Chapter 2: Rivers, Cities, and First States

The different origins of the Nile's two forks assured both the needed annual flooding (the ____ Nile) and a constant supply of water (the ____ Nile).

1. Blue 2. White

Modern scholars organize the history of Egypt into three dynastic eras—the ____, the ____, and the ____—divided by ____ in which central authority broke down.

1. Old Kingdom 2. Middle Kingdom 3. New Kingdom 4. Intermediate Periods

Cities first emerged along the: 1. 2. 3.

1. Tigris/Euphrates rivers 2. Indus River 3. Nile River

What did provided the basic food for survival in smaller settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa?

1. crop cultivation 2. hunting/gathering

Harappan cities were well planned, with ____ and ____, and were frequently made of brick in their construction.

1. drainage systems 2. fortified citadels

Households often acted together as closed ____ and ____ was held collectively by the household.

1. economic units 2. property

What did smaller settlements in the Americas do to supplement their diet?

1. fished 2. gathered 3. hunted 4. grew crops 5. traded

Temples functioned like large ____, with ____, ____, and ____ activities.

1. households 2. agricultural 3. workshop 4. commercial

What did Mesopotamian cities serve as?

1. meeting places 2. devotional/economic centers

What enabled complex, hierarchical societies to form? What were these societies reinforced by?

A. 1. cultural changes 2. demographic leaps 3. technological innovations B. 1. emergence of cities/institutions

What does the Harappans' standardized system of weights and measures suggest?

Harappans lived in a centralized/structured state

What were pastoral nomadic communities like?

These small communities migrated annually between pasturelands, living alongside and trading with settled agrarian peoples.

How did elite power holders secure their privileged positions in Mesopotamian city-states?

They erected systems of bureaucracies/priesthoods that maintained their authority.

How did Harappans secure access to valuable raw materials?

They established settlements.

The goal of religious practice was to preserve the

cosmic order.

In Mesopotamia, writing emerged as a symbol of marks that recorded

discrete sounds.

What was central to Mesopotamian families?

gaining a male heir

What caused rapid growth in Egypt?

harnessing the Nile for agriculture

What was the first territorial state in Mesopotamia? Who was it ruled by? What effect did it have on Mesopotamia as a whole?

1. Akkad 2. Sargon the Great 3. expanding cultural influence on distant neighbors

Why is knowledge of Harappan culture limited?

1. Harappan remains are inaccessible 2. scholars have not identified the Harappans' spoken language

When did the palace first appear as an institution and a physically structure in Mesopotamia?

1,000 years after the first cities/temples

What did Indus River basin society merge?

1. strong local traditions 2. significant influences from the people of the Iranian plateau

Writing significantly enhanced the ability of Mesopotamian elites to: 1. 2. 3.

1. trade goods 2. control property 3. transmit ideas

How were cities increasingly designed?

As places to give homage to gods and their kingly representatives.

What was the name of the first city in the southernmost part of Mesopotamian alluvium? What did it mark?

As the first city, *Uruk* marked a *new phase in human development*.

True or False Cuneiform was taught to the vast majority of Mesopotamians.

False Only a tiny scribal elite mastered the complex cuneiform script.

True or False Smaller settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa were widely dispersed and therefore did not trade.

False Settlements did trade with one another and maintain cultural contacts.

How did Mesopotamians control the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?

Farmers developed a system of: 1. levees 2. canals 3. water-lifting devices

How were the ways of life involved in the urban-rural divide still dependent on each other?

Food products were exchanged for needed urban-produced goods. In addition, new technologies such as the wheel and writing were invented or exploited more effectively.

How important of a role did gods play in the Sumerian and Akkadian worldview?

Gods controlled everything, with each having its home in a particular city.

Who created the first step pyramid?

King Djoser and his architect Imhotep

In Egypt, what was the relationship between kings and gods?

Kings and priests cared for the gods and their temples and in return the gods maintained order and gave sustenance to the king and all humanity through him.

What were the effects of Mesopotamia's open borders on all sides?

Mesopotamia became a crossroads/meeting ground for western Asia peoples: 1. facilitated trade 2. made vulnerable to invaders

What disrupted the balance of power among Mesopotamian cities?

Military/administrative authorities of rulers grew, and these rulers expanded the influence of cities.

What were Mesopotamian cities bound together by, and what shaped these?

Shaped by the nearby rivers: 1. common culture 2. trade 3. shared environment

Why did the Nile River develop a sense of common destiny?

The region was self-sufficient and isolated by its physical environment.

What was the layout of Mesopotamian cities?

The temple at the city's center and palaces and other official buildings on the periphery.

True or False The cities of southern Mesopotamia lacked many basic raw materials.

True These cities established outposts near the site of needed resources in order to facilitate long-distance trade.

How did Mesopotamia initially socially organize labor to build, maintain, and finance irrigation systems?

assemblies of elders/young men

What limited the growth of smaller settlements in the Americas?

environmental factors; thousands of small settlements dotted seashores and riverbanks

The Egyptians built ____ to capture the Nile's summer flood waters.

flood basins

The great technological innovation in Mesopotamia was in ____.

irrigation

What was the effect of surplus on the Indus River basin society?

many freed from agricultural laborr

The palace quickly joined the temple as a defining landmark and a

rival for power.

The Sumerian household was hierarchical, with the ____ as the dominant figure.

senior male

In smaller settlements around 3500 BCE, where did most people live?

small villages

Sumerian and Akkadian temples double as the homes of the local gods and also a symbol of

urban identity.

What allowed for the emergence of dense settlements in which labor specialization and craftwork was formed?

widespread availability of domesticated plants/animals