Deck 1: Early Western Civilization, 400,000-1000 B.C.E

Question 1

How did Near Eastern peoples explain and deal with a harsh climate and unexpected, devastating floods?

Answer 1

Answer would ideally include the following. Near Eastern peoples believed that powerful gods controlled all aspects of life and the environment. Because floods and other disasters came without warning, Near Eastern religious beliefs held that the gods would send such disasters as punishment if they became angry. Near Eastern peoples attempted to appease the gods by performing sacrifices and building magnificent temples. Near Eastern peoples also dealt with the harsh climate and unpredictable floods by devising the technology necessary to irrigate the arid flatlands with water channeled from the river, as well as vast systems of canals to control flooding.

Question 2

Who served as slaves in the Near East, and what role did they play economically and socially?

Answer 2

Answer would ideally include the following. Slaves stood at the bottom of the social ladder in the Near East. They were a remarkably diverse group: some were foreigners enslaved as captives in battle or in raids; others sold themselves or were sold by creditors to escape starvation or to pay off debts; and some were simply born to slaves. Slaves had virtually no rights-they could be sold, beaten, and even killed at will. Their masters, however, could choose to free them, and under certain conditions slaves were able to purchase their freedom. They worked as household servants, craft producers, and farm laborers, although much of the significant labor for Near Eastern city-states was done by free laborers.

Question 3

What does the Epic of Gilgamesh tell us about Mesopotamians' attitude toward human and divine power?

Answer 3

Answer would ideally include the following. The hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh has to struggle with the gods' power, his own physical power, and his power as king. When he abuses his power by forcing the women of Uruk to sleep with him or by insulting a goddess, the gods use their power to punish him. And even though he is strong and is a king, Gilgamesh cannot avoid death; he realizes that immortality for human beings comes only from their achievements-in Gilgamesh's case, building the great city of Uruk. In addition, civilization required that power be tamed, just as the wild man Enkidu had to be tamed before he could become friends with a civilized man such as Gilgamesh.

Question 4

Why was cuneiform developed, and how did it enrich Sumerian culture?

Question 5

Why was the discovery and use of bronze so important?

Question 6

What examples of class and gender discrimination were found in Hammurabi's code of laws?

Question 7

Which features of Egyptian culture and society enabled the Egyptians to endure internal conflict and external invasion?

Question 8

Why do some scholars believe that Hittite women shared leadership positions with men?

Question 9

What were Linear A and Linear B, and what does the presence on Crete of palace records written in Linear B tell us?

Question 10

Who were the Sea Peoples?

Question 11

What benefits and what drawbacks did the Neolithic Revolution bring to human life?

Question 12

Discuss the factors that made possible the emergence of cities and civilizations in Mesopotamia.

Question 13

Compare and contrast Near Eastern and Egyptian religions. What did they have in common? How did they differ? Explain how the Tigris/Euphrates and Nile River valley settings of the two civilizations influenced their religious beliefs.

Question 14

Why did early civilizations such as the Hittites, the Mycenaeans, and the Egyptian kingdoms come to such violent ends between 1200 and 1000 B.C.E.?

Question 15

Explain how the Middle Kingdom of Egypt was able to restore unity that was lost during the Old Kingdom. What happened that led to the loss of that unity once again from 1664 through 1570 B.C.E.?

Question 16

The evolution of hierarchy in human society, the development of agriculture, and the domestication of animals are all patterns of life that emerged from which period?

A) The Second Intermediate Period
B) The Bronze Age
C) The Stone Age
D) The First Intermediate Period

Question 17

What environmental change is believed to have led to a radical change in the nomadic Paleolithic way of life?

A) The climate in certain Near East regions became milder and wetter, resulting in increased fertility of the land.
B) The swamps along the Mediterranean coast dried up, and land became available for cultivation.
C) There was less precipitation, and floods-which had regularly devastated prime growing areas-ceased.
D) The glaciers of the last Ice Age advanced, cutting back the land available for cultivation.

Question 18

What activity was most central in the lives of Paleolithic peoples?

A) Observing nature
B) Fighting enemies
C) Educating children
D) Searching for food

Question 19

Most early Paleolithic societies were characterized by a form of organization in which

A) kings made decisions.
B) all men and women had a roughly equal say in making important decisions.
C) women were excluded from making crucial decisions.
D) representative assemblies made decisions.

Question 20

The development of agriculture and the domestication of animals were key elements in which of the following?

A) The development of Paleolithic society
B) The Neolithic Revolution
C) The transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age
D) The Paleolithic Revolution

Question 21

How did the Neolithic peoples living between and around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers produce abundant food despite infrequent rainfall and soaring temperatures?

A) They moved their herds to find good grazing.
B) They specialized in crops that withstood heat and required little rainfall.
C) They dug wells into underground water tables.
D) They developed an extensive system of irrigation.

Question 22

The development of irrigation contributed to the growth of centralized authority because of the need to do which of the following?

A) Distribute the surplus produce produced by irrigation
B) Direct the construction of large temples to thank the gods
C) Oversee trade with other city-states
D) Organize labor for canal maintenance

Question 23

In general, how did the ancient Sumerians view slavery?

A) As a misfortune that was inflicted only on traitors and foreigners
B) As a fact of life that could happen to almost anyone under certain circumstances
C) As a punishment for the wicked that was part of the gods' justice
D) As the natural condition of all mankind, which only the gods' favorites escaped

Question 24

What factor is most likely to have helped lead to the emergence of patriarchy in the wake of the Neolithic Revolution?

A) Men assumed more prominent roles in the growing religious hierarchies of the early civilizations and used these roles to implement a more patriarchal order.
B) Men took on prominent roles in agriculture and herding, while women were increasingly homebound, since families could now raise more children.
C) Men took the leading roles in hunting and used their physical dominance to claim the lion's share of power in society.
D) Women took on new roles as priestesses in growing religious cults but were unable to exert leadership elsewhere in society.

Question 25

Archaeologists and anthropologists are able to distinguish between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic parts of the Stone Age through which means?

A) The development of a sophisticated system of written language
B) The advancements in weapons used to hunt animals
C) A shift from hunter-gatherer practices to more agricultural practices
D) A transition from mud-built homes to stone-built homes

Question 26

The redistributive economic system employed by the Mesopotamians involved

A) control by state officials of the production and distribution of goods.
B) equal distribution of goods to all members of Mesopotamian society.
C) long-distance trade with the Mycenaeans.
D) private entrepreneurship.

Question 27

Polytheistic societies have

A) many religions.
B) many gods.
C) many priests.
D) many theists.

Question 28

Who or what were the ziggurats in ancient Sumer?

A) Massive temples that served religious functions
B) Nomadic invaders from the east that repeatedly ravaged the cities of Uruk and Ur
C) City walls that offered protection from invaders
D) The designation given to tyrannical rulers like Gilgamesh

Question 29

How did Near Eastern peoples regard their deities?

A) As indiscriminately merciless
B) As weak and peaceful
C) As powerful but potentially dangerous
D) As kind and generous

Question 30

The Epic of Gilgamesh anticipated the stories of the Bible through

A) its account of the expulsion of a husband and wife from a garden of paradise.
B) its account of one man who survived a devastating flood.
C) its account of the destruction of the city of Jericho.
D) its account of one man who was swallowed up by a whale.

Question 31

What was the Sumerians' purpose in inventing writing?

A) The Sumerians invented writing to do accounting.
B) The Sumerians invented writing to conduct diplomatic exchange with foreign governments.
C) The Sumerians invented writing to preserve sacred rituals and laws.
D) The Sumerians invented writing to record their laws.

Question 32

During the Bronze Age, the possession of metal implements

A) was restricted to the warrior class.
B) strengthened the divisions between social classes.
C) had little effect on agriculture.
D) was limited to Mesopotamia.

Question 33

Why did the Akkadians conquer nearby territories?

A) To obtain wealth by acquiring valuable ore mines
B) To secure a monopoly on trade
C) To keep their crops safe from raiders
D) To capture more slaves to work their agricultural holdings

Question 34

What was the most likely cause of the collapse of the Akkadian Empire?

A) Invasions from neighboring empires
B) A civil war
C) Devastating floods
D) Financial insolvency

Question 35

Beginning about 2000 B.C.E., what man-made environmental crisis wreaked havoc on Mesopotamian political stability?

A) The runoff of raw sewage from towns seeped into the water table, causing illness and death.
B) Overconstruction of irrigation canals in northern city-states left southern city-states without water.
C) Intensive irrigation elevated the salt level of the soil, which decreased its fertility and lowered crop yields.
D) Intensive mining in the north led to erosion and disastrous flooding.

Question 36

Which of the following allowed the Assyrians to thrive by 1900 B.C.E.?

A) A network of trading routes in the Mediterranean
B) The development of irrigation systems along the southern Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
C) A series of military conquests, including in Palestine
D) An elaborate long-distance trading network between Anatolia and Mesopotamia

Question 37

The Babylonians created some of the earliest written laws, the most famous being the code of Hammurabi, which was written primarily in response to which of the following?

A) An increase in private commerce and property ownership
B) Demands for justice on the part of manual laborers and slaves
C) Confusion caused by the conflicting judgments handed down by different kings
D) The growth in the number of foreign residents who followed different laws

Question 38

What Mesopotamian inventions most influenced later mathematical and astronomical developments?

A) Maps of the Near East and the Mediterranean Sea
B) Algebra, astronomical charts, and the place-value notation system
C) Derivation of the roots of numbers and calculus
D) The concept of zero and the decimal point

Question 39

Why did the peoples of Phoenicia, Canaan, and the Sinai Peninsula develop their alphabet around 1600 B.C.E.?

A) They needed to write their laws in several languages.
B) They wanted a simpler writing system for their business records.
C) They preferred to communicate in writing that foreigners could not read.
D) They traded with the Egyptians, who taught them multilingual scripts.

Question 40

The early civilizations shown in this map developed along the geographic features they did in order to
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A) control trade routes.
B) defend themselves effectively.
C) irrigate their agricultural fields.
D) worship the sun gods.

Question 41

How did Egypt benefit from its geographic location?

A) Egypt's mild summer temperatures provided a long growing season.
B) Egypt enjoyed abundant rainfall, removing the need for an extensive irrigation system like that which consumed so many resources in Mesopotamia.
C) Egypt's extensive coastline along the Mediterranean and its many natural harbors led to an explosion in trade and commercial activity that made the Egyptian pharaohs among the wealthiest rulers in the Near East.
D) Egypt's Nile River flooded annually, depositing a rich layer of topsoil ideal for growing, and the wide swaths of desert to the east and west protected Egypt against outside invasion.

Question 42

What was the first great unified Egyptian state?

A) The Nubian kingdom
B) Lower Egypt
C) The Old Kingdom
D) Upper Egypt

Question 43

Why were Egyptian deities portrayed with both human and animal features?

A) Egyptians believed that each god revealed him- or herself to humans through a particular animal.
B) Egyptians worshipped animals as gods and goddesses.
C) The animal features represented the gods' connection to nature, and the human features represented their spiritual powers.
D) The combination of human and animal qualities was considered a source of powerful magic.

Question 44

Old Kingdom texts that conveyed advice for appropriate behavior were called instructions by ancient Egyptians, but today these texts are known as

A) wisdom literature.
B) hieroglyphs.
C) epics.
D) covenants.

Question 45

Which of the following is true of the role of women in Egyptian society?

A) Women generally had the same legal rights as men.
B) Women were barred from owning land and slaves and from inheriting property.
C) Women were allowed to serve in the royal army.
D) Women and men shared equally in Egyptian public life.

Question 46

What does the narrator express in The Story of Sinuhe?

A) Longing for the luxury he enjoyed in Syria
B) His total devotion to the Egyptian gods
C) Pride and love for his native land
D) His fear of impending death

Question 47

During the Second Intermediate Period, the Hyksos took control of Lower Egypt, where they introduced which of the following?

A) Seagoing ships and bronze-making techniques
B) Disease-resistant grain crops and camels
C) Bronze-making technology, olive trees, and humpbacked cattle
D) Iron-smelting techniques, new musical instruments, and epic poetry

Question 48

Laborers on the many massive royal construction projects of the New Kingdom consisted primarily of which of the following groups?

A) Slaves
B) Criminals serving long prison sentences
C) Free workers working to fulfill labor obligations to the king
D) Poor day laborers willing to work for food in order to avoid starvation

Question 49

What did the New Kingdom pharaohs (1569-1081 B.C.E.) do following the expulsion of the Hyksos?

A) They constructed fortifications along the eastern Sinai, the route originally taken by the invading Hyksos.
B) They expanded their territory via military campaigns to the south and up and down the eastern Mediterranean coast.
C) They built a massive defensive militia by collecting taxes in the form of military service.
D) They contracted their territory to the easily defended area between Memphis and Thebes.

Question 50

Queen Hatshepsut's reign as Egypt's "female king" demonstrates that women in the New Kingdom

A) had to disguise themselves as men in order to play any role in politics or public life.
B) escaped the restraints of patriarchy and briefly achieved equality with men.
C) could have jobs if they wanted them, though most preferred to let men take care of business while they worked in the home.
D) could step into men's jobs-including that of pharaoh-when circumstances permitted.

Question 51

Which New Kingdom pharaoh caused resistance and turmoil when he or she tried to force Egyptians to worship only the god Aten?

A) Menes
B) Akhenaten
C) Tutankhamun
D) Hatshepsut

Question 52

By the time of the New Kingdom, religious practices in Egypt for the wealthy and poor alike were often centered on which of the following?

A) Observing the Ten Commandments
B) Preparing for a smooth and blessed afterlife
C) Warding off the wrath of angry and capricious deities
D) Maintaining faith in one god

Question 53

According to this map, which geographical feature appears to have been the most important to ancient Egyptian civilizations?
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A) The Nubian Desert
B) The Red Sea
C) The Nile River
D) The Western Desert

Question 54

Which of the following statements is justified by this map?
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A) The Hyksos invasion led to the downfall of the Old Kingdom.
B) During the Old Kingdom, Greek influences began to pervade Egypt.
C) Egyptian civilization never extended beyond ten miles from the Nile River
D) During the New Kingdom, Egypt expanded to its greatest extent.

Question 55

What do recent archaeological discoveries of graves from the Hittite kingdom reveal?

A) Women occupied positions of leadership in war and peace alongside men.
B) Women had no rights in the community.
C) The language spoken by the Hittites belonged to a linguistic family no one has encountered before.
D) Women served as high priestesses in the religious life of the community.

Question 56

What do historians now speculate to be the principal reason for the Hittites' military success?

A) Their use of weapons made from iron
B) Their superior use of chariots
C) Their monotheistic religion
D) Their formation of strategic alliances

Question 57

Egypt and the Hittite kingdom fought the battle of Kadesh in 1274 B.C.E. over which of the following?

A) Control of major trade routes
B) The acquisition of good harbors
C) The refusal of the Hittite king to marry the daughter of Egypt's ruler
D) Newly discovered silver mines near Kadesh

Question 58

Why do some historians speculate that the Minoans did not engage in warfare among themselves?

A) Minoan religious artifacts feature only goddesses.
B) No Minoan weapons have been excavated on Crete.
C) Cretan palaces were not walled or fortified.
D) Palace artwork depicts only peaceful scenes.

Question 59

The Mediterranean polyculture that the Minoans pioneered was based on

A) their living harmoniously with neighboring ethnicities.
B) the cultivation of olives, grapes, and grains in a single, interrelated agricultural system.
C) their forging of dynastic marriages with rival powers, including the Egyptians and the Hittites.
D) their maintaining successful trade relations with states as far away as Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Question 60

What do the Mycenaean burial chambers known as tholos tombs reveal about the Mycenaeans?

A) They were prosperous merchants.
B) They were repeatedly besieged by invaders throughout their history.
C) They were a highly literate culture.
D) They were the ancestors of the ancient Greeks.

Question 61

The nineteenth-century excavator Heinrich Schliemann

A) proved that the Trojan War had actually taken place.
B) discovered the grave of Agamemnon at Mycenae.
C) found evidence for the existence of a Bronze Age civilization on mainland Greece.
D) established that shaft graves were used in Mycenae during the era of the Trojan War.

Question 62

What did the Linear B tablets found in the palace at Knossos reveal about the relationship between the Minoans and the Mycenaean Greeks?

A) The tablets revealed that the ancestors of the Mycenaean Greeks were Minoans who had left Crete for the Greek mainland centuries before.
B) The tablets revealed that the Mycenaeans had come to dominate the Minoans well before the final destruction of Knossos in 1370 B.C.E.
C) The tablets indicated that the Minoans had knowledge of the impending attack by the Mycenaeans.
D) The tablets proved that the Minoan and Mycenaean Greek languages had developed from the same Indo-European linguistic origins.

Question 63

What caused the series of calamities that gripped the Near East from about 1200 to 1000 B.C.E.?

A) Droughts that spread across the area, stopping the alluvial floods of river systems and causing widespread famine
B) Civil war in Greece as well as foreign invasions by different bands of marauding armies, called Sea Peoples, who attacked Egypt, the Hittite kingdom, and as far inland as the Babylonian kingdom
C) Social unrest in Egypt, central Anatolia, Palestine, and southern Greece, caused by the spread of monotheism
D) A power vacuum left by the decline of Egypt and the ensuing competition for domination of Egypt's coveted trade routes

Question 64

Based on this map, why were the Egyptian and Mycenaean Greek civilizations especially susceptible to invasion by the Sea Peoples?
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A) They lacked significant walls and other structures to deter such invasions.
B) They bordered waterways, which is how the Sea Peoples traveled.
C) They had only deserts as deterrents, which the Sea Peoples traveled through easily.
D) They lacked the dense forests from which other kingdoms and regions benefitted.

Question 65

According to this map, Mycenaean civilization primarily occupied which region?
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A) Crete
B) Cyclades Islands
C) Greece
D) Anatolia