The Foundations of Western Civilization

What Mesopotamian inventions most influenced later mathematical and astronomical developments?

Algebra, astronomical charts, and the place-value notation system

By 500 B.C.E., most of the Phoenician settlements were located

in North Africa.

How did Greek settlement in the eastern Mediterranean abroad influence the development of Greek culture during the Archaic Age (c. 750–500 B.C.E.)?

It paved the way for the Greeks to imitate Near Eastern and Egyptian statuary.

Women in Greek city-states could also be citizens, an honor that

did not, however, grant them political rights, such as the right to vote or otherwise participate in political life.

Which new regional power had emerged in Mesopotamia by 900 B.C.E.?

The Neo-Assyrian Empire

How did the Greeks significantly improve the quality of their farm implements and weaponry following their Dark Age?

They learned the skill of iron metallurgy from their eastern trading partners and went on to mine their own iron ore deposits.

Based on this map, who did Greek city-states tend to trade with from 750 to 500 B.C.E.?

Other Greek city-states and settlements under Greek influence

The concept of miasma—the ritual contamination suffered by the members of a group who failed to punish a criminal in their midst—reflected which of the following?

A sense of communal responsibility for upholding divine law

Who was the lyric poet who wrote about intense emotions, especially love?

Sappho

Which of the following best describes ancient Greece's natural resources?

Greece had a mountainous, rocky terrain that was suitable for the cultivation of olives, grapes, and barley but little else.

Why was the notion of citizenship such a radical innovation in ancient Greece?

The ancient world was otherwise characterized by monarchies and legal inequality.

When the Greeks began writing again about 800 B.C.E., they adopted and adapted an alphabet they received from the

Phoenicians.

The term Diaspora describes the experience of those Jews who

lived outside the Jewish homeland but still followed Jewish law.

What did the Greeks establish as they began to recover from two centuries of economic devastation and population decimation?

A new form of political and social organization known as the polis, or independent city-state

As a result of Solon's reforms, council members who prepared the agenda for the assembly were chosen by

lottery.

What is recounted in Homer's epic poem The Iliad?

The events of the Trojan War

Which strategy did early Persian rulers adopt to rule over their newly conquered peoples?

They allowed local people to keep their own beliefs and customs.

Most early Paleolithic societies were characterized by a form of organization in which

all men and women had a roughly equal say in making important decisions.

What factor is most likely to have helped lead to the emergence of patriarchy in the wake of the Neolithic Revolution?

Men took on prominent roles in agriculture and herding, while women were increasingly homebound, since families could now raise more children.

What was the most likely cause of the collapse of the Akkadian Empire?

A civil war

What do the Mycenaean burial chambers known as tholos tombs reveal about the Mycenaeans?

They were prosperous merchants.

The evolution of hierarchy in human society, the development of agriculture, and the domestication of animals are all patterns of life that emerged from which period?

Which of the following statements is justified by this map?

During the New Kingdom, Egypt expanded to its greatest extent.

Beginning about 2000 B.C.E., what man-made environmental crisis wreaked havoc on Mesopotamian political stability?

Intensive irrigation elevated the salt level of the soil, which decreased its fertility and lowered crop yields.

What development made possible the advent of agriculture?

The earth entering a warming phase

Along with hierarchies based on wealth and power, the development of agriculture was intertwined with a hierarchy based on what trait?

Gender

The development of agriculture and the domestication of animals were key elements in which of the following?

The Neolithic Revolution

Which period in human history came first?

Paleolithic era

What activity was most central in the lives of Paleolithic peoples?

Hunting and gathering

Searching for food

Taken together, the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras make up what period of human history?

The Stone Age

How did Near Eastern peoples regard their deities?

As powerful but potentially dangerous

Polytheistic societies have

many gods.

What does the narrator express in The Story of Sinuhe?

Pride and love for his native land

According to this map, which geographical feature appears to have been the most important to ancient Egyptian civilizations?

The Nile River

By the time of the New Kingdom, religious practices in Egypt for the wealthy and poor alike were often centered on which of the following?

Preparing for a smooth and blessed afterlife

What do the Mycenaean burial chambers known as tholos tombs reveal about the Mycenaeans?

They were prosperous merchants.