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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. Indo-European people who entered Mesopotamia in 1750 BC - destroying the Babylonian Empire; partnered with the Egyptians to destroy Syria - then turned on the Egyptians conquering them and ruling for several centuries; played a major role in transmit






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






3. Between 3000 and 1500 BC - the civilization flourished over the region that extended hundreds of miles from the Himalaya Mountains to the coast of the Arabian Sea. At the heart of the civilization were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Both cities had popula






4. The Greek leaders of Egypt after it was conquered by Alexander the Great. These leaders took on much of the Egyptian culture - even calling themselves Pharaoh.






5. 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.






6. 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.






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






8. Monotheistic - Semitic-speaking people of Mesopotamia. Enslaved by the Egyptians - their leader Moses eventually led them out of captivity. Their religion opened the door for awareness of the self with moral autonomy - man had the choice between good






9. First Pharaoh of the Old Kingdom.






10. 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.






11. Migrated into Mesopotamia circa 4000 BC; created the first civilization within the region; organized area into city-states; established the first form of writing - cuneiform.






12. 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.






13. Period of Ancient Egyptian history during which the great pyramids were built - Declined following the reign on Pepi II because of the rise in power of regional nomarchs and the dissolution of a centralized Egyptian government. This period was follow






14. The smaller size of the pyramids during the 5th and 6th dynasties is reflective of the declining power of the Pharaoh and the rise in power of ____________ in an economy of increasing size.






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






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






17. The New Babylonian king who destroyed the Hebrew kingdom of Judah and enslaved the Jews.






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






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






20. Period of Ancient Egyptian history during which permanent settlements were established - stone and crafts work developed - burial practices moved to the outer edges of the territories - and the beginnings of a belief in the afterlife became evident.






21. 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






22. 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






23. 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.






24. 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.






25. Capital of Ancient Egypt during most of the New Kingdom.






26. 'wedge-shaped.' A system of writing developed by the Sumerians that consisted of wedge-shaped impressions made by a reed stylus on clay tablets.






27. 'Soldiers of God'






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






29. A cultural practice in which young men upon marriage must live with their bride's family.






30. Unified all of Mesopotamia circa 1800 BC - collapsed due to foreign invasian.






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






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






33. In contrast to the isolated Egyptians - these people were warriors and traders - they were highly unpredictable and abstract thinkers.






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


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






36. A religious outlook that see god in many aspects of nature and propitiates them to help control and explain nature; typical of Mesopotamian religions.






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






38. 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.






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






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






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






42. 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.






43. The first economic class not responsible for producing their own food and shelter.






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






45. Dating to 3500 BC - this civilization is one of the few cases of a civilization that started from scratch






46. 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.






47. Ancient Sumerian king - ruled 2700 BC. Credited with having been a demigod of superhuman strength who built a great city wall to defend his people from external threats. Influence of his epic stories are seen in the Hebrew story of the Great Flood.






48. The Neolithic Revolution first occurred in the _____________.






49. Early walled urban culture site based on sedentary agriculture; located in modern Israeli-occupied West Bank near Jordan River.






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