Deck 1: Early Humans and the First Civilizations

Question 1

Give a definition of civilization,and apply that definition to Sumerian society.

Answer 1

Answer not provided.

Question 2

Why does the text say that the social structure and ideas of ancient Egypt were a reflection of the influence of the Nile? Was this people-river relationship different from that which evolved in the societies of the Tigris-Euphrates region? Why or why not? How was this importance reflected in the "Hymn to the Nile?

Answer 2

Answer not provided.

Question 3

Compare and contrast the ideas of Zoroaster,the Hebrews,and Akhenaten.Were they more alike than different? How,and why?

Answer 3

Answer not provided.

Question 4

How did the development of writing change the societies of ancient Mesopotamia and,specifically,the lives of their peoples? Could those societies be described as "literate"? Why or why not? Which groups might have been most affected?

Question 5

What major economic changes resulted from the Neolithic Revolution? What social and lifestyle changes did it bring,and for which individuals and which groups in these societies?

Question 6

Describe the Assyrian military machine.Based on the writings of the Assyrian kings,what did they consider essential to military success? Do you think the Assyrian kings exaggerated their military prowess? Explain your answer.

Question 7

Compare and contrast Neolithic society with the early civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt.What changed,and why?

Question 8

Identify the following terms.
homo erectus

Question 9

Identify the following terms.
hominids

Question 10

What can be discerned about the nature of Mesopotamian society from the Code of Hammurabi?

Question 11

Who were the Indo-Europeans and what was their significance for civilization in the Ancient Near East?

Question 12

What role did the development of agriculture play in the emergence of civilization?

Question 13

"The ancient Hebrews were the most important peoples of the ancient Middle East." Discuss,pro and con.In what ways has the existence of a united Hebrew monarchy recently been challenged? How significant was the emergence of Hebrew monotheism for the development of later civilizations? Why was the kingdom of Israel more vulnerable to the Assyrian Empire than the kingdom of Judah? What distinctive new concepts emerged from the Hebrew prophetic tradition?

Question 14

Identify the following terms.
Australopithecines

Question 15

What were the most significant aspects of the civil and military systems of the Persian Empire? Were personal or were institutional elements more important in determining its efficiency and success? What evidence causes you to think so?

Question 16

What geographic aspects of the Mesopotamian city-states made conflict between them likely and why?

Question 17

"The ancient Egyptians originated nothing of their own; they simply borrowed 'civilization' from the Sumerians." Discuss,pro and con.

Question 18

What new attitudes and practices developed during the New Kingdom in Egypt? How and why did they differ from those of the Old and Middle Kingdoms?

Question 19

What are the similarities between Akhenaten's Hymn to Aten and Psalm 104 of the Hebrew Bible? How do you explain the similarities? What are the significant differences between the two,and what do they tell you about the differences between the religion of the Egyptians and the religion of ancient Israel?

Question 20

What does the Epic of Gilgamesh reveal concerning the nature of the relationship between the ancient Mesopotamians and their gods? Discuss the relationship of the flood narrative as given in the Epic of Gilgamesh with that given in the biblical book of Genesis.

Question 21

Identify the following terms.
Homo sapiens

Question 22

Identify the following terms.
Tigris and Euphrates

Question 23

Identify the following terms.
the Nile

Question 24

Identify the following terms.
Sumerians

Question 25

Identify the following terms.
Mesopotamia

Question 26

Identify the following terms.

-Eridu,Ur,Uruk,Umma,and Lagash

Question 27

Identify the following terms.
Neanderthal

Question 28

Identify the following terms.
Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt

Question 29

Identify the following terms.
Catal Huyuk

Question 30

Identify the following terms.
Neolithic

Question 31

Identify the following terms.
Epic of Gilgamesh

Question 32

Identify the following terms.
Black Land and Red Land

Question 33

Identify the following terms.
Sargon of Akkad

Question 34

Identify the following terms.
cuneiform

Question 35

Identify the following terms.
hieroglyphs

Question 36

Identify the following terms.
Menes

Question 37

Identify the following terms.
Semitic

Question 38

Identify the following terms.
cave paintings

Question 39

Identify the following terms.
Paleolithic

Question 40

Identify the following terms.
Hammurabi

Question 41

Identify the following terms.
Rameses II

Question 42

Identify the following terms.
kingdoms of Judah and Israel

Question 43

Identify the following terms.
Hittites and iron

Question 44

Identify the following terms.
"Sea Peoples"

Question 45

Identify the following terms.
Great Pyramid of Giza

Question 46

Identify the following terms.
Hatshepsut

Question 47

Identify the following terms.
Phoenician alphabet

Question 48

Identify the following terms.
Yahweh

Question 49

Identify the following terms.
Hebrews and Israelites

Question 50

Identify the following terms.
Son of Re

Question 51

Identify the following terms.
Babylonian captivity

Question 52

Identify the following terms.
Old Kingdom,Middle Kingdom,New Kingdom

Question 53

Identify the following terms.
Akhenaten

Question 54

Identify the following terms.
Indo-Europeans

Question 55

Identify the following terms.
Solomon

Question 56

Identify the following terms.
ka

Question 57

Identify the following terms.
Hyksos

Question 58

Identify the following terms.
the prophets

Question 59

Identify the following terms.
megaliths

Question 60

Identify the following terms.
Osiris

Question 61

The use of fire may have begun about

A) 2,000,000 years ago.
B) 500,000 years ago.
C) 100,000 years ago.
D) 25,000 years ago.
E) 10,000 years ago.

Question 62

The central aspect of the Neolithic Revolution was the

A) first development of hunter-gatherer cultures.
B) successful invasion of northwestern Africa by Turkish nomads from central Asia.
C) emergence of systematic food production through the domestication of plants and animals.
D) use of fire and the cooking of food.
E) development of writing.

Question 63

Identify the following terms.
Ahuramazda and Ahriman

Question 64

Mesopotamian civilization

A) developed during the Paleolithic Era.
B) was made of cities and located in a river valley.
C) was located between the Nile and the Niger rivers.
D) was the only early civilization with no cities.
E) was the birthplace of democracy.

Question 65

Identify the following terms.
Cambyses and Darius Pages

Question 66

During the Old Stone Age,

A) only Egypt had an advanced agricultural economy.
B) both men and women hunted wild animals.
C) hunting and gathering was the way most people supported themselves.
D) humans lived only in the southernmost parts of Africa.
E) communication was maintained through the use of cuneiform.

Question 67

The people who created the first Mesopotamian civilization were the

A) Sumerians.
B) Akkadians.
C) Egyptians.
D) Babylonians.
E) Nubians.

Question 68

Paleolithic peoples

A) engaged in artistic activities, as indicated by surviving cave paintings.
B) lacked the use of fire, which significantly retarded their pace of development.
C) perfected techniques that allowed them to hunt very large dinosaurs with total success.
D) lived in brick structures.
E) used bronze for tools and weapons, but not copper.

Question 69

Identify the following terms.
Zend Avesta

Question 70

Ancient Mesopotamian society

A) was predominantly industrial.
B) employed trade and barter only to a very limited extent.
C) lacked a specific class structure.
D) developed an extensive irrigation system.
E) was entirely literate

Question 71

All of the following are true about the ancient Sumerian city-states except that

A) their political structure was democratic in nature.
B) warfare between them was common.
C) they were primarily agricultural communities.
D) they mastered the use of bronze.
E) they engaged in monumental construction projects.

Question 72

Mesopotamian religion

A) played a limited role in its culture.
B) was monotheistic in nature.
C) was reinforced by the intensity of the region's environment.
D) employed divination to maintain people's uncertainties about the gods' behavior.
E) believed that the world was controlled by two competing gods.

Question 73

Identify the following terms.
Assyrian Empire

Question 74

Scholars have found a larger,highly significant Neolithic urban center at

A) Nairobi.
B) Mumbai.
C) Hokkaido.
D) Machu Picchu.
E) Catal Huyuk.

Question 75

Identify the following terms.
Zoroaster

Question 76

The earliest hominids

A) lived in Asia.
B) lived in Africa.
C) used iron tools.
D) are known as Homo sapiens.
E) evolved 1,000,000 years ago.

Question 77

Identify the following terms.
satraps,the Royal Road and the Immortals

Question 78

Identify the following terms.
Persia and Cyrus the Great

Question 79

Which of the following were among the basic characteristics of the first civilizations?

A) the development of the Phoenician alphabet.
B) the use of iron tools and weapons by 3500 B.C.E.
C) the development of cities.
D) the discovery of fire.
E) the invention of pottery.

Question 80

Which of the following is a true statement?

A) The Akkadian Empire achieved no expansion, but endured for a thousand years.
B) Ur produced total Mesopotamian disintegration.
C) The Amorites, under the leadership of Hammurabi, replaced the Sumerians and Akkadians as rulers of Mesopotamia.
D) Hammurabi eliminated all aspects of Sumerian culture in Mesopotamian life.
E) Sumer was established by the Hyksos.