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CLEP Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East

Subjects : clep, history
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. 'wedge-shaped.' A system of writing developed by the Sumerians that consisted of wedge-shaped impressions made by a reed stylus on clay tablets.






2. Egyptian gods were often represented by ____________.






3. Early Sumerian kingdoms began as theocracies - their kings established their authority through ____________.






4. Founded by Cyrus the Great who expanded the empire across vast lands using a system of local administrators to maintain control.






5. A combination of pictograms and phonograms that the Eqyptians used for writing.






6. First foreigners to conquer and rule Egypt during the 15th and 16th dynasties. Later defeated by Egyptian Soldiers opening the door for the New Kingdom.






7. People of Akkad who overruled the Sumerians and assimilated their culture. Simplified the Sumerian cuneiform.






8. The life of the _____________ was filled with anxiety and pessimism because the gods themselves were unstable and the idea of an afterlife was unknown






9. ___________ sacrifice was common among all religions during the late neolithic period.






10. Period of Ancient Egyptian history during which the Pharaohs regained powers over the priests but with somewhat less authority during which laws began to be written down.






11. The Egyptian concept of harmony and order - justice and truth. Implied a divine force for harmony and stability which emanated from the beginning of time itself. Good rule by pharaoh signified its presence


12. Pre-agricultural culture located in present day Israel - Jordan and Lebanon. Collected naturally present barley and wheat to supplement game. Characterized by large settlements.






13. Homo Species that disappeared at the end of the Paleolithic period.






14. A technological advance invented c. 6000 BC encourage higher quality ceramic pottery production.


15. A nomadic agricultural lifestyle based on herding domesticated animals; tended to produce independent people capable of challenging sedentary agricultural societies.






16. Egyptian civilization sprang up in northern Africa - along the ______________; this river played a crucial role in the ability of the Egyptians to produce an abundant harvest.






17. Sumerian relationship with their gods was ___________. Humans were created to do the manual labor for the gods.






18. The Neolithic Revolution first occurred in the _____________.






19. Brother to the Ancient Egyptian god - Osiris - and credited with his death - _______ stands for all things unpleasant - disorder and warfare.






20. The Great Pyramid is the tomb of the Pharaoh ________.






21. As the most influential of the smaller Middle Eastern regional cultures - the Jews were characterized most by ______________.






22. Period from 4 -000 BC to 1 -500 BC (3rd Millenium) when bronze tools were first introduced in the Middle East.






23. 'Soldiers of God'






24. The period from 12 -000 BC to 8 -000 BC characterized by the gradual shift from hunter-gather societies to sedentary agricultural societies.






25. Egyptian sun-god that attained preeminence above other Egyptian deities. Briefly leading the Egyptians into monotheism prior to the reign of Tutankhamen which saw the restoration of the older religion and its promise of an afterlife.






26. From the Latin term for 'city.' Characterized by formal states - writing - cities - and monuments.






27. The African state that developed along the upper reached of the Nile circa 1000 BC; conquered Egypt and ruled it for several centuries.






28. Mesopotamian ____ was designed to persuade the good divine elements to side with practitioners.






29. Unified Upper and Lower Egypt into one kingdom with the capital at Memphis around 3000 BC.






30. The term given to the development of agricultural societies. This revolution in economic - political - and social organization began in the Middle East as early as 10 -000 B.C.E. and gradually spread to other centers - including parts of India - Nort






31. Cunning woman who became Pharaoh during the New Kingdom. She relied heavily on propoganda claimed to be the daughter of the God Amen - often presented herself with a male body and false beard in statues and imagery. Her stepson - whom she had usurped






32. The moral code divined to Moses by the Hebrew god. Unlike the Code of Hammurabi - rich and poor were treated equally.






33. Recent archeological studies show that there were at least _____ early civilizations.






34. Intermediate form of ecological adaptation in which temporary forms of cultivation are carried out with little impact on the natural ecology; typical of rainforest cultivators.






35. Following the Bronze Age - in the 2nd Millenium - crafters began to smelt tools from _______.






36. Achievements of the ___________ civilization include the construction of irrigation ditches - introduction of the plow - and wheel made pottery.






37. Beginning of the Neolithic Period or 'New Stone Age'. Saw the adaptation of sedentary agriculture and the domestication of plants and animals.






38. First common language used for trading amongst people of different groups - replaced Hebrew in religious texts - and was probably spoken by Jesus and his disciples.






39. A sea-faring civilization located on the shores on the Eastern Mediterranean; established colonies throughout the Mediterranean and devised a simplified alphabet that greatly influenced the Greek and Latin writing systems.






40. The period prior to 12 -000 BC typified by the use of crude stone tools and hunting and gathering for subsistence; describes the majority of 2 million plus years of the existence of homo species.






41. Located at the center of each Sumerian city-state - this was a massive stepped tower upon which a temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of the city-state.






42. The end of the Bronze Age saw the rise of great __________ power.






43. Wife of Akenhaten - died during his celebration. After which Akenhaten became intolerant of any other gods - obsessively erasing them from history and neglecting his kingdom in the process.






44. Cradle of Civilization located in the area between Mesopotamia and Syria.






45. The practice of seeking to foretell future events by interpreting divine signs - which could appear in various forms - such as in entrails of animals - in patterns in smoke - or in dreams.






46. This successfully diplomatic Pharaoh of the New Kingdom avoided continued warfare - commissioned the construction of two huge temples in Nubia that were unusually dedicated to the gods of ancient Egypt - Chiefly Amen-Re - rather than to the Pharaoh a






47. The first civilizations - they created a basic set of tools - intellectual concepts such as writing and mathematics - and political forms that would persist and spread to other parts of Europe - Asia - and Africa. Most were in decline by 1000 BC.






48. During this young Pharaoh's reign - the priests and military leaders who has lost power during the reign of his predecessor - Akenhaten - seized the opportunity to use the boy as their puppet and return Egypt to its traditional religion.






49. Early societies were ____________ - or run by men.






50. Successor to Ra as the king of the gods of Ancient Egypt - ______ is credited with teaching men to be civilized and to farm - and for teaching mankind to worship the gods and to build temples. Isis was also a wise and good ruler who taught men how to