Deck 1: The Ancient Near East: the First Civilizations

Question 1

Which group invented the first alphabet?

A) Sumerians
B) Hittites
C) Phoenicians
D) Greeks
E) Egyptians

Answer 1

Phoenicians

Question 2

Cuneiform may be described as

A) the first stage of planning for a pyramid.
B) the instrument used for writing on parchment.
C) the term for records that dealt with commercial transactions.
D) symbol writing on clay tablets with a reed stylus.
E) an early form of money.

Answer 2

symbol writing on clay tablets with a reed stylus.

Question 3

The "land between the rivers" refers to

A) the Hittite kingdom.
B) Mesopotamia.
C) Egypt.
D) Persia.
E) Assyria.

Answer 3

Mesopotamia.

Question 4

Which of the following best explains the Mesopotamian religious worldview about disease?

A) They believed that diseases are caused by bacteria.
B) They believed that disease is caused by gods or demons.
C) They believed that enemy shamans are the cause of diseases.
D) They believed that disease is caused by humans themselves.
E) They believed that disease is caused by priest-physicians.

Question 5

Who was the creator of the earliest civilization?

A) Hittites and Egyptians
B) Sumerians and Assyrians
C) Sumerians
D) Persians and Egyptians
E) Akkadians

Question 6

Provisions related to business transactions in the Code of Hammurabi indicate that in ancient Mesopotamia

A) the king depended on merchants for his power.
B) capitalism already existed.
C) merchants were generally from ostracized ethnic groups.
D) trade was important to Mesopotamian life.
E) the economy depended heavily on agriculture.

Question 7

The Egyptian writing system known as hieroglyphics was

A) a wedged shaped writing system.
B) a form of picture writing in which figures such as crocodiles, sails, eyes, and so forth represented words or sounds that could be combined to form words.
C) the world's first writing system.
D) the only writing system of the earliest civilized societies.
E) borrowed by the Sumerians.

Question 8

The result of changing from a hunter way of life to a village and farming sedentary life impacted on the population in all of the following ways EXCEPT

A) the creation of artisans.
B) the emergence of classes.
C) the development of personal independence.
D) the evolution of minted coins.
E) a life that was more routine-oriented.

Question 9

Sargon the Great may be said to have been

A) one of a kind, a benevolent ruler.
B) aware of the need to centralize authority through appointed officials.
C) reluctant to make demands of contributions from conquered peoples.
D) able to utilize an army drawn together when danger was apparent.
E) a leader of the Sumerians.

Question 10

Compared to Assyrian rule, Persian rule over the Near East was

A) more tolerant of different religions.
B) larger in area.
C) less terrorist.
D) more respectful of local traditions.
E) All of these

Question 11

Which of the following provided a basis for the Mesopotamian civilization?

A) Sumerians
B) Egyptians
C) Assyrians
D) Hittites
E) Akkadians

Question 12

Humankind during the Paleolithic Age illustrated each of the following developments except

A) improvements through natural selection.
B) ability to form abstractions.
C) evidence that they could analyze and problem solve difficulties relating to hunting.
D) concern for providing for the weak members of the community.
E) groups of families formed bands and learned to plan, organize, cooperate, trust, and share.

Question 13

According to the authors, ancient Egyptians

A) believed that nature was a malignant force.
B) were pantheists.
C) feared the yearly Nile flood.
D) believed that nature was a benevolent force.
E) were monotheistic.

Question 14

Significant features of the Paleolithic Age include each of the following except that

A) there was toolmaking.
B) scavenging for food was no longer necessary.
C) they discovered how to cook their meat.
D) they used fire as a protection against predators.
E) language enabled individuals to acquire and share with one another knowledge, experiences, and feelings.

Question 15

How did Mesopotamians define the purpose of human existence?

A) Humans existed to seek and find eternal life.
B) Humans existed to dominate the earth and develop its resources.
C) Humans existed to serve the gods.
D) Humans existed to provide the sun god with sacrifices.
E) Humans existed to fight and win their own wars.

Question 16

In the Mesopotamian civilization the temple administration functioned in each of the following ways except

A) collecting rents.
B) providing employment for most of the city workers.
C) providing an armory where weapons could be stored.
D) employing scribes that kept city records.
E) operating businesses.

Question 17

With the progress of civilization, one could also find

A) increased epidemic diseases.
B) urban centers without adequate sewage systems.
C) more dangerous warfare.
D) slavery.
E) All of these

Question 18

The Phoenicians' way of life revolved around

A) settled agriculture.
B) constant welfare.
C) nomadic sheepherding.
D) commercial trade.
E) caravan trade.

Question 19

The authors define all of the following as characteristics of early civilization except

A) writing.
B) cave painting.
C) cities.
D) legal codes.
E) organized governments.

Question 20

All of the following happened during the Neolithic age except

A) the food supply became more reliable.
B) village life expanded.
C) the population increased.
D) religion grew more formal and structured.
E) humans discovered how to control fire.

Question 21

The term mythopoeic relates best to

A) the recording of myth in poetic form.
B) a myth-making view of the world.
C) the collection of ancient myths.
D) an early appeal to reason to explain nature.
E) a monotheistic religion.

Question 22

The reputation of Nefertiti rests on

A) her inscriptions made while a court poet.
B) her rank as a temple priestess under Tutankhamen.
C) the prominence of her role at the court of Akhenaten.
D) the belief that as a goddess she helped to guard the underworld.
E) her role as guardian of the temple.

Question 23

The term satrap relates to a

A) flat-bottomed sailboat that moved heavy goods.
B) type of sandal that distinguished slaves from free peasants in Mesopotamia.
C) governor in the Persian Empire.
D) collection of cuneiform tablets.
E) province of the Persian Empire.

Question 24

All the following were achievements of the Egyptians except

A) pyramid building.
B) superb engineering skills.
C) the invention of the solar calendar.
D) advancement in medicine.
E) the invention of the lunar calendar.

Question 25

Qualities of truth and justice were

A) deficiencies of the Egyptian religion.
B) associated with the universal, divinely ordained order of Ma'at.
C) traditions that Egyptians absorbed from the Hebrews during their captivity.
D) the primary code of loyalty to pharaoh.
E) associated with the Book of the Dead.

Question 26

In explaining natural phenomena, ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians would refer to

A) analysis of what caused the event.
B) comparison to other similar events.
C) relating events to the actions of their leaders.
D) the intervention by gods.
E) natural and seasonal characteristics.

Question 27

Iron weapons and tools largely replaced bronze weapons and tools after 1000 B.C. in the ancient Near East because

A) ​iron is stronger and more flexible than bronze.
B) ​iron ore was more common in the area than copper tin.
C) ​iron was more suitable for ritual purposes.
D) ​following the collapse of Minoan civilization, techniques for the manufacture of bronze were forgotten.
E) ​bronze weapons were no longer used.

Question 28

The use of the Phoenician alphabet and the Aramaic language provided which of the following civilizations with a centralizing force?

A) Egyptian
B) Persian Empire
C) Anatolian
D) Mycenaean
E) Assyrian Empire

Question 29

One may credit Ashurbanipal with

A) ​building the Hanging Gardens.
B) ​furthering the ideas of Zoroaster.
C) ​maintaining a library of clay tablets.
D) ​restoring Nineveh.
E) terrorizing his neighbors. ​

Question 30

Who founded a dualistic religion in the Near East?

A) Zoroaster
B) Moses
C) Akhenaten
D) Joshua
E) Ramses

Question 31

It was said that a pharaoh

A) could never fail in a military endeavor.
B) was a god.
C) was a human being with divine inspiration.
D) reigned as the "alter-ego" of the Nile god.
E) was a representative of the gods.

Question 32

Which religion became the counterpart to Persian political and cultural universalism?

A) Worship of the god Marduk
B) Zoroastrianism
C) Judaism
D) The monotheism of Akhenaten
E) Janism

Question 33

Which of the following is least applicable to the approach of ancient civilizations towards nature?

A) Nature is inanimate.
B) Lightning might be a god.
C) Floods were a punishment of the gods.
D) Gods might dwell in rivers and mountains.
E) The wind might be a god.

Question 34

Who may be best associated with forwarding monotheistic ideas?

A) Ramses
B) Tutankhamen
C) Maety
D) Akhenaten
E) Ahmose

Question 35

Egyptian physicians understood all of the following except

A) the anatomy of a person.
B) trepanning.
C) the importance of cleanliness in avoiding contagious diseases.
D) how to drain an abscessed tooth.
E) circumcision.

Question 36

To which of the following did Egypt finally lose its independence?

A) Libyans
B) Nubians
C) Assyrians
D) Greeks
E) Persians

Question 37

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
cuneiform

Question 38

Which term is best associated with the "Wise Lord" or the god of light and justice?

A) Ahriman
B) Ma'at
C) Ahura Mazda
D) Isis
E) Osiris

Question 39

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Bull of Heaven

Question 40

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Akkad

Question 41

Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).

On the map of the Near East, use different colors to sketch in the areas where the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations were found.

Question 42

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
"The Sea Peoples"

Question 43

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Aramaeans

Question 44

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
satrap

Question 45

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Indo-Europeans

Question 46

Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).

On the map of the Near East, trace the location of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Mark and identify the sea into which the rivers flow.

Question 47

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Hyksos

Question 48

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Nile

Question 49

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Nubia

Question 50

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Hammurabi

Question 51

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Epic of Gilgamesh

Question 52

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Cyrus and Cambyses

Question 53

Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).

On the map of the Near East, locate the approximate sites of the following ancient cities: Memphis, Tyre, Sidon, Babylon, and Nineveh.

Question 54

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Sumerians

Question 55

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Phoenicians

Question 56

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Paleolithic Age

Question 57

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
mythopoeic

Question 58

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Ma'at

Question 59

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Atonism

Question 60

Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
"land between the rivers"

Question 61

Please use this outline map of the world to answer the question(s).

What are the major differences between the Neolithic Age and the Paleolithic Age?

Question 62

Please use this outline map of the world to answer the question(s).

What factors contributed to the development of Egyptian civilization? What was their impact on the nature of the Egyptian monarchy?

Question 63

Please use this outline map of the world to answer the question(s).

Refer to some ways that people during the Paleolithic era showed evidence of an ability to form abstractions.

Question 64

Please use this outline map of the world to answer the question(s).

What were some of the negative consequences first of the agricultural revolution and later of the development of civilization?

Question 65

​How did the system of satrap and satrapies aid the Persian empire?

Question 66

Please use this outline map of the world to answer the question(s).

Contrast the religious attitudes of the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians. Explain why the differences between the two civilizations developed.

Question 67

​Phoenicians settled in all of the cities except

A) ​Cairo
B) ​Tyre
C) ​Byblos
D) ​Berytus
E) ​Sidon

Question 68

Please use this outline map of the world to answer the question(s).

Discuss Mesopotamian contributions to two of the following fields: government, law, and science.

Question 69

​The introduction of Indo-European people lead to the emergence of all of the following languages except

A) ​Greek
B) ​Latin
C) ​Magyar
D) ​Slavic
E) ​Sanskrit

Question 70

Egyptians demonstrated their belief in an afterlife by all of the following except​

A) ​elaborate tombs
B) ​funerary art
C) ​mortuary priests
D) ​mummification
E) ​cremation

Question 71

​Life in Mesopotamia could be dangerous because of all of the following reasons except​

A) ​river dikes could break
B) ​water shortage could cause crops to fail
C) ​lack of natural barriers to prevent invasions
D) ​disease
E) ​lack of record keeping

Question 72

​How did development of villages change patterns of life?

Question 73

Please use this outline map of the world to answer the question(s).

Discuss the contribution of the Assyrians to the civilization of the ancient Near East.

Question 74

Please use this outline map of the world to answer the question(s).

Explain why one may refer to the mythopoeic (myth-making) mind of the people of the ancient Near East.

Question 75

Mesopotamian mathematicians made advancements in math except​

A) ​creation of multiplication tables
B) ​inventing cubes and cube roots
C) ​determining the area of a triangle
D) ​development of mathematical proofs
E) ​division of a circle into 360 degrees

Question 76

Sumerian civilization possessed all of the following except​

A) ​irrigation works
B) ​political institutions
C) ​secular literature
D) ​money
E) ​solar calendar

Question 77

Please use this outline map of the world to answer the question(s).

On the map of the world, color in those areas of the world that scholars consider to have been civilized early in the Third Millennium B.C. and then early in the Second Millennium B.C. What areas did civilization expand into during these thousand years?

Question 78

Religion provided Neolithic communities with​

A) ​unity among people
B) ​an explanation for the workings of nature
C) ​morality
D) ​a decreased fear of death
E) ​All of the above

Question 79

​From studying the Hammurabi Code, historians have learned that

A) ​the Mesopotamian civilizations were compassionate and forgiving
B) ​men and women were treated equally
C) ​business transaction were not regulated
D) ​class distinctions were key to their legal code
E) ​slavery was outlawed

Question 80

​Historians have debated whether Akhenaten's religious reforms may have influenced

A) ​Moses
B) ​Aristotle
C) ​Hammurabi
D) ​Gilgamesh
E) ​Nero