Chapter 2

In addition to founding numerous ports and outposts around the Mediterranean, the Phoenicians acquired world-historical importance through their introduction of the ____________. a. Hybridization of barley seeds. b. Letter alphabet. c. Technology of smelting bronze. d. Religious concept of monotheism.

b. Letter alphabet.

The Code of Hammurabi calls for extreme punishments according to the principle of _________ ("an eye for an eye"). a. Lex dura. b. Lex talionis. c. Lex agraria. d. Lex Julia.

b. Lex talionis.

While earlier codifications of Sumerian precepts list around 40 laws, those of Hammurabi number __________. a. 12. b. 282. c. 840. d. 480.

b. 282.

The final wave of Israelite deportations, under the Neo-Babylonians in __________, became the infamous "Babylonian Captivity" mourned by prophets in the Hebrew Bible. a. 1297-1282 BCE. b. 597-582 BCE. c. 297-282 BCE. d. 897-882 BCE.

b. 597-582 BCE.

It took until about ___________ in the Middle East before farmers had bred the large-grained wheat and barley of today. a. 12,000 BCE. b. 7000 BCE. c. 1500 BCE. d. 4300 BCE.

b. 7000 BCE.

Early in his reign (1353-1336 BCE), ____________ changed his name to "Akhenaten," meaning "devoted adherent to Aten." a. Khufu. b. Amenhotep IV. c. Narmer. d. Tutenkhamen.

b. Amenhotep IV.

The final wave of Israelite deportations under the Neo-Babylonians was known as the _______, or "gola". a. Babylonian Chronicles b. Babylonian Captivity c. Babylonian Talmud d. The Great Jewish Revolt

b. Babylonian Captivity

Scholars speculate that Akhenaten's religious revolution may have been designed to achieve all of the following goals except: a. Undermining the political power of the priests of Amun-Re. b. Easing the transition of power to his wife Nefertiti and son Tutenkhamen. c. Opening up Egyptian religion to participation by non-royal people. d. Solidifying his own power by replacing polytheism.

b. Easing the transition of power to his wife Nefertiti and son Tutenkhamen.

Mesopotamia is "the land between the rivers" __________. a. Nile and Tigris. b. Euphrates and Tigris. c. Jordan and Euphrates. d. Oxus and Jaxartes.

b. Euphrates and Tigris.

Around 6500 BCE, farmers in the Fertile Crescent domesticated all of the following animals except: a. Donkeys. b. Horses. c. Cattle. d. Pigs.

b. Horses.

Which of the following does not describe hieroglyphic writing? a. It was developed around 3500-3200 BCE. b. It was used exclusively for bureaucratic documents. c. It was limited to use in royal inscriptions. d. It used pictures to symbolize objects and syllables.

b. It was used exclusively for bureaucratic documents.

The earliest Mesopotamian city-state was: a. Ur b. Uruk c. Lagash d. Nippur

b. Uruk

Cuneiform writing was developed around: a. 1200 BCE. b. 5000 BCE. c. 2000 BCE. d. 3450 BCE.

d. 3450 BCE.

The dominant palace-state in Minoan Crete was a polity with as many as ___________ inhabitants in the sprawling palace and a few villages outside. a. 12,000. b. 120,000. c. 1,000,000. d. 1500.

a. 12,000.

The Iron Age started around: a. 1500-1200 BCE. b. 4000-2000 BCE. c. 700-500 BCE. d. 6000-4000 BCE.

a. 1500-1200 BCE.

Horses were first domesticated in: a. Egypt. b. the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. c. the Ural Mountains of Central Asia. d. Mesopotamia.

c. the Ural Mountains of Central Asia.

In a(n) ___________, people, at a minimum, are engaged in farming cereal grains on rain-fed or irrigated fields and breeding sheep and cattle. a. Polis, or city-state, society. b. Capitalist society. c. Industrial society. d. Agrarian society.

d. Agrarian society.

The discovery of skulls from the Natufian culture in the Jordan and upper Euphrates valleys suggests the existence of: a. Cannibalism. b. Cremation burial practices. c. A new glacial age beginning in 9500 BCE. d. Ancestor worship.

d. Ancestor worship.

Mesopotamian scribes wrote in ____________ (from the Latin, meaning "wedge-shaped") script on clay tablets using signs denoting objects and sounds from the spoken language. a. Hieroglyphics. b. Hieratic. c. Alphabets. d. Cuneiform.

d. Cuneiform.

Hatshepsut was a strong-willed woman who became "king" (the title of "queen" did not exist) over __________ in ca. 1479 BCE. a. Babylon. b. Phoenicia. c. Crete. d. Egypt.

d. Egypt.

Medical documents from ___________ diagnosed headache as "half-head", which the Greeks translated as "hemi-krania", from which our word "migraine" is derived. a. Mesopotamia. b. Peleset. c. Minoan Crete. d. Egypt.

d. Egypt.

The Nile usually begins to swell in _________ and recedes during ____________. a. February and March. b. December and March. c. May and November. d. July and October.

d. July and October.

As a god on earth, the Egyptian king upheld the divine order of justice and peace for all, a principle called ___________. a. Xi'an. b. Sargon. c. En. d. Ma'at.

d. Ma'at.

The first unified territorial state or kingdom in Mesopotamia was: a. Akkadia b. Babylonia c. Elam d. Persia

a. Akkadia

Sargon's grandson Naram-Sin added the Zagros Mountains and Syria to the ____________ kingdom and claimed to be the "king of the four (world) shores," considering his state an open-ended kingdom stretching in all four directions. a. Akkadian. b. Egyptian. c. Babylonian. d. Hittite.

a. Akkadian.

_________ scribes laid the foundations for geometry and astronomy by devising the system of 60 degrees for arcs, angles, and time—all still in use today. a. Babylonian. b. Hittite. c. Israelite. d. Egyptian.

a. Babylonian.

In Athens, the poorest class still possessed the right to participate in the ekklesia, or _______: a. Citizen assembly. b. Free theatrical performances. c. Annual festival in honor of Athena. d. Official naval training program.

a. Citizen assembly.

Around 4300 BCE, some mountain people in the Mesopotamian region had mastered the crafts of mining and smelting ____________, launching what scholars call the "Chalcolithic" Age. a. Copper. b. Iron. c. Golden. d. Bronze.

a. Copper.

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a Mesopotamian city-state? a. It practices ethnic segregation. b. A number of its inhabitants are not farmers. c. It is ruled by a dominant landowner-priest, assisted by a personal entourage of armed men. d. It contains more than 5,000 inhabitants.

a. It practices ethnic segregation.

The art of Greek _________ is mostly known to us from small sculptures, masks, drinking vessels, and jewelry found in the tombs of royal warriors. a. Mycenae. b. Knossos. c. Çatal Hüyük. d. Gaza.

a. Mycenae.

The period from ca. 9600 to 4500 BCE when stone tools were adapted to the requirements of agriculture, through the making of sickles and spades, was the _________. a. Neolithic. b. Paleolithic. c. Mesolithic. d. Utilitarian.

a. Neolithic.

The first place in Mesopotamia to fit the definition of a city was ____________, founded around 4300 BCE. a. Uruk. b. Qadesh. c. Memphis. d. Susa.

a. Uruk.

The Natufians: a. Were semi-sedentary foragers. b. Abandoned the bodies of their dead to wild animals. c. Flourished during the Neolithic Age. d. Were renowned for their pottery.

a. Were semi-sedentary foragers.

"Proto-Indo-Europeans": a. migrated from Central Asia to the Middle East and Europe. b. were terrified by the horses that had been domesticated by Mesopotamians. c. were primarily foragers. d. migrated to Indonesia and the remainder of Southeast Asia.

a. migrated from Central Asia to the Middle East and Europe.

Urban dwellers took the decisive steps of transition from animism to polytheism in the period 3500-2500 BCE when what factors came to the fore? a. Disease suddenly made Mesopotamian cattle extinct, and bull gods disappeared. b. Writing developed and kings ruled cities. c. The Bronze Age collapse called the existence of animal gods into doubt. d. The Israelites' Ten Commandments were widely publicized in the Levant.

b. Writing developed and kings ruled cities.

Mesopotamian "assemblies", called puhrum in Sumerian, were: a. gatherings of sharecroppers b. gatherings of influential elders c. gatherings of nomads d. gatherings of deities

b. gatherings of influential elders

Hammurabi was best known for: a. composing the Dead Sea Scrolls b. his codification of Babylonian law c. his tolerant nature d. designing the Ark of the Covenant

b. his codification of Babylonian law

Among the earliest recorded writings on religious themes is: a. the Aeneid b. the Epic of Gilgamesh c. the Iliad d. the Odyssey

b. the Epic of Gilgamesh

The following was not a major Phoenician city-state: a. Byblos b. Sidon c. Amarna d. Tyre

c. Amarna

Mesopotamian towns administered themselves through local ____________, in Sumerian called "puhrum". a. Collectivized farms. b. Aristocratic councils. c. Assemblies. d. Oracular priestesses.

c. Assemblies.

Hittite kings ruled in their capital Hatusa with a panku, or a(n): a. Iron fist, literally. b. Majority vote of the citizens, taken for every major decision. c. Assembly of their principal administrators, recruited from the aristocracy. d. Edict from the chief priests representing the Hittites' ancestors.

c. Assembly of their principal administrators, recruited from the aristocracy.

Around 1200 BCE, the so-called ____________ led to the decline and dissolution of the Near Eastern empires. a. Iron Age Collapse. b. Battle of Qadesh. c. Bronze Age Collapse. d. Trojan War.

c. Bronze Age Collapse.

A system of government in which most or all of the people elect representatives and in some cases decide on important issues themselves, is called a: a. Theocracy b. Republic c. Democracy d. Oligarchy

c. Democracy

Depending on the circumstances, the Mesopotamian city assemblies sometimes chose their leaders from self-made figures called a "great man" or __________. a. En. b. Pharaoh. c. Lugal. d. Puhrum.

c. Lugal.

Which of the following is not a characteristic of an empire? a. Large in size b. Multiethnic c. Monoglot d. Multireligious

c. Monoglot

Recent historical climate research has established that between the end of the Ice Age (around 11,500 BCE) and 4000 BCE, _____________ extended farther west than they do today. a. Desert-like conditions. b. Plunging winter temperatures. c. Monsoon rain patterns. d. Mistral wind patterns.

c. Monsoon rain patterns.

The transition from foraging to farming was completed during the: a. Paleolithic Age. b. Mesolithic Age. c. Neolithic Age. d. Chalcolithic Age.

c. Neolithic Age.

The use of hieroglyphic writing, developed in Egypt around 3500-3200 BCE, was limited to ____________. a. Bureaucratic documents. b. Peace treaties with powers like the Hittites. c. Royal inscriptions. d. Incantations in honor of Horus.

c. Royal inscriptions.

The "Levant" encompasses the modern countries of: a. Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. b. Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. c. Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine. d. Turkey, Georgia, and Ukraine.

c. Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine.

All of the following were factors in the Neolithic revolution in the Fertile Crescent except: a. The long east-west climatic zones of Eurasia. b. Animals like sheep, goats, and cattle were found over wide areas and easy to trade. c. Wide expanses of swampy areas facilitated rice production. d. Experimentation with local grains and leaf plants helped humans develop more reliable and better-yielding crops.

c. Wide expanses of swampy areas facilitated rice production.

Nomads were known for their: a. sedentary nature. b. cultivation of crops. c. herding of domesticated animals. d. wealthy lifestyle.

c. herding of domesticated animals.

The central character in the Epic of Gilgamesh is: a. A pharaoh who escapes death by becoming the living embodiment of Horus. b. A high priestess who wonders why the goddess of love has abandoned her. c. A hero who introduces fire to humans and is punished by the gods for doing so. d. A king in early Sumer who carries out heroic deeds but fails to escape death.

d. A king in early Sumer who carries out heroic deeds but fails to escape death.

In the Enuma Elish, __________ slaughters his mother Tiamat and splits her body into two halves, which become the heaven and the earth. a. Atum. b. Zeus. c. Ahriman. d. Marduk.

d. Marduk.

During the middle of the second millennium BCE, the ______ culture arose in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. a. Peleset b. Archaic c. Israelite d. Mycenaean

d. Mycenaean

In post-Dark Age Greece, a city with surrounding villages formed a city-state, or _____________. a. Thalassocracy. b. Palace-system. c. Ziggurat. d. Polis.

d. Polis.

Although undeciphered at this point, documents written in Linear A probably contain: a. Stories of King Minos and Theseus. b. Preparations for the "Sea People's" invasion of Egypt. c. Consideration of adopting the Phoenicians' alphabetic system. d. Records of the materials gathered into the Minoan palaces' storage spaces.

d. Records of the materials gathered into the Minoan palaces' storage spaces.

__________ received seed, animals, and tools from landowners in exchange for up to two-thirds of their harvest. a. Nomads. b. Lugals. c. Pharaohs. d. Sharecroppers.

d. Sharecroppers.

Communal rooms and wall paintings of animals at Çatal Hüyük document: a. The meeting space of the Hittite council. b. The frequency of communal meals composed solely of bull meat. c. The abandonment of sites once the Assyrians invaded. d. That animistic religious belief was still in force, even if no longer in a cave.

d. That animistic religious belief was still in force, even if no longer in a cave.

The first agricultural settlements appeared in ____________, a swampy depression off the Nile southwest of modern Cairo, around 5200 BCE. a. Giza. b. Memphis. c. Eridu. d. The Fayyum.

d. The Fayyum.

The first farmers from the Fertile Crescent settled in Mesopotamia, establishing the _________ culture of villages (6000-4000 BCE). a. Phoenician b. Assyrian c. Philistine d. Ubaid

d. Ubaid

Among the best-known ancient texts on the applied science of medicine is: a. the Kouros b. the Göbekli Tepe c. the Enuma Elish d. the Kahun

d. the Kahun

The Bronze Age collapse was probably triggered by: a. the collapse of Egypt's Old Kingdom. b. the rise of the Hittite empire. c. the unsustainability of chariot warfare. d. the invasions by Sea People.

d. the invasions by Sea People.