Midterm Study Guide 2011—to be completed on your OWN paper, typed or handwritten!!
Due on the day of the exam! 50 points
Geography
1. On the provided maps, be able to locate the following empires and geographical features:
a. Empires: Egypt, Sumer, Indus River Valley, Kush, Persia, Assyria, Greece, Hebrew
Kingdom, Qin Dynasty
b. Geographical Features: Fertile Crescent, Nile River, Indus and Ganges Rivers, Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, Huang He and Yangtze Rivers,
Himalayas
2. How did geography affect people in India, Greece, and the river valleys?
Early Man
1. Be able to analyze the characteristics of the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages.
2. Describe the movement of early man (Where did they begin, and where did they go?).
3. Be able to analyze the four early Hominids and early man (Australopithecus-Homo sapiens).
Early River Valleys
1. Know the important contributions and characteristics of each of the River Valley Civilizations.
(writing, inventions, religion, location, economies)
2. Know important individuals and their contributions from the Early River Valleys (Sargon,
Hammurabi, Menes)
Chapter 3 (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, People of the Mediterranean, India and the Aryans)
1. Know the major characteristics of all three religions discussed in this unit (H, B, J)
a. Founder, spread, major texts, major beliefs, final goal
2. Know the major characteristics, contributions, locations, individuals, and time periods of the
Mediterranean Peoples (Phoenicians, Hebrews, Minoans, Mycenaeans)
3. Know the history and characteristics of the empires of India (Mauryan and Gupta)
Chapter 4 (Kush, Egypt, Assyrians, Persians, Chinese Philosophies, Han and Qin Dynasties)
1. Draw and describe the dynastic cycle.
2. Be able to explain the characteristics and evolution of the Assyrian, Persian, Egyptian, Kush, Han,
and Qin Empires
a. Don’t forget: time period, achievements, government, location, major
religion/philosophy
3. Describe the reigns of Cyrus and Darius.
4. For each Chinese philosophy, know:
a. Goal for Chinese society, view of humans, view of government, contributions to Chinese
society, founders, texts
5. Describe the different Chinese rulers and their contributions to society(Zhou, Qin, Han).
Ancient Greece
1. What was a reason for being a slave?
2. Know the major events and effects of the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars.
3. What is philosophy, who were the major Greek philosophers and what did they believe in? What
connections did they have between them?
4. Explain all aspects of Greek Mythology (major ideas, purposes, where we see it today, etc)
5. Know the following individuals and their accomplishments: Homer, Pericles, Aeschylus,
Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, Hippocrates, Archimedes, Euclid, Pythagoras,
Phidias)
6. Describe the characteristics of a Greek tragedy.
7. What were the major poleis of Greece and what were their major characteristics? How were
they similar and different (Hint: Athens vs. Sparta)?
8. Describe the Delian league and the Peloponnesian league.
3. What is a phalanx?
4. Why did ancient Greece create colonies and where were they located?
6. Describe the Hellenistic Period and its contributions to society.
7. Who was Alexander the Great and what did he accomplish?
8. Describe the extent of Alexander the Great’s Empire.