Name:

ANCIENT WORLD HISTORY

UNIT ONE: Beginnings of Civilization 4 million B.C. to 200 B.C.

CHAPTER ONE: The Peopling of the World, Prehistory –2500 B.C.

Section 1: Human Origins in Africa

TERMS & NAMES

• artifact

• culture

• hominid

• Paleolithic Age

• Neolithic Age

• technology

• Homo sapiens

Interaction with Environment

The following skills—tool making, the use of fire, and the development of language gave hominids control over their environment? Explain how.

Section 2: Humans Try to Control Nature

TERMS & NAMES

• nomad

• hunter-gatherer

• Neolithic Revolution

• slash-and-burn farming

• domestication

HYPOTHESIZING

Why do you think the development of agriculture occurred around the same time in several different places?

Section 3: Civilization

CASE STUDY: Ur in Sumer

TERMS & NAMES

• civilization

• specialization

• artisan

• institution

• scribe

• cuneiform

• Bronze Age

• barter

• ziggurat

List the five characteristics of civilization and give an example from Ur.

Characteristics of Civilization / Example from Ur
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

MAKING INFERENCES

In what ways does the ziggurat of Ur reveal that Sumerians had developed an advanced civilization?

THEME ACTIVITY

Economics: Write a monologue explaining how a character from Ur who has a specialized skill, such as an artisan, a trader, or a scribe contributes to the economic welfare of the city.

CHAPTER ONE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

REVIEW QUESTIONS

SECTION 1 (pages 7–11)

Human Origins in Africa

What kinds of evidence do archaeologists, anthropologists, and paleontologists study to find out how prehistoric people lived?

Why did the ability to walk upright and the development of the opposable thumb represent important breakthroughs for early hominids?

Why is the prehistoric period called the Stone Age?

What evidence supports archaeologists’ beliefs that Neanderthals developed a form of religion?

SECTION 2 (pages 12–16)

Humans Try to Control Nature

Why do some archaeologists believe that women were the first farmers?

What role did the food supply play in shaping the nomadic life of hunter-gatherers and the settled life of farmers?

In what areas of the world did agriculture first develop?

SECTION 3 (pages 17–21)

PATTERNS OF CHANGE: CIVILIZATION

What economic changes resulted from food surpluses in agricultural villages?

Why did the growth of civilization make government necessary?

Why did a system of record keeping develop in civilizations?

Study this cave painting created during the Stone Age in Argentina.

What is depicted in the painting?

What do you think the hands represent?

Do you think the painting portrays a scene from daily life, represents religious beliefs, or shows an illustrated story about an important event? Support your answer with reasons.

Chapter Two: Early River Valley Civilizations, 3500 B.C.–450 B.C.

Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia

TERMS & NAMES

• Fertile Crescent

• silt

• irrigation

• city-state

• dynasty

• cultural diffusion

• polytheism

• empire

• Hammurabi

TAKING NOTES

In the chart below list three environmental challenges the Sumerians faced and their solutions to these challenges.

Challenges / Solutions
1.
2.
3.

MAKING INFERENCES

What advantages did living in cities offer the people of ancient Mesopotamia? Do modern cities

offer any of the same advantages? Support your answer with references to the text.

Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile

TERMS & NAMES

Identify

• cataract

• delta

• Menes

• pharaoh

• theocracy

• pyramid

• mummification

• hieroglyphics

• papyrus

TAKING NOTES

LIST WHAT YOU BELIEVE THE MOST IMPORTANT EGYPTIAN ACHIEVEMENTS WERE. (At least 4)
1.
2.
3.
4.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

Look at the map on page 34. Three natural features determined the boundaries of ancient Egyptian civilization: the Nile River, the First Cataract, and the surrounding desert. In your judgment, why were these features important to Egypt’s history?

Section 3: Planned Cities on the Indus

TERMS & NAMES

• subcontinent

• monsoon

TAKING NOTES

In the left column below, list the environmental conditions faced by the people of the Indus Valley.

Next to each condition, in the right column, put a plus sign (+) if it was a benefit or a minus sign (–) if it

was a drawback.

Environmental Conditions / Benefit (+) Drawback (-)
1.
2.
3.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

Historians hold the following beliefs about Indus civilization:

(a) The cities were run by a strong central government.

(b) Indus people carried on trade with Sumer.

(c) Society was generally peaceful and stable.

What evidence has led them to believe this?

Section 4: River Dynasties in China

TERMS & NAMES

• loess

• oracle bone

• Mandate of Heaven

• dynastic cycle

• feudalism

ANALYZING

The group was often more important than the individual in Chinese culture. In your judgment, what

are the benefits and drawbacks of this belief?

CHAPTER TWO FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

REVIEW QUESTIONS

SECTION 1 (pages 27–32)

City-States in Mesopotamia

What is the Fertile Crescent and why is it called that?

Name three disadvantages of Sumer’s natural environment.

What circumstances led to the beginning of organized government?

SECTION 2 (pages 33–41)

Pyramids on the Nile

Why did the Egyptians build pyramids?

Herodotus remarked that Egypt was the “gift of the Nile.” What did he mean by this?

SECTION 3 (pages 42–45)

Planned Cities on the Indus

What does the uniformity of Indus Valley cities tell us about their government?

Give two reasons historians use to explain the downfall of Indus Valley cities.

SECTION 4 (pages 46–51)

River Dynasties in China

Why is it not surprising that China’s early settlements developed where they did?

What was the great advantage of the Chinese written language?

Explain the dynastic cycle in China.

ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES

The following is an excerpt from an ancient Egyptian hymn praising the Nile. Read the paragraph and

answer the questions below it.

A V O I C E F R O M T H E PA S T

The Lord of Fishes, He Who Makes the marsh birds to Go Upstream. There are no birds which come down because of the hot winds. He who makes barley and brings emmer [a kind of wheat] into being, that he may make the temples festive. If he is sluggish, then nostrils are stopped up, and everybody is poor. If there be thus a cutting down in the food offerings of the gods, then a million men perish among mortals, covetousness is practiced, the entire land is in a fury, and great and small are on the execution-block. . . . When he rises, then the land is in jubilation, then every belly is in joy, every backbone takes on laughter, and every tooth is exposed. “Hymn to the Nile,” from Ancient Near Eastern Texts

How does this quote show the importance of the Nile?

What does the hymn show about ancient Egyptian culture?

CHAPTER THREE: People and Ideas on the Move, 3500 B.C.–259 B.C.

Section One: Indo-European Migrations

TERMS & NAMES

• Indo-Europeans

• steppes

• migration

• Hittites

• Anatolia

• Aryans

• Vedas

• Brahmin

• caste

• Mahabharata

TAKING NOTES

Fill in the names of some modern languages that stem from Indo-European roots. (At least 4.)

Indo-European
1.
2.
3.
4.

Why did so many languages originate from Indo-European roots?

FORMING OPINIONS

What important contributions did the Aryan invaders make to the culture and way of life in India?

ANALYZING THEMES

Interaction with the Environment: For what environmental reasons might the Indo-Europeans have migrated?

SECTION 2: Roots of Hinduism and Buddhism

TERMS & NAMES

• reincarnation

• karma

• Jainism

• Siddhartha Gautama

• enlightenment

• nirvana

TAKING NOTES

Compare Hindu and Buddhist beliefs and practices below.

Hinduism Only / Both / Buddhism Only

MAKING INFERENCES

How might the belief in reincarnation provide a form of social control?

SECTION 3: Seafaring Traders Extend Boundaries

TERMS & NAMES

• Minoans

• Aegean Sea

• Knossos

• King Minos

• Phoenicians

TAKING NOTES

Below is a list of accomplishments. Fill in the chart, identifying feats that were Minoan and those that were Phoenician.

Feats / Minoan / Phoenician
dominated trade (2000–1400 B.C.)
set up numerous city-states
developed an alphabet
produced a famous purple dye
jumped over bulls for fun
produced fine painted pottery

EVALUATING SOURCES

Go back to page 69. Read Herodotus’s account of how the Phoenicians sailed around Africa. What words show Herodotus’s doubt? Why do you think he expresses doubts?

SECTION 4: The Origins of Judaism

TERMS & NAMES

• Palestine

• Canaan

• Torah

• Abraham

• monotheism

• covenant

• Moses

• Israel

• Judah

• tribute

CHAPTER THREE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

SECTION 1 (pages 57–61)

Indo-European Migrations

Name three reasons that historians give to explain why Indo-Europeans migrated.

What are two technologies that helped the Hittites build their empire?

How were the Aryans different from the non-Aryans (dasas) that they encountered when migrating to India?

SECTION 2 (pages 62–66)

Roots of Hinduism and Buddhism

In Hinduism, how are the ideas of karma, reincarnation, and moksha connected?

Why were lower castes more likely to convert to Buddhism?

SECTION 3 (pages 67–71)

Seafaring Traders Extend Boundaries

What did the Minoans export?

What is Phoenicia’s greatest legacy to the world?

SECTION 4 (pages 72–77)

The Origins of Judaism

What is ethical monotheism and why is it important?

What caused the division of Solomon’s kingdom?

Name two ways that early Judaism differed from other religions of the time.

CHAPTER FOUR: First Age of Empires, 1570 B.C.–200 B.C.

SECTION 1: The Empires of Egypt and Nubia Collide

TERMS & NAMES

• Hyksos

• New Kingdom

• Hatshepsut

• Thutmose III

• Nubia

• Ramses II

• Kush

• Piankhi

• Meroë

HISTORY THROUGH ART: Sculpture

Comparing: What similarities can you see between the two portraits? What qualities do they suggest in the rulers?

Planning a Portrait: What are some elements that you would include in a portrait of a powerful person in today’s society?

On a separate piece of paper draw an ideal portrait of a powerful leader.

SECTION 2: Assyria Dominates the Fertile Crescent

TERMS & NAMES

• Assyria

• Sennacherib

• Nineveh

• Ashurbanipal

• Medes

• Chaldeans

• Nebuchadnezzar

TAKING NOTES

Create a diagram showing the causes of the rise and of the decline of Assyrian power.

Assyrian Military Power
CAUSES OF INCREASING POWER / CAUSES OF DECREASING POWER
1. / 1.
2. / 2.
3. / 3.

SECTION 3: Persia Unites Many Lands

TERMS & NAMES

• Cyrus

• Cambyses

• Darius

• satrap

• Royal Road

• Zoroaster

TAKING NOTES

Create a Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences between Cyrus and Darius.

CYRUS ONLY / BOTH / DARIUS ONLY
1.
2.
3.

Which of the differences do you consider most important? Why?

ANALYZING THEMES

Empire Building

How did Darius’s methods of administration give stability to his empire?

SECTION 4: An Empire Unifies China

TERMS & NAMES

• Confucius

• filial piety

• bureaucracy

• Daoism

• Legalism

• I Ching

• yin and yang

• Qin dynasty

• Shi Huangdi

• autocracy

Chinese Ethical Systems
Confucianism / Daoism / Legalism
• Social order, harmony, and
good government should be
based on family relationships.
• Respect for parents and
elders is important to a
well-ordered society.
• Education is important both to the welfare of the individual and to society. / • The natural order is
more important than the social order.
• A universal force guides
all things.
• Human beings should live
simply and in harmony with nature. / • A highly efficient and
powerful government is the
key to social order.
• Punishments are useful to
maintain social order.
• Thinkers and their ideas
should be strictly controlled
by the government.

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Charts

1. Which of these three systems stress the importance of government and a well-ordered society?

2. Which system emphasizes the natural order over the social order?

3. Which of these systems seems to be most moderate and balanced? Explain.

Yin and Yang

The symbol of yin and yang is a circle divided into halves, as shown in the emblem above. The circle represents the harmony of yin (earth, female, passive) and yang (heaven, male, active). Yin is represented by the tiger and the color orange; yang is represented by the dragon and the color blue. Ancient Chinese thinkers believed that pain is caused by an imbalance in the body between the forces of yin and yang.

On a separate piece of paper draw a YIN/YANG and beneath list your own representations of the YIN and the YANG.

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

Search on the internet for an article on The Great Wall of China. Summarize the article and include a hand drawing of the Wall.

Chapter 4 Formative Assessment

TERMS & NAMES

Briefly explain the importance of each of the following to the first great age of empires.

1. Ramses II

2. Kush

3. Assyria

4. Ashurbanipal

5. Cyrus

6. Royal Road

7. Zoroaster

8. Confucius

9. Daoism

10. Shi Huangdi

SECTION 1 (pages 83–87)

The Empires of Egypt and Nubia Collide

11. How were the reigns of Thutmose III and Piankhi alike?

12. Explain how the declines of the New Kingdom in Egypt and the Kushite empire in Meroë were similar.

SECTION 2 (pages 88–91)

Assyria Dominates the Fertile Crescent

13. Why was the Assyrian military so powerful?

14. What were the positive achievements of the Assyrian Empire?

SECTION 3 (pages 92–96)

Persia Unites Many Lands

15. Give two examples to show the enlightened view of empire held by Cyrus.

16. How was Darius able to rule such a large empire with absolute power?

17. Summarize the beliefs of Zoroaster.

SECTION 4 (pages 97–101)

An Empire Unifies China

18. Why are the later years of the Zhou Dynasty called “the time of the warring states”?

19. Summarize differences in how Confucius, the Legalists, and Laozi viewed government.

20. How did the Great Wall help to unify China?

UNIT TWO: New Directions in Government and Society 2000 B.C.–A.D. 700