Neolithic Revolution
What major economic change defines the Neolithic Revolution?
What is the shift from hunting-gathering to agriculture/farming?
What two rivers were central to ancient Mesopotamian life?
What are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?
Name one major geographic feature that influenced the Indus River Valley civilization.
What are
- The Himalayan mountains
- The Hindu Kush mountains
- The Indus river
- The Ganges river?
What is the Mandate of Heaven?
What is the divine authority from the gods to rule?
Define "nomadic" as used to describe the Paleolithic Era.
What are people who live by traveling from place to place?
Name two key developments that allowed humans to settle in permanent villages during the Neolithic Era.
What is the domestication of plants and animals; development of permanent housing/villages; irrigation systems; job specialization? (any two)
Explain how cuneiform writing originated and describe one primary purpose it served in.
What is cuneiform originated as a system of wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay tablets by Sumerian scribes; one primary purpose was recordkeeping for economic transactions—tracking grain, livestock, trade goods, debts, and receipts—which supported complex administration, taxation, and long-distance trade?
What is the Dynastic Cycle in one or two sentences?
What is a pattern of the rise and fall of dynasties in China?
What does "domesticate" mean when referring to animals or plants?
What is to tame so it can be used by people?
Explain how job specialization emerged as a result of the Neolithic Revolution.
What is surplus food allowed some people to stop farming and take specialized roles (craftspeople, priests, leaders)?
Give one example of a law from Hammurabi's code and explain what it reveals about Mesopotamian society.
*Must include something regarding* What is that social status determined the punishments people received?
What is one piece of archaeological evidence that suggests the Indus cities were well-planned?
What is cities were arranged into block formations AND all bricks made to build the city were the same size and shape?
Explain how the Mandate of Heaven was used to legitimize a ruler's authority during the Dynastic Cycle.
What is rulers claimed the Mandate to justify takeover; natural disasters were interpreted as signs the Mandate was lost, legitimizing rebellion and replacement?
What is a surplus?
Describe one technological innovation from the Neolithic Era and how it improved farming.
What are (examples): plow (increased productivity), irrigation systems (control water for crops); both increase yields?
Explain how the geography both helped and hindered Mesopotamian society AND two specific ways they would adapt to/modify their environments
What are floods and droughts AND canals, levees, or dams?
Explain one positive and one negative affect of monsoons on the people of the Indian subcontinent.
What is (positive): rains are essential for agriculture, there are cultural rituals reliant on monsoons, monsoons increase farmers incomes, they provide 70% of India's rainfall?
What is (negative): If there are no monsoons, there are no crops, monsoons can cause major damage from flooding?
Describe how flooding of the Yellow River influenced Chinese political or social structures.
What does "job-specialization" mean in terms of a civilization? What is one example of a specialized job in ancient times?
What is focusing on a specific skill/task within a society; having different jobs?
Examples: craftsmen, irrigation construction worker, animal tamer, brick layers, priest/priestess, soldier, architect, metalworker, cook...
Analyze two social or political consequences of agriculture spreading in early human societies.
What are (examples): social inequality, emergence of political leadership/government, increased population density, trade growth?
Identify one long-term cultural or technological contribution from Mesopotamia (other than Hammurabi’s Code) and analyze its impact on later civilizations.
What are (examples): improved surveying and engineering (important for irrigation and building), and influenced later mathematical and astronomical knowledge (led to the calendar), the wheel, cuneiform
Why don't historians know the entirety of the Indus' culture?
What is nobody has been able to crack their written code?
How did the Mandate of Heaven and Dynastic Cycle together shape early Chinese civilizations?
What is they provided the framework for justifying rebellion and succession (allowing power to transfer from one dynasty to the next)?
What does "enduring" mean? What is an example of an enduring issue we saw from the river valley civilizations to today?
What is an issue that has affected multiple societies and has lasted a long time?
Examples: social inequality, discrimination, power struggles, gender discrimination...