Chapter 1 Study GuideThe Emergence of Human Communities, to 500 BCE

Pp. 1-20Name:_____________________________________ Date:________________The following questions roughly outline Chapter 1 from your textbook. Each question is directly linked to other questions. You must be able to discuss all the information presented in your chapter—NOT just what is on the study guide—within the AP concepts that we discuss in class.

Be aware that while the questions are basically “in order,” there is overlapping information. Some later sections may deal with previous questions.

Answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper.

1. What happened approximately 10,000 years ago and what was the effect?

2. Who was Charles Darwin? What did he do? Why is it important?

3. Explain African Genesis.

4. What is bipedalism?

5. What distinguishes humans from apes and other primates?

6. Who are the Leakeys? What did they do?

7. Create a chart and describe the following:a. Australopithecus africanusb. Australopithecines (Hominids)c. Homo habilis

d. Homo erectuse. Homo sapien

8. What is culture?

9. Compare and contrast the Paleolithic and Neolithic Stone Ages. Be very detailed.

10. Discuss early man’s use of tools and fire.

11. In hunter/gatherer societies, what was the woman/female’s role? The man/male’s?

12. What is important about the discovery of Iceman?

13. Explain how/why we know that early humans must have believed in an afterlife.

14. Why was the Neolithic Revolution (Agricultural Revolution) one of the turning points in history?

15. How did tools affect the Neolithic Revolution?

16. Where and with what crops did the Neolithic Revolution begin?

17. Create a chart to detail how the Neolithic Revolution affected/developed in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Include domesticated crops.

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18. What role did animal domestication play in the Neolithic Revolution?

19. What is a megalith? Give the name of the famous megalith in England.

20. What was the effect of the Neolithic Revolution on language?

21. Create a chart that compares and contrasts the ancient cities of Jericho and Çatal Hüyük.

22. Why are these two cities important? (What can we learn from them?)

23. Describe some of the statues left behind from Çatal Hüyük.

24. Describe the use of metallurgy (metal working) in Çatal Hüyük.

Chapter 1 In Review

25. Explain the map above.

26. In light of scientific advances in our understanding of human origins, what have we learned about our relationship to the earth and other living species?

27. How did the physical and mental abilities that humans gradually evolved enable them to adapt their way of life to new environments during the Great Ice Age?

28. After nearly 2 million years of physical and cultural development, how did human communities in different parts of the world learn to manipulate nature?

29. What cultural achievements characterized life in the Neolithic period?

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Chapter 2 Study GuideThe First River-Valley Civilizations, 3500-1500 BCE

Pp. 21-45Name:_____________________________________ Date:________________The following questions roughly outline Chapter 1 from your textbook. Each question is directly linked to other questions. You must be able to discuss all the information presented in your chapter—NOT just what is on the study guide—within the AP concepts that we discuss in class.

Be aware that while the questions are basically “in order,” there is overlapping information. Some later sections may deal with previous questions.

1. Who/what is Gilgamesh?

2. What are the characteristics of a civilization?

3. How did Mesopotamia get its name? Where is Mesopotamia located today?

4. How did the dry climate of Mesopotamia affect the Neolithic Revolution?

5. Which group of people created the framework for the Mesopotamian civilization?

6. What languages are considered Semitic languages?

7. How did Mesopotamian city-states function?

8. What were the two power centers of Mesopotamia?

9. Who was the ruler of Mesopotamia and what were his responsibilities?

10. What was the influence of Sargon of Akkad on Mesopotamia?

11. How did the newly re-established Sumerians of the Third Dynasty of Ur control its territories?

12. What is the significance of Babylon?

13. Who was Hammurabi and what did he do?

14. Describe trade in ancient Mesopotamia.

15. What was the Code of Hammurabi?

16. What was the role of women in Mesopotamian society?

17. What was the role of the temple in Mesopotamia?

18. What is a ziggurat?

19. What is cuneiform and why is it important?

20. How did the development of bronze affect Mesopotamian technology?3

21. Why was ancient Egypt mostly self sufficient?

22. What is the longest river in Egypt? What is special about this river?

23. Why did Herodotus call Egypt the “gift of the Nile?” (What was the importance of the Nile to Egypt?)

24. Explain the major differences between agriculture in Egypt and agriculture in Mesopotamia.

25. Who was Menes and why was he so significant for later Egyptian history?

26. What is a dynasty?

27. What is the difference between a ziggurat and a step pyramid?

28. What were the Egyptian pyramids used as?

29. Who built the famous pyramids at Giza? How were they built?

30. What were hieroglyphics and what was their purpose?

31. What was papyrus?

32. Why was the relationship between rulers and their administrations somewhat strained at different times during Egyptian history?

33. Why was Nubia important to the Egyptians?

34. Explain why women in ancient Egyptian society seem to have been more respected than women in ancient Mesopotamian society.

35. What was the connection between nature and Egyptian gods and religious life?

36. Describe the Egyptian belief in the afterlife.

37. What were main differences between the afterlife and burial of the elite and the commoner in ancient Egypt?

38. Name and describe the two ancient cities that archaeologists have located in the Indus River Valley. Why is it hard to study the remains of these cities?

39. What was the role of metal in the Indus Valley civilizations?

40. How does this role of metal compare with the role of metal in the Middle East?

41. What caused the downfall of Indus Valley civilizations?

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Chapter 2 In Review42. How did Mesopotamian civilization emerge, and what technologies promoted its advancement?

43. How did agricultural development in Mesopotamia lead to urban administration?

44. How did urban development necessitate the development of writing?

45. What does the law code of Hammurabi tell us about Babylonian social structure?

46. How were the cultural innovations of the Sumerians passed on to their Semitic successors?

47. In what ways does the Mesopotamian mathematical system still influence us today?

48. What role did the environment and religion play in the evolution of Egyptian civilization?

49. What does the material evidence tell us about the nature of the Indus Valley civilization, and what is the most likely reason for its collapse?

50. Why is our knowledge of Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilization far more comprehensive than our knowledge of the Indus Valley civilization?

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