World History Midterm

Key Questions & Answers

Prehistory

1. What were some factors that led to hominid bipedalism?

   • Climate change reduced forests, encouraging walking on two legs.

   • Allowed for better energy efficiency, tool use, and carrying objects.

2. How did climate affect hominid development?

   • Ice Ages and warming periods forced adaptations like better tools, fire, and migration.

3. How and why did Homo sapiens expand out of Africa?

   • Around 70,000 years ago, population pressures and climate changes pushed migrations.

   • Followed coastal routes, using tools and fire for survival.

4. How and when did Homo sapiens populate the Americas?

   • Migrated via Beringia land bridge ~15,000-20,000 years ago.

   • Used ice-free corridors and coastal routes.

5. What was a hunter-gatherer existence like?

   • Small nomadic groups, relied on foraging and hunting.

   • Developed stone tools, fire, and early social structures.

6. Why did Homo sapiens start to prefer agriculture?

   • Climate stabilized in the Holocene, allowing farming.

   • Provided a more reliable food source, leading to permanent settlements.

7. How did agriculture start to change human relationships?

   • Led to social hierarchies, private property, and specialized labor.

Key Terms & Definitions

• Abu Hureya – Early farming settlement in modern Syria.

• Beringia – Ice Age land bridge connecting Siberia and North America.

• Çatalhöyük – One of the first known cities (Turkey, ~7500 BCE).

• Dolní Věstonice – Early European settlement with Venus figurines (~26,000 BCE).

• Holocene – Warm period after the last Ice Age (~12,000 years ago).

• Homo erectus – Early hominid (~1.9 million years ago), first to use fire and migrate widely.

• Homo habilis – “Handy man,” early tool-making hominid (~2.4 million years ago).

• Homo sapiens – Modern humans (~300,000 years ago), characterized by complex tools and culture.

• Ice Age – Period of global cooling, affecting early migrations.

• Jericho – One of the world’s oldest cities (~9000 BCE, present-day West Bank).

• Natufians – Pre-agriculture people in the Levant (~12,500 BCE), helped transition to farming.

• Neanderthals – Close human relatives (~400,000–40,000 years ago), adapted to cold.

• Neolithic – "New Stone Age" (~10,000 BCE), marked by farming and permanent settlements.

• Oldowan Industry – Earliest known stone tools (~2.5 million years ago).

• Paleolithic – "Old Stone Age" (before 10,000 BCE), hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

• Pleistocene – Geological epoch marked by Ice Ages (~2.6 million–12,000 years ago).

Unit 2: Early Civilizations

Key Questions & Answers

1. Why were the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers significant for Mesopotamians?

   • Provided water for irrigation but had unpredictable flooding.

2. What were characteristics of Mesopotamian civilizations?

   • City-states, social hierarchies, cuneiform writing, polytheism.

3. What does the Epic of Gilgamesh reveal about Mesopotamian beliefs?

   • Themes of human mortality, divine power, and flood myths.

4. How did Mesopotamian rulers control their people?

   • Laws (Hammurabi’s Code), military power, religious authority.

5. What were major Egyptian innovations?

   • Pyramids, hieroglyphics, centralized government, medicine, mathematics.

Key Terms & Definitions

• Amarna Period – Religious shift in Egypt under Akhenaten (~1350 BCE).

• Assyrian Empire – Militaristic Mesopotamian empire (~900-612 BCE).

• Aten – Sun god worshipped exclusively during the Amarna Period.

• Cataract – Natural rapids in the Nile that affected Egyptian expansion.

• City-states – Independent urban centers with surrounding farmland (e.g., Ur, Babylon).

• Cuneiform – First known writing system, developed by Sumerians.

• Hammurabi’s Code – One of the earliest legal codes (~1754 BCE).

• Hieroglyphics – Egyptian writing system using pictographs.

• Intermediate Period – Time of instability between Egyptian dynasties.

• Kush – Nubian kingdom influenced by and later ruled Egypt.

• Levant – Eastern Mediterranean region, including Israel, Lebanon, Syria.

• Mesopotamia – “Land between the rivers,” site of early civilizations.

• Nebuchadnezzar II – Babylonian king, built the Hanging Gardens (~600 BCE).

• New Kingdom – Egypt’s height of power (~1550-1070 BCE).

• Nubia – Region south of Egypt, influenced by and rivaled Egyptian civilization.

• Pyramids – Monumental tombs for pharaohs, especially in the Old Kingdom.

• Sargon of Akkad – First known emperor (ruled Akkadian Empire ~2300 BCE).

• Ziggurat – Mesopotamian stepped temple structure.

Unit 3: Early China & East Asia

Key Questions & Answers

1. What was the significance of the Xia and Shang Dynasties?

   • Xia (semi-mythical) was China’s first dynasty (~2000 BCE).

   • Shang Dynasty (~1600-1046 BCE) developed bronze technology and writing.

2. How did the Zhou Dynasty justify overthrowing the Shang?

   • Introduced the Mandate of Heaven, claiming divine support for rule.

3. What were the core ideas of Confucianism and Daoism?

   • Confucianism: Ethics, social order, respect for hierarchy.

   • Daoism: Harmony with nature, minimal government interference.

4. Why was the Qin Dynasty important?

   • First centralized Chinese empire, built the Great Wall, standardized writing.

5. How did Buddhism spread to China?

   • Through Silk Road trade, integrating with local traditions.

Key Terms & Definitions

• Confucius – Philosopher (~500 BCE), emphasized morality and governance.

• Daoism – Philosophy favoring natural balance, founded by Laozi.

• Legalism – Strict political philosophy emphasizing laws and punishment.

• Mandate of Heaven – Justification for Chinese rulers based on divine favor.

• Qin Dynasty – China’s first empire (~221-206 BCE), established by Qin Shi Huang.

• Silk Roads – Trade network linking China to the West.

• Zhou Dynasty – Introduced feudal rule and the Mandate of Heaven (~1046-256 BCE).

Yuan Dynasty – Mongol rule over China (~1271-1368 CE), established by Kublai Khan.