MESOPOTAMIA
What does the word "Mesopotamia" mean?
Answer: Land between the rivers.
Who created the famous Code of Laws that became one of the earliest written legal codes?
Answer: Hammurabi.
What religion was founded by Siddhartha Gautama?
Answer: Buddhism.
What Chinese philosophy emphasizes respect for tradition, family ties, education, and learning?
Answer: Confucianism.
During which Muslim holy month do Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset?
Answer: Ramadan.
Name the two rivers that cradled the first civilizations of Mesopotamia.
Answer: The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Clue: Who was the Persian ruler who created an extensive road system and postal service?
Answer: Darius.
What are the three major monotheistic religions that view the Promised Land as the Holy Land?
Answer: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Who is traditionally identified in the course material as the founder of Japanese civilization?
Answer: Prince Shotoku.
What is the holy book for Islam?
Answer: Koran.
Name the three oldest Sumerian settlements.
Answer: Eridu, Uruk, and Ur.
Who was the Babylonian king responsible for the famous Hanging Gardens?
Answer: Nebuchadnezzar II.
What religion is the oldest surviving religion of Japan?
Answer: Shintoism.
What was China's longest-ruling dynasty?
Answer: The Zhou Dynasty.
What term describes the Muslim holy wars through which Muslims expanded across parts of the Middle East and North Africa?
Answer: Jihad.
What was the name of the Sumerian writing system?
Answer: Cuneiform.
Which Assyrian king built a great library at Nineveh?
Answer: Ashurbanipal.
According to the Bible, what makes human beings special compared with plants and animals?
Answer: Humans were created in the image of God.
What two major cultural features are traditionally associated with ancient India?
Answer: Hinduism and the caste system.
he Muslim calendar begins in A.D. 622. What important event occurred that year?
Answer: Mohammed's flight from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra or Hegira.
Why does Sumerian history properly begin with the invention of cuneiform writing?
Answer: Because writing allowed people to record events, laws, trade, religious beliefs, and other information, providing written historical evidence.
Name the empire associated with each ruler: Cyrus, Hammurabi, and Xerxes.
Answer: Cyrus — Persian; Hammurabi — Babylonian; Xerxes — Persian.
Name three characteristics of Sumerian religion.
Answer: It was polytheistic, they worshiped many gods associated with nature and cities, and they built temples/ziggurats dedicated to their gods.
Which Japanese religion is closely connected with nature, spirits, and the worship of kami?
Answer: Shintoism.
These were the successors of Mohammed who ruled much of the Middle East and North Africa after his death.
Who are the Caliphs?