Global
Storylines
I. Complex
societies form around five great river basins.
II. Early urbanization brings changes, including
new technologies, monumental building, new religions, writing, hierarchical
social structures, and specialized labor.
III. Long-distance trade connects many of the
Afro-Eurasian societies.
IV. Despite
impressive developments in urbanization, most people live in villages or in
pastoral nomadic communities.
Core
Objectives
1. IDENTIFY
the earliest river-basin societies, and ANALYZE their shared and distinctive
characteristics.
2. EXPLAIN
the religious, social, and political developments that accompany early
urbanization from 3500 to 2000 bce.
3. TRACE
and EVALUATE the influence of long-distance connections across Afro-Eurasia
during this period.
4. COMPARE early urbanization with the ways of
life in small villages and among pastoral nomads.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which city became the first large commercial
and administrative center in the world?
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a.
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Çatal Hüyük
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b.
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Liangzhu
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c.
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Harappa
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d.
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Uruk
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ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: p. 55 OBJ: 1
TOP: I MSC: Remembering
2. What was one effect of agricultural surpluses
on early riverine urban societies?
|
a.
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People could specialize in making goods
for the consumption of others.
|
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b.
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People became isolated from those living
in the countryside.
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c.
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People relied on councils of elders to
organize complex societies.
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d.
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People abandoned trade, as they were now
self-sufficient.
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ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: p. 57 OBJ: 1
TOP: I MSC: Applying
3. What led to the founding of the first
Afro-Eurasian cities?
|
a.
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The development of long-distance trading
networks
|
|
b.
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The rise of priestly classes that
demanded sacrifices of labor and taxes to local gods
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c.
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The collective efforts needed to build
and maintain irrigation systems
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d.
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The need to defend against attacks from
large predators
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ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: p. 57 OBJ: 1
TOP: I MSC: Applying
4. Why was copper one of the most sought-after
raw materials imported into riverine cities from the hinterlands?
|
a.
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It was easy to smelt and shape, and
could be used to create bronze.
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b.
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It was considered to be the “tears of
the sun,” a sacred metal.
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c.
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It was needed to make plows.
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d.
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It was used in the making of pottery.
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ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: p. 60 OBJ: 3
TOP: III MSC: Applying
5. Which of the following permitted pastoral nomads
to move their herds frequently to new pastures?
|
a.
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Learning to breed and ride horses
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b.
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Developing the compound bow
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c.
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Creating war chariots
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d.
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Learning to forge iron
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ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: p. 60 OBJ: 4
TOP: IV MSC: Analyzing
6. Which of the following accurately describes
communities of transhumant herders in Afro-Eurasia around 3500 BCE?
|
a.
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People settled in small mountain valleys
where they could more easily keep watch over their herds.
|
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b.
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People lived in the coastal lands where
water supplies were easily available for their herds.
|
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c.
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Oxen became a crucial component of
survival so that nomadic pastoralists could move their villages.
|
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d.
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Herders traded meat and animal products
for grains, pottery, and tools with settled agricultural communities.
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ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: p. 60 OBJ: 4
TOP: IV MSC: Understanding
7. What did engineers need to develop before the
floodplain in Mesopotamia could become a breadbasket?
|
a.
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Horse-drawn copper plows
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b.
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Levees and canals
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c.
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Sturdy defensive walls
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d.
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Monumental architecture such as temples
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ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: p. 62 OBJ: 1
TOP: I MSC: Analyzing
8. Why did people in Sumer trade with distant
regions such as Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran?
|
a.
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Sumerians wanted to cement political
alliances by tying potential enemies to them in mutual trade.
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b.
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Sumerians lacked natural resources apart
from fertile soil, mud, and water.
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c.
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Sumerian religions required sending
missionaries to foreign lands.
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d.
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Sumerians needed to trade for food to
support their growing population.
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ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: p. 63 OBJ: 3
TOP: III MSC: Analyzing
9. How did religious practices in Mesopotamian
society circa 3500 BCE differ from those of earlier societies?
|
a.
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Workers in a temple were required to
focus solely on spiritual activities to maintain their ritual purity, whereas
shamans in earlier societies engaged in trade and other economic activities.
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b.
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Temple priesthoods rejected
long-distance trade as bringing “foreign” elements into the community,
whereas earlier societies eagerly sought trade.
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c.
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Temples reflected increased wealth and
social stratification, whereas earlier societies had less monumental
architecture and concentration of wealth.
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d.
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Temple priesthoods maintained a strict
separation of state and religion, whereas earlier societies were ruled by
priest-kings.
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ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: pp. 63–64 OBJ: 4
TOP: II MSC: Applying
10. Which of the following best describes the first cities in
Mesopotamia?
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a.
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They grew very rapidly when new crops
were introduced into the region.
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b.
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They were dominated by the central city
of Eridu.
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c.
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They developed in a haphazard manner
without planning or organization.
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d.
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They were spiritual, economic, and
cultural centers.
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ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: p. 64 OBJ: 1
TOP: I MSC: Remembering
11. Which of the following typifies Mesopotamian urban design?
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a.
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A strong defensive wall encircling the
entire population
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b.
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A ziggurat at city center, with
neighborhoods marking different occupational specialties on both sides of a
central canal
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c.
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Houses showing little distinction
between social classes
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d.
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King’s palace at city center,
representing permanent secular, military, and administrative authority
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ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: p. 64 OBJ: 2
TOP: II MSC: Understanding
12. Which of the following is an accurate comparison between Egyptian
pyramids and Mesopotamian ziggurats?
|
a.
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Both were designed as temples, and
housed an elaborate bureaucracy.
|
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b.
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Pyramids were primarily tombs for the semi-divine
pharaoh, while ziggurats were temples.
|
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c.
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Both were created to project the might
and grandeur of the territory’s secular ruler.
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d.
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The ziggurat of Marduk was larger than
the Great Pyramid.
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ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: pp. 65, 73–74
OBJ: 2 TOP: II MSC: Analyzing
13. Which of the options below best characterizes the average
Mesopotamian family?
|
a.
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Egalitarian relations between husbands
and wives
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b.
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Polygamous, with most men having several
wives as well as concubines
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c.
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Monogamous and patriarchal
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d.
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Equal inheritance of property between
sons and daughters
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ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: p. 66 OBJ: 2
TOP: II MSC: Applying
14. Which of the following statements is supported by the Hittite text
shown on page 68 (bottom left photo)?
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a.
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Hittites spoke and wrote in a Semitic
language.
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b.
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People in Mesopotamia adapted and used
demotic hieroglyphics for everyday communication.
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c.
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The Hittite language and writing system
was used primarily to create epic poems.
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d.
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Cuneiform writing was adapted and used
by many different cultures.
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ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: p. 68 OBJ: 2
TOP: II MSC: Evaluating
15. Sargon the Great, in creating the first territorial state, relied
heavily on:
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a.
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the might of Sumerian cavalry.
|
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b.
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earlier Mesopotamian innovations in
irrigation, record-keeping, and urban development.
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c.
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excluding foreign influence that might
undermine his authority.
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d.
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negotiating a peace between the
independent city-states of Sumer and Uruk.
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ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: p. 70 OBJ: 2
TOP: II MSC: Analyzing
