Deck 4: Warriors and Deities in the Near East

Question 1

Describe and discuss the unique contributions that set the Phoenicians apart from the other peoples of antiquity.

Answer 1

Answer not provided.

Question 2

To what extent is Yahweh, God of the Hebrews, unique in the ancient world? What are the major attributes of Yahweh?

Answer 2

Answer not provided.

Question 3

Which of the following provides the correct sequence of travels for the early Hebrew people?

A) Canaan, Saudi Arabia, Mesopotamia
B) Palestine, Canaan, Egypt
C) Canaan, Egypt, Canaan
D) Mesopotamia, Saudi Arabia, Canaan
E) Egypt, Canaan, Mesopotamia

Answer 3

Canaan, Egypt, Canaan

Question 4

The Persian Empire had a different policy of ruling its diverse subjects, in that

A) business enterprises and foreign trade were actively encouraged.
B) the kings did not try to pass themselves off as gods.
C) local religious beliefs, laws, and customs were tolerated in return for loyalty.
D) a special law code applying to everyone was enacted and enforced.
E) all subjects were required to conform to Persian religious beliefs.

Question 5

"I cut off their heads and piled them at the walls of their cities like heaps of grain." This statement was made by a ruler of the

A) Phoenicians.
B) Hyksos.
C) Carthaginians.
D) Assyrians.
E) Persians.

Question 6

Trace the effects of Zoroastrianism on later religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Question 7

Shortly after the death of King Solomon,

A) Jerusalem became the Jewish capital.
B) the Hebrew Kingdom split in two.
C) the Temple was totally destroyed.
D) Judges began to administer the Hebrew tribes.
E) the Babylonians captured all of the people of Israel.

Question 8

Concerning the Assyrian Empire, it is most correct to say that

A) the Assyrian transformation from nomadic life to warfare occurred because of a decline in their traditional grazing lands.
B) the empire emerged out of the Hittite monarchy in Turkey.
C) Assyrian kings enlarged the empire in part through their own displays of toughness and sly creativity.
D) its only real competition for the Tigris valley came from the Hittites centered in Turkey.
E) its chief town, Nineveh, was situated about halfway down the Tigris-Euphrates valley, in order to more easily control Babylonia.

Question 9

Which of the following was an actual part of the trade network of the Phoenicians?

A) a series of colonies in the eastern Mediterranean
B) tin purchased from the Near East
C) the export of copper and dyes to Tyre and Sidon
D) the purchase of copper from Britain
E) the spread of the skill of iron-making into Greece and Africa

Question 10

Which of these empires might most accurately be termed "multi-cultural"?

A) Egypt
B) Assyria
C) Sumer
D) Persia
E) Babylonia

Question 11

Shortly after entering the Promised Land of Canaan, the Hebrews engaged in a series of wars with the

A) Assyrians.
B) Egyptians.
C) Philistines.
D) Babylonians.
E) Amorites.

Question 12

Iranians today might rightly see their country as having long played a pivotal role in the affairs of the wider world because

A) it had a strategic location that was a crossroads for those traveling between the Mediterranean on the one hand, and China and India on the other.
B) the Persians successfully mediated between the Muslims and the Hindus of India.
C) their peoples had emerged from the central Asian steppes with a highly organized government already in place.
D) with their entrance into Persia, the Persians brought much-needed agricultural skills.
E) though mostly nomadic in the beginning, the Persians quickly settled down and established important trading centers

Question 13

In what ways did the Persian Empire contribute to the advancement of civilization? Compare these contributions with those of other early peoples.

Question 14

Describe the relationship between the Jews and their God. What inferences about their society may be drawn from this relationship?

Question 15

The Phoenicians were able to obtain the tin they needed for bronze-making from

A) France.
B) Britain.
C) Turkey.
D) Spain.
E) Greece.

Question 16

To what degree did Judaic society reflect the people's religious convictions? How unique was it, or how typical among ancient societies?

Question 17

The Persians migrated from the central Asian steppes to modern-day

A) Iraq.
B) Jordan.
C) Egypt.
D) Iran.
E) Syria.

Question 18

An innovation used to great effect by the Assyrian military was

A) horse-drawn chariots that provided a raised platform from which to fight.
B) light-unit, heavily armored infantry formations armed with both swords and spears.
C) leather-clad infantrymen armed with broadswords.
D) the use of military strategists whose job it was to select the field of battle.
E) selection of officers through use of the ballot, ensuring that those fighting respected their leaders.

Question 19

Describe and evaluate the effectiveness of the tactics and policies that made the Assyrians a "feared and hated people."

Question 20

The Phoenicians' most significant achievement was

A) the phonetic alphabet.
B) coinage of gold and silver.
C) the Royal Road.
D) the concept of free will.
E) the invention of the wheel.

Question 21

After their escape from Egypt, the Hebrews

A) settled in an under-populated area of coastal Palestine
B) defeated the Canaanites and established a kingdom with Saul as their first king.
C) defeated the Philistines first and then turned to the Canaanites, who proved much harder to conquer.
D) established a kingdom ruled by Solomon, then David, and finally Saul.
E) united with the Canaanites in order to defeat the more powerful Philistines.

Question 22

After Cyrus released the Jews from their Babylonian Captivity, they

A) conceded that Yahweh would readily accept Gentiles into the faith.
B) clarified their belief that Yahweh had not given man free will.
C) returned to Jerusalem to worship in the temple built by Solomon.
D) began to question exactly what Yahweh wanted of them, and determined that he wanted blind obedience.
E) began to view Yahweh as a personal deity who was always available to help those who worshipped him wholeheartedly.

Question 23

As the Jews became scattered throughout the Roman Empire, they took with them their belief that

A) they should convert nonbelievers.
B) Yahweh had left them to care for themselves, according to his guidelines.
C) Yahweh would someday establish an earthly kingdom.
D) they had been, and remained, Yahweh's chosen people.
E) they were Yahweh's chosen people, but he expected them to bring nonbelievers to the truth.

Question 24

Serving as intermediaries between Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Hebrews became for a short time heavily involved in trade, making them most similar to the

A) Assyrians.
B) Persians.
C) Canaanites.
D) Philistines.
E) Phoenicians.

Question 25

During Old Testament times, which of these would most likely have been produced by a Jewish person?

A) a beautiful, if lengthy, poem
B) a new astronomical discovery
C) a drawing of Yahweh giving Moses the Ten Commandments
D) a history of the people written for the masses
E) a new mathematical theory

Question 26

In the aftermath of the Babylonian Captivity, the Jews

A) rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem.
B) returned to the study of the Talmud, their ancient holy text.
C) began to view Yahweh as a vindictive God.
D) swore never to leave the Promised Land again.
E) inscribed their story onto the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Question 27

Despite their cruelty, the Assyrians had a great appreciation for all forms of ____________________.

Question 28

After the capture of Judea by the Babylonians, many Jews were

A) murdered to serve as examples to the rest.
B) made a part of the Assyrian Empire.
C) held hostage to ensure that the remainder of their people would not rebel.
D) lost to history, becoming known as the Ten Lost Tribes of Jewish tradition.
E) lured away from their monotheistic faith.

Question 29

Hebrew society may most accurately be described as

A) egalitarian.
B) matriarchal.
C) backward.
D) progressive.
E) patriarchal.

Question 30

The Hebrew prophets of the eighth to the fifth centuries B.C.E.

A) lived among the people without calling attention to themselves.
B) preached God's word and converted many unbelievers.
C) spoke out often concerning social justice for the powerless.
D) aligned themselves to their kings without much thought for the ordinary people.
E) advised harsh treatment for all non-Jews.

Question 31

The Jewish faith, by accepting Yahweh's promise of rewards for those who did good, was one of the first faiths to incorporate the concept of

A) "give and take."
B) good and evil.
C) a supernatural deity.
D) ethics, or the study of good and evil.
E) otherworldliness.

Question 32

The rise of Assyria led to

A) a union of convenience between Israelites and Judeans.
B) a split between Israel and Judea.
C) a more important role in the Near East for Judea.
D) the weakening of both Judea and Israel.
E) the weakening of Judea.

Question 33

The overthrow of the Assyrians was accomplished by

A) an internal palace plot.
B) a coalition of their enemies led by the Chaldees.
C) the Egyptian and Hittite armies.
D) a general rebellion of the slaves.
E) the invasion of the Hyksos peoples.

Question 34

The Persian provinces were called ____________________.

Question 35

The chief Assyrian deity was the fierce ____________________.

Question 36

The Covenant between Yahweh and the Hebrew people

A) established the promise of a Heavenly Kingdom on Earth.
B) replaced an earlier moral contract between Yahweh and earlier prophets such as Amos and Isaiah.
C) dealt with ethical matters but left other matters under the control of civil leaders.
D) promised that if the Hebrews kept their solid faith in Yahweh, they would defeat all of their enemies.
E) has failed, in later times, to adapt when social circumstances changed.

Question 37

Ironically, the best word to describe the Jews' attitudes toward other peoples was

A) superiority.
B) inferiority.
C) openness.
D) contempt.
E) hypocrisy.

Question 38

The critical new factor in the Jews' vision of God that had developed by the first century C.E. was the

A) link between the merciful deity and humans' ethical conduct on Earth.
B) belief that God was all-powerful and that he controlled all human affairs.
C) belief that God was supreme over all other deities.
D) promise of an eternal life given by God to those whom he deemed worthy.
E) belief in a messiah who would remove his people from their troubled lives on Earth.

Question 39

For the Hebrews, Yahweh

A) was never a strong deity in Samaria.
B) became their only deity before their time in Egypt.
C) used Saul as his voice to the people.
D) became the first and only "single god" in ancient history.
E) became the only deity for the Jews of Jerusalem.

Question 40

Which of these was true of Jewish marriages?

A) There was no disgrace in remaining single or dedicating one's life to Yahweh.
B) When a woman married, her property was given to her husband.
C) young women had the opportunity to reject one marriage partner proffered by her parents.
D) Girls became marriageable when they became able to bear children.
E) Adultery was a crime for women but not for men.

Question 41

Zoroaster's teaching is preserved in written form in the ____________________.

Question 42

In 586 B.C.E., ____________________ captured Judea and destroyed the ____________________ built by King Solomon.

Question 43

The major center of Zoroastrianism is found among the Parsees of ____________________, ____________________.

Question 44

____________________ received the Ten Commandments from God on ____________________ ____________________.

Question 45

After the Exodus from ____________________, Moses received a\an ____________________ for the Hebrew people from Yahweh.

Question 46

When they captured the city of ____________________, the Assyrians ____________________ the land to prevent the site from ever being used again.

Question 47

The ____________________ became the greatest maritime traders and colonizers of the ancient Near East.