Deck 5: Iron Age Empires: Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia 850-500 BCE

Question 1

Which of the following were among the challenges faced by the Assyrians?

A)Constant famine throughout the twentieth century BCE
B)Their territory had no natural defenses
C)Their territory was situated squarely on travel routes used by invaders
D)Economic challenges created by the poorer soil of the upper Tigris valley

Answer 1

B,C,D

Question 2

While the core of the Assyrian army was the infantry, they also assimilated the military tactics of the _______.

A)Mycenaean Greek cavalry
B)steppe nomads
C)Mongolian horse archers
D)river valley hunter-gatherers

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Queen Sammuramat, known in legend as the long-ruling daughter of the goddess Astarte, is more famously known by what name?

A)Anatolia
B)Sennacherib
C)Shamsi-Adad
D)Semiramis

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following Assyrian kings captured Samaria in 721 BCE and brought the kingdom of Israel to an end?

A)Tilgath-Pilezer III
B)Sennacherib
C)Assur-Ubalit I
D)Sargon II

Question 5

The only method the Assyrians had for maintaining control of their subject peoples was _______.

A)the use of terror tactics
B)religious privileges at Assyrian temples
C)economic enticements in conquered territories
D)citizenship rights

Question 6

Assyrian rulers are often depicted in artwork hunting what?

A)Dragons
B)Groups of captured soldiers
C)Lions
D)Bears

Question 7

At the peak of the Assyrian administrative organization was the _______.

A)queen
B)king
C)chief priest
D)grand vizier

Question 8

The Assyrians invented the concept of _______.

A)libraries
B)top-down imperial administration
C)religious persecution
D)"total war"

Question 9

After the death of _______ in 626 BCE, the Assyrian empire collapsed.

A)Sargon II
B)Sennacherib
C)Gyges
D)Assurbanipal

Question 10

What is the name of the Jewish heroine who beheaded the Babylonian general Holofernes?

A)Judith
B)Rebekah
C)Hagar
D)Lilith

Question 11

Which of the following are among the deeds of Nebuchadrezzar?

A)Greatly strengthening the walls of Babylon
B)Building the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon
C)The conquest of the Lydians
D)The dedication to Ishtar of an elaborate and fortified main gate to Babylon

Question 12

The territorial divisions of the Empire of the Medes were called what?

A)Nomes
B)Demes
C)Parasangs
D)Satrapies

Question 13

The Lydian empire had its capital at _______.

A)Nineveh
B)Babylon
C)Sardis
D)Miletus

Question 14

It was during the Saïte Dynasty that a simplified form Egyptian hieratic script known as _______ replaced hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts for official, legal, and commercial documents.

A)Coptic
B)Aeolic
C)polyphonic
D)demotic

Question 15

In 550 BCE the Persian king _______ defeated the Medes and in so doing created the Persian Empire.

A)Xerxes
B)Cambyses
C)Cyrus
D)Darius

Question 16

It was under the rule of which people that the Jews of Judaea were encouraged to purse their worship with little or no interference from government?

A)The Persians
B)The Assyrians
C)The New Babylonians
D)The Medes

Question 17

The Persian king Darius I developed the _______, the first large-scale road system in antiquity.

A)Via Regis
B)King's Path
C)Royal Road
D)'Pony Express'

Question 18

Which of the following two gods comprise the dualistic religion of the Persians?

A)Ahura Mazda
B)Marduk
C)Ahriman
D)Zoroaster

Question 19

Is the extent of the Persian Empire, seen here, greater than, smaller than, or roughly the same size as the Assyrian Empire at its height?

A)Greater
B)Smaller
C)Roughly the same size

Question 20

This electrum stater comes from the _______, the very people who invented coinage in the seventh century BCE.

A)Persians
B)Assyrians
C)Egyptians
D)Lydians