Chapter 1

The human species was characterized in the Paleolithic Age by:

The Mesolithic, or Middle Stone, Age spanned from

The emergence of agriculture, or the Neolithic Revolution, caused:

The Neolithic Revolution first occurred in

Metal tools were preferred over wood and stone tools because

Characteristics that define a civilization:

The Tigris-Euphrates civilization, Sumeria, produced the first...

Egyptian civilization differred from Mesopotamia civilization by stressing...

Which river-valley civilization was characterized by isolation?

As the most influencial of the smaller Middle Eastern regional cultures, the Jews were characterized most by

In the Paleolithic Age, hunter-gathers could not support:

One sign of the revolutionary quality of agriculture as a system of production was the

Most early civilizations were characterized by:

The ______, ______, and _______ were examples of smaller Middle Eastern cultures that were capable of surviving and fluorishing when the great empires were weak.

Most of the 2 million-plus years during which our species has existed are described by the term ______.

The ending of the _____ was a major factor in the formation of the first farming communities, or the emergence of the Neolithic Revolution.

The Neolithic village, _______, has been elaborately studies by archeologists.

Most civilizations developed writing, starting with the emergence of _____in the Middle East around 3500 BCE

It was under the Babylonian ule that King _______ introduced the most famous early code of law

Egyptian civilization sprang up in northern Africa, along the _____ River

By about 1500 BCE, a line of kings called the ______ ruled over the Hwanghe river-valley civilization.

A smaller regional culture called the _______ devised a greatly simplified alphabet with 22 letters around 1300 BCE; this in turn was the ancestor of the Greek and Latin alphabets

the largest city to develop along the Indus River was _______.

Beginning in 2700 BCE, the Egyptian pharophs used slave to build the ______.

All of the following were changes to human societies brought about by the Neolithic Revolution EXCEPT:

A. Reliable food supplies increased.
B. Job specialization.
C. The total human population rapidly increased.
D. The distinction between nomads and settled people became important.
E. Women and men grew to have more equal status.

Women were important contributors to the agricultural revolution because they were likely the gender who...

A. gathered edible plants and knew where grains grew
B. found carrying children on their backs too burdensome
C. owned property
D. liked farming
E. wanted more leisure time

Which of the following is the best explanation for why the concept of civilization is controversial as an organizing principle of world history?

A. The use of the concept assumes that settled people are superior to nomads
B. The concept assumes that nomadic people are civilized.
C. The concept is too broad to have any meaning
D. The concept ignores the importance of periodization in analyzing world history.
E. The concept implies that eastern civilization are superior to those in the west.

All of the following ancient civilizations were centered around a river valley EXCEPT:

A. Egypt
B. Mesopotamia
C. Chavin
D. China
E. Indus Valley

Which of the following most accurately compares the government structures of early Mesopotamia and Egypt?

A. The governments of both civilizations were highly decentralized.
B. Overall, Mesopotamian government was characterized by strong city-states, and Egypt was ruled by divine kingship.
C. Mesopotamia had a highly developed bureaucracy; Egypt did not.
D. In both civilizations power was concentrated in the hands of a king that was believed to be a god.
E. Although priests were powerful in both societies, their authority was generally separated from the political power of the kings.

Which of the following best describes the basis of the ruler's authority in Zhou China?

A. The ruer was selected by a handful of elite aristocrats who also had the authority to remove him office.
B. The ruler was believed to be a god himself, and so his authority could not be questioned.
C. The ruler depended heaviliy on his staff, so the real authority lay in the hands of the bureaucrats.
D. The ruler was a military ledaer who held power as long as he was victorious on the battlefield.
E. The ruler was chosen and favored by heaven, and held power as long as he was a wise and principled guardian of his people.

Which of folowing were common phenomena in early Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and the Indus River Valley?

I. a complex writing system
II. extensive irrigation
III. long distance trade
IV. centralization of civilization around navigable rivers

A. I, II, and III only
B. I and II only
C. I and III only
D. II, III, and IV only
E. I, II, III and IV

The "forbidden city" reflects the political leader's status as...

A. the head of the paterfamilias
B. a superior man, but with no connections to spirituality
C. the son of Heaven
D. a god (divine ruler)
E. a tyrant

All of the following commonly characterize the development of civilization EXCEPT:

A. increasing equality among all citizens
B. public building projects
C. a written language
D. large cities that dominate the countryside around them
E. long distance trade

Confucianism encourages its followers to

A. believe that their rulers were not in any way divine
B. experiment with new food crops
C. follow ethical rules that promote harmony and order
D. learn from foreigners better ways to excel
E. seek principles of sciences

All of the following events happened at about the same time (1200 BCE) EXCEPT:

A. Major trade centers in Western Asia were destroyed.
B. The Zhou dynasty fell, and the Warring States period began.
C. Egypt was significantly weakened by a series of outside attacks.
D. The mycenaean civilization was destroyed
E. The Hittite empire collapsed.

Which of the following factors best explains why the four events referred to in #12 happened about the same time?

A. destruction by a common attacker, the Huns
B. a common tendency to rely too much on the authority of one ruler
C. similar life cycles of the four civilizations
D. major environmental changes in all affected areas
E. interdependence

The continuing importance of written language in Chinese culture may be traced to its early use for

A. divination; communication with the ancestors
B. trade with nomads to the west of the river valley settlements
C. issuing mandates from the emperor to subject warlords
D. astronomical calculations that determine the planting and harvest seasons
E. organizing the political bureaucracy

The spread of Greek culture all over the eastern Mediterranean and the former Persian Empire is known as..

A. Delianism
B. hellenization
C. Olympiazation
D. Zoroastrianism
E. classicazation

Which of the following civilizations had to acclimate to existing in a mountainous area with a narrow, dry coastline on one side of the mountain range and a rain forest on the other side?

A. Indus
B. Chavin
C. Olmec
D. Persia
E. Nubian

Shifting cultivation was generally practiced

A. around fertile river valleys
B. in rain forests and their peripheries
C. in mountainous areas
D. along dry coastal areas
E. in grassy plains

The polis is most closely associated with which of the following societies/civilizations?

A. The Mauryan Empire
B. Athens
C. Han China
D. Babylonian
E. Persian Empire

All of the following ar accurate comparisons of Athens and Sparta EXCEPT:

A. Sparta demanded more subordination of its male citizens to the demands of the state
B. The Athenians emphasized the importance of poetry, art, and philosophy; the Spartans did not.
C. Spartan women did not have as many freedoms as did Athenian women.
D. The Spartans placed the military at the center of their society; Athens generally did not.
E. Both Sparta and Athens dominated the countryside aorund them and were two of the largest city states.

All of the following are important principles of Greek culture that had wide influence on later civilizations EXCEPT:

A. a philosophical and scientific tradition that emphasized the use of logic
B. celebration of human achievement, includinf the idea human form
C. an interest in political theory that sought the best forms of government
D. new religious concepts that redefined the nature of god(s)
E. an emphasis on the importance of human effort and ability to shape future events

All of the following are accurate descriptions of trade along the Silk Road before 600 CE EXCEPT:

A. The Silk Route linked China to the Mediterranean world via Central Asia, Iran, and Mesopotamia, Iran.
B. The Chinese traded silk, pottery, and paper for horses, alfalfa, and a variety of crops.
C. Silk Road trade did not significantly affect the lifestyles of Turkic nomads, the dominant pastoralist group in Central Asia.
D. The breeding of hybrid camels developed along with the burgeoning Silk Road trade.
E. Trade along the Silk Road networkd was stimulated by Roman demands for luxury goods such as silk.

Which of the following technologies most directly contributed to increased overland travel starting around 300 BCE?

A. camel saddles
B. horse collars
C. stirrups
D. iron plows
E. wheeled chariots

Which of the following most helps to explain why the collapse of political institutions was more devastating to the Roman civilization than to Han China or Gupta India?

A. The Romans were economically more self-sufficient than the Han or Gupta, so they had no long-distance trade to cushion their fall.
B. The barbarian attacks destroyed more phyusical property and vital public works in Rome.
C. Han China and Gupta India had strong religious/philosophical traditions to provide continuity.
D. Roman emperors had more power than did Han or Gupta emperors, so their downfall eviscerated the Roman Empire.
E. Political institutions in Rome were weaker to begin with.

Which sailing technology allowe the sailors on th Indian Ocean to travel long distances by taking advantage of monsoon winds?

A. the wooden rudder
B. the swuare sail
C. the lateen sail
D. lightweight masts
E. the caravel

Which of the following was one of the most valuable commodities added to established trading systems by the trans-Saharan trade?

A. copper
B. spices
C. salt
D. pottery
E. manufactured goods

Why did the majority of the Chinese population during the Han dynasty live in eastern China?

A. They were more isolated form invasion from nomads peoples there.
B. The best Buddhist centers were in eastern China.
C. They watned acces to sea trade and its accompanying wealth.
D. The best farmland was concentrated along rivers in eastern China.
E. The Tibetans held control in the west, and they did not welcome Chinese settlements in their area.

The people who transported goods across the Sahara and dominated trade across the desert for centuries were the...

A. Ghanans
B. Bedoins
C. Berbers
D. Malays
E. Bantu

Which of the following characteristics contribtued most directly to a tendency toward political disunity in ancient India?

Buddhists believe that a state of grace or nirvana may be reached by...

A. following the moral duties of one's caste
B. changing one's karma
C. renouncing asceticism
D. following the eightfold path
E. being reincarnated as a Brahman

What central feature of Hinduism did Buddhism reject?

A. union with the universal spirit as a major goal
B. the importance of ethical decision making
C. the caste system
D. use of missionaries to spread the religion
E. reincarnation

"He traveled throughout Syria, Palestine, Anatolia, and Greece, and found that many non-Jews were interested in the teachings of Christianity. He redirected his effrts toward these gentiles, and set up strong Christian communities all over the eatern Mediterranean"

The quote above describes...
A. John
B. Jesus
C. Mark
D. Peter
E. Paul

Which of the following in a significant difference between early Christianity and early Judaism?

A. The Roman Empire sought to eradicate Christianity but not Judaism.
B. Judaism was originally polytheistic, Christianity was not.
C. Christianity put more emphasis on missionary work, converting others to the religion.
D. Christianity did not accept the spirtual authority of the Torah, which expressed basic beliefs of Judaism.
E. In general, early believers in Judaism were more persecuted by polytheistic people than were early believers in Christianity.

Which of the following belief systems have their origins in China during the classical era (100 BCE~500 CE) ?

I. Buddhism
II. Daoism
III. Legalism
IV. Confucianism

A. I, II, and IV only
B. I and IV only
C. I, II, III, and IV
D. II and IV only
E. II, III, and IV only