Deck 8: The Temple and the Palace

Question 1

Secondary states are:

A) easier to form because they can learn from other states
B) more difficult to form because there is competition from existing states
C) both a and b
D) none of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Compared to modern nation-states in the early states:

A) there was no separation between spiritual and political authority
B) there was no nationalism
C) both a and b
D) none of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Empire-building was easier in Egypt than in Mesopotamia because:

A) Egyptian pharaohs were more ambiguous politically
B) the Egyptian Gods were more monotheistic, claiming to be the God of everyone
C) the Nile river was easier to control than the Tigris and Euphrates
D) the Egyptians had better mass communication systems.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

It is not possible for states to exist without classes because states are dependent on surplus products to:

A) employ mental workers to do some administrative work
B) employ specialized military forces
C) recruit workers or peasants to work on state projects
D) employ priests to develop spiritual cosmologies
E) a, b, c, and d

Question 5

States are more likely to emerge out of chiefdoms when:

A) a chiefdom is very warlike
B) chiefdoms are surrounded by a lush environment which makes a surplus easy to produce
C) the population lives in a geographically circumscribed area
D) chiefdom's live have access to iron for making plows

Question 6

Theorist(s) of the origin of the state who stress the positive functions the state provides?

A) Fried
B) Webb
C) Friedman and Rowlands
D) Service
E) none stress the positive features

Question 7

The theorist who is most skeptical of the existence of markets in early states based on supply and demand is:

A) Diakonoff
B) Friedman and Rowlands
C) Polanyi
D) Earle

Question 8

Of Early states, the state that had the least developed commercial relations was:

A) Mesopotamia
B) China
C) Egypt
D) India

Question 9

The earliest possible semiperipheral capitalist city-state was:

A) Tyre
B) Carthage
C) Assur
D) Dilmun

Question 10

Core-periphery relations in early states can best be described as:

A) core-periphery differentiation
B) mild core-periphery hierarchy
C) colonial
D) imperialistic

Question 11

The fact that early states formed out of interchiefdom networks means that they had international diplomatic relations of the same kind that eventually emerged among European states.

Question 12

Unlike primary states, according to Webb, the foundation of secondary states was successful warfare.

Question 13

The first primary states were formed in Mesoamerica.

Question 14

One of the major commonalities among all early states is ritualistic human sacrifice to the gods.

Question 15

In early states power was weakly centralized and the spatial range of power over distant peripheral peoples was limited.

Question 16

A common characteristic that spans all early states is the need to build centralized irrigation systems in order to augment rainfall.

Question 17

Land transportation was cheaper in early states than water transportation because large pack animals were available.

Question 18

The state was a continuation of the elaboration of kinship relations developed under chiefdoms.

Question 19

Explain why trade did not develop more in Egypt given the size and navigability of the Nile River?

Question 20

Given the very poor status of peasants in early states and given that these states had little control over peripheral regions, why were their so few rebellions?

Question 21

From what you have read in Chapter 8, why did market trade not grow into capitalism in the Bronze Age? What were the necessary ingredients that were missing?

Question 22

Discuss the differences between primary and secondary state formation.

Question 23

How is the metaphor of ecological succession useful in understanding the emergence of pristine states?

Question 24

Why did core-wide empire emerge more quickly in Egypt than it did in Mesopotamia?