Midterm

Question 1

What was Athenian democracy?

Answer 1

Rule by the citizens. Excluding women, children, and foreigners.

Question 2

What caused democracy in Athens?

Answer 2

Oppressive rule by aristocracy. Debt slavery.

Question 3

Give Solon’s reforms.

Answer 3

KEY DATE: 594 BCE

• 1: he abolished debt slavery
• 2: he divided citizens into 4 classes based on wealth:
  
  • 500-bushel men = richest
  • Hippeis
  • Zeugitai
  • Thetes: landless farmers
• 3: he created the three bodies of government
  
  • Archons
  • Council of Four Hundred (Boule)
  • Citizen Assembly (Ekklesia)

Question 4

Give Cleisthenes’ reforms.

Answer 4

KEY DATE: 508 BCE

• 1: divided citizens into 150 districts called “demes”
• 2: divided athens into 3 regions: city, interior, coast
• 3: each regions’ demes divided into phylai (clans)
• 4: each clan would elect 50 of its members by lottery to serve on the boule for 1 year

Question 5

Give three characteristics of the code of Hammurabi.

Answer 5

1- severity based on social status
2-strict justice + harsh penalties
3-law of retaliation

Question 6

Who is the Pharaoh? Give two traits.

Answer 6

Pharaoh: religious and political ruler over egypt.

• divine status: seen as a living god, identifies as Horus and as the Son of Ra
• upholder of Ma’at: bound to uphold Ma’at, which symbolizes justice and order

Question 7

What is the Book of the Dead?

Answer 7

• upon death, soul is split between ka and akh
• book of the dead: texts put in wealthy egyptians tombs helping souls with the process of death and how to achieve the afterlife

Question 8

What is a polis? Give 5 traits.

Answer 8

Polis: greek form of a city-state

1- each was politically independent
2- consisted of a city and the surrounding territory which it commanded
3- each city had an acropolis: a fortified hill, which served as a place of refuge in times of danger
4- each city had an agora, a public market space
5- each polis had its own local cult to a patron god, who was worshipped as city’s protector

Question 9

What are the Patricians and the Plebeians?

Answer 9

• Patricians: wealthy families of landowners, hereditary status, only they could hold political office and provide military leadership. Also, only they knew the law, so only they could be judges.
• Plebeians: were the commoners of Rome, free citizens, could not hold high political office, could not marry patricians, most were small farmers or landless tenant farmers. Also included artisans and some merchants,

Question 10

Explain The Judgement of The Dead.

Answer 10

-the judge is accompanied by Anubis, who acts as a companion. The deceased’s heart is weighed on a scale against Ma’at, which signifies all that is right. If it aligns with Ma’at, then he goes to see Osiris and is granted passage into the afterlife. If not, he is eaten by Ammit.