Deck 3: Nomads,territorial States,and Microsocieties 2000-1200 Bce

Question 1

Which of the following demonstrated that diplomatic communications took place between the rulers of Egypt,the Babylonians,and the Hittites?

A) A cache of 350 letters found near Amarna in Egypt
B) Inscriptions in Babylonian tombs
C) Hittite epic poetry
D) Reports from merchants who traded between states

Answer 1

A cache of 350 letters found near Amarna in Egypt

Question 2

Which of the following is a way that pastoralist nomads helped contribute to the rise of new territorial states in Afro-Eurasia around 2000 BCE?

A) Nomads introduced military technologies such as faster horse-drawn chariots.
B) Nomads introduced new ways to recruit and train bureaucracies.
C) Nomads introduced writing,which was essential to record keeping in larger,territorial states.
D) Nomads introduced new siege technologies for attacking walled cities.

Answer 2

Nomads introduced military technologies such as faster horse-drawn chariots.

Question 3

For what reason did Mesopotamian rulers such as Hammurapi commission public art and support artisans and scribes?

A) To force their language and culture on the conquered peoples
B) To create work for unemployed soldiers and renew prosperity
C) To prove they understood the region's core values
D) To show the superiority of Amorite kings over effete Sumerians

Answer 3

To prove they understood the region's core values

Question 4

In Mesopotamia around 2000 BCE,what caused political and economic power to move away from the delta region?

A) Loss of control of the priestly class over trade
B) Invasions of nomads from the Iranian plateau
C) Intensive cultivation for a millennium combined with drought
D) Earthquakes destroying city walls

Question 5

Which of the following was a long-term effect of Hyksos rule on New Kingdom rulers?

A) Rulers learned to use bronze as part of their regalia.
B) Rulers began to build elaborate pyramids to prepare for the afterlife.
C) Rulers used new writing systems created by the Hyksos.
D) Rulers could no longer rely upon deserts as barriers and had to maintain armies to watch their borders.

Question 6

For what reason did new Mesopotamian rulers encourage traditional stories such as Gilgamesh about rulers of ancient Uruk?

A) Gilgamesh was descended from pastoralists such as the Amorites.
B) Transcribing traditional tales helped the new kings learn cuneiform script.
C) Heroic tales about legendary founders helped legitimize the new rulers.
D) Transcribing traditional tales was a way to teach Amorite scribes.

Question 7

Which of the following provides evidence for the rising importance and independence of a merchant class in the Middle Kingdom in Egypt?

A) Merchants were responsible for bringing wood from the Nile Delta to the building projects around Luxor.
B) Merchants kept their own chariot forces to protect their caravans.
C) Merchants took on burial privileges and constructed tombs of a type previously reserved for the royal family.
D) Merchants became important in the priesthood of Osiris.

Question 8

Which of the following is a way territorial states in the second millennium BCE differed from city-states of the previous millennium?

A) Large territorial states were in constant conflict with one another.
B) Monarchs of territorial states ruled distant hinterlands through widespread bureaucracies and elaborate legal codes.
C) Once the state was established,monarchs ceased ambition for further expansion.
D) States were linguistically and ethnically homogeneous.

Question 9

Amenemhet I's elevation of the minor god Amun to prominence:

A) angered the priestly class and caused a civil war that destroyed the Twelfth Dynasty.
B) raised the standing of the merchant class,who had adopted Amun as their patron.
C) was criticized after several poor rainy seasons led to drought conditions.
D) contributed to greater unification of the kingdom and power for the pharaoh.

Question 10

Which of the following is an example of the shift away from the city-state's domination of economic activity in Mesopotamia?

A) New rulers designated private entrepreneurs to collect taxes and allowed them to keep a portion of tax revenues for their profits.
B) New rulers forced individuals to donate large amounts of labor to support the maintenance of the city's defensive walls.
C) New rulers allowed farmers to purchase land from the state in order to obtain economic independence.
D) New rulers allowed their generals to control all long-distance trade.

Question 11

Which of the following led to the creation of the term "Indo-European"?

A) The need to explain similarities between languages such as Sanskrit and Greek
B) A desire to describe societies in inner Europe
C) The explanation for the chariot's European origin
D) Having to map the migration of transhumant herders from Europe to Southwest Asia

Question 12

Which of the following accurately describes an environmental cause and effect for riverine societies around 2200 BCE?

A) A series of earthquakes led to the destruction of walled cities such as Troy and Jericho.
B) Excessive monsoon rains flooded many of the fields needed to produce food,which led to the downfall of ruling elites.
C) Prolonged drought led to famine,which caused the downfall of ruling elites.
D) Cooling temperatures led to the destruction of crops needed to support urban populations.

Question 13

Which of the following reactions to climate change by both pastoral and transhumant nomads placed stress on the governing systems of riverine societies around 2200 BCE?

A) Nomads were unable to provide trade links between urban centers because of prolonged rains and flooding.
B) Nomads descended on river-valley population centers in large numbers to find food and water for their drought-stricken herds.
C) Nomads withdrew from population centers in search of better grazing,leaving cities without supplies of meat.
D) Impoverished nomads,who had lost their herds to drought,developed new types of boats and turned to piracy.

Question 14

Which of the following kingdoms controlled much of the territory between Mesopotamia and the Nile in the second millennium BCE?

A) Hittites
B) Hyksos
C) Shang
D) Harappans

Question 15

Which of the following characterized the contents of the Code of Hammurapi?

A) The role of the king as the kind but firm father figure
B) A clear relationship between crimes and the severity of punishments
C) Equal punishments for all social classes
D) The role of the priestly class to represent divine order

Question 16

Which of the following was a political innovation of the territorial state?

A) The creation of written taxation lists
B) People identified themselves by ethnic group
C) Clearly defined borders
D) The abandonment of centralized power

Question 17

Which New Kingdom pharaoh was most identified with peacefully expanding trade contacts into the Levant and Nubia?

A) Thutmosis III
B) Hatshepsut
C) Djoser
D) Pepy II

Question 18

Which of the following accurately characterizes the relationship between transhumant herders and urban centers in Sumerian Mesopotamia at the end of the third millennium BCE?

A) Transhumant herders repeatedly attacked the Sumerian cities.
B) Transhumant herders paid taxes to and labored on public works projects for the Sumerian cities.
C) Transhumant herders sought to maintain economic independence from the cities.
D) Transhumant herders prevented order from being restored after the collapse of the Third Dynasty of Ur.

Question 19

Which of the following were innovations brought to Egypt by migrants such as the Hyksos?

A) New agricultural products such as hemp,rice,and barley
B) Bronze-working techniques,the vertical loom,and an improved potter's wheel
C) Bow and arrow,donkey-pulled chariots,and use of slings
D) New deities such as Amun,Aton,and Isis

Question 20

With whom did the Amorite kings in Mesopotamia ally themselves in order to bolster their political power?

A) Priests of Marduk
B) A council elected by influential members of the community
C) Tribal and clan leaders
D) Merchants and nobles

Question 21

Which of the following is an accurate description of the exchange that took place between the Vedic people and the Indus Valley people?

A) Vedic people adopted the local religious culture of the people of South Asia and the South Asians adopted iron working from the newcomers.
B) Vedic people adopted the agricultural skills of the people of South Asia and the South Asians adopted the newcomers' language.
C) Indus Valley people found horse breeding to be a major source of wealth and Vedic people adopted the social structure of the Indus people.
D) Indus Valley people added beef to their diets and Vedic people relinquished their elaborate religious rituals.

Question 22

In what way do the grave goods buried with Fu Hao,a consort of the king,affect our understanding of women's roles in Shang society?

A) Elite Shang women did not receive as elaborate a burial as did elite Shang men.
B) The inclusion of bronze weapons implies that she was a military leader in her own right.
C) No human or animal sacrifices were used in women's burials.
D) The lack of oracle bones implies that women were illiterate.

Question 23

Which battle determined the border between Egyptian and Hittite expansion into the Fertile Crescent?

A) Thera
B) Amarna
C) Hattusis
D) Qadesh

Question 24

For what reason were political developments in South Asia fundamentally different from those of Southwest Asia?

A) The lack of state religions in South Asia undermined efforts to create religious justifications for kingly rule.
B) The lack of horse-powered chariots in South Asia diminished the ability of ruling classes to expand their territorial control.
C) South Asia had fewer territorial states and thus fewer rivalries that prompted ruling classes to integrate their dominions.
D) South Asian populations became so large that they could not be easily conquered.

Question 25

Which of the following was among the new elements that the Shang added to Longshan culture?

A) Hereditary rulers who derived power from their relationship to the gods
B) A copper metal industry
C) Divination using pottery shards
D) Walled towns built on a grid

Question 26

Around 2300 BCE,because of its rich reserves of copper:

A) Cyprus became a focal point of trade between Egypt,Crete,and the Euphrates River.
B) Cyprus was able to conquer Crete and Sicily.
C) A large number of independent palace centers emerged in Cyprus.
D) Minoan Crete colonized the islands of the Aegean Sea.

Question 27

For what reason does the United Nations display a replica of the reciprocal promises of nonaggression between the Egyptians and the Hittites?

A) It marked the first time two territorial states engaged in peaceful trade.
B) It is the first document written in cuneiform.
C) It is the oldest surviving peace treaty.
D) It contains the oldest record of Hammurapi's Code.

Question 28

Which of the following accurately describes societies in the Aegean world?

A) A number of islands flourished within a seaborne trading network focused on the exchange of tin and copper.
B) There was little trade,as all valued commodities were close at hand.
C) Polities struggled to recover lost grandeur after the droughts of the second millennium BCE.
D) Political centralization was quickly established due to the large common plain that dominated the landscape.

Question 29

Which aspect of the Mycenaean Greek microsociety is illustrated by the "Catalog of Greek Ships" in Homer's Iliad?

A) Greek society focused on trade instead of military conquest.
B) The advent of iron weapons led to the glory days of phalanx infantry warfare.
C) Movement of the Mycenaeans into the region was sudden.
D) Mycenaean Greek society was politically fragmented but had a common culture and ideals.

Question 30

Which of the following ancient written sources are validated by trade goods found on the Uluburun shipwreck off the coast of Anatolia?

A) The epic of Gilgamesh
B) The exchanges described in the Amarna letters
C) Hatshepsut's instructions to Nubian traders
D) Trade records from the Indus Valley

Question 31

Which of the following agricultural improvements did the Shang dynasty encourage?

A) Building cisterns and aqueducts
B) Draining low-lying fields and clearing forested lands
C) Growing wheat and rice in the northern portion of the kingdom
D) Forging iron and bronze agricultural implements

Question 32

Where did Austronesian-speaking people originate?

A) Southeast Asia
B) The Japanese islands
C) Coastal South China
D) The Philippines

Question 33

How did Shang chariot use differ from that of the rest of Afro-Eurasia?

A) The Shang used chariots primarily as symbols of wealth instead of for warfare.
B) The Shang used iron fittings for their chariots.
C) The Shang developed horseshoes,so that horses suffered fewer leg and foot injuries.
D) The Shang made chariots lighter and more maneuverable.

Question 34

In what ways did the societies of the Aegean initially resemble those of Polynesia?

A) Both failed to develop craft specialization.
B) Both were fragmented and decentralized.
C) Both integrated chains of islands into mainland culture.
D) Both were conquered by the territorial states.

Question 35

Around 1300 BCE,what actions did the Shang take to prevent their rivals from challenging their legitimacy?

A) They created strong regional networks through tribal clan relations and trade.
B) They poisoned the leaders of all opposing groups.
C) They created a new state religion.
D) They prevented their rivals from getting access to tin and copper to forge bronze weapons.

Question 36

How did the Vedic people's entrance into the weakened Indus Valley differ from that of other pastoralist migrations into Egypt,Mesopotamia,or Anatolia?

A) Aryans destroyed the culture of Indus societies.
B) Aryans did not immediately establish a large territorial state.
C) Aryans abandoned their religion and adopted that of the Indus people.
D) Aryans did not use horses or wheeled carts.

Question 37

What characterized Austronesian settlements in the South Pacific?

A) Pottery,written scripts,and rice cultivation
B) Ritual human sacrifice,rice cultivation,and stone tools
C) Written scripts,ritual human sacrifice,and domesticated pigs
D) Pottery,stone tools,and domesticated pigs

Question 38

In Aegean island culture,which of the following was an indigenous cultural element?

A) Large palaces
B) Large temple complexes
C) Worship focused on a female deity
D) Dominant priestly class

Question 39

In return for protecting allies from invaders,the Shang expected tribute in the form of:

A) horses and cattle.
B) precious metals and gems.
C) foodstuffs,soldiers,and workers.
D) silk and bronze.

Question 40

Which of the following gave the Vedic people military superiority over the Indus dwellers?

A) The Vedic people brought large flocks of cattle with them,which consumed the crops of the Indus Valley people.
B) The Vedic people used their simpler written language to send messages during battles.
C) The Vedic people were horse charioteers and masters of copper and bronze metallurgy.
D) The Vedic people had mastered iron metallurgy and the use of the phalanx.

Question 41

The two riverine societies that shared the most intense diplomatic interaction during the second century BCE were the Nile and the Tigris-Euphrates.

Question 42

Describe and compare the factors that nudged microsocieties in the South Pacific and the Mediterranean Sea toward unity or toward fragmentation.

Question 43

How did the domestication of the horse in Afro-Eurasia affect the development of nomadic and settled societies during the second millennium BCE? How was the horse integrated into military technologies?

Question 44

How did pastoral nomads and transhumant herders shape Afro-Eurasian development in the second millennium BCE?

Question 45

The transhumant herders were not affected by the warmer weather that occurred around 2000 BCE,since they spent the hottest summer months in the mountain highlands where melting snows provided sufficient water.

Question 46

How did the territorial state differ from the previous forms of states? Identify the factors that encouraged the formation of territorial states.

Question 47

The pastoral Vedic people despised agricultural work and looked upon the local people of South Asia as uncivilized farmers.

Question 48

In the Shang dynasty in China,the king's initial monopoly on divination and writing was a powerful way to legitimize royal power.

Question 49

Hammurapi shared with the Egyptians the image of the ruler as shepherd and patriarch of his people,responsible for their well-being.

Question 50

Compare the factors that encouraged or inhibited the creation of strong territorial states in Eurasia.