Geography & Rivers
Which two rivers were the center of ancient Mesopotamian civilization?
The Tigris and Euphrates.
What writing system did the ancient Sumerians develop?
Cuneiform.
What are the names of the three time periods historians have divided ancient Egyptian history into?
1. Old Kingdom
2. Middle Kingdom
3. New Kingdom (Egyptian Empire)
Who is generally considered to be the founding patriarch of the Hebrew people and the recipient of God's covenant?
Abraham.
What were the two regions of Egypt called?
2. Lower Egypt
What fertile material left behind by flooding helped farmers grow crops?
Silt - a nutrient rich soil desposited by rivers.
What is the name of the massive stepped temples built by the Sumerians?
Ziggurats.
What ruler is traditionally credited with uniting Upper and Lower Egypt around 3100 B.C.?
King Menes.
What is the most sacred text in Judaism, containing the first five books of the Hebrew Bible?
The Torah.
What was the name of the Hebrew king who slew a Philistine warrior in combat and established Jerusalem as an important capital?
King David
What geographic feature of the Nile made the southern portion of the river generally impassable?
Cataracts - a series of shallow rapids.
What Babylonian king created a famous written law code that established different punishments for crimes?
Hammurabi.
What group from Western Asia conquered parts of Egypt and effectively ended the Middle Kingdom?
The Hyksos.
According to Hebrew tradition, who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and received the Ten Commandments?
Moses.
What is the Egyptian collection of magical spells, prayers, and instructions written on papyrus and buried with the dead to help their souls navigate the underworld and reach the afterlife?
The Book of the Dead.
What region did the Hebrew tribes settle along the Eastern Mediterranean coast?
Canaan.
Who conquered the Sumerian city-states and established the first empire in history?
Sargon of Akkad ("The Great").
Which female pharaoh became one of ancient Egypt's most successful rulers and expanded trade?
Hapshepsut.
What empire conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and deported much of its population?
The Assyrians.
What ancient Mediterranean civilization is credited with creating a letter-based alphabet and the purple dye?
The Phoenicians.
What was the name of the ancient Chinese river sometimes referred to as "China's Sorrow" because of its destructive floods?
The Huang He River (Yellow River).
What famous Mesoptamian epic tells the story of a king searching for wisdom and the secret to overcoming death?
The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Which pharaoh attempted to replace Egypt's traditional polytheism with the worship of one god, Aten?
Akhenaten.
Which Babylonian king conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the First Temple, and deported many Hebrews to Babylon?
Nebuchadnezzar II.
The Mandate of Heaven.