Deck 2: The Rise of Empires and the Beginning of the Iron Age

Question 1

In what field did the Assyrians make the greatest contribution?

A)military science
B)art
C)literature
D)religion
E)astronomical science

Answer 1

military science

Question 2

After the eleventh century B.C.E. ,what metal came into general use in the Middle East for weapons and tools?

A)iron
B)copper
C)bronze
D)brass
E)steel

Answer 2

iron

Question 3

Which of the following have historians studied most to learn about Egypt's Middle Kingdom?

A)tombs of minor officials
B)monuments to pharaohs
C)religious temples
D)records of business transactions
E)literary works

Answer 3

tombs of minor officials

Question 4

During the Middle and New Kingdoms,Egyptian women

A)were highly respected as caretakers of the home.
B)were often political leaders of villages or the empire.
C)had equal opportunities for education,work,and government.
D)were considered the property of their fathers or husbands.
E)were lower than slaves and had no rights.

Question 5

All of the following statements accurately characterize the Hittites EXCEPT

A)they were a peaceful people.
B)they adapted cuneiform to write their language.
C)they lived in isolated,self-sufficient villages and established few cities.
D)their government was plagued by coups and disputed successions.
E)they spoke an Indo-European language.

Question 6

What helped make the rise of the Assyrian empire possible?

A)the confusion created by the Sea Peoples' invasions
B)the unique talents of Amenhotep IV
C)rapid climate change in the Fertile Crescent
D)their alliance with the Hittites
E)the Nubian invasion of Egypt

Question 7

The Babylonian Empire was largely the work of its sixth king,

A)Hammurabi.
B)Abram.
C)Ur-Nammu.
D)Akkad.
E)Sumer.

Question 8

What warrior king and prolific builder constructed about half of ancient Egypt's extant monuments?

A)Ramses II
B)Tutankhamun
C)Ramses I
D)Seti
E)Hatshepsut

Question 9

One of Egypt's greatest pharaohs,who built the impressive temple Deir el-Bahri,was a woman named

A)Hatshepsut.
B)Thutmose.
C)Senenmut.
D)Cleopatra.
E)Nefertiti.

Question 10

Which city did the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom prefer as their capital?

A)Thebes
B)Cairo
C)Memphis
D)Ur
E)Aten

Question 11

Which peoples brought Egypt's Middle Kingdom to an end?

A)the Hyksos
B)the Amorites
C)the Kassites
D)the Amalekites
E)the Assyrians

Question 12

Amenhotep IV attempted to safeguard the absolute authority of Egypt's king by introducing

A)exclusive worship of the Aten.
B)a new set of Hyksos gods and goddesses.
C)the concept of the pharaoh as a god on earth.
D)the cult of Isis and Osiris.
E)an elective monarchy.

Question 13

Sargon II was significant as the

A)founder of the last and greatest Assyrian dynasty.
B)greatest Middle Kingdom Pharaoh.
C)founder of the New Kingdom in Egypt.
D)only king of the Mitannian empire known by name.
E)great builder who restored Babylon to its former glory.

Question 14

During whose reign did the New Kingdom reach its pinnacle?

A)Amenhotep III
B)Thutmose III
C)Hatshepsut
D)Cleopatra
E)Akhenaten

Question 15

Though the Indo-European mother tongue no longer exists,it probably originated

A)north of the Black Sea.
B)in lower Egypt.
C)south of the Mesopotamian Valley.
D)in upper Egypt.
E)in Asia Minor.

Question 16

What did Akhenaten,Amenhotep IV's new name,mean?

A)Horizon of the Sun
B)Worthy of Worship
C)Beloved of the Sun
D)Aten's Chosen One
E)Fire and Death

Question 17

Ramses I

A)restored the glory of the New Kingdom.
B)undermined much of what the pharaohs before him had accomplished.
C)left Egypt open and vulnerable to invasion.
D)died without an heir.
E)attempted to wipe the Hebrews off the face of the earth.

Question 18

Which phrase best describes the Hebrew concept of divine power?

A)a single,transcendent creator
B)a creative spirit living in all things
C)multiple deities governing every aspect of life
D)a human elevated to the status of a god
E)divine power as part of the natural world

Question 19

Which people sacked Babylon in 1595 b.c.e.and fought the Egyptians to a draw at Qadesh in 1286 B.C.E.?

A)Hittites
B)Assyrians
C)Midianites
D)Persians
E)Hyksos

Question 20

Which of the following issues does NOT seem to have been covered by Hammurabi's code?

A)dietary laws
B)property laws
C)family laws
D)marriage
E)slavery

Question 21

Who first entered into the Hebrew's covenant with God?

A)Abraham
B)Isaac
C)Joseph
D)Moses
E)Jacob

Question 22

The Hittites and Assyrians were most alike in that both

A)were warlike,militaristic societies.
B)spoke Indo-European languages.
C)spoke Semitic languages.
D)were mainly urban cultures with large,complex cities.
E)were seagoing peoples.

Question 23

Who was Israel's first king?

A)Saul
B)Abraham
C)Solomon
D)David
E)Abram

Question 24

How have theories about Tutankhamun changed since his tomb's discovery in 1922?

A)Theories about his untimely death have changed from murder to natural causes.
B)Theories about his importance as pharaoh have changed from major to minor.
C)Theories about his age at the time of death have changed from 9 to 19.
D)Theories about his paternal lineage have changed from Akhetaten to Ay.
E)Theories about his maternal lineage have changed from Nefertiti to Kiya.

Question 25

In what ways were women NOT equal to men in Egyptian society?

A)They did not work outside the home.
B)They were not permitted to own land.
C)They could not make legally binding contracts.
D)They did not have the right to initiate divorce.
E)They were not allowed to own slaves.

Question 26

What did it signify when Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun?

A)The divisive Aten sect was dissolved and the king returned to the old gods.
B)The Hebrew God replaced the old Egyptian gods.
C)The pharaoh-worship of the Old Kingdom was abandoned.
D)Women would no longer be allowed to rule Egypt.
E)He issued an ethical code,giving equal rights to women and slaves.

Question 27

Why was Hammurabi's code significant?

A)It established a common system of justice throughout the Babylonian empire.
B)It established a set of statutes for lawyers to use when arguing cases.
C)It established the death penalty for a wide variety of crimes and offenses.
D)It replaced a long-standing set of universal laws that had grown irrelevant.
E)It supported precepts established in the Bible.

Question 28

How did Egyptians respond to the Hyksos invasions?

A)New Kingdom pharaohs abandoned isolation and expanded outside Egypt.
B)Egyptians meekly accepted the rule of their cultural superiors.
C)Once the invaders had been defeated,Egypt retreated into isolation.
D)Middle Kingdom pharaohs called on their Assyrian allies to help repel the invaders.
E)The old religious and political system was abandoned by New Kingdom pharaohs.

Question 29

What did the Hittites and Egyptians have in common?

A)Both of their empires fell as a result of the invasion of the Sea Peoples.
B)The majority of their people lived in their imperial cities.
C)Their governments were frequently overthrown by military officers.
D)Their leaders were worshiped as descendants of the gods.
E)Their female and male citizens had equal property and marital rights.

Question 30

How was the Middle Kingdom Egyptian cult of Osiris and Isis similar to Christianity?

A)They both include death and rebirth imagery.
B)They were both monotheistic religions.
C)They were both descendants from the Hebrew religion.
D)They were both influenced by Hammurabi's code.
E)They both include burial rituals with replicas of necessities.

Question 31

As with the Sea Peoples,archaeologists have recently argued that the Hyksos

A)were disruptive migrants rather than violent invaders.
B)had little long-term impact on Near Eastern societies.
C)did far more damage to Near Eastern societies than was once thought.
D)elevated their importance by effective use of propaganda.
E)may have been of sub-Saharan African rather than Near Eastern origin.

Question 32

The "The Invasion of the Sea Peoples" could also be described as

A)a period of mass migrations.
B)the end of the age of empires.
C)the triumph of Indo-European culture.
D)a period of revival for the older Near Eastern states.
E)a return to the Stone Age.

Question 33

Hammurabi's Code,like Babylonian society,would best be described as

A)patriarchal.
B)egalitarian.
C)matriarchal
D)free of social and economic divisions.
E)based on the concept of "might makes right."

Question 34

In what way did the Hittite empire show the greatest degree of continuity with older Near Eastern cultures?

A)use of cuneiform to write their language.
B)worship of the same gods.
C)being a heavily urbanized culture.
D)speaking a related Semitic language.
E)being a peaceful people who expanded by trade and not war.

Question 35

Why are there few surviving buildings from Egypt's Middle Kingdom?

A)Many were torn down and replaced by New Kingdom pharaohs
B)Middle Kingdom pharaohs were too poor to do much building.
C)Most Middle Kingdom buildings were of mud brick,which has not survived.
D)Most of the Middle Kingdom's wealth was wasted on unproductive wars.
E)Overworked,rebellious peasants destroyed Middle Kingdom pharaohs' grand tombs.

Question 36

How did the Israelites view themselves?

A)God's Chosen People
B)Protectors of the Universe
C)Children of the Sun
D)superior to all other people
E)the first people of the world

Question 37

How did isolation affect Egypt's Middle Kingdom?

A)It prevented Egyptians from learning valuable military technology.
B)It allowed the Egyptians to live in peace and security.
C)It sheltered Egyptians from foreign influence.
D)It encouraged Egyptians to create vast cities.
E)It impoverished Egyptians through lack of trade.

Question 38

When did the "Axial Age," the emergence of new religious and social ideas across world civilizations,take place?

A)the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E.
B)the second and first centuries B.C.E.
C)at the birth of Jesus
D)the first and second centuries C.E.
E)the tenth and ninth centuries B.C.E.

Question 39

What was the most important long-term effect of the migrations of 1630-1550 b.c.e.?

A)The Indo-European language spread to the corners of the Earth.
B)Women gained more civil and property rights.
C)Slaves gained more civil and property rights.
D)The barbaric violence of the ancient world ended.
E)The peaceful Hebrews became the reigning power in the Middle East.

Question 40

Who were the West's first notable seafarers,centered in the ports of Tyre,Sidon and Biblos?

A)the Phoenicians
B)the Israelites
C)the Assyrians
D)the Canaanites
E)the Philistines

Question 41

The term "Axial Age" implies that during the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E.a turning point was reached as

A)new thinkers challenged social and religious ideas in many cultures.
B)a unified world religion brought together diverse groups of people.
C)leadership in world civilizations shifted eastward.
D)religion ceased to be a major force in human life.
E)people everywhere accepted the Hebrew God as the only true god.

Question 42

What do the treasures found in Tutankhamun's tomb suggest about his place in Egyptian history?

A)If a minor king was buried with such riches,the great pharaohs must have been unimaginably wealthy.
B)New Kingdom Egypt was a poor and declining society.
C)Akhenaten's Amarna period was the peak of Egyptian wealth and power.
D)By Tutankamun's time,pharaohs were no longer buried with anything of great value.
E)He must have been one of the greatest rulers of the ancient world.

Question 43

Which two peoples ultimately overthrew the Assyrian empire?

Question 44

Why is David considered to be the Biblical king supported by the most historical evidence?

A)He is the only Hebrew king mentioned in a surviving ancient inscription.
B)Archaeologists have excavated his palace in Jerusalem.
C)A treaty between David and Ramses the Great has been found in Egypt.
D)David's tomb still stands in Hebron.
E)There is no historical evidence for any other Hebrew king.

Question 45

As an historical account,scholars consider the Bible to be

A)a simplified and selective version of the past explaining Hebrew origins.
B)literally true.
C)about as reliable as other cultures' myths.
D)a purely religious text with no historical value.
E)closely parallel to Egyptian and Mesopotamian historical records.

Question 46

Why did Assyria advance slowly before the thirteenth century B.C.E.?

A)because of threatening neighbors and weak leaders
B)because of powerful droughts and crippling food shortages
C)because of a technological gap
D)because of a lack of powerful allies
E)because of insufficient wealth

Question 47

How did the ancient empires of the Middle East unify people?

A)through trade and diplomacy
B)through peaceful conquests
C)by converting all to one religion
D)by educating all in one philosophy
E)through fear and terrorism

Question 48

What groundbreaking document's purpose was to provide judges with examples of the kinds of decisions the ruler wished them to make?

Question 49

Who was the Hebrews' first king?

Question 50

What does the Bible's reference to Abraham living in "Ur of the Chaldaeans" around 2000 B.C.E.suggest about the book of Genesis?

A)Genesis was not written until much later when the Chaldeans ruled Babylon.
B)Historical accounts of Near Eastern history that contradict Genesis must be wrong.
C)Archaeology is of little use in understanding the Bible.
D)Nothing in the Bible can be trusted as history.
E)Abraham must have been a real person,for he is accurately set in time and place.

Question 51

What impact did widespread use of iron have on the rise and fall of Near Eastern empires?

A)Iron weapons helped the Assyrians extend the lifespan of their empire.
B)Widespread use of iron made it impossible for any one state to dominate the others.
C)By monopolizing iron production,Egypt remained a Near Eastern power through the first millennium B.C.E.
D)Cheap iron weapons made war too bloody,ushering in a long period of peace.
E)Better suited for tools than weapons,iron mainly affected farm production.

Question 52

How did the ancient empires of the Middle East civilize people?

A)through conduct codes,literature,and art
B)through military conflict and terrorism
C)by providing access to education and justice
D)by maintaining peace throughout the land
E)through religion,sufficient resources,and peace

Question 53

How were the Hebrew prophets like historians?

A)They used history to discuss the present and future.
B)They used artifacts to interpret their people's history.
C)They carefully and without bias recorded their people's history.
D)They accurately predicted the future,showing that humans have no true freedom.
E)They made political commentary on the events in their people's past and present.

Question 54

Which ancient Middle Eastern kingdom allowed almost equal rights to its women?

Question 55

What was the last native Egyptian dynasty?

Question 56

Although the dating is uncertain,it is most likely that the events of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt and settlement in Canaan took place during the

A)disruptive migrations of the Sea Peoples.
B)rise of the Hittite empire.
C)beginning of the Iron Age.
D)Assyrian conquest of the Near East.
E)Axial Age.

Question 57

How did the ancient empires of the Middle East divide people?

A)through violence,religious intolerance,and class stratification
B)through language barriers,racial stereotyping,and segregation
C)by depriving certain classes of people access to education
D)by depriving certain classes of people voting rights
E)by establishing trading relations with foreigners

Question 58

Reflecting their militarized culture,Assyrian law codes

A)restricted women's rights,making them subordinate to men.
B)granted tax exemptions to warriors
C)were more concerned with human rights than property rights.
D)treated women with great respect,as the mothers of warriors.
E)harshly punished men for the transgressions of their women.

Question 59

Besides conquest by another empire,what other force most often toppled ancient empires?

A)internal conflicts
B)harsh environmental conditions
C)changes in religion
D)poor trade relations
E)diverse people groups

Question 60

The bas-relief stone slabs unearthed at Nimrud depict what aspect of Assyrian society?

A)military power
B)religious devotion
C)agricultural production
D)literary accomplishments
E)social equality of men and women