Deck 3: Ancient Societies in Africa and the Mediterranean, 5000-600 B.C.E.

Question 1

The period spanning the years 1550-1064 BCE is known as what era?

A) The Old Kingdom
B) The Middle Kingdom
C) The New Kingdom

Answer 1

The New Kingdom

Question 2

Which defining characteristic is most emblematic of the Old Kingdom?

A) The invention of beer
B) Construction of the great pyramids
C) Creation of the modern family structure

Answer 2

Construction of the great pyramids

Question 3

Which of the following statements about the climate in Africa is most accurate?

A) Most of the continent enjoys a tropical climate.
B) Most of the continent is covered in desert.
C) Most of the continent enjoys seasons like Western Europe.

Answer 3

Most of the continent enjoys a tropical climate.

Question 4

Which of the following geographic features fostered the emergence of Greek city-states?

A) Rivers
B) Plains
C) Mountains

Question 5

Which of the following states did the kingdoms of Kerma and Kush reside within?

A) Egypt
B) Nubia
C) Assyria

Question 6

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are collectively known as what?

A) The Abrahamic faiths
B) The traditional religions
C) The Mesopotamian denominations

Question 7

Which of the following did Africans begin making tools and weapons with by 1000 BCE?

A) Copper
B) Bronze
C) Iron

Question 8

Which of the following environmental features is prominent along the Guinea Coast and the Congo River Basin?

A) Rain forests
B) Deserts
C) Grasslands

Question 9

Which of the following best describes the Hebrews' conception of history?

A) Time progresses in a linear fashion and what happened in the past impacts the future.
B) Time cannot be measured and therefore what happened in the past cannot be assessed.
C) Time is cyclical, so whatever happened in the past will happen again in the future.

Question 10

Which of the following best describes trade in ancient Egypt?

A) They did not maintain a trade relationship outside of Africa.
B) They traded far and wide, mainly to import luxury goods for the wealthy.
C) They only exported items, suspicious of importing goods from other regions.

Question 11

Bantu-speaking peoples today can trace their lineage to which part of Africa?

A) South Africa
B) North Africa
C) West-Central Africa

Question 12

Which of the following events precipitated the dissolution of the Hebrew monarchy established around 1000 BCE?

A) The "Exodus" from Egypt
B) The death of King Solomon
C) The founding of Israel

Question 13

By what name did Hebrews call their single god?

A) Moses
B) Abraham
C) Yahweh

Question 14

Which of the following practices developed in West, Central, and East Africa by 2500 BCE?

A) Cattle raising
B) Farming
C) Hunting and gathering

Question 15

Which of the following artifacts from ancient Egypt remain today because of the work of Egyptian morticians?

A) Pyramids
B) Mummies
C) Calendars

Question 16

Which of the following concepts did the Hebrews embrace?

A) Polytheism
B) Monotheism
C) Atheism

Question 17

The period spanning the years 2686-2181 BCE is known as what era?

A) The Old Kingdom
B) The Middle Kingdom
C) The New Kingdom

Question 18

Which of the following factors greatly impacted African societies in the Sahara region between 3500 and 2000 BCE?

A) European colonization
B) Constant war
C) Climate change

Question 19

Which of the following best describes the New Kingdom pharaoh Hatshepsut?

A) A female pharaoh who ruled for approximately twenty years
B) A priest-turned-pharaoh who advanced the concept of monotheism
C) A child pharaoh who closely resembled the sun-god Amon-Re

Question 20

Which Nubian kingdom linked African and Mediterranean societies during the first millennia BCE?

A) Kush
B) Kerma
C) Bantu

Question 21

Why did the new Egyptian empire decline?

Question 22

Describe the importance of the Egyptian king (pharaoh) in maintaining Egyptian political unity.

Question 23

The period spanning the years 2040-1786 BCE is known as what era?

A) The Old Kingdom
B) The Middle Kingdom
C) The New Kingdom

Question 24

On what points do biblical and historical sources disagree about events in ancient Hebrew history?

Question 25

Why is Egyptian history often broken down into Old, Middle, and New Kingdom periods?

Question 26

What effects did the Hyksos invasion have on Egypt?

Question 27

What are the main sources for early Hebrew history?

Question 28

Which of the following events inspired Homer's Iliad ?

A) The collapse of the Minoan empire
B) The Mycenaean conquering of Troy
C) The emergence of the Phoenicians

Question 29

How did cities change during the Middle Kingdom?

Question 30

Describe the lives of ordinary ancient Egyptians.

Question 31

Describe the ancient Hebrew relationship with Egypt.

Question 32

Which of the following peoples innovated cuneiform to establish the basis of later European alphabets?

A) The Minoans
B) The Mycenaeans
C) The Phoenicians

Question 33

The origin and success of Egyptian society are largely attributed to which geographic feature?

A) The Sahara Desert
B) The Mediterranean Sea
C) The Nile River

Question 34

How the New Kingdom respond to Hyksos decline?

Question 35

Which of the following best describes Egyptian hieroglyphics?

A) An architectural element used to decorate burial chambers within pyramids
B) A form of currency used for trade with neighboring societies
C) A writing system composed of stylized images used to convey ideas

Question 36

How were the great pyramids related to other initiatives of the New Kingdom period?

Question 37

Describe important changes to Egyptian religion during the Middle Kingdom.

Question 38

How was the Egyptian empire governed during the Middle Kingdom?

Question 39

How did religion influence Egyptian politics?

Question 40

Which of the following statements best describes the Nile River Valley?

A) It required careful stewardship in the form of dam construction and maintenance.
B) It became uninhabitable because seasonal flooding proved too unpredictable.
C) It placed no demands on its human occupants to intervene in its natural processes.

Question 41

What changes to the role of the Egyptian king were made during the Middle Kingdom?

Question 42

Why did Egypt conquer Kerma?

Question 43

What was the relationship between Egypt and Kush?

Question 44

Why was the Hebrew god Yahweh so unique compared to other gods?

Question 45

What is the significance of the cultivation of specialty crops in sub-Saharan Africa?

Question 46

Which of the following best describes the lives of peasants in ancient Egypt?

A) They enjoyed the same rights, privileges, and benefits as the rich.
B) They enjoyed largely secure and stable lives with time for leisure.
C) They enjoyed few pleasures in life resulting in long periods of discontent and revolt.

Question 47

What similarities and differences were there between early Hebrew and Mesopotamian religions?

Question 48

How did wealth and status influence Egyptian practices of religion?

Question 49

Describe the spread of the Bantu language group.

Question 50

What role did Nubia play in ancient trade?

Question 51

Why did the Mycenaeans decline, and how was their end different or similar to Minoan decline?

Question 52

Why did Amenophis IVattempt to establish the cult of Aten/Ra?

Question 53

How did the concept of Ma'at underpin Egyptian politics?

Question 54

How did geography affect sub-Saharan African relations with other ancient kingdoms?

Question 55

What function did scribes serve in Egyptian society?

A) They wrote.
B) They farmed.
C) They led armies.

Question 56

What roles did Minoans play in the greater eastern Mediterranean world, and how do we know?

Question 57

Describe Egyptian religion.

Question 58

How did the Mycenaeans and the Minoans relate to one another?

Question 59

What was the relationship between Hebrew religion and politics?

Question 60

How did geography affect the development of sub-Saharan communities locally?

Question 61

How did the possession of precious metals like gold and iron affect Kush?

Question 62

Which of the following is true of women in ancient Egyptian society?

A) They enjoyed only those privileges dictated by their husbands.
B) They enjoyed many rights, privileges, and benefits but played no role in religious functions.
C) They enjoyed approximate equality with men in many areas of social, cultural, and political life.

Question 63

How were the kingdoms of Israel and Judah similar to or different from one another?

Question 64

Compare ancient sub-Saharan African societies in East Africa with those living in West Africa.

Question 65

The Egyptian practice of preserving bodies suggests what?

A) Belief in an afterlife
B) Concern for public health
C) Disregard for human lives

Question 66

How did the Phoenicians affect the development of the ancient Mediterranean?

Question 67

Legal distinctions between people in ancient Egypt appear to scholars to be largely based on what?

A) Gender
B) Class
C) Citizenship

Question 68

What role did prophets serve in ancient Hebrew society?

Question 69

Describe the main story of the Iliad .

Question 70

In Egyptian mythology, which of the following is the gatekeeper of the underworld?

A) Isis
B) Aten
C) Osiris

Question 71

Describe social and family life in ancient Hebrew kingdoms.