Deck 1: The Ancient Near East: the First Civilizations

Question 1

The Code of Hammurabi was one of the first of all ancient legal codes. In what ways was it "modern"? How was it different from modern day Western legal codes? What do you believe constituted "justice" for the inhabitants of Mesopotamian city-states?

Answer 1

Answers may vary.

Question 2

Which society presented in Chapter 1 would you have preferred to live in, and why?

Answer 2

Answers may vary.

Question 3

Some scholars refer to Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations as "hydraulic" cultures. Check the definition of "hydraulic," and write an essay justifying the application of this term to these cultures.

Answer 3

Answers may vary.

Question 4

Discuss some of the similarities and the differences between the religions and religious practices of the Mesopotamian region with those of Egyptian civilization.

Question 5

Talk about:
Homo sapiens sapiens

Question 6

Talk about:
Hominids

Question 7

Talk about:
cave paintings at Chauvet

Question 8

Talk about:
Homo erectus

Question 9

Talk about:
Neolithic Revolution

Question 10

Define the differences between the terms "society" and "civilization."

Question 11

Talk about:
Çatal Hüyük

Question 12

Discuss the possible reasons why early Mesopotamia saw so many different civilizations and empires, from the Sumerians to the Akkadians and the Babylonians, while civilization in the Nile Valley remained essentially unchanged for three millennium.

Question 13

What were the causes and the consequences of the migration of Indo-European speakers into the Near East during the second millennium B.C.E.?

Question 14

In the modern Western world, we often draw a distinction between religion and secular society. Would this distinction have made sense to the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt?

Question 15

Talk about:
Australopithecine

Question 16

Compare and contrast the role of women and families in Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies.

Question 17

Talk about:
Neanderthals

Question 18

Why begin the history of Western Civilization with a study of ancient societies in Mesopotamia and Egypt?

Question 19

In what ways would the transition from hunting and gathering to a settled, agricultural society have improved people's lives, and in what ways would the transition have decreased the quality of life?

Question 20

Talk about:
Paleolithic Age

Question 21

Talk about:
Sumerians

Question 22

Talk about:
Upper and Lower Egypt

Question 23

Talk about:
Eridu, Ur, Uruk, and Lagash

Question 24

Talk about:
theocracy

Question 25

Talk about:
Naram-Sin of Akkad

Question 26

Talk about:
ziggurat

Question 27

Talk about:
Mesopotamia

Question 28

Talk about:
Indus and Yellow Rivers

Question 29

Talk about:
Menes

Question 30

Talk about:
Agricultural Revolution

Question 31

Talk about:
Old Kingdom

Question 32

Talk about:
Code of Hammurabi

Question 33

Talk about:
epic of Enuma elish

Question 34

Talk about:
the pyramids

Question 35

Talk about:
Sargon of Akkad

Question 36

Talk about:
The Epic of Gilgamesh

Question 37

Talk about:
Southwest Asia

Question 38

Talk about:
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Question 39

Talk about:
"The Gift of the Nile"

Question 40

Talk about:
cuneiform

Question 41

Talk about:
Ahmose I

Question 42

Talk about:
Tutankhamun

Question 43

Talk about:
Hatshepsut

Question 44

Talk about:
Osiris

Question 45

Talk about:
Amon-Re

Question 46

Talk about:
Amenhotep III

Question 47

Talk about:
hieroglyphs

Question 48

Talk about:
Sea Peoples

Question 49

Talk about:
Seth

Question 50

Talk about:
Isis

Question 51

Talk about:
polytheism

Question 52

Talk about:
Middle Kingdom

Question 53

Talk about:
Ramesses II

Question 54

Talk about:
Megaliths

Question 55

Talk about:
Akhenaten

Question 56

Talk about:
Stonehenge

Question 57

Talk about:
New Kingdom

Question 58

Talk about:
Hittites

Question 59

Talk about:
Indo-Europeans

Question 60

Talk about:
Hyksos

Question 61

The vast majority of the population in Sumerian city-states worked as

A) farmers.
B) merchants.
C) textile-makers.
D) royal officials.
E) priests.

Question 62

Mesopotamia means the land "between the ____"

A) valleys.
B) mountains.
C) rivers.
D) deserts.
E) plains.

Question 63

Hominids existed as long as 3 to 4 million years ago in

A) Europe
B) Asia
C) Africa
D) South America
E) North America

Question 64

The Sumerian government

A) came to view kings as agents of their gods.
B) saw the various city-states erect different types of governments.
C) was a theocracy in which the priest ruled.
D) was a type of aristocracy where nobles were appointed by an assembly.
E) was controlled by the merchant and artisan class.

Question 65

Mesopotamian religion was

A) monotheistic.
B) very simple with few rules and tenets.
C) severely critical of cultures that practiced divination.
D) one in which no one god reigned supreme and deities were closely related to cities.
E) abstract and metaphorical.

Question 66

The early Neolithic era saw

A) a slow transition from hunting and gathering to an agricultural society.
B) the appearance of cities and urban life.
C) the domestication of the horse in ancient Egypt.
D) the smelting of iron.
E) all of the above

Question 67

What historians refer to as an agricultural revolution

A) occurred prior to 10,000 B.C.E.
B) began in Asia and then spread to other regions.
C) developed independently in seven different areas of the world.
D) encouraged the continuation of a nomadic way of life in the Near East.
E) included the growing of crops and the taming of food-producing animals.

Question 68

The ancient city of Çatal Hüyük was

A) a farming community located in Greece.
B) a Neolithic walled community sustained by food surpluses.
C) a large city with an elaborate water and sewer system.
D) an autocracy in which ruling religious elders exercise all political power.
E) the capitol of Egypt during the Old Kingdom.

Question 69

Sumerian kings derived their authority from

A) the will of the people.
B) the parliamentary councils of the city-states.
C) success in athletic tournaments.
D) the gods.
E) their military victories over the "barbarians".

Question 70

The first anatomically modern humans, known as Homo sapienssapiens,

A) first appeared in Africa between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago.
B) were skilled hunters who had mastered the bow and arrow.
C) lived mostly in small groups near the sea.
D) mastered the art of making bronze tools and weapons.
E) appeared in Europe about one million years ago.

Question 71

Talk about:
Suppiluliumas I

Question 72

The written script of the Sumerians is known as

A) cuneiform.
B) alphabetic.
C) phonogram.
D) hieroglyphs.
E) Cyrillic.

Question 73

The cave in southern France, discovered in 1994 and that contains three hundred paintings of animals, is known as the ____ cave.

A) Lascaux
B) Chauvet
C) Andalusia
D) Pyrenees
E) Poitiers

Question 74

All of the following are consequences of the Neolithic revolution except

A) the building of structures for housing and storage.
B) the development of towns and villages dominated by women.
C) the division of labor between men and women.
D) The specialization of labor in certain crafts.
E) the practice of patriarchy.

Question 75

The physical environment of the Mesopotamians generally led to

A) an optimistic outlook emphasizing the secular life.
B) a pessimistic outlook and loathing of religion.
C) a pessimistic outlook with an emphasis on satisfying their angry gods.
D) an optimistic outlook with a belief in providing for benevolent gods.
E) profound apathy and lack of any material accomplishments.

Question 76

The term "civilization" refers to human societies which, amongst other features,

A) have an urban focus and a distinct religious structure.
B) have art and music.
C) support themselves mainly by trading and manufacturing.
D) have learned to live in peace with their neighbors.
E) have given up religion and adopted rational thinking.

Question 77

The Sumerians

A) defeated the Hittites in 2600 B.C.E.
B) were plagued by incessant warfare between their many city-states.
C) had a complicated religion with a sophisticated belief in life after death.
D) were warriors who instituted totalitarian government.
E) built damns and irrigation canals along the Indus River.

Question 78

Talk about:
bronze and iron

Question 79

All of the following are believed to be developments of the Paleolithic Age except

A) the utilization of tools.
B) origins of religious and decorative art.
C) a social system with rough equality between the sexes.
D) the controlled use of fire.
E) the regular production of food through agriculture.

Question 80

In ancient civilizations, bronze would replace copper because

A) bronze was harder and more durable.
B) it was prettier and therefore made prettier jewelry.
C) bronze took less time to smelt.
D) bronze ore was easier to find.
E) copper tools and weapons became too soft because of the hot weather of the Middle East.