadic and settled peoples of the region.
D) the realities of family life in ancient times.
E) the struggle between the Jews and their neighbors.

Question 35

Which of the following is not one of the reasons that the Assyrians were able to conquer vast territories?

A) They had a large army of half a million men.
B) They used iron weapons.
C) They created a corps of professional soldiers.
D) They had engineers who developed machines to besiege fortified towns.
E) They had accomplished and wily diplomats.

Question 36

The basic Israelite political structure before King Saul was

A) rule by chieftains of the twelve tribes, who were the descendants of Joseph and Jacob.
B) patriarchal rule by the leader at Shiloh.
C) rule by whoever ruled in Jerusalem.
D) an oligarchy of judges.
E) the interpretation of prophets.

Question 37

The vast majority of Assyrian subjects

A) worked on the land.
B) lived in cities.
C) enjoyed goods obtained through long-distance commerce.
D) could read.
E) served as priests.

Question 38

The Assyrian government used mass deportation to

A) thin out the population in congested areas.
B) break the spirit of rebellious peoples.
C) solve the problems of famine in the empire.
D) get rid of the criminal population.
E) settle newly conquered territories.

Question 39

Information about ancient Israel can be found in the

A) chronicles of Abraham.
B) Rosetta stone.
C) Rig Veda .
D) poems of Saul.
E) Hebrew Bible.

Question 40

The Phoenicians developed a system of writing based on

A) pictograms, which were similar to Chinese writing.
B) later Egyptian hieroglyphics.
C) an alphabet in which each symbol represented a sound.
D) Mesopotamian cuneiform.
E) Hittite script.

Question 41

Carthage was founded by peoples migrating from

A) Rome.
B) Phoenicia.
C) Greece.
D) Egypt.
E) Arabia.

Question 42

The merchant aristocracy that controlled Carthage was unique because it

A) allowed ambitious and successful individuals and families to gain political influence.
B) was open only to a select group of people.
C) monopolized power and wealth for itself.
D) was the most authoritarian form of government.
E) promoted trade.

Question 43

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Akhenaten

Question 44

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Hittites

Question 45

Carthaginian explorer Hanno reportedly sailed

A) down the West African coast.
B) down the East African coast.
C) to America.
D) into the Indian Ocean.
E) around the world.

Question 46

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Neo-Assyrian Empire

Question 47

The foreign policy of the Carthaginian state

A) was neglected by the Phoenician Empire.
B) was restricted by its more powerful neighbors.
C) reflected an interest in protecting the sea trade.
D) was constantly overturned by Greek powers.
E) was based on Assyrian models.

Question 48

What made certain Phoenician textiles unique?

A) Humanmade fibers
B) Blind stitching
C) The combination of silk and cotton fabric
D) Purple dye
E) Their expense

Question 49

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Ramesses II

Question 50

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
shaft graves

Question 51

One of the principal reasons that the Assyrian Empire was vulnerable to military assault was

A) its unwise treaties with Persia.
B) insufficient discipline over its subject peoples.
C) the homogeneous ethnic makeup of the population.
D) the destruction of the Assyrian economy from within.
E) that its resources had been sapped by expensive and frequent military campaigns.

Question 52

Which of these was not a factor motivating Tyre's expansion into the Mediterranean?

A) Spreading the worship of Yahweh.
B) Lack of arable land.
C) Seeking new trading partners.
D) Finding new sources of murex snails.
E) Assyrian military actions in Palestine.

Question 53

In times of crisis, the people of Carthage ritually sacrificed

A) oxen.
B) their own children.
C) large quantities of grain.
D) sheep.
E) slaves.

Question 54

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
mass deportation

Question 55

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Minoan

Question 56

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Mycenae

Question 57

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Linear B

Question 58

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Hatshepsut

Question 59

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Library of Ashur banipal

Question 60

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Iron Age

Question 61

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
First Temple

Question 62

Egypt was isolated from its neighbors for most of its history. What caused that situation to change, and what happened afterward?

Question 63

Around 1200 B.C.E. the eastern Mediterranean world suffered enormous destabilization. What brought about such dramatic change?

Question 64

In what ways could Carthage be seen to exemplify the idea of the "cosmopolitan" Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age?

Question 65

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Hebrew Bible

Question 66

How were the Assyrians able to conquer and control such a large emp ire, and why did that empire eventually prove unsustainable?

Question 67

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Neo-Babylonian kingdom

Question 68

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Israel

Question 69

Why have historians called the Assyrian Empire of the first millennium B.C.E. the first true empire?

Question 70

Phoenicia could not supply enough food to its cities. How did the Phoenician cities overcome this problem?

Question 71

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Diaspora

Question 72

Explain how Aegean civilizations are said to be based on the fertilizing influence of other civilizations.

Question 73

Trace the migrations of the people ultimately known as Israelites and match the details from the Hebrew Bible to the likely historical facts in the Middle East.

Question 74

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
monotheism

Question 75

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Carthage

Question 76

Instructions: Explain/Define the following terms.
Phoenicians