Deck 9: Networks of Communication and Exchange

Question 1

The most convincing evidence indicates that camels were introduced to the Sahara from

A) Arabia.
B) North Africa and the Mediterranean coast.
C) India, via the Indian Ocean trade.
D) West Africa.
E) they used camels indigenous to the area.

Answer 1

Arabia.

Question 2

The mariners involved in the Indian Ocean trade were

A) almost exclusively of Indian background.
B) a multilingual and multiethnic group.
C) from many lands, but all were Muslim.
D) primarily Arabic and Persian.
E) all Africans from the sub-Saharan region.

Answer 2

a multilingual and multiethnic group.

Question 3

Ships in the Indian Ocean Maritime System were better prepared for long-distance travel than the Greeks because

A) they could take advantage of monsoon winds to drive their ships using triangular lateen sails.
B) the Greeks were not interested in long-distance trade.
C) the Greeks had to cover a larger amount of territory for colonies to support their homeland.
D) the Asian ships weren't nailed together and sank less often.
E) Greek ships used square sails, which weighed more.

Answer 3

they could take advantage of monsoon winds to drive their ships using triangular lateen sails.

Question 4

The early inhabitants of the East African island of Madagascar came from

A) the dense forests of Central Africa.
B) the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia.
C) the Indian subcontinent.
D) the islands of Southeast Asia.
E) Ethiopia and Arabia.

Question 5

Critical to the functioning of the Silk Road were:

A) imperial guards from various kingdoms along the way for protection of merchants.
B) pastoralists who provided animals, handlers and protection along the road.
C) water merchants in the central Asian desert.
D) Steppe agriculturalists who sold food products to travelers
E) Ferengi merchants who initiated standardized currency rates.

Question 6

The best primary evidence of early Saharan history consists of

A) accounts by European travelers.
B) the diary of a wandering Islamic scholar.
C) a vast number of rock paintings and engravings.
D) the oral histories of Saharan nomads.
E) histories written on papyrus.

Question 7

The designation of specific seafarers in the Indian maritime trade zone as Persian, Arab, Indian and Malay often

A) concealed mixed race heritage.
B) meant limited linguistic capabilities.
C) meant stereotypical and restricted cultural interaction.
D) none of the above.

Question 8

What natural resource provided the incentive to trade for southern Saharan dwellers?

A) Caffeine
B) Palm oil
C) Cotton
D) Salt
E) Figs

Question 9

Scythians were fearsome horse archers, and they were noted to live in what form of dwelling?

A) log cabins
B) mud-brick fortresses
C) portable felt huts
D) tree houses
E) subterranean caverns

Question 10

The trans-Saharan trade routes would not have been possible were it not for the domestication of

A) Camels.
B) Donkeys.
C) Horses.
D) Cows.
E) Llamas.

Question 11

The earliest long-distance traders in the Sogdiana area were the

A) Ferghanese.
B) Chinese.
C) Mongolians.
D) Mamluks.
E) Armenians.

Question 12

What military technologies did the Silk Road spread?

A) Chariot warfare, mounted bowmen, and the stirrup
B) The lance, chain mail, and gunpowder
C) The field hospital, the broadsword, and the poison arrow
D) The war elephant, hardtack, and Arabian horses
E) Chariots, Greek fire, and gunpowder

Question 13

The traders of the Indian Ocean, where distances were greater and contacts less frequent,

A) did not tend to be multilingual.
B) rarely strayed far from the shorelines.
C) kept strong ties to their homelands.
D) seldom retained political ties with their homelands.
E) none of the above.

Question 14

Why was maritime trade better in Southeast Asia than in Western Asia?

A) Ports had better access to fresh water and could sustain a permanent settlement.
B) There were more monsoons in the western part of Asia.
C) There were more mountains in western Asia and fewer ports.
D) Religious differences did not allow trade between cultures.
E) There were no women in port cities, so sailors didn't want to stop there.

Question 15

General Zhang Jian is credited with travelling across the deserts and mountains of Central Asia on behalf of Emperor Wu of which empire?

A) Babylonian
B) Mauryan
C) Chin
D) Han
E) Persian

Question 16

The Indian Ocean Maritime System forged economic and social ties between Southeast Asia, China, India, Arabia and

A) Morocco.
B) Russia.
C) East Africa.
D) Egypt.
E) Greece.

Question 17

Family life in the Indian Ocean coastal areas was considered more cosmopolitan because

A) it was wealthier.
B) blended families were bicultural and bilingual.
C) they were monotheistic.
D) they were not economically tied to agriculture.
E) women were allowed to hold political offices.

Question 18

The agricultural area bordering the Sahara Desert is called the Sahel, which in Arabic literally means

A) dry pastureland.
B) the coast.
C) almost-desert.
D) prairie and plains.
E) a lush paradise.

Question 19

The source of the Saharan horse breeders were

A) related to the Greeks.
B) escaped slaves from Egypt.
C) nomads from the Central Asian steppes.
D) intrepid caravans from Mali.
E) and still are, a mystery.

Question 20

One difference between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean seafaring was that

A) Indian Ocean ships were not as solidly built.
B) Indian Ocean traders usually established colonies.
C) Mediterranean seamen rarely sailed far from shore.
D) Mediterranean ships relied on lateen sails.
E) Mediterranean seamen were interested only in economic gains.

Question 21

The development of metallurgy in Africa involved the smelting of this in the early first millennium c.e.

A) silver.
B) iron.
C) steel.
D) bronze.
E) mercury.

Question 22

Africa is the home to approximately how many languages, emphasizing its diversity?

A) 250
B) 500
C) 1000
D) 2000
E) 2500

Question 23

The Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade were most influential in fostering the spread of which religion?

A) Judaism
B) Jainism
C) Sikhism
D) Shinto
E) Buddhism

Question 24

One of the greatest promoters of Buddhism was

A) in the Tang dynasty of China.
B) King Ashoka of India.
C) Alexander the Great.
D) Emperor Darius of Persia.
E) Zuanzang of China.

Question 25

Most sub-Saharan languages come from one giant linguistic family, called

A) Sudanese-Zulu.
B) Swahili.
C) Semitic.
D) Niger-Kongo.
E) Bantu.

Question 26

An example used in the text that demonstrated the transfer of practices between civilizations was the use of dye-cast coins, while another example seems to many historians to be:

A) the connection of swine to religious practices.
B) religious dietary prohibitions.
C) domestication of agriculture.
D) iron smelting.
E) none of the above.

Question 27

The savannah region of Africa was characterized by

A) tropical rain forests.
B) desert.
C) long grasses and scattered forests.
D) semiarid steppes.
E) lush oases with water and palm trees.

Question 28

Identify the following term(s).
stirrup

Question 29

What facilitated the spread of Christianity to Armenia?

A) The invention of an Armenian alphabet in the early fifth century.
B) The creation of new Christian myths that included Armenian folklore.
C) The excellent management of the Christian church.
D) The prejudices against Buddhist monks in the cities.
E) The high taxation of non-Christians in Armenia.

Question 30

The most important African network of cultural exchange from 300 b.c.e to 1100 c.e. can be described as

A) mainly internal folk migrations within sub-Saharan Africa.
B) the Indian Ocean network.
C) the trade across the Sahara.
D) the link with Islamic Arabia.
E) taking place only in North Africa.

Question 31

The importance of trans-Saharan trade, though slow to begin and supplemented by Indian Ocean trade, was that it

A) connected North and South Africa.
B) spread Islam as a unifying force.
C) was conducted by people speaking derivatives of Berber.
D) allowed expansion of the Mediterranean trade market for African gold.
E) linked the Silk Road to the Sand Routes.

Question 32

Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam all spread

A) only within their own countries until the nineteenth century.
B) only to their neighboring countries.
C) without dependency on a single ethnic or kinship group.
D) predominantly by warfare.
E) most often by the use of missionaries, generally sponsored by the government.

Question 33

Identify the following term(s).
Silk Road

Question 34

According to a theory for explaining significant migration patterns and cultural unity in the sub-Saharan areas, populations moved into the Sahel because of

A) war.
B) religious persecution.
C) climate change in the Sahara.
D) better natural resources.
E) protection from invaders.

Question 35

Which of the following does not constitute a shared cultural heritage, or what anthropologists classify as "great traditions"?

A) Political unity
B) A written language
C) Ethical codes
D) Intellectual traditions
E) Common legal and belief systems

Question 36

In the fourth century c.e., the head of the Ethiopian Christian church was appointed by

A) the pope.
B) the patriarch of Alexandria.
C) the Ethiopian prime minister.
D) the Episcopal Council.
E) the College of Cardinals.

Question 37

In a parallel development to the southern migration to sub-Saharan Africa from the Sahara, this region also experienced a slow migration away from the expanding desert.

A) The Nile River Valley
B) Madagascar
C) The Kalahari Desert
D) The Congo
E) all of the above

Question 38

Identify the following term(s).
Indian Ocean Maritime System

Question 39

Which of the following is not an example of a broad common element underlying African life and culture?

A) Cultivation by hoe and digging stick
B) Distinctive musical characteristics
C) Concepts of kingship
D) Fixed social categories
E) A common language

Question 40

Identify the following term(s).
Parthians

Question 41

Describe the introduction of the camel into the Sahara, including its origins and uses.

Question 42

Compare the Indian Ocean trade with the Mediterranean Sea trade. Were they different worlds?

Question 43

Identify the following term(s).
Bantu

Question 44

Identify the following term(s).
small traditions

Question 45

Identify the following term(s).
Ethiopia

Question 46

Explain why it is more difficult to track the spread of an idea than of a historical phenomenon such as politics.

Question 47

Identify the following term(s).
trans-Saharan caravan routes

Question 48

Identify the following term(s).
great traditions

Question 49

The chapter uses the spread of Christianity to Armenia and Ethiopia as an illustration of "the connections between religion, trade, and imperial politics." Describe how the spread of Christianity to Armenia and Ethiopia represented the struggle for control of the region where the Silk Road traders met the Mediterranean traders.

Question 50

What were some of the technological advances that the Silk Road was responsible for?

Question 51

Identify the following term(s).
steppes

Question 52

Identify the following term(s).
sub-Saharan Africa

Question 53

Identify the following term(s).
tropical rain forest

Question 54

Identify the following term(s).
Armenia

Question 55

What role do the "great traditions" and "small traditions" play in creating cultural unity, and how were these present in sub-Saharan Africa?

Question 56

Why can the Silk Road be described as a social system rather than simply as a transportation route?

Question 57

The spread of Buddhism, like Christianity and Islam, occurred without dependency of a single ethnic of kinsmen group. In the example of the Chinese pilgrim Faxian, trace the spread of Buddhism in Asia, and the importance of missionaries.

Question 58

The Silk Road was a trade route connecting _______________.

Question 59

Describe the environmental and social conditions in the Sahara before it became a desert. Be as specific as you can concerning dates and what sort of evidence is available to historians.

Question 60

Identify the following term(s).
savanna

Question 61

Using Map (in the textbook) 9.1,what explanation can be offered for the exclusion of Tibet from the general trade ventures of both the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean trade routes? Why were the northern routes not included in the Silk Road?

Question 62

Using Map (in the textbook) 9.2, explain the significance of the Sahel in facilitating north-south trade.

Question 63

Using Map (in the textbook) 9.2, show the major trans-Saharan and coastal trade routes. Also, label the major political entities and groups of peoples located along those routes.

Question 64

Using Map (in the textbook) 9.1, discuss how the spread of religion accompanied the activity on the trade routes. Which religions were spread along the Silk Road, other overland routes, and Indian Ocean trade network?

Question 65

The stirrup was invented by whom?

Question 66

Sahel

Question 67

Describe the diverse climatic, geographic and topographical zones shown in Map (in the textbook) 9.2. Keeping these geographic environments in mind, explain why cultural unity in Africa south of the Sahara was remarkable.

Question 68

Using Map (in the textbook) 9.1, indicate the products, peoples, religious and political entities involved in the trade routes.

Question 69

Aksum

Question 70

The rise of the Parthian empire helped foster the Silk Road to meet the European demand for silk and the Chinese demand for...

Question 71

Samarkand

Question 72

Mozambique