Download Introduction to Western Civilization, Rise of Civilization in Sumeria

Introduction to Western Civilization, Rise of Civilization in Sumeria and Egypt and Ancient Near
Eastern Empires Test Review Guide
I. Why study history?
A. Be able to write a coherent essay explaining why one should study history using reasons
discussed in class.
II. Define Western Civilization
A. Geographical definition
1. Where do you find Western nations?
B. Cultural
1. Evolution of Western Civilization
2. List 8 major characteristics that together define Western civilization.
III. Rise of Civilization
A. What is the definition of civilization?
B. How did the Neolithic Revolution (8,000 B.C.E.) lead to the rise of civilization?
C. What are the six basic characteristics of civilization?
D. What was the name of the world’s first civilization?
E. In what geographic region and modern country did it first arise?
F. In what year did it first arise?
G. Define Fertile Crescent.
H. Define Mesopotamia.
IV. Sumerian Civilization
A. Sumerian city-states
1. What does the term city-state indicate about Sumerian culture?
2. What people were initially the leaders of Sumerian city-states?
3. What was the term for a Sumerian king?
4. What were some of the names of the most important Sumerian city-state?
5. The prophet Abraham was from the Sumerian city-state called _______.
B. Writing
1. Sumeria developed the first writing system.
2. Sumerian writing started out as ______________, or pictures that looked like the
things they were supposed to represent.
3. Sumerian writing eventually turned into ______________, which translates as
“wedge-shaped.”
4. What were the two main reasons why writing first developed in Sumeria?
5. Define epic
6. The great Mesopotamian story that is the first known epic in world history was the
___________________________________.
7. What is the main theme of the above story?
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8. What part of this epic is similar to part of the Old Testament?
C. Religious beliefs
1. What are the two rivers in Mesopotamia called?
2. Are they predictable or unpredictable?
3. How did that affect the Sumerians religious beliefs?
4. Does Sumerian religious belief have an ethical component? Explain.
D. Sumerian achievements
1. ___________, or Sumerian pyramids
2. Plow
3. Wheel
4. Sailboat
5. Hexadecimal number system (based on ________).
V. Egyptians
A. Egypt is the “gift of the Nile.” Explain.
B. What legendary king united Lower and Upper Egypt in 3100 B.C.E.?
C. What two major developments occurred during the Egyptian Old Kingdom?
D. What was the first pyramid built during the Old Kingdom called?
E. Where are the Great Pyramids located?
F. Who built the Great Pyramid?
G. What was the purpose of pyramids?
H. What was the purpose of mummification?
I. What do these two developments indicate about Egyptian religious beliefs?
J. What is the Book of the Dead?
K. Who was Osiris?
L. What is a pharaoh?
M. While alive, the pharaoh was considered to be the god _____________, who was the god of
kingship.
N. The Egyptian New Kingdom was the period of Egyptian _________________ building.
O. Who was the greatest leader of the Egyptian New Kingdom?
1. What three major temple complexes did he expand or build during the Egyptian New
Kingdom?
2. What major event in Hebrew history occurred in Egypt during the reign of Ramses II?
P. The Egyptians, led by Ramses II encountered the ___________, a people whose empire was
based in Anatolia, in Syria in one of the ancient world’s greatest battles, the Battle of ___________ (c.
1274).
1. Where is Anatolia?
2. The Hittites were an Indo-European speaking people. What does this mean.
3. What technological advances allowed the Hittites to create an empire in
Anatolia?
4. Who technically won the Battle of Kadesh?
5. Why was it a Pyrrhic victory?
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6. What important diplomatic development occurred at the end of the war?
Q. What effect did the weakening of Egypt and the Hittites c. 1200 B.C.E. have on the Near East?
R. When does Egyptian history traditionally end?
VI. Near Eastern Empires
A. Who built the first empire in world history? What was the name of the empire? What are the
start and end dates of that empire? How is his life similar to Moses’?
B. The __________, or Old Babylonians conquered Assyria and dominated Mesopotamia from c.
1900 to 1600 B.C.E.
C. They named their capital _________________, which had originally been called Akkad by the
Akkadians.
D. The greatest leader of the Amorites was _______________________ (1792 to 1750 B.C.E.),
who was most known for his great legal code, which wasn’t the first, but was the most extensive up to
that point in history. It includes the following attributes:
1. Harsh punishment;
2. An “eye for an eye,” or punishment in kind (for those of the same status
in society);
3. Different punishments for people of different social statuses for the same crime;
4. Laws relating to all aspects of life.
VI. The Hebrews
A. Were they important politically in the Near East?
B. Their most important philosophical contribution to Western Civilization was
__________________________.
C. Who was the patriarch, or first prophet of the Hebrews?
D. After reaching the first _____________________, or sacred agreement, with God, Abraham
led his people from __________ in Mesopotamia to _________________.
E. A drought in Canaan led some Hebrews to go to __________ where they lived peacefully until
they were enslaved by Egyptian rulers for building projects.
F. The Hebrews were led out of Egypt by _________________ in what became known as the
________________.
G. Moses and the Hebrews wandered the Sinai Desert and eventually Moses went to the top of
Mt. Sinai and brokered a new covenant between God and the Hebrew people.
1. Moses received the Ten Commandments and many laws for daily life from God.
2. The Hebrews were to have only Yahweh as their God and were to follow all of his
laws. If so, God would protect them as his “Chosen People.”
H. Because of the moral component of this religion, we call Judaism as the first appearance of
____________________________.
I. Eventually the Hebrews went to _____________ and developed a united kingdom in between
1200 and 1000 B.C.E.
J. The three major kings of Israel were ___________ (1020 to 1000 B.C.E.), ___________ (1000
to 970 B.C.E.) and ______________ (970 to 930 B.C.E.).
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1. ______________ is most known for defeating the Philistines and uniting the Hebrews
under his rule.
2. ______________ is most known for building the Temple of _______________, the
current site of the Wailing Wall, the holiest site for Jews.
K. The kingdom of Israel eventually split into two kingdoms, ______________ in the north with
its capital at Samaria and _______________ in the south with its capital at _________________.
L. The Assyrians conquered the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.E.
M. The Israelites that were deported by the Assyrians were called the “Ten Lost Tribes.”
N. The Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians) conquered Judah in 586 B.C.E., destroyed Jerusalem and
deported many Jews to Babylon in what became known as the “Babylonian Captivity.”
O. The Persians eventually conquered the Chaldeans, and King Cyrus the Great, founder of the
Empire, allowed Jews to return to Judah to rebuild their Jerusalem and their temple.
1. For this, Jews really respect Cyrus (Old Testament ends with comments about Cyrus)
VII. The Assyrians (c. 900 to 600 B.C.E.) were a very warlike people who conquered the Amorites and
created their own empire.
A. They established a capital at ______________ that eventually became famous for its
systematically collected library created by Ashurbanipal.
B. They were extremely warlike and used violence to assert control over conquered peoples.
1. They would wreak havoc on a people within the empire to scare other peoples within
the empire to obey them.
VIII. The Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians)
A. Conquered Assyria in 612 and moved capital back to Babylon.
B. Conquered Judah in 586.
C. Nebuchadnezzar built _______________ of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World.
IX. Persians.
A. They create largest empire up to this point in history.
B. Cyrus the Great conquers Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians) in 539 B.C.E., and his methods make
people respect him as a wise and just ruler.
C. Creates extremely efficient administration.
1. Creates satrapies (provinces) governed by satraps (governors).
D. Creates _______ making movement of troops and communication much easier.
E. Empire reaches its largest size under _____________.
F. Empire falls to ________________ in c. 330 B.C.E.
*Know chronological order of major Near Eastern Empires.
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