Midterm

Question 1

pastoralism

Answer 1

• WHAT:
  
  • Herding and breeding of sheep and goats or other animals as a primary means of subsistence.
  • pastoralists were closely affiliated with agricultural villages who grew grains
  • produced both meat and dairy products, wool, and exchanged these products for grain, pottery, and other staples
• WHEN:
  
  • 5500 BCE, around the same time full-time farmers appeared
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • domestication of plants and animals led to this
  • led to nomadic pastoralism

Question 2

scribes

Answer 2

• WHAT
  
  • those who wield writing tools
  • from the very beginning they were at the top of the social ladder, under the major power brokers.
• WHERE:
  
  • Mesopotamia

Question 3

Pyramids of Giza

Answer 3

• WHAT:
  
  • Old Kingdom pharohs built their eternal resting places in these pyramids
  • surrounded by smaller pyramids and bench tombs of relatives
  • reflect the peak of Old Kingdom culture and the remarkable facts that its bureaucracy could accomplish
• WHEN:
  
  • (2613-2494 BCE)
• WHERE:
  
  • lie on the western side of the Nile River, just south of Caro
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • apart of the Fourth Dynasty

Question 4

hieroglyphics

Answer 4

• WHAT:
  
  • one of the two basic forms of Egyptian writing
  • used in temple, royal, or divine contexts
  • Pictorial symbols
  • greek for “sacred carving”
• WHEN:
  
  • around 1500 BCE
• WHERE:
  
  • Egypt
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • used in royal contexts
  • one of the two forms of writing

Question 5

Amon-Ra

Answer 5

• WHAT:
  
  • merging of formerly almighty sun god Re and Amun
  • the pharoh lifted the cult of Amun and unified the different parts of his kingdom
    
    • this exceeded all other gods of Thebes
• WHERE:
  
  • Egypt
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • because the power of the gods were intertwined
  • had strong spiritial impact on the pharoh and Egyptian society
  • Amun’s early champion (the king) enjoyed enhanced legitimacy as the supreme ruler

Question 6

Demotic (writing)

Answer 6

• WHAT:
  
  • one of two basic forms of ancient Egyptian writing
  • cursive script written with ink on papyrus, pottery, or other absorbent objects
  • most common and practical form of writing
  • was used for
    
    • administration record keeping
    • in private or psuedo-private forms (letters and works of literature)
• WHEN:
  
  • around 1500 BCE
• WHERE:
  
  • Egypt
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • first Dynasty tombs yield records of this writing
  • one of two forms of writing in Egypt

Question 7

Ziggurats

Answer 7

• WHAT:
  
  • a stepped platform at the base of a temple
  • surrounding it were buildings that housed priests, officials, laborers, and servants
    
    • all bustling about to serve the city’s god
• WHEN:
  
  • by the end of the 3rd millenium BCE
• WHERE:
  
  • Mesopotamia
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • it became the most important sacred structure

Question 8

Queen Hatshepsut

Answer 8

• WHAT:
  
  • egypts most powerful woman ruler
  • served as regent for her son
    
    • when he was 7, she proclaimed herself “king”, ruling as co-regent until she died
  • because a woman on the throne in Egypt would offend the basic principles of order, she usually portrayed herself as a man
• WHEN:
  
  • 1479 BCE, when her son came to the throne and she began to rule
• WHERE:
  
  • New Kingdom Egypt
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • most powerful woman ruler
  • portrayed herself as a man

Question 9

Hammurabi’s (Hammurapi’s) Code

Answer 9

• WHAT:
  
  • compilation of more than 300 edicts addressing crimes and their punishments
  • legal code created by Hammurapi
    
    • sought to create social order by
      
      • centralizing state authority
      • creating a grand legal structure that embodied paternal justice.
    • the most famous of the Mesopotamian rulers
    • reigned from 1792 to 1750 BCE.
  • Outlined the rights and privaleges of the family: fathers, wives, and children
  • The code was quite stratified, dividing society into three classes:
    
    • free men,
    • dependent men
    • slaves
    • each with assigned value, distinct rights, and responsibilities.
• WHEN:
  
  • Hammurabi life: (1792-1750 BCE)
• WHERE:
  
  • Babylon, Mesopotamia
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • he established Babylon as the single great power in Mesopotamia
  • each person regardless of status was given rights

Question 10

Agora

Answer 10

• WHAT:
  
  • large open area where individuals bought and sold commodities
  • marketplace
• WHEN:
  
  • eighth and ninth century BCE
• WHERE:
  
  • new city-states in Greece
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • system that allowed buyers and sellers to know the exact values of commodities so that exchanges were sufficient
  • discovered by Greek historian, Herdodotus
  • no government at the time, so citizens were finding new ways to handle their own affairs

Question 11

Osiris

Answer 11

• WHAT:
  
  • god of regeneration and the underworld
  • killed and dismembered by his son, Seth
  • seen as the god of rebirth
  • husband to Isis
• WHERE:
  
  • Egypt

Question 12

Isis

Answer 12

• WHAT:
  
  • renowned for her medicinal skills and knowledge of magic
  • wife of murdered and dismembered Osiris, killed by one of her evil sons
  • commanded her son to reassemble all the parts of Osiris so that he may claim the rightful place as King of Egypt
• WHERE:
  
  • Egypt
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • her cult was one of the most enduring, represented ideals of sisterhood and motherhood
  • her primary plane of worship was a magnificent temple on the island of Philae
  • after the Greeks and Romans had conquered Egypt, they continued to pay homage to her at her temple

Question 13

Epic of Giglamesh

Answer 13

• WHAT:
  
  • composition that narrated the heroism of legendary king of early Uruk, Giglamesh
    
    • supreme hero of Mesopotamian legend
    • successful ruler, boastful, and vain
  • portrays a tragic hero who is obsessed with glory and whose quest for immorality ends in failure
• WHEN:
  
  • second millenium BCE
• WHERE:
  
  • Mesopotamia
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • oldest piece of world literature

Question 14

Olmecs

Answer 14

• WHAT:
  
  • first complex society
  • composed of decentralized villages
  • olmec= “lived in the land of the rubber.”
  • members spoke the same language and worshipped the same gods
    
    • faith and science intertwined
• WHEN:
  
  • around 1500 BCE
• WHERE:
  
  • central mexico
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • first advanced civilization
  • a world of social distinctions

Question 15

Yahweh

Answer 15

• WHAT:
  
  • Israelite God
  • transition from henotheism to monotheism
    
    • mono: the acceptance of only one god to the exclusion of all others
      
      • prophets central to formation of monotheism
• WHEN:
  
  • before 7th century BCE
• WHERE:
  
  • Jerusalem
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • the long transition to monotheism
  • ideas spread rapidly throughout Mediterranean world

Question 16

Legalism

Answer 16

• WHAT:
  
  • based on the principle that people are inherently inclined toward evil and require authoritarian control to regulate their behavior.
  • a system of thought about how to live an ordered life
  • also called statism
  • grew out of the writings of Master Xun, or Xunzi
• WHEN:
  
  • towards the end of the Warring States period
• WHERE:
  
  • China
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • some states grow to follow the Legalist philosophy, such as Qin state

Question 17

Untouchables

Answer 17

• WHAT:
  
  • caste in the Indian systems
  • jobs rendered them “ritually and spiritually” impure
    
    • usually took place in the more unsanitary aspects of urban life; removing garbage and sewage
  • they were thought to be polluing
  • forced to live in shantytowns outside of the city limits
• WHERE:
  
  • the new cities
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • they became receptive audiences for those challenging the Vedic rituals and Brahman priests

Question 18

Meroe

Answer 18

• WHAT:
  
  • Ancient kingdom influenced by Pharonic culture
  • thriving center for production and commerce
  • walled city contains monumental buildings
• WHEN:
  
  • 4th-5th century BCE
  • 1000 years
• WHERE:
  
  • Egypt
  • What is today Sudan

Question 19

Four Truths

Answer 19

• WHAT:
  
  • credo created by Buddha
  • 1. life, from birth to death, is full of suffering
  • 2. all sufferings are caused by desires
  • 3. the only way to rise above suffering is to renounce desire
  • 4. only through adherence to the Noble Eightfold Path can individuals rid themselves of desires and thus reach a statement of content, or nirvana
       * ​elements of the Eightfold Path represent wisdom, ethical behavior and mental discipline
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • signified a dramatic shift in thinking about humanity and correct behavior

Question 20

Chavin

Answer 20

• WHAT:
  
  • political and intellectual leaders who resided in the valleys of the Andes Mountains
  • They were unified more by culture and faith than by a unified political system
  • spread their trading systems vertically-up the sides of mountains
• WHEN:
  
  • 1400-200 BCE
• WHERE:
  
  • Andes Mountains
  • what is now northern Peru
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT:
  
  • their insights left a profound imprint on their communities and on future generations
  • created the first great art style of the Anes

Question 21

Who were the Harappans?

List and briefly describe two examples to demonstrate the advanced civilization of the Harappans.

Answer 21

• who were Harrapans?
  
  • people who resided in urban culture of Indus River Valley (Harappa) that rose in 3rd millennium BCE on the banks of Ravi River
• examples of advanced civilizations:
  
  • harvesting
    
    • farmers began harvesting crops as soon as the temperatures rose and weather permitted.
    • villagers improved their tools for cultivation. researchers found evidence of furrows, which are made possible by plowing.
  • construction
    
    • layout of cities follow well-planned pattern
      
      • fortified citadel housing public facilities alongside large, residential area
    • used brick extensively
      
      • houses, city walls, underground drainage systems
    • large ovens used to create durable construction materials for structures that still remain in tact today
  • trade
    
    • the people knew that controlling their extraction and trade was essential to maintaining economic power
    • local resources: carnelian (precious red stone) and metals such as copper and silver
      
      • people created settlements near their sources
    • through complex trading system, they maintained access to minerals and agrarian resources

Question 22

What events in China gave rise to the philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism?

What did each philosophy offer to improve the lives of humans?

Cite examples from Confucianism and Daoism.

Answer 22

• events
  
  • extreme political and social turmoil in China
  • societies on the edges of regional empires or within declining empires began following new paths
  • people began to doubt the stability of social order, and pondered the relationship between humans and the cosmos
  • china then began to experience new levels of anarchic violence that had been previously unseen for centuries
    
    • (chronicler of this era described 500 battles among polities and 100 civil wars within 260 years)
• improve lives of humans
  
  • Confucianism:
    
    • Confucius wanted to end the chaos of the times and restore order by promoting education, moral behavior, and performance of ritual
    • believed that humans should behave ethically because it is their human makeup to do so
      
      • not to gain a place in heaven
    • stressed schooling for anyone who wanted to work, and in providing training for those who are highly intelligent and willing to work
      
      • this way, any man could gain the learning to become a gentleman of the ruling class
      • was a dramatic departure from past centuries when only nobles are believed to be capable of ruling
    • believed that a society of superior men did not need coercive laws and punishment to achieve order
  • Daoism:
    
    • many individuals who sought power were more drawn to Daoism
    • diverged sharply from Confucius and his followers by scoring rigid rituals and social hierarchies
    • believed that overly assertive rulers could ruin the state
    • stressed the dao (the Way) of nature and the cosmos
      
      • “the best way to live was to follow the natural order of things”
    • it’s main principle was wuwei (italics), meaning “doing nothing”
      
      • what mattered was spontaneity, non-interference, and acceptance of the world as it is.
      • rather than attempting to change the world through politics and government

Question 23

What populations accounted for the majority of chattel slaves in the in Mediterranean?

What role did chattel slaves play in the economies of the Greco-Roman world?

Answer 23

• populations w/ majority of cattel slaves
  
  • Athens, Greece
    
    • nearly a quarter of the population was slaves.
• role of chattel slaves
  
  • the explosion of buying and selling produced an ethos in which everything that the city dwellers needed, even human beings, took on a monetary value.
  • treating men, women, and children as objects of commerce to be bought and sold in markets
  • spread quickly
  • were purchased often to complete dangerous and exhausting tasks for freeborn citizens
  • essential to every one of the new city-states
    
    • provided manual and technical labor of all kinds
    • produced agricultural surpluses that supported the urban population

Question 24

What were the duties of citizens in Greek city-states?

Who did the Greek city-states excluded from citizenship?

What three main varieties of self-government emerged in city-states?

Answer 24

• duties of citizens
  
  • the wealthiest landowners often formed the power elite,
  • but farmers, craftworkers, shopkeepers, merchants, and soldiers were the backbone of the city’s affairs
    
    • they ran the city’s affairs, set priorities for development, and decided when to go to war
• who is excluded from citizenship?
  
  • new cities were communities of:
    
    • adult male citizens
    • other free persons (including women, who could not vote or hold office)
    • foreign immigrants
    • large numbers of unfree people (slaves, and people tied to the land who also could not vote)
• three varieties of self-government;
  
  • Tyrannis, Oligoi,and Demokratia
  • Tyrannis:
    
    • ruled by a popularly approved head of the city
      
      • referred to as “Tyrannis” (tyrant)
  • Oligoi
    
    • means “the few” in Greek (hence oligarchs, and oligarchies) -
    • ruled by a small number of wealthy and powerful citizens
  • Demokratia
    
    • most inclusive type of government
    • includes all free males in the city

Question 25

Explain why Sparta was an exceptional Greek city-state in terms of its social order and gender relations.

Answer 25

• Social Order
  
  • because there were no governments, other city-states were freewilling and competitive places.
    
    • histories relate violent rivalries between individuals, social classes, and other groups
  • Sparta avoided most of this internal strife
    
    • they achieved greater calm by means of rigorous social discipline and military organization
      
      • cut off the city from many external influences
  • Spartans rejected coin money and chattel slavery
    
    • therefore, avoiding the “corruption”, unlike other cities
• Women:
  
  • women in other city states have little to no role in any sort of public role
    
    • if they do, they are expected to hold intellectual conversations with men about public matters
    • they remained enclosed with the private world of the family
    • had no standing to debate policy in public, vote, or hold office
  • Sparta women were a partial exception
    
    • were allowed to exercise in the nude in public (alongside men)
    • were able to hold property in their own right

Question 26

How did the Greek city-state promote the creation, circulation, and debate of new ideas compared with past civilizations?

What was the focus of the Greek philosophies of the Sophists, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle?

Which philosopher or groups of philosophers has been most influential and why?

Answer 26

• city state promote new ideas vs. past past civ.
  
  • city-states were self-governing, a new political form
  • because they had no administrative structure, they had to find some way to govern their affairs
  • previously there were always governments, and no absolute free will to kind of conrol what they wanted
• philosopher focus
  
  • Socrates
    
    • encouraged people to reflect on ethics and morality
    • stressed the importance of honor and integrity, instead of wealth and power
  • Plato
    
    • presented Socrates philosophy in a series of dialogues
      
      • in one dialogue, he envisioned a perfect city that philosopher-kings would rule
    • he thought that if fallible people could imitate this^ model city more closely, their policies would be less likely to the decline affecting the Greek city-states of his own day
    • belief was a more outgrowth of his own general theory of “ideas” that are imperfectly copied in the real world
  • Aristotle:
    
    • Plato’s most famous pupil
    • believed that by collecting all the facts one could about a given thing and studying it closely, one could achieve a better understanding
    • main idea: the interested inquirer can find out more about the world by collecting as much evidence as possible about a given thing, and THEN making deductions from these data about general patterns
• most influential: idk
  
  • I think that Socrates was probably the most influential philosopher because both Plato and Aristotle’s ideas were somewhat drawn from him. Plato was a student of Socrates, and Aristotle was Plato’s most famous pupil.

Question 27

Did hunting and gathering or agricultural communities promote greater differences between men and women?

Explain the role of social status and differences between men and women in each way of life.

Which community would you rather live in and why?

Answer 27

• which one?
  
  • agricultural communities definitely promotes greater differences between men and women than hunting and gathering did.
• explain roles
  
  • Agricultural communities
    
    • agricultural revolution marked a greater division among men, and particularly between men and women
    • increasing differentiation of roles between men and women also affected power relations in households and communities
    • women:
      
      • net losers of agricultural revolution -although their knowledge of wild plants contributed to early settled ag. they did not benefit from the transition
      • advances in agrarian tools left women with the backbreaking and repetitive tasks of planting, weeding, harvesting, and grinding grain into flour
    • men:
      
      • no longer involved in hunting and gathering
      • now took on heavy work of yoking animals to plows
      • became dominant in households, and over women in leadership positions
  • hunting and gathering
    
    • men
      
      • specialized in hunting
    • women
      
      • specialized in gathering and in child rearing
      • scholars believe that:
        
        • they made a larger contribution than men
        • they enjoyed their high status
          
          • mostly likely because their dietary staples were cereals and fruits, which they most likely harvested and prepared

Question 28

What events caused the emergence of territorial states?Explain the characteristics that made territorial states different from city-states.

Where did they emerge and how would you describe the relationships that developed between rulers of these states?

What evidence suggests that the leaders got along or did not get along?

Answer 28

• what events caused it
  
  • climate change
  • invasion of pastoral nomads
  • use of war chariots
• characteristics of territorial states vs. city-states
  
  • territorial states differed from the city-states that preceded them
  • the city-states of the riverine societies were polities
    
    • politically organized communities or states
    • organized around the temple and the palace
  • the territorial states based their authority:
    
    • monarchs
    • widespread bureaucracies
    • eleborate legal codes
    • large territorial expanses
    • definable borders
    • ambitions for continuous expansion
  • new ruling groups also appeared in these areas
• where did they emerge
  
  • riverine cities of Mesopotamia
• how would you describe relationships between rulers
  
  • Awesome!
  • They learned to settle their differences through diplomatic negotiations rather than on the battlefield. They created treaties that brought an end to military eruptions, and exchanged gifts that stregthened relationships among rulers and showed a ruler’s respect for his neighbors.
• what evidence suggests rulers did or didnt get along
  
  • a remarkable cache of 300 letters discovered in present day Egyptian village Amarna offers intimate views of these complex interactions.

Question 29

Why did the first major civilizations arise in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus River Valley?

How did these civilizations organize their resources?

Who was responsible for allocating the resources of these civilizations?

Answer 29

• Why?
  
  • riverine settlements soon yielded agrarian surpluses that supported greater wealth, more trade with neighbors, and public works
  • Mesopotamia- Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
  • Indus River Valley- Ravi River
  • Egypt- Nile River
• Organization of resources
  
  • Mesopotamia
    
    • technological breakthrough in irrigation; systems built by early Mesopotamians were revolutionary
    • rivers were important routes for transportation and communication by foot and pack animal
    • natural drainage basins AND farmers built levees to prevent negative flooding effects to irrigation
    • trade with inhabitants of surrounding areas
  • Indus River Valley/Harrapans
    
    • expansion of agriculture depended on rivers annual floods
    • ^ farmers began planting wheat and barley as soon as waters receeded
    • they harvested crops the next spring as temperatures rose
    • meanwhile, villagers improved tools of cultivation
    • trade
  • Egypt
    
    • similar to both mesopotamia and indus river valley in numerous ways
      
      • densely populated areas who inhabitants
        
        • depended on irrigation
        • gave their rulers immense authority
        • created complex social order
      • monumental architecture
    • However, less open to trade
• Who was responsible for allocating/distributing resources
  
  • farmers and villagers

Question 30

Discuss how the Vedic peoples and the Zhou dynasty contrasted with the Assyrian and Persian empires.

How successful was each group at integrating people into a common culture and economy?

Where appropriate, note the role of religion, language, and trade.

Answer 30

• Vedic and Zhou vs. Assyrian and Persian
  
  • Vedic and Zhou
  • Assyrian and Persian
    
• How successful?
• role of religion, language, and trade

Question 31

territorial state

Answer 31

• politial form that emerged in the riverine cities of Mesopotamia, which were overwhelmed by the displacement of nomadic people
• kingdoms organized around charismatic rulers who headed large households; each with a defined physical border