These quiz notes are not meant to be the “right answers” so much as information relevant to the arguments you might make in response to these questions.

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Quiz #1

1. The Nile River impacted the Egyptians by

a. never flooding, aiding trade and irrigation

b. rarely flooding, but always destructively, forcing Egypt to rebuild

c. flooding unpredictably, leaving Egyptians fearful and uncertain

d. flooding every year, leaving fertile soil and suggesting a world of cycles and benevolent gods(true)

The annual flooding of the Nile provided permanent, reliable agricultural fertility to the Egyptians. Unlike the Sumerians, they did not have to struggle against nature simply to achieve sustenance from the land. As such they saw nature, and the gods, as benevolent and nurturing.

2. All of the following were true of the pharaohs… EXCEPT:

a. The government revolved around the pharaoh, who owned the land and everything it produced

b. The pharaohs were considered full-fledged gods, identified with Ra, Horus, and Ptah

c. The pharaoh’s wife was usually an unrelated noble from a nonroyal clan(not true)

d. Even the pharaoh was bound by ma’at, the system of order, justice, and harmony mandated for all by the gods

The pharaoh held all power and controlled the government and the land. That said, in an orderly world of cyclical permanence, a worldview that resulted from and was constantly symbolized by the annual flood of the Nile, the Egyptians saw everything as working unchangingly and forever, according to harmony and balance (ma’at). The god with the responsibility to guarantee this balance was Horus, whose agent and manifestation in the human world is the pharaoh. Therefore, the pharaoh had to uphold harmony and benevolence as a manifestation of the gods. As a god, and to preserve the divine bloodline, pharaohs normally married the closest possible relatives, their siblings.

3. Egypt was unified as a single kingdom

a. from the beginning

b. when the king of Upper Egypt conquered the rest(true)

c. only metaphorically, in myth and literature

d. by outsiders from Kush, to the far south of Egypt

Lower and Upper Egypt were separate kingdoms for some centuries before the king of Upper Egypt at Abydos, known variously as Menes or Narmer, conquered Lower Egypt and founded what is known as the First Dynasty of the unified kingdom of Egypt.

4. All of the following are true of the Egyptian system of hieroglyphs… EXCEPT:

a. It was an ancient writing system of ideograms with over 7,000 symbols

b. The Egyptians developed no way to show proper names and foreign words (not true)

c. A cursive form was used on papyrus, a kind of paper made using the hollow stem of a particular plant

d. Its origins lay in the little-known early centuries of Egyptian civilization

Names and foreign words were spelled out using a cartouche, inside which hieroglyphs could be read as sounds, not words.

5. In Tablet 6 of The Epic of Gilgamesh, the goddess Ishtar proposes to Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh

a. accepts, succumbing to her beauty

b. accepts, but on behalf of Enkidu, not himself

c. refuses, citing her mistreatment of past lovers(true)

d. refuses, saying he must first love himself

Ishtar is entranced by Gilgamesh’s beauty and wants to mate with him, but Gilgamesh spurns her advances. He lists the terrible fates of her previous lovers, criticizing her for her capriciousness and vindictive cruelty.

Ultimately he fears the loss of what he has achieved as a man—his identity. Even if Ishtar does not cast him aside, by becoming the consort of a goddess Gilgamesh will leave the society of mortals and so lose his mortal identity.

Optional Extra Credit

EC. Why do you think Egypt was able to unify, but not Sumer?

The main point here is that the city-states of Sumer were in competition for limited resources, and so remained in rivalry with each other and were often hostile. In Egypt, however, the environment provided plenty for all, so there was no need to compete for resources, and everyone had in common the protection and nurturing of the gods—eventually manifested as a single god-king.

Quiz #2

1. The Nile delta is found in

a. Nubia

b. Kush

c. Lower Egypt(true)

d. Upper Egypt

The delta is where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean. This is downstream (Lower Egypt).

2. All of the following are true of the pyramids EXCEPT:

a. They are associated with the earliest period of united Egypt, the Old Kingdom

b. They were intended to protect the mortal remains of the pharaoh buried within

c. They could only have been constructed by alien gods from outer space(not true)

d. The largest and most famous, the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), took 23 years to build

The pyramids were visible symbols of the pharaoh’s divine rule, unifying the people’s shared identity and religion. They represented power unlike any human’s and so reinforced the pharaoh’s divinity. Pyramids were also the ultimate in prestige and luxury, which was controlled by the pharaohs, and so showed precedence over all classes and over past kings as well. They employed huge numbers of people, impressing the people directly with his power and keeping them busy between harvests. They served as temples for the worship of pharaohs after death.

Like all monumental building (e.g., the ziggurats) they displayed Egypt’s (and so the pharaoh’s) immense economic power—to its own people and to outsiders as well, as well as serving as a visual focal point for a strong central identity as Egyptians and a home to a protective patron deity, in this case the pharaoh as a manifestation of Horus.

3. Akhenaten was famous for

a. religious reforms focusing on the supremacy of one god, Aten(true)

b. having no wife

c. being born in Arizona before moving to Babylonia

d. sharing the throne with his cousin Amenhotep

Akhenaten was an Egyptian pharaoh of the New Kingdom (during the 18th Dynasty). He and his queen, Nefertiti, sought to bring about religious reform in Egypt by shifting the focus of worship to Aten, calling him more important than the other gods. This brought about a form of polytheism in which one god is greatly predominant called henotheism. Akhenaten pushed the exclusive worship of Aten by changing his regnal name from Amunhotep IV to Akhenaten, building a new royal city sacred to Aten, and instituting new rituals and priesthoods.

In so doing, Akhenaten sought to undo the shift in religious power from the pharaohs, who had held unquestionable religious authority in the Old Kingdom, to the priests, who now held much greater power in the New Kingdom. The priests emphasized the significance of Amun-Ra, the sun god, in the pharaoh’s rule, so by associating the kingship with Aten he sought to wrest power from the priests. It was too late for that, however: the authority of the priests was now too well established, and the pharaoh’s power too diminished from the absolute in the New Kingdom. Egyptian religion reverted the control of the priests after the deaths of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, as signified by the regnal name of his son and eventual successor, Tutankhamun.

4. The collection of spells that was wrapped around a mummy is known as

a. “The Spells of Ra”

b. “The Tale of Sinuhe”

c. “Book of the Dead” (true)

d. “Osiris Among the Shades”

The Book of the Dead was what was used to ensure the passage of the spirit to the lands of the dead.

5. All of the following are true of the Semitic invaders who dominated Egypt between the Middle and New Kingdoms EXCEPT:

a. The Egyptians called them the Hyksos, meaning “foreign rulers”

b. They embraced and preserved Egyptian culture

c. They ruled peacefully over Egypt for many thousands of years(not true)

d. They fought using horses and chariots, bronze weapons, and complex bows

The Hyksos only ruled for about a hundred years. Despite being foreigners from the Semitic east, they embraced and promoted Egyptian culture and religion enthusiastically.

Optional Extra Credit

EC. The death of Enkidu involves a series of events and visions. What moment stands out to you? What does it suggest to you about Sumer?

Enkidu is distraught at first that his death will not be meaningful—that he will waste away rather than while achieving something great for Uruk and leaving a legacy by which he overcomes death. In his grief he blames Shamhat for civilizing him, but later repents and praises her for the gift she gave him.

The House of Dust is the term used to refer to the Sumerian afterlife; the name underlines that it is what is left after the ending of life, and not a place where life continues. In his dream, Enkidu sees (among other things) past kings who were powerful and constructive during their lives, but impotent and pathetic, bemoaning the loss of their ability to achieve.

Quiz #3

1. The use of iron was revolutionary as a basis for metalworking (tools and weapons) because

a. iron was easy to smelt and fashion

b. iron goods were prestigious thanks to their association with the Underworld

c. iron ore is very common and easy to procure and control in large quantities(true)

d. when combined with clay, iron could be produced in different color tones

Iron weapons are not significantly harder or stronger than bronze. Iron ore is very common and easy to procure and control in large quantities. This meant that iron-holding societies were stronger militarily and had a higher standard of living, because they could make many more weapons and many more tools.

This contrasts with bronze because bronze required two components, copper and tin, and controlling sources of both was difficult; bronze was also difficult to produce. As a result, bronze was a luxury good, reserved for the elite, and bronze agricultural tools and weapons were produced only for the wealthy few.

The mass production of iron tools and weapons helps shift the center of gravity from the few to the many, as well as bringing about improved health (increased birth rate, reduced death rate), greater distribution of resources, and mass armies capable of more ambitious conquest and occupation of conquered territories.

2. The Phoenicians were known for all of the following EXCEPT:

a. having no cities(not true)

b. successful, wide-ranging sea trade

c. Tyrian purple

d. the alphabet

The Phoenicians were the Semitic inhabitants of several cities in the coastal north of Canaan (modern-day Lebanon). They were ideally located to import raw materials from inland and then engage in trade around the Mediterranean coast in both directions. They developed a lucrative extensive Mediterranean trade route based on luxury goods that they manufactured from imported materials like raw textiles and marble and from their two most important local commodities—cedar wood and murex, the purple dye they converted into a coveted status symbol throughout the Mediterranean world.

Also their invention of the phonetic alphabet was spread throughout their trading network, introducing literacy to the Dark Age Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Latins.

3. According to the text, a language that became commonly used in many lands because of how widespread its speakers were, becoming a kind of lingua franca or common tongue, was

a. Dothraki

b. Aramaean(true)

c. Parseltongue

d. Sindarin

The Aramaean language was widely used as a lingua franca throughout the Fertile Crescent, because it was possible to find Aramaeans in many different cities in Assyria, Canaan, and beyond.

4. All of the following are true of the Philistines EXCEPT:

a. They were an Indo-European culture, surrounded by Semitic peoples

b. They possessed iron-working technology and used iron swords

c. They left behind lots of records and literature to richly inform us of their culture and history(not true)

d. They were likely descended from the Sea Peoples, whose migrations helped end the Bronze Age

The Philistines were a powerful people, likely descended from Indo-European refugees of the Bronze Age Aegean (the Sea Peoples), who were masters of iron and culturally very different from the surrounding Semites. However, we know little about them because they left almost no records or literature.

5. According to tradition, the Hebrew tribes were divided and in conflict with each other until they begged for “a king to judge us like all the nations” after

a. the Exodus from Egypt

b. the arrival in the Promised Land

c. the Battle of Jericho

d. the Philistines’ theft of the Ark of the Covenant(true)

The need to recover the Ark, which housed the original Torah, from the hostile Philistines (who had also forbidden the use of iron to the Hebrews) drove the tribes to set aside their hostility and ask the high priest Samuel to name a single king over all the Israelites, Saul.

Optional Extra Credit

EC. Now that you’ve finished reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, what do you think the story is truly about? What moments from the story most exemplify this?

This question is subjective; possible answers include the Sumerian awareness of universality of death and the consequent need to achieve lasting contributions that surpass it; the untrustworthiness of the gods requiring mortals to ensure their own fate; the importance of the bonds with others over the self; the nature of men as beasts and the role of women to convert them to citizens as mothers/wives; etc.

Quiz #4

1. The Scythians were

a. a class of beer-loving harvesters of grain

b. a nation of horse-loving nomadic Indo-Europeans of the steppes (true)

c. a profession of silence-loving librarians of the great temple at Babylon

d. a troupe of sailor-loving sailors from beyond the Indian Sea

“Scythians” is a general term used by the Greeks to describe the Indo-European peoples inhabiting the areas around the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. These peoples were various nations descended from the original Indo-European inhabitants of the area, and retained a lifestyle that was decentralized and nonurban, with a largely pastoral economy making use of horses, oxen, and wagons and a loose clan-based social structure spread out over a broad territory. Because of the wide lands they inhabited they were an early link between Europe and Asia.

Because they were in some ways the antithesis of urban civilization, to the Greeks they represented barbarians in general: strong but uneducated, good with animals, and in possession of great natural abundance.

2. The ancient Greeks’ knowledge of India was limited before

a. the conquests of Alexander the Great(true)

b. the fall of Rome

c. the voyages of Columbus

d. the Industrial Revolution

Early on, those in the west (like Herodotus) had only hearsay traders’ reports, and India being on the edge of the world most of what was known was nonsensical legend.

Alexander’s conquests in the east in the fourth century BCE launched a period of intensive study of the Indian peoples by the Macedonians and Greeks, starting with Alexander’s admiral Nearchus, who traveled across India and wrote of its animals and peoples. Another Greek ambassador, Megasthenes, wrote a similar account in the third century.

The other main source of information about early India is Hindu religious literature, including poems and hymns called the Vedas that date back to roughly 3000 BCE. Also important are the discourses known as the Upanishads, which discuss important theo-philosophical ideas like karma; and the Puranas, or epic tales. Though they don’t provide a historical narrative, they contain a great deal of cultural and social information.

3. Asoka, king of the Mauryan empire in northern India, was known for all of the following EXCEPT:

a. waging a bloody war that claimed 200,000 dead

b. converting from traditional Hinduism to Buddhism

c. helping Buddhism become a world religion

d. shunning any and all contact with the Hellenistic peoples of the west(not true)

Aśoka, one of the most successful emperors of southern Asia, ruled over most of India in the mid-third century. After engaging in a huge war resulting in 100,000 deaths, Aśoka converted to Buddhism. From that point on, his governance and Edicts reflected Buddhist principles. Subsequently, he worked to spread Buddhism throughout Asia, hoping it would be a better unifier of peoples than imperial conquest.

4. The kingdom of Bactria, where Alexander founded many colonies that became outposts of Greek culture, was located in what is now

a. Afghanistan(true)

b. Ethiopia

c. Florida

d. Ultima Thule

Bactria was located in what is now Afghanistan, between Iran and India. It was the furthest Alexander the Great reached in his conquests and he founded several major colonies there; these Greek-Asian cities became an important extension of Greek culture in Asia.

5. All of the following are true of the Parthians EXCEPT:

a. Like the Persians they had no standing army, only a small bodyguard for the king

b. They helped establish the “Silk Road,” creating a trade link between China and the Mediterranean

c. Their society was entirely classless, with no nobility and no kings(not true)

d. They embraced both Greek culture and their own language and traditions

The Parthians were an Indo-European people, related to the Scythians, who migrated from the steppes north of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the mid-Iron Age and established a powerful kingdom between Iran and India. Though the royal succession was frequently disputed, they nonetheless grew in power and influence at the expense of the Seleucid Empire ruling over the former Persian lands.

Their economy was agricultural, but they benefitted from growing trade between east and west Asia and encouraged the passage of caravans bringing expensive goods from China to Parthia and on to Syria. An embassy sent to the Han Emperor in the 2nd century BCE led to the establishment of what’s now called the Silk Road, a 4,000-mile trade route linking China with the Mediterranean world.

Optional Extra Credit

EC. What key ideas would you say are most associated with Buddhism as it arose in ancient India?

Siddhartha Gautama was a prince in the 6th century BCE who abandoned his privileged life after discovering the suffering of the masses. He advocated mental training as a means of achieving nirvana (the enlightenment that allows release from endless reincarnation). On attaining enlightenment, he became the Buddha (“the awakened one”).