Benchmark Study Guide
Submitted by
C. Stephen Ingraham
2013
Environment Benchmark
Civilization:Mesopotamia
River(s):Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
Continent:Asia
Landform(s):River Valley
Physical Features:
Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf,
Syrian Desert, Taurus & Zagros Mountains
Climate: Semi- Arid & Arid
Civilization:Egypt
River(s):Nile
Continent:Africa
Landform(s):River Valley
Physical Features: Nile Delta, Mediterranean Sea Red Sea, Sahara Desert,
Nubian Desert, Eastern Desert, & Libyan Desert.
Climate: Arid
Environment Benchmark
Civilization: China
River(s): Huang He & Chang Jiang Rivers
Continent: Asia
Landform(s):River Valley
Physical Features:
Himalayas, Gobi Desert, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea,
Climate:
Highland, Arid,Semi-Arid, Humid Subtropical, Humid Continental, and
Tropical wet & dry
Civilization: India
River(s): Indus & Ganges Rivers
Continent: Asia
Landform(s):River Valley
Physical Features:
Himalayas, Hindu Kush, Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean,
And Island of Sri Lanka
Climate:
Tropical Wet, Semi-Arid, Tropical Wet & Dry, Humid Subtropical, and Arid
Economy Benchmark
Civilization:Mesopotamia
Economic System(s): Barter
Surplus items: wheat, barley, & copper tools
Trading needs:wood, salt, precious stones, and
raw copper
Trading Partners: Egypt
Civilization:Egypt
Economic System(s): Barter
Surplus items: wheat, barley, sheep, goats, & cotton
Trading needs: cedar & pine timber, animal tusks,
& hardwoods (Ebony)
Trading Partners:
Mesopotamia & Nubia
Economy Benchmark
Civilization:China
Economic System(s): Barter and Money Economy
Surplus items:Silk, apricots, iron, & bronze goods
Trading needs: Gold, Ivory, Wool, linen, grapevines, & horses
Trading Partners: India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, & Rome
Civilization: India
Economic System(s): Barter & Money Economy
Surplus items: spices, cloth,carpets, jewelry.
Trading needs:Arabian horses, dried fruits, precious stones,
silk, corals, perfumes, and velvets
Trading Partners: Mesopotamia, Egypt, & China
Religion Benchmark
Civilization:Mesopotamia
Type(s): Polytheism & Monotheism
Name of Religion: Polytheistic -Unknown
Monotheistic -Judaism,Christianity, Islam
Name of gods and attributed powers:
Enlil -god of winds, storms & rain Ea -god of water & wisdom
Shamash -sun god
Yahweh -Jewish God Jesus-Christian god Allah - Muslim god
Special Religious leaders: Abraham, Jesus & Muhammad
Special beliefs: gods of nature
Civilization:Egypt
Type(s): Polytheism & Montheism
Name of Religion: Unknown
Name of gods and attributed powers:
Amon-Ra the sun god, Osiris taught farming.
Horus, falcon god , Isis -wife of Horus.
Aton -the one all powerful god
Special Religious leaders: There was an Afterlife (Ra was born & died each day)
Special beliefs: Pharaoh was son of the sun god
Civilization:China
Type(s):Polytheistic
Name of Religion:Ancestor worship
Name of gods and attributed powers:
Ao Ch'in Dragon God responsible for the Southern Ocean
Ao Kuang Dragon God responsible for the Eastern Ocean
Ao Jun Dragon God responsible for the Western Ocean
Ao Shun Dragon God responsible for the Northern Ocean
Ch'ang-o (aka Heng-o) Goddess of the Moon and wife of Shen I.
Shen I “The Archer” God of the Sun & Ch’ango-o Husban
Chih-Nii (aka Chih Nu) Goddess of crafts & clouds. Rules Over: Handcrafts, rain.
Special Religious leaders: Oracle
Special beliefs: relatives were guides & Oracle bones
Religion Benchmark
Civilization:India
Type(s):Polytheistic
Name of Religion:Hinduism & Buddhism
Name of gods and attributed powers:
Brahma -the Creator
Vishnu -the Preserver
Shiva- the Destroyer
Special Religious leaders: Siddhartha Gautama - Buddha
Special beliefs: reincarnation (Caste System)
Government Benchmark
Civilization: Mesopotamia
Type(s): Monarchy
Title of leader: King
Names of specific leader & contributions
Who first united this civilization?:King Sargon
Other Leaders:
King Hammurabi - Taxation & Laws (Code of Hammurabi)
Political Philosopher(s) and/or Philosophy:
Other interesting Feature(s) or “How one assumes the authority of a leader?:
Leaders we believed to be god-like (Strong & War-like)
Civilization:Egypt
Type(s):Monarchy
Title of leader: Pharaoh
Names of specific leader & contributions
Who first united this civilization?: King Narmer
Other Leaders:
Pharaoh Zoser had 1st pyramid built
Queen Hatshepsut becomes pharaoh
Pharaoh Amenhotep IV ( Akhenaton) worships the one god Aton.
Pharaoh Tutankhamen (King Tut) returns polytheism.
Political Philosopher(s) and/or Philosophy:
Other interesting Feature(s) or “How one assumes the authority of a leader?:
Being born in the ruling dynasty
Government Benchmark
Civilization:China
Type(s):Monarchy
Title of leader:Emperor
Names of specific leader & contributions
Who first united this civilization?:Qin Shi Huangdi
Other Leaders:
Liu Bang (peasant) Han Gau Zu Legalism & Confucianism
Wu Di Civil Service
Political Philosopher(s) and/or Philosophy:Legalism (cruel treatment),
Confucianism (Good example) & Daoism (accept life as it is)
Other interesting Feature(s) or “How one assumes the authority of a leader?:
Mandate of heaven
Civilization:India
Type(s): Monarchy
Title of leader: (Rajahs) & Emperor
Names of specific leader & contributions
Who first united this civilization?:Chandragupta Maurya (Legalism)
Other Leaders:
Asoka Maurya turning point-became Buddhist
Chandragupta I (Guptas) Golden Age
Political Philosopher(s) and/or Philosophy: Arthashastra (legalism) & Buddhism
Other interesting Feature(s) or “How one assumes the authority of a leader?:
Being a Good Military Leader & Born in the right Caste (Society is like the body)
Technology Benchmark
Material Written on: Clay Tablets
Civilization:Mesopotamia
Name of Writing System:Cuneiform
Description of Writing System: Trianglar shapes over 1,000 symbols
Description of Writing tool(s):reed stylus
Inventions and their significance:
wheel-movement, dikes & canal-irrigation, cargo boats with sails -trade
Other Advances:
Iqu (acre) & quart -measurement
Material Written on: Papyrus
Civilization:Egypt
Name of Writing System: Hieroglyphics
Description of Writing System: 700 picture symbols
Description of Writing tool(s): reed dipped in soot
Inventions and their significance:
Retention basins -irrigation, 365 day calendar, mummification -preservation
Stone pyramids -tombs
Other Advances:
Technology Benchmark
Civilization:China
Material Written on: paper
Name of Writing System: Pictographs
Description of Writing System:5,000 symbols
Description of Writing tool(s): small brush
Inventions and their significance: wheel barrow (heavy loads),
Seismograph (earthquakes), Paper & Printing (communication),
Crossbow & Gun powder (warfare), & fireworks (communication).
Other Advances: compass, ship’s rudder
Material Written on: paper
Civilization: India
Name of Writing System:Sanskrit
Description of Writing System: (54) 108 flowing characters
Description of Writing tool(s):stylus
Inventions and their significance:
Arabic numerals (base 10 mathematics), Inoculation,
set broken bones, skin grafting & sterilization (medicine),
Other Advances: Panchatantra (folktales)