Name: __________________________ Date: _____________
1. Akhenaten's experiment with Egyptian religion failed because
A) its elaborate ritual was too confusing.
B) the hated and corrupt priesthood endorsed it.
C) it was imposed from above and failed to find a place among the people.
D) it did not gain the support of the pharaoh.
2. Which of the following characterizes the idea of "Western" at the beginning of
the twenty-first century?
A) Christian, democratic, and advocating civil liberties
B) Democratic, individualist, and militaristic
C) Individualist, capitalist, and competitive
D) Capitalist, militaristic, and Christian
3. How did the colonization launched by Europeans in the late fifteenth century
affect the meaning of "Western"?
A) "Western" came to be synonymous with imperialism and the establishment of
European dominance around the globe.
B) "Western" came to signify the destruction the local, indigenous cultures and those
peoples who would not adopt European styles of thought and society.
C) "Western" came to identify the spread of scientific progress and the advancement
of society with the establishment of civil liberties and improved economies.
D) "Western" came to mean those cultures that included significant numbers of people
of European ancestry, no matter where around the globe they were located.
4. Which of the following was a long-term consequence of the development of
agriculture?
A) Women's independent access to resources decreased.
B) Inequalities of wealth and power decreased.
C) Race-based slavery became a feature of most societies.
D) Population growth slowed, then leveled off.
5. Which of the following characterized the Neolithic stage of human development?
A) Humans lived in small, migratory groups of relatives.
B) Agriculture and animal husbandry were primary ways of life.
C) Bronze weapons were used.
D) Food was acquired primarily by foraging.
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6. In Mesopotamia, how did the climate promote the development of central
authority?
A) The tropical environment required coordinated communal work to clear forests for
agriculture.
B) The monsoon season required a central authority to build and maintain pontoon
bridges and boats that could move quickly to high ground.
C) The extreme summer temperatures required the establishment of public baths to
provide relief from the heat.
D) The arid climate required large-scale irrigation projects directed by a central
authority.
7. Çatal Hüyük is one of the best known examples of a
A) Bronze Age city.
B) Neolithic community with a very large population.
C) Paleolithic religious center.
D) Mesopotamian irrigation network.
8. The earliest written signs
A) were ideograms, in which each sign symbolized an idea.
B) were pictographs, in which each sign pictured an object.
C) represented the sounds of a spoken language.
D) were cuneiform.
9. The root cause of the division of labor within Neolithic towns was
A) agricultural surpluses.
B) religious ideas and beliefs.
C) the formation of standing armies.
D) the development of metalworking technology.
10. How did the nobles in Sumerian society maintain their dominant position?
A) They controlled access to the religious shrines and temples and denied religious
rights to anyone who challenged their authority.
B) They possessed the land and permitted their clients to work parts of it, making the
clients dependent on them.
C) They had exclusive political rights over public affairs, while the commoners were
denied even the right to voice their opinions.
D) They held the right to tax all commercial transactions, gaining wealth and power
over their opponents.
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11. Scribal schools were primarily intended to produce individuals who could
A) copy religious texts.
B) produce legal documents.
C) record public notices.
D) keep property records.
12. How did Hammurabi's code provide protection to individuals who had homes
built?
A) House builders were required to give financial guarantees to the temple priests for
the safety of houses that they built.
B) House builders followed strict construction guidelines or were subject to heavy
fines.
C) The city government inspected all houses after they were built and required the
house builder to fix any flaws.
D) If a house collapsed and killed the inhabitants, the house builder would be put to
death.
13. The Code of Hammurabi demanded that
A) criminals receive a fair trial by a jury of their peers.
B) all crimes be punishable by death.
C) all laws were in accord with religious teachings.
D) the punishment fit the crime.
14. Which of the following best characterizes a Sumerian client?
A) Soldiers and scribes who worked for a noble lord
B) Chattel slaves who could be bought and sold like livestock
C) Free men and women who were dependent on the palace or the temple
D) Wealthy advisors and friends of Sumerian kings
15. Hammurabi linked his success to
A) his abilities as a philosopher and scholar.
B) his popularity with the people.
C) his personal charisma.
D) the will of the gods.
16. One major drawback to the system of writing known as pictographs was that it
A) did not include numbers.
B) could not represent abstract ideas.
C) was too complex.
D) was not logical.
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17. Why was agriculture more productive in Egypt than in Mesopotamia?
A) The milder climate in Egypt permitted a longer growing season and higher crop
yields.
B) The Mediterranean Sea provided cool breezes that reduced stress on growing crops.
C) The stronger authority of the Egyptian pharaohs permitted better organization of
the agricultural labor force.
D) The annual flooding and retreat of the Nile renewed the soil with fertile mud each
year.
18. The Egyptian god Amon was especially cherished because he was believed to
A) honor fairness and justice, especially for the common people.
B) serve as guardian of the underworld and to determine the fate of souls.
C) speak through an oracle that could predict the time for planting and harvesting.
D) restrain the pharaoh from abusing his authority.
19. Hammurabi's code was designed to
A) regulate the relationships among his people.
B) intimidate the common people in order to prevent social upheaval.
C) protect the position of nobles and priests.
D) increase the power of the nobility over the priesthood.
20. Under Hammurabi's code, the law
A) treated all as equals.
B) gave no rights to women and children.
C) focused exclusively on the rights of nobles.
D) differed according to social status.
21. How did the Egyptian people understand the status of the pharaoh?
A) He served as the eyes and ears of the gods on earth and was responsible to the gods
for the protection of the Egyptian people.
B) He was a wise lawgiver who was endowed by the gods with special powers to
divine the needs of the people.
C) He was a representative of the gods sent to maintain discipline and authority
among the difficult and fractious Egyptian people.
D) He was the god Horus in human form, achieving integration between gods and
humans.
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22. Hammurabi secured Babylon's cultural ascendancy through
A) military conquest.
B) economic domination.
C) manipulation of Mesopotamian and Babylonian mythology.
D) control of irrigation.
23. How did the Egyptians respond to the warm environment of Egypt?
A) They bathed several times a day and used perfumes for deodorants.
B) They only worked outside during the night or as the sun rose or set.
C) They invented a crude system of interior air conditioning using blocks of ice.
D) They built homes that were large, stone structures and partially underground to
maintain cooler temperatures.
24. How did a new form of regional politics emerge after the Hittite defeat of the
Egyptians at the Battle of Kadesh?
A) The Hittites formed an imperial system through which they could control lands far
removed from their home.
B) The Hittites allied with the Babylonians to divide Egypt between them and rule it
as a common protectorate.
C) The Hittites slaughtered the Egyptian ruling class and imposed domination through
a puppet pharaoh.
D) The Hittites, Egyptians, and Babylonians formed an alliance to uphold one
another's authority and mutual protection.
25. Near Eastern peoples originally developed writing to
A) express their feelings through poetry.
B) compose theological studies.
C) keep accurate records.
D) understand their history.
26. What geographical feature had the greatest impact on Egyptian life?
A) The Atlas Mountains
B) The Nile River
C) The Mediterranean Sea
D) The Sahara Desert
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27. What does the term Neolithic mean?
A) A period of history highlighted by the application of forges to create iron tools
B) A period of history identified as the "Old" Stone Age, where humans used stone
tools and acquired their food by foraging
C) A period of history identified as the "New" Stone Age, where humans used stone
tools and initiated agriculture and domestication of animals
D) A dynastic period or kingdom of ancient Egypt
28. The Fertile Crescent refers to an area of mild climate and abundant wild grain
where agriculture first developed in what modern geographic areas?
A) Greece, Italy, and the Balkan Peninsula
B) Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and the Iberian Peninsula
C) Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Arabian Peninsula
D) Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq
29. Which of the following is identified as an economic system of domestication and
herding of goats, sheep, cattle, or other animals in order to benefit humans?
A) Pastoralism
B) Capitalism
C) Agrarianism
D) Socialism
30. What societal system gives men more access to power and resources of the
society?
A) Matriarchy
B) Anarchy
C) Patriarchy
D) Oligarchy
31. What was the first metal ore to be mined and extracted by a process known as
smelting in the Balkan Peninsula around 5500 B.C.E.?
A) Iron
B) Lead
C) Zinc
D) Copper
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32. Neolithic societies developed religions with multiple deities that reflected the
agricultural cycle and nature. These religions are identified as which of the
following?
A) Monotheism
B) Deism
C) Polytheism
D) Monolatrism
33. The Egyptians of the "New Kingdom" developed a complex set of ideas about
the afterlife, writing a series of manuscripts to help in guiding the dead through
the difficulties of the underworld and establishing observed practices for death
and transition to the afterlife. What are these manuscripts called?
A) Hammurabi's code
B) Book of the Dead
C) Cuneiform manuscripts
D) Hymn of Aton
34. The "New Kingdom" Egyptians began to use what term as a synonym for their
monarch, which originally meant "great house"?
A) King
B) High Priest
C) Ma'at
D) Pharaoh
35. Egyptians believed that the monarch embodied a cosmic harmony that combined
truth, justice, and moral integrity. What was this identified as?
A) Pharaoh
B) Ma'at
C) Hyksos
D) Khan
36. What was the period of human development where smelted copper was
combined with zinc, tin, and arsenic to create spear points and axes?
A) Iron Age
B) Paleolithic Age
C) Neolithic Age
D) Bronze Age
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37. Which of the following helps explain Egypt's political and economic strength?
A) It had no military rivals of any kind.
B) It had the world's largest gold deposits.
C) It was an egalitarian democracy.
D) It was nearly self-sufficient.
38. Pharaoh Ramses II fought the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 B.C.E. and concluded a
peace treaty in 1258 B.C.E. with King Hattusuli III, who was the ruler of what
people?
A) The Hittites
B) The Akkadians
C) The Babylonians
D) The Sumerians
39. Human origins can be traced back to
A) East Africa.
B) the Middle East.
C) southern Europe.
D) North America.
40. The evidence suggests that Paleolithic people
A) built and lived in large stone structures.
B) created complex writing systems based on ideograms.
C) often lived in communities of three to four thousand people.
D) developed forms of expression that we now refer to as art, culture, and religion.
41. Why was the invention of the scratch plow so important?
A) It allowed people to farm in desert environments.
B) It marked the first step toward a gender division of labor.
C) It gave northern peoples a distinct advantage over southern peoples.
D) It allowed Neolithic people to produce a significant amount of surplus food.
42. Mesopotamia is the Greek name for the land
A) between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
B) east of the Black Sea.
C) between the Carpathian and Ural Mountains.
D) north of the Nile River delta.
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43. Which of the following was essential to the success of Mesopotamian
agriculture?
A) New strains of wheat and barley
B) Flooding of the Tigris River
C) Irrigation
D) Two rainy seasons per year
44. Cuneiform writing was recorded on
A) vellum.
B) cotton paper.
C) clay.
D) papyrus.
45. In an effort to cement his domination of Sumer, Sargon
A) tore down the defensive walls of Sumerian cities and appointed his own sons as
their rulers.
B) renounced his own gods and adopted those of the Sumerians.
C) entered into alliances with Sumer's traditional leaders, making them "sub-kings."
D) reduced taxes on peasants and granted villages considerable autonomy.
46. Ancient Egyptians believed that ________________ was/were responsible for
the rise and fall of the Nile.
A) the pharaoh
B) the people of Egypt
C) natural forces
D) invisible pillars
47. What was the purpose of the Egyptian pyramids?
A) They were military supply depots.
B) They were temples where public festivals were celebrated.
C) They were grain repositories.
D) They were tombs for the pharaohs.
48. In what way were the Egyptian and Mesopotamian religions similar?
A) Both denied the existence of an afterlife.
B) Both were polytheistic religions.
C) Both emphasized the importance of mummification.
D) Both were monotheistic religions.
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49. Which of the following best characterizes the Hyksos?
A) A conquering horde
B) Migrants looking for good land
C) A pirate confederation
D) Egyptian religious reformers
50. The Sumerians believed that humans had been created to
A) serve the gods.
B) spread over the entire earth.
C) enjoy life and find individual happiness.
D) rule over animals.
51. "He that waters the meadows which Re [Ra] created, He that makes to drink the
desert. . . . He who makes barley and brings emmer [wheat] into being. . . . He
who brings grass into being for cattle . . . he who makes every beloved tree
grow." This passage describes the importance of which of the following rivers?
A) Oxus
B) Euphrates
C) Ganges
D) Nile
52. "The janitors carry staves and the Nubians rods of palm, and they say, Hand over
the grain, though there is none. The farmer is beaten all over, he is bound and
thrown into a well, soused and dipped head downwards." What aspect of
Egyptian life is described in this excerpt?
A) The constant threat of criminal extortion
B) The punishment of a thief
C) The incursion of foreigners into Egypt
D) The collection of tax obligations
53. "My headmaster read my tablet, said:
'There is something missing,' caned me.
The fellow in charge of silence said:
'Why did you talk without permission,' caned me.
The fellow in charge of the assembly said:
'Why did you stand at ease without permission,' caned me."
This passage describes the experience of
A) training to be a Mesopotamian scribe.
B) serving at the pharaoh's court in Egypt.
C) learning to be a Sumerian priest.
D) most ordinary Akkadian children.
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54. "How could my cheeks not be wasted, nor my face dejected,
Nor my heart wretched, nor my appearance worn out,
Nor grief in my innermost being,
Nor my face like that of a long-distance traveller,
Nor my face weathered by wind and heat
Nor roaming open country clad only in a lionskin?"
This passage from The Epic of Gilgamesh (Evaluating the Evidence 1.2)
describes Gilgamesh's grief after
A) the death of his friend Enkidu.
B) his own defeat in battle.
C) the kidnapping of his true love.
D) the fall of Uruk.
55. "Nobody sees the face of Death,
Nobody hears the voice of Death.
Savage Death just cuts mankind down."
In this passage from The Epic of Gilgamesh (Evaluating the Evidence 1.2), Ut-
napishtim responds to a story told by
A) Enkidu.
B) Anunnaki.
C) Gilgamesh.
D) Mammitum.
56. How did the idea of the West emerge, and how has the idea of the West and Western
civilization developed?
57. How did the domestication of plants and animals begin to transform Neolithic society?
58. Why did Akhenaten's religious reforms fail to survive his death?
59. How did the Paleolithic period differ from the Neolithic period of the Stone Age?
60. What was the Bronze Age and what significance did it hold for the development of
civilization?
61. How did ancient Egyptians view death and the afterlife?
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62. What was the nature and purpose of the Egyptian family unit?
63. Describe the origins and early development of writing in the Near East.
64. How did the advent of plow agriculture lead to the emergence of a social hierarchy
based on gender?
65. What rights and privileges did ordinary Egyptian women enjoy? How were Egyptian
married couples expected to interact?
66. Egypt and Mesopotamia were both sites of ancient civilizations. Describe the political
structure, religion, society, and culture of these civilizations. How can we account for
the similarities and differences between the two?
67. Compare and contrast the impact of climate and geography on the development of
Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilization. What key features of each civilization can be
linked to climate and geography?
68. Sumerian society was complex, with its members divided into distinct categories.
Describe these social categories in terms of membership, wealth and power, duties,
functions, and obligations. How does the Code of Hammurabi reflect this social
stratification?
69. What attributes of Western civilization can be traced back to the cultures and societies
discussed in Chapter 1?
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Use the following to answer questions 70-82:
A) The period after 9000 B.C.E., when people developed agriculture, domesticated animals, and
used tools made of stone and wood.
B) An area of mild climate and abundant wild grain where agriculture first developed, in present-
day Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq.
C) Sumerian form of writing; the term describes the wedge-shaped marks made by a stylus.
D) Egyptian funerary manuscripts, written to help guide the dead through the difficulties they
would encounter on the way to the afterlife.
E) A proclamation issued by Babylonian king Hammurabi to establish laws regulating many
aspects of life.
F) The period of human history up to about 9000 B.C.E., when tools were made from stone and
bone and people gained their food through foraging.
G) The worship of many gods and goddesses.
H) The title given to the king of Egypt in the New Kingdom, from a word that meant "great
house."
I) A large-scale system of human political, economic, and social organizations; such a system has
cities, laws, states, and often writing.
J) The Egyptian belief in a cosmic harmony that embraced truth, justice, and moral integrity; it
gave the kings the right and duty to govern.
K) The period in which the production and use of bronze implements became basic to society.
L) A society in which most power is held by older adult men, especially those from the elite
groups.
M) An economic system based on herding flocks of goats, sheep, cattle, or other animals
beneficial to humans.
70. ma'at
71. polytheism
72. Paleolithic era
73. pharaoh
74. Fertile Crescent
75. Neolithic era
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76. Hammurabi's law code
77. Book of the Dead
78. Bronze Age
79. patriarchy
80. cuneiform
81. civilization
82. pastoralism
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Answer Key
1. C
2. C
3. D
4. A
5. B
6. D
7. B
8. B
9. A
10. B
11. D
12. D
13. D
14. C
15. D
16. B
17. D
18. A
19. A
20. D
21. D
22. C
23. A
24. D
25. C
26. B
27. C
28. D
29. A
30. C
31. D
32. C
33. B
34. D
35. B
36. D
37. D
38. A
39. A
40. D
41. D
42. A
43. C
44. C
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45. A
46. A
47. D
48. B
49. B
50. A
51. D
52. D
53. A
54. A
55. C
56. Answer would ideally include: Students should identify the emergence of the idea of the
West in contrast to the East in ancient Greece, and how it develops through the Romans,
with its emphasis on Eastern sophistication and decadence. The idea of the West then
passes to the Northern Europeans, who saw themselves as inheritors of the classical
tradition. The idea adapts to the rise of colonialism and the Cold War, and after the fall
of the Soviet bloc, it continues to transform, especially in contrast with Islamic
radicalism.
57. Answer would ideally include: Domestication encouraged greater prosperity and the
growth of cities and towns. As agriculture became an article of trade, a growing division
of labor formed that allowed artisans to develop new products and tools, further
encouraging trade and the spread of ideas. A substantial increase in population followed.
58. Answer would ideally include: Akhenaten's religious reforms were unpopular with the
priesthood and with the Egyptian people. Imposed from above, they had no connection
with the religious practices of the Egyptian people, who believed in traditional gods—
figures thought to be the foundation of Egyptian strength and stability. Akhenaten's
persecution of traditional believers defied the Egyptians' tradition of tolerant
polytheism.
59. Answer would ideally include: Human beings of the Paleolithic period lived in
extended-family base units, relying on foraging for survival and using sharpened stones
for tools and weapons. These units were migratory, following the food supply and
searching out fresh areas for forage, along bodies of water. During the Neolithic period,
humans continued to use stone implements but developed agriculture and domestication
of animals for a steady food supply. The development of agriculture and domesticated
animals required these people to live in a more static state. The surplus of these food
stores was used for trade and created a market system of trade and barter, which led to
the development of cities.
60. Answer would ideally include: People living in the Balkan Peninsula around 5500
<sc>B.C.E.</sc> learned to extract copper from ore by heating it in a process known as
smelting. This copper was valuable and used in the creation of jewelry and tools.
Copper is a soft metal in its natural state, but it became a harder substance with the
introduction of other metal ores of zinc, tin, and arsenic. This refined metal product
became identified as bronze. Bronze would be an efficient and higher-quality means of
manufacturing tools and weapons instead of using stone.
61. Answer would ideally include: The Egyptians were polytheist and worshiped a variety
of deities, which represented various elements of nature and the world. The Egyptians
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developed an extensive view of the afterlife, with complicated views of everlasting life
and separation between the body and the spirit. Their funeral rituals involved preserving
the body through mummification. Transcripts written to assist the dead through the
afterlife were identified as the Book of the Dead.
62. Answer would ideally include: The family was the center of the social order. Marriage
was a business arrangement between the couple's parents, negotiated while the couple
was still young. The couples would prioritize childbearing, pursuing various prayers and
acquisition of charms promoting fertility and successful childbirth. The goal of the
couple was to have sons in order to continue the family line. Performance of appropriate
burial rites for the father was a top priority. The economic status of the family
influenced the size and affluence of the residence. Wealthier Egyptians resided in larger
and more elaborate homes, and poorer Egyptians lived in smaller quarters.
63. Answer would ideally include: The origins of writing probably go back to the ninth
millennium <sc>B.C.E.</sc>, when Near Eastern peoples used clay tokens as counters
for record keeping. By the fourth millennium, people had realized that impressing the
tokens on clay, or drawing pictures of the tokens on clay, was simpler than making
tokens. This breakthrough in turn suggested that more information could be conveyed
by adding pictures of still other objects. The result was a complex system of pictographs
in which each sign pictured an object.
64. Answer would ideally include: In many places, plow agriculture came to be a male task.
Men's responsibility for plowing and other agricultural tasks took them outside the
household more often than women's duties did, enlarging their opportunities for
leadership. This role may have led to their being favored as inheritors of family land and
the right to farm communally held land, because when inheritance systems were
established in later millennia, they often favored sons when handing down land.
Accordingly, over generations, women's independent access to resources decreased.
65. Answer would ideally include: Ordinary women were expected to obey their fathers,
husbands, and other men, but they possessed considerable economic and legal rights.
They could own land in their own names and operate businesses. They could testify in
court and bring legal action against men. The evidence suggests that ordinary husbands
and wives enjoyed each other's company alone, and together with family and friends.
They held and attended parties together, and both participated in the festivities after
dinner.
66. Answer would ideally include: This question asks for a basic description of each
civilization. To address politics, this description should include governmental
organization, political and geographic unity, and the role of the military and the
priesthood. For religion, it should include the role and power of the priesthood, the types
and attitudes of the gods, and views of the afterlife. For society, a sound essay should
include social structure, slavery, family, and gender. The portrayal of culture should
include such examples as art and folktales. Following the descriptions of the two
civilizations, the similarities and differences between each should be acknowledged.
Finally, these differences and similarities should be explained, based on such factors as
historical development and geography.
67. Answer would ideally include: Students should discuss the role of rivers in the
development of both civilizations. They should discuss the annual flooding of the Nile,
as well as the ways in which the Tigris and Euphrates facilitated Mesopotamian
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agriculture, trade, and expansion. They should discuss the connections Egyptians made
between the pharaoh and the Nile River. They should describe the efforts made by the
inhabitants of Mesopotamia to harness the Tigris and Euphrates for irrigation and to
control flooding. They should link such projects to Mesopotamian political
development. Finally, they should discuss the ways in which climate and geography
shaped Egyptian and Mesopotamian religious beliefs and attitudes.
68. Answer would ideally include: This question asks students to outline and describe the
social structure of Sumerian society. They should use the Code of Hammurabi to
provide the supporting examples for the essay's descriptions.
69. Answer would ideally include: Students could discuss the Sumerian invention of
writing; the promulgation of comprehensive law codes, including Hammurabi's; and the
influence of Mesopotamian myths and the Akhenaton religious reforms on the Old
Testament (Genesis, the Garden of Eden, monotheism).
70. J
71. G
72. F
73. H
74. B
75. A
76. E
77. D
78. K
79. L
80. C
81. I
82. M
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