Deck 2: C: First Civilizations Cities, States, and Unequal Societies 3500 B.C.E-500 B.C.E

Question 1

Which of the following is usually considered a feature of "civilization"?

A) Absence of class and gender hierarchies
B) States that use force to compel obedience from subjects
C) The use of deliberately set fires for human purposes
D) The domestication of plants and animals

Answer 1

States that use force to compel obedience from subjects

Question 2

Which of the following provided the primary economic foundation for civilization?

A) Slavery
B) Agriculture
C) Warfare
D) Writing

Answer 2

Agriculture

Question 3

Which of the following represents a way that class distinctions were displayed in the First Civilizations?

A) Naming practices
B) Manner of a person's burial
C) Kinship relations
D) Women's submission to men

Answer 3

Manner of a person's burial

Question 4

Which of the following have scholars advanced as a possible explanation for the emergence of patriarchy in the First Civilizations?

A) Participation of women in animal-drawn,plow-based agriculture
B) Increased role of women outside the home
C) Decline in birthrates that accompanied civilization
D) Emergence of large-scale warfare with professionally led armies

Question 5

Kingship in the First Civilizations often

A) linked the position of the ruler to the divine.
B) relied exclusively on physical force and coercion.
C) depended on the authority of a written constitution.
D) weakened state and religious institutions.

Question 6

The territory of ancient Mesopotamia is presently occupied by which country?

A) Iran
B) Afghanistan
C) Iraq
D) India

Question 7

In the First Civilizations,slaves were drawn from which pool of people?

A) Artisans
B) Merchants
C) Female peasants
D) Prisoners of war

Question 8

Which of the following human accomplishments emerged with the First Civilizations?

A) Agriculture
B) Village life
C) Writing
D) Art

Question 9

Which of the following is a feature found in some cities in the First Civilizations?

A) Libraries
B) Large farms
C) Sewage systems
D) Theaters

Question 10

As a descriptive term,"civilization" refers to

A) a particular and distinctive type of human society organized into cities and states.
B) a trend toward greater equality between classes and between men and women.
C) the development of political institutions that form the basis for democracy.
D) the organization of human communities based on kinship and class.

Question 11

Which of the following describes gender relations in the First Civilizations?

A) Women enjoyed the same rights and privileges as men.
B) Women were defined by their relationship to a man.
C) Men operated in roles defined as feminine.
D) Men were considered inferior to women.

Question 12

Which of the following was a feature of Egyptian rather than Mesopotamian civilization?

A) Salinization of the soil,which led to a collapse in the production of wheat
B) Frequent and devastating invasions by outsiders because of a lack of physical barriers
C) A more cheerful and hopeful outlook on the world,as expressed in part through religious beliefs
D) A long tradition of written law codes based on the notion of natural rights

Question 13

Which of the following was a reason for instability in ancient Mesopotamia?

A) The failure of Mesopotamia to develop written law codes
B) The rivalries between independent city-states that led to warfare
C) The collapse of fisheries in the Persian Gulf on which the population relied
D) The failure of a patriarchal system to emerge in Mesopotamia

Question 14

Which of the following First Civilizations experienced the greatest cultural continuity from its earliest formation to modern times?

A) Indus Valley
B) Norte Chico
C) China
D) Harappa

Question 15

Which of the following has been advanced as a possible explanation for the origins of the First Civilizations?

A) The absence of limits on the amount of land that could be cultivated
B) The end of the practice of slavery in a region
C) The emergence of regions where no military elite took shape
D) The need to organize large-scale irrigation projects

Question 16

Which of the following First Civilizations is sometimes referred to as the "mother civilization" of Mesoamerica?

A) Mesopotamia
B) Olmec
C) Norte Chico
D) Aztec

Question 17

The rulers of the First Civilizations often drew their power from their roles as

A) high priests.
B) clan elders.
C) traders.
D) scribes.

Question 18

Which of the following statements about ancient Egypt is true?

A) The state was ruled by pharaohs who were believed to be gods in human form.
B) Cities were more important in Egypt than in Mesopotamia.
C) The erratic floods caused by the Nile regularly destroyed crops.
D) Women in Egypt were afforded fewer opportunities than in Mesopotamia.

Question 19

The rulers of which First Civilization based their authority on the Mandate of Heaven?

A) Egypt
B) China
C) Olmec
D) Norte Chico

Question 20

Which of the following First Civilizations did not rely on grain-based agriculture?

A) Norte Chico
B) Indus Valley
C) China
D) Egypt

Question 21

Which of the following is an example of a way that rulers in the First Civilizations displayed their power?

A) Writing poetry
B) Freeing slaves
C) Constructing temples
D) Engaging in farm work

Question 22

In which First Civilization were women recognized as legal equals to men?

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

Question 23

Which of the following is an example of how social class affected gender roles?

A) Women from the upper classes were expected to stay at home,while women from the lower classes had to go out in public to work.
B) Women married to wealthy men were forbidden to wear veils,while slaves and prostitutes were required to veil themselves when they went out in public.
C) Only women from the upper classes worshipped Inanna,a goddess of love,sexuality,and war.
D) Female rulers who came from the lower classes were portrayed dressed in male clothing and wearing false beards.

Question 24

Which of the following is an example of the way that patriarchy was expressed in the First Civilizations?

A) Laws that regulated female sexuality
B) Symbols of kingship linked to the divine
C) The state's exclusive right to use violence
D) The use of gifts to reinforce political authority

Question 25

Which of the following shows the relationship between religion and government in the First Civilizations?

A) Farmers were required to turn over a portion of their crops to support city-dwellers.
B) The Hebrew scriptures attributed the act of creation to a single male deity,Yahweh.
C) The demotion of the goddess resulted from the extension of the power of creation and fertility to male gods.
D) Hammurabi claimed that his law code was inspired by Marduk,the chief god of Babylon.

Question 26

What was one purpose that writing served in the First Civilizations?

A) To record the stories of ordinary commoners
B) To keep track of who paid their taxes to the state
C) To confine women to the home
D) To entertain an increasingly literate population

Question 27

Refer to Map 2.1,"First Civilizations," in the textbook.Which of the following civilizations had limited contact with other First Civilizations?

A) Indus Valley
B) Nile Valley
C) Olmec
D) Mesopotamia

Question 28

Which of the following contributed to the declining power of the Egyptian pharaohs by 2400 B.C.E.?

A) Rivalry over land and water created a number of warring city-states.
B) Egypt was defeated in a series of wars with invaders from the east.
C) Egyptian pharaohs adopted a policy of seclusion.
D) Local officials and nobles assumed greater authority.

Question 29

Which of the following best describes the Mesopotamian outlook on life and death?

A) People are caught in an inherently disorderly world without much hope of a blessed life beyond.
B) The afterlife was accessible to all who followed proper procedures and lived a morally upright life.
C) Life is full of pain and suffering,but the afterlife will offer eternal happiness and tranquility.
D) God has already determined those who will go to heaven,and nothing people do during their lifetime can change their divinely ordained fate.

Question 30

Which of the following provides evidence of interaction and exchange among the First Civilizations and surrounding regions in the ancient world?

A) Gunpowder
B) Horse-drawn chariots
C) The abacus
D) Tea