The River Civilizations Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the five hallmarks of a civilization?

A
  1. Advanced cities dependent in part on trade
  2. Specialized workers
  3. Recordkeeping, usually in the form of writing
  4. Complex institutions, like religion and government
  5. Advanced technologies, such as metalworking
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2
Q

Where was Çatal Hüyük?

A

Çatal Hüyük is in southern Anatolia and was one of the first city-states, dating from the late Neolithic Era. Çatal Hüyük thrived from 7500 B.C. to 5700 B.C.

Çatal Hüyük relied upon sedentary agriculture for food and contained a high degree of social stratification.

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3
Q

Where did the first civilization arise?

A

The first civilization was Sumeria and rose in Mesopotamia, which is the region between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers in the south of modern-day Iraq. Sumeria was a collection of city-states and dates from around 4000 B.C.

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4
Q

Define:

city-state

A

The earliest civilized centers were city-states, such as Ur in Mesopotamia.

City-states consisted of an urban center that exercised control over a surrounding agricultural hinterland. City-states were ruled by an urban-based king, who inherited his power dynastically.

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5
Q

What were ziggurats?

A

Ziggurats were religious temples that dominated Mesopotamian cities. Ziggurats could be massive and served as a temporal reminder of the power of the city ruler and priests.

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6
Q

Where was the Fertile Crescent?

A

The Fertile Crescent refers to the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, stretching down into Palestine.

The land between the rivers was exceptionally good farming land, and the region provided the home for many powerful ancient civilizations, including Sumeria, Assyria, and Babylon.

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7
Q

What is cuneiform?

A

Cuneiform refers to the wedge-shaped writing developed by the ancient Sumerians around 3300 B.C.

Initially developed for the purposes of recordkeeping, cuneiform became a way to transfer early literature and legal codes.

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8
Q

Why does Sargon the Great deserve the title “Great”?

A

Around 2200 B.C., Sargon conquered several of the Sumerian city-states of Mesopotamia, merging them into the Akkadian Empire.

The Akkadian Empire was the first of the world’s empires. Some 150 years after Sargon established the empire, it collapsed for reasons historians continue to theorize about.

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9
Q

Following the collapse of the Akkadian Empire, Mesopotamia divided into two Akkadian-speaking nations. What were they?

A

Although it took centuries, the remnants of the Akkadian Empire combined into Assyria in the north and Babylonia in the south.

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10
Q

What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?

A

Composed around 2000 B.C., the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the world’s oldest literary works and was probably conveyed as oral tradition for centuries before it was written down. The epic describes a great flood in which all of humanity is wiped out and also describes the interactions of Gilgamesh with the gods.

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11
Q

______ created a law code containing various punishments, including the famous “an eye for an eye.”

A

Hammurabi

A powerful Babylonian emperor, Hammurabi’s law code is among the earliest recorded legal systems, and it could be quite harsh. The famous “eye for an eye” required the loss of an eye if one caused someone else to lose an eye, even accidentally.

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12
Q

Although he was not the first king of the city-state of Babylon, Hammurabi was more successful than his predecessors, expanding his territory to conquer much of southern Mesopotamia. Why was Hammurabi so successful?

A

Hammurabi possessed two tools, which his predecessors and competitors lacked. First, the Babylonian Army was well disciplined, enabling it to achieve military victory over other city-states. Secondly, Hammurabi established an efficient Babylonian bureaucracy, which enabled the state to thrive and support military efforts.

Hammurabi’s territorial conquests became part of Babylonia and were ruled from the administrative center and capital of Babylon.

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13
Q

The ancient Mesopotamians proved quite adept at math. Why did they develop this skill?

A

Math is a prerequisite for understanding and predicting the movement of the planets. Planetary movement was an essential component of Mesopotamian religion.

As part of their mathematical development, the Mesopotamians developed the base-60 numbering system, which is still used in navigation and to tell time.

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14
Q

What empire developed in Anatolia in the 1300s B.C. before going on to conquer much of Mesopotamia and go to war with the Egyptians?

A

The Hittite Empire conquered much of Mesopotamia between the 1300s and 1200s B.C. They were among the first to use iron weapons and pioneered the use of chariot warfare.

The Battle of Kadesh, which took place in 1274 B.C. between the Hittites and the Egyptians, is the first historical battle for which sufficient records exist that historians can analyze tactics and formations.

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15
Q

Who were the Assyrians?

A

The Assyrians conquered much of Mesopotamia between 900 and 500 B.C. and developed a powerful empire that rivaled the Babylonians.

Known for their fierce battle tactics and use of cavalry, the Assyrians also developed their own monumental architecture, including sculptures of winged bulls that guarded their capital at Nineveh.

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16
Q

Herodotus, the first historian, called Egypt “the gift of the Nile.” Why?

A

Herodotus called Egypt the gift of the Nile because the Nile River’s predictable floods deposited fertile soil that enabled agriculture to prosper.

In turn, the Egyptians were able to develop more sophisticated agricultural techniques such as basin irrigation, which held back water behind dykes for release when needed.

17
Q

What event marked the beginning of Egypt’s history as a civilization?

A

Most historians date the beginnings of Egyptian civilization to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under one ruler, the pharoah, in around 3100 B.C.

Although it would occasionally be divided between rival rulers, for most of its ancient history Egypt was unified under one pharoah.

18
Q

What burial monuments are Egypt’s most famous?

A

The Three Pyramids at Giza are Egypt’s most famous monuments, created as resting places for three Egyptian pharaohs in Egypt’s Old Kingdom which lasted from around 2600 B.C. to 2150 B.C.

Other Old Kingdom pharoahs built pyramids too, but the Great Pyramids are the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still standing.

19
Q

Who were the Hyksos?

A

Historians still debate about the origin of the Hyksos, but armed with chariots and compound bows, the Hyksos conquered Egypt and brought the Middle Kingdom (circa 2040 B.C. to 1640 B.C.) to an end.

The Hyksos were ousted in around 1550 B.C., giving rise to the New Kingdom.

20
Q

Which Egyptian pharaoh was the most powerful and influential of the New Kingdom?

A

Under Ramses II, who ruled from 1279 B.C. to 1213 B.C., Egypt’s New Kingdom (circa 1550 B.C. to 1070 B.C.) reached its height of power and influence.

In addition to conquering much of North Africa and the Middle East, Ramses II built huge statues of himself.

21
Q

What was the principal Ancient Egyptian religious text?

A

The principal religious text of Ancient Egypt was the Book of the Dead, which was a guide to navigating the afterlife. Under Egyptian polytheistic theology, life after death was of paramount concern. Bodies were buried with grave goods and mummified to ensure safe passage into the afterlife.