Deck 2: The Rise of Civilization in the Middle East and Africa

Question 1

At what date did the first civilizations emerge in the Middle East?

A) 2000 B.C.E.
B) 1000 B.C.E.
C) 5000 B.C.E.
D) 4000 B.C.E.

Answer 1

4000 B.C.E.

Question 2

The reason that civilization appeared at an early date in the Middle East was that

A) settled agriculture, dependent on organized irrigation systems, had emerged there.
B) there was a higher concentration of humans in this region than anywhere else.
C) there were no hunting and gathering societies in the region.
D) it was the only region in the world to develop sedentary agriculture.

Answer 2

settled agriculture, dependent on organized irrigation systems, had emerged there.

Question 3

Along which river did the first civilization emerge?

A) Persian Gulf
B) Huanghe
C) Nile
D) Tigris and Euphrates

Answer 3

Tigris and Euphrates

Question 4

Which of the following facilitated the development of the first civilizations?

A) Irrigation systems
B) Supplementary hunting and gathering
C) Monumental architecture
D) Roads and transportation systems

Question 5

What was the first river valley civilization?

A) Egypt
B) Sumer
C) Mesoamerica
D) Anatolia

Question 6

Technological innovations occurring between 6000 and 4000 B.C.E. prepared the way for civilization by

A) leading to an industrial revolution.
B) ensuring more consistent surpluses of food and necessary products.
C) allowing the elimination of human labor in the production of food.
D) removing the necessity of social stratification.

Question 7

Which of the following was NOT a technological innovation leading to civilization?

A) Wheel
B) Use of bronze
C) Writing
D) Use of animal bones

Question 8

The first civilization to emerge in the Middle East was created by the

A) Assyrians.
B) Egyptians.
C) Babylonians.
D) Sumerians.

Question 9

Before 3000 B.C.E. one accomplishment of the Sumerians was the

A) conquest of Egypt.
B) establishment of a centralized monarchy.
C) development of religious centers and temple complexes.
D) domination of the northern Tigris-Euphrates valley.

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT an accurate description of the Sumerian form of writing?

A) It was done on clay tablets.
B) It was used to keep lists of goods and receipts.
C) Priests and officials developed a near-monopoly of the skill.
D) It never made the transition from pictograms to phonetic symbols.

Question 11

Sumerian writing is called

A) hieroglyphics.
B) Linear A.
C) cuneiform.
D) pictographic.

Question 12

The principle of political organization in Sumerian civilization was

A) tightly controlled nation-states.
B) tightly organized city-states.
C) hunting and gathering bands.
D) sedentary agricultural villages.

Question 13

The Sumerian governments took over all of the following political functions EXCEPT

A) the creation of a uniform code of law.
B) the definition of boundaries.
C) the regulation of religion and justice.
D) defense and warfare.

Question 14

The scope of Sumerian government was often more

A) imperial than regional.
B) republican than monarchic.
C) democratic than oligarchic.
D) regional than imperial.

Question 15

Urban populations in Sumerian cities ranged from

A) 5000 to 10,000.
B) 10,000 to 30,000.
C) 10,000 to 50,000.
D) 10,000 to 70,000.

Question 16

The Sumerians created a more elaborate culture including the world?s first heroic epic,

A) the Aeneid.
B) the Epic of Gilgamesh.
C) the Iliad.
D) the Great Flood.

Question 17

What is animism?

A) A massive tower
B) Temples with statues and painted frescos
C) The ideas that a divine force lies within natural objects
D) Mathematical advances

Question 18

Ziggurats were Sumerian

A) wheeled vehicles.
B) irrigation systems.
C) slaves.
D) towers.

Question 19

Which of the following statements about Sumerian religion is correct?

A) The Sumerians believed in a single god who weighed all souls at death.
B) The Sumerians believed in a joyous afterlife for the righteous.
C) Some of the basic elements of Sumerian religion continued to have force in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
D) Sumerian religion rejected animism in favor of abstract and distant deities.

Question 20

What was distinctive about Sumerian civilization at the time?

A) Social stratification and agricultural surpluses
B) A clearly-defined government and large cities
C) Occupational specialization and patriarchy
D) Pastoralism and monumental architecture

Question 21

Which statement is true concerning Hammurabi?s Law Code?

A) Everyone was equal before the law
B) Men and women faced the same punishments for committing the same crimes
C) Religious or magical beliefs do not play a role in the Code
D) Punishments were often harsh

Question 22

All of the following were important contributions of Sumerian science EXCEPT

A) a system of numbers based on units of 12, 60, and 360.
B) charts of major constellations.
C) the earliest anatomical atlases.
D) a commitment to observation and abstract thought.

Question 23

Which of the following statements concerning the relationship of civilization and writing is correct?

A) Writing allowed for the keeping of complex records and the establishment of formal bureaucracies.
B) Writing was more important to the development of civilization than sedentary agriculture.
C) Most civilizations developed without writing.
D) No sophisticated civilization developed without a system of writing.

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT a drawback to civilization?

A) Aggressive behavior and warfare
B) Greater inequality between men and women
C) Stricter social stratification into classes or castes
D) Decreased wealth and food surpluses

Question 25

The first ruler to create an empire in Mesopotamia was

A) Gilgamesh of Erech.
B) Dumuzi of Ur.
C) Sargon I of Akkad.
D) Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Question 26

By 2000 B.C.E. Mesopotamia

A) was centralized in a single, powerful empire under the Babylonians.
B) was conquered by the Hittites.
C) had reverted to regional city-states.
D) had regressed to the level of hunting and gathering societies.

Question 27

The political unity of all of Mesopotamia was first achieved in 1800 B.C.E. by the

A) Assyrians.
B) Sumerians.
C) Hittites.
D) Babylonians.

Question 28

One of the most significant accomplishments of Hammurabi was the

A) conquest of Egypt.
B) codification of the laws of Mesopotamia.
C) construction of the monumental architecture of Hattusas.
D) destruction of the Babylonian empire.

Question 29

Which of the following statements about the Babylonian empire is most accurate?

A) Although warlike, the Babylonians were culturally primitive.
B) Of all the successors of the Sumerians, the Babylonians constructed the most elaborate culture.
C) The Babylonians made some contributions in literature, but were less capable in astronomy and mathematics.
D) Babylonian influence was limited because of its failure to establish a common cultural zone in Mesopotamia.

Question 30

Which of the following peoples was responsible for the conquest of the Babylonian empire ca.
1600 B.C.E.?

A) Sumerians
B) Assyrians
C) Hittites
D) Egyptians

Question 31

Egyptian civilization developed along which river?

A) The Nile.
B) The Red Sea.
C) The Tigris and Euphrates
D) The Huanghe

Question 32

The first pharaoh of Egypt was

A) Amenhotep.
B) Gilgamesh.
C) Akhenaton.
D) Narmer.

Question 33

Which of the following was characteristic of the power of the pharaoh in Egyptian civilization?

A) The ruler had authority limited to his own city-state
B) The pharaoh?s power was truncated by the lack of a formal bureaucracy
C) He was regarded as a god with power to assure prosperity and control the Nile
D) The pharaoh?s authority was limited by independent regional governors

Question 34

Which of the following was NOT characteristic of Egyptian religious belief concerning death?

A) Construction of massive funeral monuments
B) Mummification
C) Death rituals that extended organization to the afterlife
D) Death rituals that consigned most members of society to endless darkness

Question 35

The Egyptian form of writing is called

A) cuneiform.
B) hieroglyphic.
C) Linear A.
D) cursive.

Question 36

One of the major differences between Egyptian literary tradition and Mesopotamian literary works was

A) the lack of an epic literary tradition in Egypt.
B) the lack of an epic literary tradition in Mesopotamia.
C) the less pictographic nature of Egyptian writing.
D) the Egyptian use of clay tablets.

Question 37

The pillar of Egyptian culture was

A) astronomy.
B) mathematics.
C) religion.
D) applied technology.

Question 38

The fairly steady decline of Egyptian civilization began around

A) 2000 B.C.E.
B) 1500 B.C.E.
C) 1150 B.C.E.
D) 900 B.C.E.

Question 39

Compared to Mesopotamian civilization, Egyptian civilization was

A) less stable due to many foreign incursions.
B) less stable due to many political changes.
C) more stable due to few foreign incursions.
D) more stable due to brutal repressive measures.

Question 40

Which of the following statements best summarizes the economic differences between Egypt and Mesopotamia?

A) Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt was heavily dependent on trade.
B) Mesopotamian civilization had no merchant class.
C) Egyptian civilization had no farming.
D) Unlike Egypt, Mesopotamia was heavily dependent on trade.

Question 41

Which of the following statements best expresses one of the most distinctive similarities of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations?

A) Both were strongly stratified with distinctive classes of nobles, priests, peasants, and slaves.
B) Both had religions that featured emphasis on preparation for and rituals relating to the afterlife.
C) Both featured strong regional government at the expense of city-states.
D) Neither culture was able to achieve advances in science or technology.

Question 42

Agricultural societies in which men controlled most or all property were normally

A) patriarchal.
B) martrilineal.
C) matriarchal.
D) socially unstratified.

Question 43

Why did sexual inequality exist in so many societies?

A) Women had no religious roles
B) The status of women reflected the value of their labor in agricultural society
C) No societies continued to practice matrilinear descent and inheritance
D) There were no female rulers in ancient societies

Question 44

What was the first African state other than Egypt to emerge?

A) Minoan
B) Phoenicia
C) Assyria
D) Kush

Question 45

Which of the following was NOT produced by Kushite culture?

A) Hieroglyphic writing
B) Iron making
C) Bronze weapons
D) Strong monarchies

Question 46

The most significant contribution of the early Jewish state to Western civilization was

A) its sense of a divine plan.
B) its use of elaborate rituals concerning death.
C) its emphasis on divine kingship.
D) the development of a strong monotheistic religion.

Question 47

Which of the following peoples successfully colonized the western Mediterranean?

A) Minoans
B) Hittites
C) Phoenicians
D) Assyrians

Question 48

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the impact of the Indo-Europeans on the ancient civilizations of the Middle East?

A) They rapidly adapted to Mesopotamian culture and so had minimal impact.
B) They came in successive waves, disrupted the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia, and introduced the use of iron
C) Although the Indo-European invasions had a temporary impact, the ancient civilizations soon recovered
D) The Indo-European impact was limited to Asia Minor and the Greek mainland

Question 49

Which of the following was NOT a heritage of the ancient civilizations?

A) The story of the Great Flood
B) Architectural forms
C) Matriarchy
D) Use of money

Question 50

Which of the following were NOT later civilizations influenced by the Mesopotamians?

A) India
B) Greece
C) Christianity
D) Islam

Question 51

Why did civilization emerge in the Tigris-Euphrates valley? What was the nature of Sumerian civilization?

Question 52

How did Sumerian society extend the concept of civilization? How significant were Sumerian contributions?

Question 53

Compare and contrast Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilization.

Question 54

In what ways were the Kush, Minoans and Phoenicians influenced by Egypt and Mesopotamia?

Question 55

What was the technical and cultural heritage of the civilizations of the ancient Near East?