Early Civilization 3500-2000 BCE (chp.2)

Question 1

River basin

Answer 1

Area drained by a river, including all its tributaries. River basins were rich in fertile soil, water for irrigation and plant and animal life, which made them attractive for human habitation. Cultivators were able to produce surplus agriculture to support the first cities

Question 2

Bronze

Answer 2

Alloy of copper and tin brought into Europe from Anatolia; used to make hard edged weapons

Question 3

The Bronze Age

Answer 3

Stone was replaced by bronze. Bronze was made by melting tin and copper.

Question 4

Urban-rural divide

Answer 4

Division between those living in cities and those living in rural areas. One of history’s most durable worldwide distinctions, the urban-rural divide eventually encompassed the globe. Where cities arose, communities adopted lifestyles based on the mass production of good and on specialized labor. Those living in the countryside remained close to nature, cultivating the land or tending livestock. They diversified their labor and exchanged their grains and animal products for necessities available in urban centers.

Question 5

Pastoral communities

Answer 5

Depends primarily on herding livestock for its existence rather than agriculture

Question 6

Mesopotamia

Answer 6

-Greek word meaning “region between two rivers”(Euphrates and Tigris )
-Modern day Iraq and parts of Syria and southeastern Turkey
-trade and migration contributed contributed to the growth of cities throughout the river basin, beginning with the Sumerian cities of southern Mesopotamia

Question 7

City

Answer 7

Highly populated concentration of economic, religious, and political power. The first cities appeared in river basins, which could produce a surplus of agriculture. The abundance of food freed most city inhabitants from the need ro produce their own food, which allowed them to work in specialized professions

Question 8

City state

Answer 8

Political organization based on the authority of a single, large city that controls outlying territories

Question 9

Social hierarchies

Answer 9

Distinctions between the privilege and the less privileged

Question 10

Scribes

Answer 10

Those who wield writing tool; from the very beginning they were at the top of the social ladder, under the major power brokers

Question 11

Cuneiform

Answer 11

Wedge-shaped writing

Question 12

Egypt

Answer 12

Egypt’s old kingdom was territorial state and controlled the Nile River valley