Test your basic knowledge |

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. 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






2. Ancient Sumerian economies were ___________ with Priests charged with caring for the gods and goddesses and then providing for the community.






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






4. The first tools were made of ___________ approximately 2.5 Million years ago.






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






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






7. 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.






8. Born a commoner - this Pharaoh rose to power at the age of 15 on the coat tails of his family's military prowess and reigned until his death at age 93. As one of Egypt's greatest kings - he relied heavily on propaganda and diplomacy - building temple






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






10. The Neolithic Revolution first occurred in the _____________.






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






12. City built by the Israelite King David in order to honor God.






13. 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.






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






15. Ancient view of the world based on myth rather than science or rationality.






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






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






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






19. 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






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






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






22. 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.






23. 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.






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






25. Part god and part king - the __________ was the leader of the Ancient of Egyptians. It was his job to raise the sun - the crops - and the coming of the Nile. He held absolute power over the Egyptians in the present life and in the hereafter.






26. 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.






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






28. The two Hebrew kingdoms of Canaan.






29. First to develop money - weights and measures - and hours.






30. 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.






31. 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






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






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






34. Prior to the Bronze Age - during the 4th Millenium - crafters smelted tools from ___________.






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






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






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






38. 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.






39. First Pharaoh of the Old Kingdom.






40. 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.






41. The most important ruler in Babylonian history. Responsible for the codification of law. Ruled over public and private life; business - financial - and criminal law. Judgements were often harsh.






42. Tapered pillars carved of a single piece of granite 70 - 100 feet tall symbolizing man's aspirations to immortality.






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






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






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






46. Three main rivers of the Fertile Crescent.






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






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






49. 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






50. Documents of the Hebrew god and his law. Rather than heroic tales of gods and goddesses - this book told takes of men and women both weak and strong.