Unit 1 quiz

History

Define “neolithic age” and explain what sets it apart from other periods in pre-history/history (2.3)

Neolithic or, new stone age was the first time humans stopped being a nomadic hunter-gatherer society, and became a agriculturally focused society, creating farming, domesticating and permanent settlements. This began the social stratification of society which sets it apart from previous pre-history, due to the change to a settled lifestyle.

Explain the consequences of the Neolithic Period (2.3)

Consequences that arose from the Neolithic period were the beginning of social stratification, and the beginning of a settled lifestyle.

Describe Neolithic settlements around the world and explain their importance (2.3)

Neolithic settlements that were common were permanent farming settlements such as Çatalhöyük which was the largest and oldest farming towns, and Jericho with the first defensive walls. These settlements were all protected by walls for communal defense.

Discuss features that were common to many ancient civilizations(3.1)

Features such as communal defense, polytheism, animism, beginning of centralized governments and cities became more common.

Explain explain how human relationships changed as early civilizations urbanized. (3.1)

The specialization work, and social stratification heightened, while before people were in family tight circles. Trade became more important and working for other people began to be a thing.

Locate ancient Mesopotamia and discuss characteristics (economy, society, religion) that set it apart from other ancient civilizations. (3.2)

Mesopotamia is in the middle of the Tigris and Euphrates river, its name deriving from meso (middle) and potamia (rivers).

Its rivers were unpredictable, creating a somewhat pessimistic society. They created the first type of logographic writing, cuneiform, which they wrote in stones.

Mesopotamia had a city-state model, which created shifting regional empires such as the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian empires.

They created laws to keep order, a famous one being Hammurabi’s code, laws from a Babylonian emperor.

They created stepped mud-brick pyramids called ziggurats to please their irritable gods.

Describe political change in Mesopotamia from Sumerian city-states to the rise of the old Babylon (3.2)

Sumerian City-States were Decentralized independent city-states (e.g., Ur, Uruk) ruled by local kings or priest-kings (lugal).

Akkadian Empire: Sargon of Akkad conquered and unified the city-states, creating the world's first centralized empire.

Ur III Dynasty: Following Akkad's collapse, the Third Dynasty of Ur briefly restored centralized rule and Sumerian administration.

Old Babylonian Empire: Amorites unified the region, reaching peak central control under Hammurabi, who consolidated authority through military expansion and a uniform written law (Hammurabi's Code).

Locate ancient Egypt and discuss the development of a distinct culture there (3.3)

The distinct culture created is partly due to the cyclical flooding of the Nile, which brought them a sense of peace, framing their whole society around the river. They had a mythology about the river. Egyptians also had a belief their king could communicate with the gods. With Pharoh’’s power they built themselves building like the pyramid.

Discuss the accomplishments of the Old Kingdom pharaohs (3.3)

A few accomplishments of the Old Kingdom were the construction of pyramids, centralized power and peace even thought their large amounts of land.

Describe Middle Kingdom changes in government and society. (3.3)

The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt (c. 2055–1650 BCE) shifted from decentralized regional rule back to a structured central government, while fostering a new middle class and evolving social structures.

Explain the growth, development, and decline of the Indus Valley Civilization (3.4)

The Indus Valley Civilization grew from early farming villages into a massive urban network, reached its peak with advanced city planning, and gradually dissolved due to environmental and economic shifts

Describe Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa (3.4)

Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were the two major urban centers of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization (also known as the Harappan Civilization), which flourished around 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE in modern-day Pakistan and northwest India. These cities are renowned for their Upper Towns and Lower towns along with bathhouses.

Their river starts in the Himalayan Mountains and into the Indian Ocean

Discuss themes in Indus Valley religion and culture that (3.4)

The Indus Valley civilization's religion and culture featured a focus on ritual purity, fertility symbolism, and a lack of centralized royal monuments.

Identify the three dynasties of BCE China and describe distinctive features of each (5.1)

The three dynasties of BCE China are the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, and the Zhou Dynasty. Together, they are traditionally referred to as the Three Dynasties.

Shang had Oracle bones, bronze technology, ancestor worship, early Chinese writing, powerful kings and nobles

Zhou had Mandate of Heaven, feudal system, Confucianism and Daoism developed, long period of political fragmentation

Qin had Unified China, Legalism, centralized government, standardized writing/measurements/currency, beginnings of the Great Wall, Terracotta Army

Describe the effect of the Warring States Period on ancient China's politics and features (5.1)

The Warring States Period weakened the Zhou government and caused political fragmentation, constant warfare, Confucianism and Legalism, and the Qin unification of China

Discuss connections between ancient Chinese philosophy and the politics culture if ancient China. (5.1)

Confucianism → moral government and social order

Confucius taught that rulers should lead through virtue and moral behavior, while people should respect authority, family, elders, and social relationships.

Daoism → limited government

Daoism emphasized living according to the natural way, or dao. Politically, this produced the idea of wuwei, or "nonaction," meaning rulers should avoid unnecessary interference in people's lives.

Legalism → strong government

Legalists believed order came from strict written laws, rewards, and punishments

Animism

Belief that non-human entities—such as animals, plants, rocks, rivers, and weather systems—possess a distinct spiritual essence, soul, or inner life

Fertile Crescent

A geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates

Neanderthals

First to hunt in groups; care for the sick; have ritual burials

Neolithic Revolution

A turning point in the stone age when humans began farming.