Western Civ Ch. 1 Study Guide

Western Civ Final

Introduction: Early Civilizations

Mr. Nardini Questions

  1. What is history? The writing and recording of past events.
  2. What is prehistory? A long period of time before people began to record and invent writing.
  3. What are the marks of civilization? Cities, well-organized central government, complex religions, job specialization, social classes, arts & architecture.
  4. Why was Mesopotamia the “cradle of civilization”? It was the first developed civilization that set models for other civilizations. Many of their ideas and creations were taken later on.
  5. What is the Epic of Gilgamesh? It was first told orally in Sumer, describing a great flood that destroys the world. Archaeologists found that a great deal of floods happened in the ancient days in Mesopotamia.
  6. How does the “Book of the Dead” help to explain Egyptian civilization? It describes the afterlife compared to the Mesopotamians. They have a continual cycle of renewal and rebirth. It contained shells, charms, and formulas for the dead to use in the afterlife. It believed each soul had to pass a test to win eternal life and would have to survive a dangerous journey to the underworld.
  7. Who were the Phoenicians? They were involved in maritime trade, alphabet, colonies, purple dye (luxury from snails), and spread technology.
  8. Where was one of the first historical evidence places? Catalhoyuk and Mesopotamia
  9. What is the importance of the ancient Kingdom of Israel? It is associated with the creation of a unified, wealthy state with its new capital in Jerusalem.

Additional Questions:

  1. Ziggurats vs. Pyramids: Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians and were a te,p;e dedicated to the city’s chief god or goddess.
  2. Egyptian Afterlife vs. Mesopotamia Afterlife: Mesopotamian afterlife was harsh; all people lived after death in a grim underworld where there was no release.
  3. City-States: a political unit that included a city and its surrounding lands and villages.
  4. Phoenicia: Lebanon/Carthage- Tunisia
  5. Persian Empire: government organized into provinces, common set of weight and measures, use of coins and money, new religion of Zoroaster
  6. Cyrus the Great: Founder of Persian Empire; Political and philosophy of tolerance towards non-Persians.
  7. Ziggurats: step temples; made by Sumerians
  8. Mesopotamia: Home of the Sumerians; “between two rivers”
  9. Polytheism: belief in multiple gods
  10. Hitties: pushed out of Asia Minor into Mesopotamia around 1400 B.C.
  11. Enuma Elish: “When on High” - creation story (children making lots of noise); Larger meaning: shows dysfunction of gods and how to please them.
  12. Assyrian Empire: They invaded the Nile and slowly conquered it.
  13. Nebuchadnezzar: ruthless second king of Babylon; oversaw rebuilding canals, temples, walls, and ancient history of Mesopotamia.
  14. Catalhoyuk: modern-day Turkey; one of the first Neolithic villages
  15. Mesopotamia: “between the rivers”; the world’s first civilization developed in southeastern Mesopotamia, in Sumer
  16. Sumerians: lived in Mesopotamia, traded, had a few natural resources, may have made the first wheeled vehicles, maintained irrigation systems, had a distinct hierarchy, built ziggurats, polytheistic, believed in an afterlife, invented writing called cuneiform, schooling, developed astronomy & mathematics, land taken over by the Akkadians (Babylonians).
  17. Sargon the Great: Ruler of Akkad, invaded and conquered the neighboring city-states of Sumer. He continued to expand his territory, building the first empire known to history.
  18. Assyrian Empire: libraries, regulation of royal household
  19. Neo-Babylonian Empire: known for architecture, older resurgence of the Babylonians
  20. Code of Hammurabi: legal laws; What you do to others will give you a consequence, discourage you by doing wrong, hoping others don’t do it by writing it down, social class distinctions, eye for an eye. The code of laws defining rules of behavior. Sumerian
  21. Instruction of Kagemni: moral laws; belief in afterlife, advice/quality/moral, punishment is supernatural, don’t be prideful, don’t commit gluttony, intelligence prevents us from that, be government by brain & belly, self-control; if someone hurts you, the gods will deal with it.
  22. Scribes: People who write
  23. Gregorian Calendar: replaces Julian calendar, based on sun and 365 days.
  24. Astronomy: Studying the sky, moon, planets, and stars
  25. Sexigesimal System:
  26. Nomads: early people who moved place to place to find food
  27. Stone Age: During this era, people created and developed tools
  28. What advances did the Sumerians make in mathematics and astronomy? They created accurate calendars, angle measurements, time, studied eclipses, and developed basic algebra.
  29. Hammurabi: King of Babylon, brought much of Mesopotamia under his control of his empire, codified Hammurabi’s code
  30. Why live in a settled community? Pros: Common culture, mutual protection, near farm, grain & seed storage. Cons: diseases spread faster, grain stores were tempting to raiders, permanent settlements, natural disasters.
  31. First Civilizations: Sumer, Babylon, Hitties, Assyrians, Persia, Phoenicians
  32. Zoroaster: helped unite the Persian Empire.