Deck 2: Rivers,cities,and First States 3500-2000 Bce

Question 1

Which of the following accurately describes communities of transhumant herders in Afro-Eurasia around 3500 BCE?

A) People settled in small mountain valleys where they could more easily keep watch over their herds.
B) People lived in the coastal lands where water supplies were easily available for their herds.
C) Oxen became a crucial component of survival so that nomadic pastoralists could move their villages.
D) Herders traded meat and animal products for grains,pottery,and tools with settled agricultural communities.

Answer 1

Herders traded meat and animal products for grains,pottery,and tools with settled agricultural communities.

Question 2

Why was copper one of the most sought-after raw materials imported into riverine cities from the hinterlands?

A) It was easy to smelt and shape,and could be used to create bronze.
B) It was considered to be the "tears of the sun," a sacred metal.
C) It was needed to make plows.
D) It was used in the making of pottery.

Answer 2

It was easy to smelt and shape,and could be used to create bronze.

Question 3

Which of the following typifies Mesopotamian urban design?

A) A strong defensive wall encircling the entire population
B) A ziggurat at city center,with neighborhoods marking different occupational specialties on both sides of a central canal
C) Houses showing little distinction between social classes
D) King's palace at city center,representing permanent secular,military,and administrative authority

Answer 3

A ziggurat at city center,with neighborhoods marking different occupational specialties on both sides of a central canal

Question 4

How was the role of the pharaoh different from that of Mesopotamian rulers?

A) Unlike Mesopotamian kings,the pharaoh did not need to establish a military,since Egypt was protected by natural borders of deserts.
B) Unlike Mesopotamian kings,the pharaoh created monumental architecture and tombs.
C) The pharaoh's most important role was as a bridge to the gods to ensure the regular flooding of the Nile,but in Mesopotamia,kings organized irrigation projects to control floods.
D) The pharaoh had the primary responsibility of ensuring that scribes were properly trained,but in Mesopotamia,that was the role of the priests.

Question 5

Sargon the Great,in creating the first territorial state,relied heavily on:

A) the might of Sumerian cavalry.
B) earlier Mesopotamian innovations in irrigation,record-keeping,and urban development.
C) excluding foreign influence that might undermine his authority.
D) negotiating a peace between the independent city-states of Sumer and Uruk.

Question 6

In what way did ancient Egyptian villagers learn to exploit the Nile River?

A) By building irrigation systems to constantly supply water to fields
B) By developing elaborate trade networks along its many western tributaries
C) By building irrigation systems that stored water in underground cisterns for use during dry seasons
D) By building basins that trapped rich silt as the Nile overflowed its banks

Question 7

What was one effect of agricultural surpluses on early riverine urban societies?

A) People could specialize in making goods for the consumption of others.
B) People became isolated from those living in the countryside.
C) People relied on councils of elders to organize complex societies.
D) People abandoned trade,as they were now self-sufficient.

Question 8

Why did people in Sumer trade with distant regions such as Lebanon,Turkey,and Iran?

A) Sumerians wanted to cement political alliances by tying potential enemies to them in mutual trade.
B) Sumerians lacked natural resources apart from fertile soil,mud,and water.
C) Sumerian religions required sending missionaries to foreign lands.
D) Sumerians needed to trade for food to support their growing population.

Question 9

Which of the following demonstrates the role of long-distance trade in the construction of the royal tombs at Giza?

A) The architectural techniques used to build the tombs first came from Mesopotamia.
B) The slaves needed to construct the tombs were imported from Europe and Central Asia.
C) Mud bricks needed to build the tombs were imported from Mesopotamia by donkey caravans.
D) Wood from Byblos built the ships that transported precious metals and jewels from far away.

Question 10

Which of the following permitted pastoral nomads to move their herds frequently to new pastures?

A) Learning to breed and ride horses
B) Developing the compound bow
C) Creating war chariots
D) Learning to forge iron

Question 11

Which of the following is an accurate comparison between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia?

A) Both were strongly shaped by the unpredictability of river flooding.
B) Both were surrounded by vast desert lands,which held nothing of value.
C) Both granted their rulers immense authority and built irrigation networks.
D) Both were ruled by priesthoods that controlled many city-states along their respective rivers.

Question 12

Which of the following statements is supported by the Hittite text shown on page 68 (bottom left photo)?

A) Hittites spoke and wrote in a Semitic language.
B) People in Mesopotamia adapted and used demotic hieroglyphics for everyday communication.
C) The Hittite language and writing system was used primarily to create epic poems.
D) Cuneiform writing was adapted and used by many different cultures.

Question 13

What did engineers need to develop before the floodplain in Mesopotamia could become a breadbasket?

A) Horse-drawn copper plows
B) Levees and canals
C) Sturdy defensive walls
D) Monumental architecture such as temples

Question 14

How did religious practices in Mesopotamian society circa 3500 BCE differ from those of earlier societies?

A) Workers in a temple were required to focus solely on spiritual activities to maintain their ritual purity,whereas shamans in earlier societies engaged in trade and other economic activities.
B) Temple priesthoods rejected long-distance trade as bringing "foreign" elements into the community,whereas earlier societies eagerly sought trade.
C) Temples reflected increased wealth and social stratification,whereas earlier societies had less monumental architecture and concentration of wealth.
D) Temple priesthoods maintained a strict separation of state and religion,whereas earlier societies were ruled by priest-kings.

Question 15

Which city became the first large commercial and administrative center in the world?

A) Çatal Hüyük
B) Liangzhu
C) Harappa
D) Uruk

Question 16

What led to the founding of the first Afro-Eurasian cities?

A) The development of long-distance trading networks
B) The rise of priestly classes that demanded sacrifices of labor and taxes to local gods
C) The collective efforts needed to build and maintain irrigation systems
D) The need to defend against attacks from large predators

Question 17

Why was Egypt said to have been the most river-focused of the early cultures?

A) Egypt had no fertile hinterland,since settlement was limited to the narrow Nile floodplain.
B) Egypt had many internal divisions,as the Nile River created multiple isolated geographical regions.
C) Egyptian religion focused exclusively on the role of the Nile in sustaining life.
D) Egypt relied heavily on its strong navy to conquer territory along the Nile.

Question 18

Which of the following best describes the first cities in Mesopotamia?

A) They grew very rapidly when new crops were introduced into the region.
B) They were dominated by the central city of Eridu.
C) They developed in a haphazard manner without planning or organization.
D) They were spiritual,economic,and cultural centers.

Question 19

Which of the options below best characterizes the average Mesopotamian family?

A) Egalitarian relations between husbands and wives
B) Polygamous,with most men having several wives as well as concubines
C) Monogamous and patriarchal
D) Equal inheritance of property between sons and daughters

Question 20

Which of the following is an accurate comparison between Egyptian pyramids and Mesopotamian ziggurats?

A) Both were designed as temples,and housed an elaborate bureaucracy.
B) Pyramids were primarily tombs for the semi-divine pharaoh,while ziggurats were temples.
C) Both were created to project the might and grandeur of the territory's secular ruler.
D) The ziggurat of Marduk was larger than the Great Pyramid.

Question 21

In what way did China's social and political system diverge from those of other Afro-Eurasian societies?

A) China's political and social system was hierarchical.
B) China's political and social system emphasized an idealized past and rule by sage-kings.
C) China's political and social system was not centralized.
D) China's political and social system relied on strong female rulers as well as males.

Question 22

Which of the following was true in both sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas before 2000 BCE?

A) The population in both places declined because of persistent drought.
B) The population in both places grew rapidly,given the large number of animals that could be hunted.
C) Population growth increased in both places after the importation of cereal agriculture.
D) The population in both places grew slowly,but did not lead to the development of urban centers.

Question 23

In the ancient Aegean world,why was urban development slow,despite contact with Egypt and Mesopotamia?

A) Everyday life was dominated by weaponry rather than writing and palaces.
B) Societies were dominated by priests and sages.
C) Geographical obstacles led to scattered settlements.
D) Crops from the Fertile Crescent did not produce surpluses in the Aegean world.

Question 24

How did priests monopolize communication with spiritual powers and the people in ancient Egypt?

A) By creating a special divine language that only they could use
B) By creating elaborate rules for selecting and training priests,and by forbidding all others from entering the temples' inner sanctuaries
C) By undercutting the ceremonial role of the local rulers
D) By using the tithes sent by worshippers to launch a campaign against practitioners of competing religions

Question 25

Which of the following was essential to Harappan economic power?

A) Control of salt deposits in the Indus River basin
B) Control of the extraction and trade of gemstones
C) Control of navigational techniques used by sailors along the Indian Ocean coast
D) Control of trade routes through northern India

Question 26

What led many Egyptian villagers to pray at local shrines and believe in the power of magical amulets?

A) Local villagers were physically far removed from temple life,and so turned to other means of satisfying their religious needs.
B) Villagers had a different set of gods and beliefs from those of the temples and court.
C) The priesthood in Egypt was weak and did not satisfy the needs of the local villagers.
D) Since villagers were illiterate,they could not participate in temple rituals.

Question 27

What suggests to scientists that Harappan civilization was centralized and structured?

A) Written language was used to provide a common culture throughout the Indus Valley.
B) The royal palace was an administrative center for the entire realm.
C) Royal tombs contained frescoes and records that showed the existence of regional laws.
D) Regional uniformity in urban planning; standardized weights and measures

Question 28

Which of the following was an important difference between Harappan and Egyptian societies?

A) Unlike the Egyptians,Harappans built no monumental structures for their communities.
B) Harappan farmers' cultivation yielded surpluses,while Egyptian farmers struggled to avoid famine.
C) Egyptian writing was limited to religious purposes,while Harappans composed epic poems.
D) Unlike the Egyptians,there is no indication that the Harappans had kings or built royal palaces or tombs.

Question 29

What indicated that the citadel in Mohenjo Daro was a center of political and ritual activities?

A) It was built of sun-dried brick.
B) It housed well-made public facilities,such as the great bath.
C) It lacked fortification and was open to all people.
D) It contained long inscriptions describing rituals performed there.

Question 30

In early riverine China,which of the following best describes the rate of urbanization and the factors that contributed to it?

A) Urbanization took place more rapidly in China than in Egypt and Mesopotamia,as the rice-growing regions in the south shared information with the millet-growing regions in the north.
B) Urbanization in China was slower than in Egypt and Mesopotamia because China did not have outside trade.
C) Urbanization in China was slower than in Egypt and Mesopotamia because of geographic barriers and lack of easily domesticated plants and animals.
D) Urbanization in China took place more rapidly than in Egypt and Mesopotamia because China's open geography allowed for the rapid diffusion of intellectual and cultural breakthroughs from other parts of Afro-Eurasia.

Question 31

How did technologies such as bronze working first arrive in China?

A) Through shipping lanes from the Korean peninsula
B) Through the overland caravan routes from the Indus Valley
C) Through indigenous invention in the Yangshao culture
D) Through pastoralist nomad migrations in the Mongolian steppes

Question 32

What evidence supports the widespread economic influence of Longshan culture?

A) Longshan kings forced tributary trade ties with steppe nomads.
B) Longshan silk scrolls have been found in the Indus Valley.
C) Longshan black pottery has been found as far away as Taiwan and Manchuria.
D) Longshan iron tools made their way to Japan.

Question 33

What led to European social development being dominated by warfare?

A) Struggles over resources between kinship groups
B) Religious emphasis on ritual combat
C) Need to control stone resources for the construction of megaliths
D) Lack of sufficient agricultural resources to support urban life

Question 34

Which of the following suggests that farmers in the Indus Valley were cultivating harvests that yielded a surplus circa 2600 BCE?

A) Evidence of furrows,probably made by a plow
B) Evidence of the monsoon bringing water to dried-up paleochannels
C) Evidence of horse collars
D) Evidence of cities on the Indus River circa 3000 BCE

Question 35

Which of the following formed the basis of a common material culture in the northern European plain?

A) The use of the plow and wheeled cart for farming
B) Slash and burn agriculture
C) The creation of corded ware pots
D) The creation of megalithic structures

Question 36

What do scientists use to infer that Troy,Crete,and the Greek mainland participated in a trading system linking the Aegean and Southwest Asia?

A) Similarities in writing systems
B) Similarities in citadel construction
C) Similarities in religious artifacts
D) Similarities in grave goods

Question 37

Why did early agricultural settlements arise in the Indus Valley before the Ganges Valley?

A) Annual floods replenished the soil in the Indus Valley but not in the Ganges Valley.
B) The Indus River,but not the Ganges River,brought plentiful water from its source in the Himalayas.
C) The Indus Valley suffered less from the yearly monsoons than did the Ganges Valley.
D) The Ganges Valley,unlike the Indus Valley,was surrounded by inhospitable deserts.

Question 38

Which is an accurate comparison of the development of scribal cultures in both Mesopotamia and Egypt?

A) Literacy immediately became important for all members of society.
B) Scribes at first had little concern with trade and commerce.
C) Scribes' status was increased by the small number of people who were literate.
D) Scribes were usually members of lower artisan classes.

Question 39

Which of the following contributed to the fall of the Old Kingdom in Egypt?

A) The divide between rural and urban settings
B) Drought strained the irrigation system,resulting in famine.
C) The bureaucracy introduced too many changes into water management methods.
D) Invasion by the people of the Nubian regions of the Nile River

Question 40

Which of the following formed the basis of trade for Crete with Egypt and the Levant?

A) Dried fish from Crete was exchanged for iron weapons.
B) Copper from Crete was exchanged for luxury objects.
C) Fine gems from Crete were exchanged for grain.
D) Tin from Crete was exchanged for gold jewelry.

Question 41

By 3500 BCE,most people in the world still lived as hunter-gatherers,nomads,or in small agricultural societies.

Question 42

Pastoralist communities declined around 3500 BCE as cities and their hinterlands grew.

Question 43

Explain the importance of technological developments in the emergence of early Afro-Eurasian societies.How did different social needs spur technological developments? How did different technological developments shape certain societies?

Question 44

Royal burials,such as seen in the photo on page 66,reinforced the existence of social hierarchies by including humans sacrificed to accompany the rulers to the afterlife.

Question 45

Lacking natural or geographical barriers,ancient Egyptian society was far more open to outsiders than most other riverine societies.

Question 46

Compare the significance of bureaucratic and priestly classes in the emergence of Mesopotamia,Egypt,and China.What factors helped to empower certain groups? Analyze the ways in which their specific geographies shaped the early urbanization of Mesopotamia,Egypt,and China.

Question 47

While other riverine societies developed trade networks,Harappan cities remained isolated from the outside world.

Question 48

How did the people outside the river valleys,such as in the Aegean,the Americas,and Sub-Saharan Africa,adapt to different physical environments as they established communities?

Question 49

What factors spurred the development of written scripts? How did the development of written scripts affect the societies that developed them?

Question 50

In what ways did the activities of pastoral peoples change circa 5500 BCE to 3500 BCE?