Chapters 1-7: Period 2

Question 1

How did religions help strengthen political, economic, and cultural ties within societies?

Answer 1

As states and empires increased in size and contacts between regions multiplied, religious and cultural systems were transformed. Religions
and belief systems provided a bond among the people and an ethical code to live by.
These shared beliefs also influenced and reinforced
political, economic and occupational stratification. Religious and political authority often merged as rulers, some considered divine, used religion,
along with military and legal structures, to justify their rule and ensure its continuation.
Religions and belief systems could also generate conflict, partly because beliefs and practices varied greatly within and among
societies.

Question 2

How did religions promote a sense of unity?

Answer 2

Codifications and further developments of existing religious traditions
provided a bond among the people and an ethical code to live by.

Question 3

What are the characteristics and core teachings of Judaism?

Answer 3

Secular religion that focused on worldly benefits, such as prosperity, material goods and successes.
· Through a covenant with God, followers of Judaism who abided by “the Law”, were promised deliverance
· There were two different types of Jews: the original Jews, who believed in the promise of deliverance from God known as a covenant, and Jesus’s followers, who believe that God’s grace is not guaranteed and is based on God’s will.

Question 4

What are the characteristics and core teachings of Hinduism?

Answer 4

· Believed in a caste system, which states that people’s place in society is predetermined and unmovable
· Brahmans, or priests of the highest caste, were considered to garner the most respect
· Enforced traditions, such as the sanctity of cows and the belief that a widow should be burned on her husbands funeral pyre (sati)

Question 5

What is a “universal religion?” Where did universal religions exist by 600 CE?

Answer 5

New belief systems and cultural traditions emerged and spread, often asserting universal truths.

Question 6

What are the characteristics and core teachings of Buddhism?

Answer 6

Through meditation, prayer, and dietary practices, people can reach nirvana and end the cycle of reincarnation
o If nirvana is not achieved, the soul is reborn (reincarnation)
· Two offshoots of Buddhism:
o Theravada Buddhism: Buddhism influenced by Indian moral disciplines where the soul can advance to nirvana through tiny increments, which can transcend lifetimes
o Mahayana Buddhism: Buddhism influenced by Chinese principles, where the soul could reach nirvana in one single lifetime

Question 7

What are the characteristics and core teachings of Confucianism?

Answer 7

· Man is born good.
· World is morally neutral - i.e. the world does not decide on the consequences of man’s actions.
· Human nature is inherently good, therefore people should have political rights, such as the right to protest -however, Confucians still advocate a single ruler

Question 8

What are the characteristics and core teachings of Daoism?

Answer 8

· Human ritual has the ability to change nature. If one can control it, there is power to be had in nature, however if one does not know enough, there can be detrimental effects
· Led to the beginning of scientific methods such as observation, experimentation, description and classification

Question 9

What are the characteristics and core teachings of Christianity? How and where did Christianity spread by 600 CE?

Answer 9

-Importance of faith
· Important figure = Jesus
· Christianity is monotheistic
· God is all-knowing
· All people are sinners, which separates us from God

Question 10

What are the characteristics and core teachings of Greco-Roman philosophy?

Answer 10

· Used logic and objective questioning to solve problems, as opposed to the use of gods and religion
· The scientific method developed from Greco-Roman philosophy as a way to investigate the workings of nature
· Attempted to view the universe as parts of a whole; philosophers developed the concept of atoms as building blocks of matter

Question 11

How did religions affect gender roles in their respective societies?

Answer 11

Belief systems affected gender roles:
• Buddhism’s encouragement of a
monastic life
• Confucianism’s emphasis on filial piety

Question 12

How did humans’ reliance on the natural world influence religion?

Answer 12

• Shamanism: belief in people who can connect to gods and the spirits of nature
• Animism: the attribution to plants, inanimate objects, and animals, the material universe
• used to have resources and plants and animals

Question 13

How did humans relate to their deceased ancestors?

Answer 13

Ancestor veneration persisted in many regions.

• Africa • Mediterranean region • East Asia • Andean areas

Question 14

How did art and culture develop to 600 CE?

Answer 14

Artistic expressions show distinctive cultural developments

• literature and drama • architecture • sculpture

Question 15

What literary works influenced later eras?

Answer 15

Literature and drama acquired distinctive forms. (Greek tragedy, Indian
epics) that influenced artistic developments in neighboring regions and in
later time periods. (Athens, Persia, South Asia)

Question 16

How did different societies’ architectural styles develop?

Answer 16

Distinctive architectural styles can be seen in Indian, Greek,
Mesoamerican, and Roman buildings.

Question 17

What examples of syncretism reflect the Classical Era to 600 CE?

Answer 17

The convergence of Greco-Roman culture and Buddhist beliefs affected
the development of unique sculptural developments, as seen in the
Gandharan Buddhas, which exemplify a syncretism in which Hellenistic
veneration for the body is combined with Buddhist symbols.

Question 18

What is an “empire,” and what were empires’ common characteristics during the Classical Era?

Answer 18

As the early states and empires grew in number, size and population, they frequently competed for resources and came into conflict with
one another. In quest of land, wealth, and security, some empires expanded dramatically. In doing so, they built powerful military machines and administrative institutions that were capable of organizing human
activities over long distances, and they created new groups of military and political elites to manage their affairs. As these empires expanded their boundaries, they also faced the need to develop policies and
procedures to govern their relations with ethnically and culturally diverse populations: sometimes to integrate them within an imperial society and sometimes to exclude them. In some cases, these empires became
victims of their own successes. By expanding boundaries too far, they created political, cultural and administrative difficulties that they could not manage. They also experienced environmental, social and
economic problems when they over-exploited their lands and subjects and permitted excessive wealth to concentrate in the hands of privileged
classes.

Question 19

How did the number and size of Classical

empires compare to the Ancient Era?

Answer 19

The number and size of imperial societies grew dramatically by imposing
political unity on areas where there had previously been competing states

Question 20

What were the most influential of the

Classical Era empires?

Answer 20

• SW Asia: Persian Empires. (Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanid)
• East Asia: Qin and Han dynasties
• South Asia: Maurya and Gupta Empires
• Mediterranean region: Phoenician and Greek colonization, Hellenistic
and Roman Empires
• Mesoamerica: Teotihuacan, Maya city states
• Andean South America: Moche

Question 21

What techniques did Classical empires

create to administer their territories?

Answer 21

Empires and states developed new techniques of imperial administration
based, in part, on the success of earlier political forms.

Question 22

What new political methods were
created in order to rule the larger empires
in the Classical Era?

Answer 22

In order to organize their subjects the rulers created administrative
institutions including centralized governments, elaborate legal systems,
and bureaucracies. (China, Persia, Rome, South Asia)

Question 23

How did imperial governments let
their population know that the government
was “in charge?”

Answer 23

Imperial governments projected military power over larger areas using
a variety of techniques including: diplomacy; developing supply lines;
building fortifications, defensive walls, and roads; and drawing new
groups of military officers and soldiers from the local populations or
conquered peoples.

Question 24

What role did trade play in creating

and maintaining empires?

Answer 24

Much of the success of empires rested on their promotion of trade and
economic integration by building and maintaining roads and issuing
currencies.
Imperial societies displayed unique social and economic dimensions.
Much of the success of empires rested on their promotion of trade and
economic integration by building and maintaining roads and issuing
currencies.

Question 25

What unique social and economic

characteristics existed in empires?

Answer 25

The social structures of all empires displayed hierarchies that included
cultivators, laborers, slaves, artisans, merchants, elites and caste
groups.

Question 26

What function did imperial cities

perform?

Answer 26

Cities served as centers of trade, public performance of religious
rituals, and political administration for states and empires. (Persepolis,
Chang’an, Pataliputra, Athens, Carthage, Rome, Alexandria,
Constantinople, Teotihuacan)

Question 27

What social classes & occupations

were common in empires?

Answer 27

Imperial societies relied on a range of labor systems to maintain the
production of food and provide rewards for the loyalty of the elites
including corvée, slavery, rents and tributes, peasant communities and
family and household production.

Question 28

What labor systems provided the

workers for Classical Empires?

Answer 28

Imperial societies relied on a range of methods to maintain the
production of food and provide rewards for the loyalty of the elites
including corvée, slavery, rents and tributes, peasant communities and
family and household production.

Question 29

Describe the gender and family

structures of Classical Era empires.

Answer 29

Patriarchy continued to shape gender and family relations in all imperial
societies of this period.

Question 30

What caused Classical Empires
to decline, collapse, or transform into
something else?

Answer 30

The Roman, Han, Mauryan, and Gupta empires created political,
cultural, and administrative difficulties that they could not manage,
which eventually led to their decline, collapse and transformation into
successor empires or states.

Question 31

What were the environmental and

social weaknesses of Classical Empires?

Answer 31

Through excessive mobilization of resources, imperial governments
caused environmental damage. (• deforestation • desertification • soil
erosion or silted rivers) and generated social tensions and economic
difficulties by concentrating too much wealth in the hands of elites.

Question 32

What external weaknesses
contributed to the end of Classical
Empires?

Answer 32

External problems resulted from security issues along their frontiers,
including the threat of invasions
• between Northern China and Xiongnu
• Gupta and the White Huns
• among Romans, Parthians, Sasanids, Kushan

Question 33

How did Classical era trade networks
compare to Ancient era networks? What
forces contributed to the changes between the
two eras? What was commonly traded along
these trade networks?

Answer 33

Large-scale empires increased the volume of long-distance trade
dramatically. Much of this trade resulted from the demand for raw
materials and luxury goods. Many land and water routes linked most
Eastern Hemisphere regions, while American networks developed later.
NOTE: Students should know how the climate and location of the routes,
the typical trade goods, and the ethnicity of people involved shaped the
distinctive features of the following trade routes.
• Eurasian Silk Roads
• Trans-Saharan caravan routes
• Indian Ocean sea lanes
• EITHER Mediterranean sea lanes OR American trade routes
The larger size of post-classical empires encouraged demand for
“foreign” goods, as well as new technologies and the desire to spread
universal religions.

Question 34

How did trade & communication

networks develop by 600 CE?

Answer 34

Examples of trade/exchange include:
• people • technology • relig/cultural beliefs • food crops
• domesticated animals • diseases

Question 35

What technologies enabled long distance

overland and maritime trade?

Answer 35

yokes • saddles • stirrups, all of which together permitted the use of
domesticated pack animals. (horses, oxen, llamas or camels) Maritime
technologies: • lateen sail • dhow ships • advanced knowledge of
monsoon winds

Question 36

Besides the physical goods, what
intangibles also traveled along trade
networks?

Answer 36

changes in farming/irrigation techniques. (e.g. the qanat system)
• religious/cultural beliefs • food crops • domesticated animals •
diseases

Question 37

What crops spread along Classical

Era trade networks?

Answer 37

Rice and cotton from S Asia ➔ Middle East

Sugar & citrus from SE Asia ➔ S Asia ➔ Middle East ➔ N Africa

Question 38

What effects did diseases have on

Classical empires?

Answer 38

Diminished urban populations.

Question 39

How did religions spread along
trade networks, and how did the trade
networks affect the religions?

Answer 39

People traveled, bringing their religion with them. The trade networks subjected the religion to other beliefs and customs, as well.