Prep sheet for Civ I, First midterm exam
Dr. Matt O’Brien
Test date: Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Part One: IDs. You should know how these terms relate to the reading questions (and the
Spielvogel material) and the wider lecture themes:
Lecture 1A: Prehistory
I)
Evolution
II)
Paleolithic Age
III)
Neolithic Age
IDs:
Literalism
homonids
Ancestor worship
Evolution
Fire
Neanderthal
Lecture 1B: Neolithic Civilization
I)
Agricultural Revolution
II)
Urban Revolution
IDs:
Domestication
river plain societies
Irrigation
Surplus
Polytheism
Priests
Lecture 2A: Mesopotamia
I)
Mesopotamian Cities
II)
Sumerian Empires
IDs:
Fertile Crescent
surplus
Polytheism
Inventories
Sumerian empires
Tribute
Hammurabi
fides et ratio
hunter/gatherer
Cromagnon
Pictographs
elemental gods
Ziggurat
Cunieform
Pantheon
Lecture 2B: Egypt
I)
Origins
II)
Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms
IDs:
Egyptian climate
natural protection
maat
Pharoah
Pyramids
intermediate periods
Foundations
ethics
Hyksos
Egyptian empire
General Crisis of the Ancient World
Lecture 2C: The Ancient Hebrews
I)
Origins
II)
Exodus
III)
Empire
IDs:
Scriptural history
documentary hypothesis
Monotheism
Abraham
Isaac
Sacrifice
Covenant
Judges
Lecture 3A: Hebrew Empire and Exile
I)Empire
II) Invasions
III) Diaspora
IDs:
Kings
Prophets
Judah
Assyrians
Babylonian Captivity
Synagogues
Cyrus the Great
Zoroastrianism
Sadducees
Septuagint
Masada
Lecture 3B: Early Greece
I)
The Bronze Age (3500 BC-1200 BC)
II)
The Dark Age (1300-750 BC)
III)
The Iron Age (750-500 BC)
IDs:
Minoans
Mycenaeans
Dark Ages
Homer
Oligarchy
Polis
Alphabet
Phalanx
Tyrants
civic religion
Science
Monolatry
Ishmael
Decalogue
Israel
“Lost Tribes”
Messiah
Pharisees
Zealots
Crisis of Ancient World
ethnos
Agora
Hoplites
Reason
As well as the IDs from our lecture on Wednesday, September 21st.
II) Possible essay questions. I will select three of these five questions for the exam. You
will have to answer one of them in a well-written, informative essay.
1) What new elements did the Hebrews add to the religious understanding of the
ancient times? Compare their ideas on religion with their predecessors and
contemporaries, including Paleolithic and Neolithic peoples, the Mesopotamians,
the Egyptians, the Canaanites, and the Zoroastrians.
2) Empires have had both positive and negative effects in human history. Discuss
the Sumerian, Hebrew, Assyrian, Persian, and Hellenistic empires- which ones
were the most beneficial and which ones were the most destructive? Why?
3) Democracy in ancient Greece offered great promise, although it also created
serious problems. Describe the positive and negative development of democracy
in Athens during the Archaic Period and the “Golden Age” of Athens.
4) Who contributed the most to Greek influence in the modern world: Homer,
Pericles, Socrates, or Alexander? Discuss and compare the respective
achievements of each person.
5) The Hebrew sacred scriptures and Homeric epics are two literary documents that
also contain a wealth of historical information. How do their non-historical
origins affect the issue of their historical “credibility”?