Deck 2: The Ancient Near East: Peoples and Empires

Question 1

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Hebrews

Answer 1

Answers will vary.

Question 2

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Saul

Answer 2

Answers will vary.

Question 3

How did the Hebrew state and religion differ from earlier Near Eastern states and religions? How were they the same?

Answer 3

Answers will vary.

Question 4

Compare and contrast the political and cultural achievements of Cyrus and Darius.

Question 5

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
monotheism

Question 6

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
the Exodus

Question 7

Discuss the role of the husband/father, wife/mother, and the sons and daughters in the Hebrew family.

Question 8

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Yahweh

Question 9

Discuss the ways various Near Eastern peoples and societies influenced and interacted with one another.

Question 10

What were the major turning points in Hebrew history, and why?

Question 11

What ideas associated with Zoroastrianism are common to Judaism and Christianity?

Question 12

What were the terms of the covenant between the Hebrews and Yahweh? How did this covenant shape Jewish life and culture?

Question 13

Examine and describe the relationship in Assyrian society between religion and empire.

Question 14

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Moses

Question 15

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Canaan

Question 16

How did Assyrian society and culture differ from those of other Mesopotamian peoples? How were they similar?

Question 17

Compare and contrast the administrative structure and attitudes toward subject peoples of the Assyrian and Persian empires.

Question 18

What impact did the Hittite Empire have on the development of the Near East?

Question 19

What role did the Hebrew Bible, Hebrew law, and the prophets play in the development of Hebrew religion and society?

Question 20

In what ways were the teachings of Zoroaster different from the beliefs of other ancient societies? Relate his beliefs to the development of Persian religion.

Question 21

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Persepolis

Question 22

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Assyrians

Question 23

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Persians

Question 24

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Babylonian captivity of the Jews

Question 25

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Phoenicians

Question 26

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Indo-Europeans

Question 27

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Neo-Babylonian Empire

Question 28

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
kingdoms of Israel and Judah

Question 29

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Darius

Question 30

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Ahuramazda

Question 31

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
satrap

Question 32

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Solomon

Question 33

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Phoenician alphabet

Question 34

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
covenant

Question 35

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Nebuchadnezzar II

Question 36

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
David

Question 37

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Jerusalem

Question 38

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Cyrus the Great

Question 39

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Zoroastrianism

Question 40

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
the Temple

Question 41

The Hebrew Bible describes the conquest of the Philistines, the Moabites, and Jerusalem as the achievements of

A)Ezra.
B)Joshua.
C)Solomon.
D)David.
E)Saul.

Question 42

According to the Hebrew Bible, Moses united the Israelites after their enslavement in

A)Canaan.
B)Egypt.
C)Akkad.
D)Persia.
E)Babylonia.

Question 43

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance. The Hittites

A)were an Indo-European speaking people.
B)a Semitic speaking people.
C)defeated and destroyed the Egyptians.
D)conquered Greece.
E)are also known as "Sea Peoples."

Question 44

What statement best describes the Hebrew religion?

A)It was based on a belief in two gods, both named Yahweh.
B)It was an ethical religion centered on the law of God.
C)It taught that there was a covenant between the Hebrews and Ahuramazda.
D)It was dualistic under the guise of monotheism.
E)It was an evangelical faith that sought the conversion of others.

Question 45

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Philistines

Question 46

The most famous of the megalithic constructions of Europe is

A)Avebury.
B)Woodhenge.
C)Stonehenge.
D)Lascaux.
E)Altimira.

Question 47

According to Hebrew tradition, the Hebrew people descended from which patriarch?

A)Adam
B)Noah
C)Abraham
D)Moses
E)David

Question 48

Which of the following is NOT an Indo-European language?

A)Sanskrit
B)Babylonian
C)German
D)Latin
E)Greek

Question 49

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
the Hittite Empire

Question 50

According to scholars, when did the Israelites emerge as a distinct group of people?

A)Between 3000 and 2500 B.C.E.
B)Between 2500 and 2000 B.C.E.
C)Between 1800 and 1500 B.C.E.
D)Between 1200 and 1000 B.C.E.
E)Between 600 and 400 B.C.E.

Question 51

To fulfill their obligations under the covenant, what did the Hebrews have to do?

A)Convert their neighbors.
B)Build a mighty empire.
C)Worship multiple gods.
D)Obey the law of God.
E)Reject all material things.

Question 52

What was Solomon's most revered contribution to the Hebrew society?

A)Centralizing royal power along the lines of Mesopotamian despotism
B)Dividing the Hebrew tribes into two separate political kingdoms
C)Decentralizing royal power, spreading among the 12 Hebrew tribes
D)Constructing of the Temple, the symbolic center of the Hebrew religion and society
E)Receiving the Ten Commandments from God

Question 53

After the death of Solomon, tensions between the northern and southern tribes led to the establishment of which two kingdoms?

A)Palestine and Judea
B)Canaan and Palestine
C)Jordan and Judea
D)Israel and Palestine
E)Israel and Judah

Question 54

The Hittites played an important role in the history of the Middle East because they

A)defeated the Egyptians, thus ending Egypt's New Kingdom.
B)were conquered by the Assyrians, paving the way for the Assyrian Empire.
C)invented the alphabet.
D)drove the Sea Peoples back into the sea.
E)transmitted Mesopotamian culture to the west, especially to the Mycenaean Greeks.

Question 55

Growing appreciation of astronomy among European peoples after 4000 B.C.E. is best seen in

A)cuneiform star charts.
B)wall paintings of galaxies.
C)megalithic observatories.
D)epic poems about the cosmos.
E)use of the astrolabe.

Question 56

The original Indo-Europeans possibly came from

A)Mesopotamia.
B)the steppe region north of the Black Sea.
C)the Indus Valley.
D)the Aegean basin.
E)India.

Question 57

For each historical identification question, define the term and briefly describe its historical significance.
Nineveh

Question 58

All of the following are true of the Hebrew conception of God EXCEPT

A)he was the creator of but not an inherent part of nature.
B)all peoples of the world were subject to him.
C)that he would punish those not following his will.
D)there was no room for personal relationships with him, as his word was law.
E)he was a just and good God.

Question 59

Which conquerors destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. and established the Babylonian captivity?

A)Chaldeans
B)Assyrians
C)Philistines
D)Persians
E)Sea Peoples

Question 60

What did the Hebrews believe was the name of God?

A)Moloch
B)Yahweh
C)Baal
D)Jesus
E)Allah

Question 61

All of the following are correct about Byblos EXCEPT:

A)It was an Egyptian commercial center.
B)It was a major Phoenician city.
C)It was a distribution center for Egyptian papyrus.
D)The Greek word for book is derived from its name.
E)It was located in ancient Canaan.

Question 62

The Assyrian army was

A)less powerful than that of the Hebrews.
B)rarely sent beyond the borders of the Assyrian homeland.
C)extremely well organized.
D)made up entirely of slaves.
E)very small.

Question 63

Which statement was true of Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon?

A)They were all Hebrew cities.
B)They were all built by the Sea Peoples.
C)They were all sea ports.
D)They were all home to large Assyrian populations.
E)They were all destroyed in 1500 B.C.E.

Question 64

Which of these was an important Assyrian city?

A)Carthage
B)Ashur
C)Persepolis
D)Rome
E)Cairo

Question 65

What was an important Phoenician contribution to the ancient Near East?

A)The founding of the city of Rome
B)The development of a new form of pictographs
C)The establishment of history's largest empire
D)The development of a simplified alphabet and system of writing
E)The discovery of bronze making

Question 66

Who were the greatest international sea traders of the ancient Near East?

A)Sea Peoples
B)Phoenicians
C)Hittites
D)Philistines
E)Canaanites

Question 67

Which of these statements about the Phoenicians is true?

A)They sailed into the Atlantic.
B)They were never conquered.
C)They focused on building trade connections with central Asia.
D)They were Indo-Europeans.
E)They never ventured outside of their home cities.

Question 68

Which of these trade items was closely associated with the Phoenicians?

A)Fine leather
B)Grain
C)Iron ore
D)Salt
E)Purple dye

Question 69

How was the Assyrian army able to conquer and maintain an empire?

A)Use of diversified military tactics
B)Avoidance of siege warfare
C)Lenient treatment of rebellious subjects
D)Use of Assyria's naturally protected boundaries
E)Reliance exclusively upon massive armies of infantry soldiers

Question 70

According to the Hebrews, which statement is true of God's laws?

A)They could be suspended in times of war or crisis.
B)They only applied to men.
C)They should be imposed all of the world's peoples.
D)They dealt only with religious matters.
E)They made no class distinctions.

Question 71

The Assyrians are best remembered for their

A)empire building.
B)urban architecture.
C)trade and commerce.
D)fine art and literature.
E)religion.

Question 72

The covenant

A)acted as a contract between God and the tribes of Israel.
B)identified the Hebrews as God's chosen people.
C)could only be fulfilled by the Hebrews' obedience to the law of God.
D)was formed during the period of the Exodus
E)All of these are correct.

Question 73

Which of these endeavors was the primary focus of the Phoenicians?

A)Wheat farming
B)International trade
C)Military conquest
D)Mining
E)Herding

Question 74

The Assyrians were ruled by

A)a coalition of nobles.
B)local assemblies.
C)a small number of elite priests.
D)elected legislatures.
E)absolute monarchs.

Question 75

What step did the Assyrian kings take to gain greater control over their kingdom?

A)They enforced religious uniformity.
B)They eliminated hereditary governorships.
C)They deported all non-Assyrians.
D)They reduced the size of the army.
E)They executed the most powerful nobles.

Question 76

Which of the following was NOT part of the Hebrew religious tradition?

A)the law
B)the revelation
C)the covenant
D)the prophets
E)monotheism

Question 77

What do historians mean when they describe Assyria as a "polyglot society"?

A)That Assyria was ethnically diverse and differences were regarded as unimportant
B)That Assyrian society and culture were built around the idea of racial purity
C)That Assyrian society was not hierarchical and had little economic inequality
D)That Assyrians were hostile to ideas and customs they viewed as "foreign"
E)That the Assyrians did not have a language of their own

Question 78

The Hebrew Bible

A)differs fundamentally from the Torah and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
B)focuses on the basic theme of the necessity of the Hebrews to obey their God.
C)related only the words of the prophets and tells us little about Hebrew daily life.
D)tells little about the history of the Hebrews before the Babylonian Captivity.
E)was written in Aramaic.

Question 79

Which statement best describes the Assyrian use of terror tactics and atrocities?

A)They were used universally on all captured prisoners.
B)They especially targeted inhabitants of the empire who rebelled against Assyrian rule.
C)They were used to make up for an absence of an intelligence network.
D)They prevented foreign cultures from mixing with the Assyrian population.
E)They were quickly abandoned as unworkable.

Question 80

What was the primary role of the Hebrew prophets?

A)They were considered to be the voice of Yahweh.
B)They were to prophets serve as judges in the Hebrew courts.
C)They attempted to foretell the future for the Hebrew military leaders.
D)They were caretakers of the Ark of the Covenant.
E)They were members of the elite upper class.