I wrote out a test for parts 1-3 of SWB's History of the Ancient World

[Laura K (NC)]

The following was a midterm I wrote for my son. I gave him about 140 study questions and pulled the test from those. If you're interested I'll post the answers (and/or the study questions). The study questions are based on questions that I wrote for each chapter. The chapter questions that I wrote were more critical thinking, but for this test I wanted to test his ability to memorize facts and take a test of this kind (which he does not often get the chance to do). I grouped the first three parts into a single midterm, and then I'll put the last two into a midterm, because there is so much more supplemental history reading, it will take us much longer to get through those last two parts than it did to get through the first three.

 

A. Locate on a Blank Map:

1. Aegean Sea

2. Mediterranean Sea

3. Tigris River

4. Euphrates River

5. Indus River

6. Yellow River

7. Yangtze River

8. Zagros Mountains

9. Babylon

10. Assur

 

 

B. Short Answer:

1. What was the Poem of Atrahasis about?

 

2. Compare clay and papyrus as a writing surface. Name two advantages or disadvantages.

 

3. Why would a pharaoh want to marry his own family members?

 

4. What was the first environmental disaster?

 

5. What is the cyclical nature of hereditary dynasties?

 

6. What were two similarities between Assyrian and Babylonian cultures?

 

7. What happened to Thera?

 

8. What is the I Ching?

 

9. What is the Erra Epic?

 

10. Did the Hyksos invade Egypt or come in peacefully? How do we know?

 

C. Definition:

1. anachronistic

 

2. nome

 

3. mandala

 

4. stele

 

5. cataract

 

6. cuneiform

 

7. “vile asiaticsâ€

 

8. Marduk

 

9. Lugalbanda

 

10. regent

 

 

D. Multiple Choice

1. The Red Kingdom was which part of Egypt? a. Southern b. Western c. Northern d. Eastern

 

2. The Egyptian name for the Black Land of Egypt was a. Tiamat b. Deshret c. Idiglat d. Kemet

 

3. Who was the “philosopher king†of China? a. Shennong b. Fu Xi c. Huangdi d. Wu-yi

 

4. Who was Apollo Sminthian? a. god of the sun b. lord of the blacksmiths c. lord of the flies d. lord of the mice

 

5. What were the first two dynasties of China? a. Ching and Longshan b. Xia and Shang c. Shang and Zhou d. Xia and Han

 

6. The people of which conquered country were fed to the minotaur? a. Knossos b. Troy c. Mycenae d. Carthage

 

7. In the early days of Mesopotamia, in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s BC, three kings struggled with each other to keep and enlarge their respective kingdoms. They were: a. Ur-Zababa, Narmer, and Uruttu, b. Lugalbanda, Urukagina, and Sargon, c. Rim-Sin, Shamshi-Adad, and Hammurabi, d. Moe, Larry, and Curly

 

8. In which flood story do 400 sons survive the flood by turning into fish, then celebrate, get drunk, and turn into the Pleiades? a. Mayan b. Peruvian c. Gilgamesh epic d. Genesis story

 

9. Which pharaoh ordered the Sphinx to be built? a. Hatshepsut b. Khafre c. Tuthmosis II d. Akhenaten

 

10. Gilgamesh claimed which man as his father? a. Urukagina b. Sargon c. Lugalbanda d. Narmer

 

11. The Harappan civilization flourished and then faded along which river? a. Jordan b. Orontes c. Yellow d. Indus

 

12. Which of the following gods was worshipped by polytheists? a. Marduk b. Aten c. YHWH d. Allah

 

13. One of the following is NOT a historian: a. Sima Qian b. Manetho c. Manu Vaivaswata

 

14. Which of the following had a birth story like Moses? a. Gilgamesh b. Sargon c. Naram-Sin

 

15. Which of the following was regent for Tuthmosis III? a. Hatshepsut b. Ahotep c. Pasiphae d. Nefertiti

[Beth in SW WA]

Laura,

This looks great!

 

I ordered her book just today from Amazon (and the TWEM per Nan's recommendation:)).

 

I would LOVE to see your questions & answers that you came up with. That must have been a fun project for you. I wonder if SWB ever planned to do a study guide.

 

Thanks!!

[anissarobert]

Laura, you are my hero. This is on my list to do, and I have not had a chance to even start it. We are just a little behind you, and are also doing Great Books and Speivogel. I love SWB's narrative style, but dd is having trouble taking notes. The study questions will be a great help.

 

Thank you!

[Gretchen in NO. CA]

This is awesome! :hurray: Where did you find the time to do all this? My son is half way through the book and I haven't even had the time to start it. I was hoping to read it too so that I'd be able to discuss it with him but that hasn't happened yet. Thanks for all your hard work and I'd love the answers too if that isn't too much trouble.:)

 

Gretchen in NO. CA

[Laura K (NC)]

Okay, they're not questions.... more like highlights. After my son finished the first three parts, I gave this list to my son to study as an overview and a reminder of what we had studied. There are so many little facts in each chapter, that some of the highlights are sure to be different than what SWB would think as important. Some of the points below, like the definitions of "stele," "cataract," "nome," "regent," and "anachronistic" are words that aren't really defined so much in the book, but I thought they were necesssary for my son, who might have skipped over them without understanding them. Some questions were purposely easy, like "cuneiform." The numbers in parenthesis are the chapters each point comes from. My chapter study questions were more in-depth than this. I'm not quite ready to post them yet because they're still pretty rough. There might be better definitions of the points below. If you know of a better definition, please let me know and I'll fix it. Also, if you think there are points to add to this list, please let me know that, too. I'm developing it for my younger two sons so I won't have to work at all next time around. ;)

 

Study questions for history:

 

Locate on a blank map: Black Sea, Red Sea, Aegean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, Tigris River, Euphrates River, Memphis, Indus River, Yellow River, Yangtze River, Jordan River, Sea of Galilee, Orontes River, Kish, Kadesh, Ur, Nineveh, Harappa, Thebes (Egypt), Thebes (Greece), Elephanine, Zagros Mountains, Aleppo, Assur, Babylon, Knossos, Gaza, Joppa, Megiddo, Carchemish, Troy, Mycenae, Pylos, Athens, Kush, Hattusas, Sinai Peninsula, Crete, Sparta, Bosphorus Strait, Thrace

 

Poem of Atrahasis (2) wisest king on earth built an ark to save his people from coming disaster

Mayan Flood Story (2) 400 sons survive the flood by turning into fish, celebrate, get drunk, and turn into the Pleiades

Peru Flood Story (2) llama refuses to eat, warns his owner of the flood

Tiamat (2) chaos, see-being in Babylonian mythology

Uruttu (3) Old name of Euphrates, “copper river.”

Idiglat (3) Old name of Tigris, “swiftness of an arrow in flight”

Narmer (4) First king of united Egypt

Manetho (4) Egyptian historian who lived in 300 BC

cataract (4) waterfall

Red Kingdom (4) Lower Egypt (north)

White Kingdom (4) Upper Egypt (south)

Which direction does the Nile flow? South

Kemet (4) black land

Deshret (4) red land

Manu Vaivaswata (5) Manu protected a little fish, fish warned him of a flood. Manu became first king of historical India.

Who was philosopher king? (6) Fu Xi

Who was the farmer king? (6) Shennong

Who was the Yellow Emperor? (6) Huangdi

What does anachronistic mean? (6) a thing is attributed to a time it does not belong.

Cuneiform (7) wedge-shaped symbols in clay

Difference between Hieratic script and pictographs (7): Hieratic script was more abstract, easier to write. Pictures had power of their own.

Pros and Cons of clay v. papyrus (7): clay lasted longer, but heavier and took up more space. Papyrus easier to carry, but disintegrated.

Meskiaggasher (8) king of Uruk

Lugalbanda (8) ancestor of Gilgamesh. In the epic, he was said to be Gilgamesh’s father.

Gilgamesh (8) king of Uruk

Urukagina (12) first reformer of Lagash

Sargon (13) birth like Moses, 1st military dictator of a large Sumerian territory

What was the civilization called that flourished along the Indus River, in which all the citites shared the same architecture? (14) Harappan

Who built the Sphinx? (15) Khafre

Why did a pharaoh marry his own family members? (15) because he was divine, he needed to marry another divinity.

stele (16) stone or wood slab commemorating funerals or marking territory or events

Naram-Sin (16) Akkadian king, grandson of Sargon

Terah (17) Father of Abraham. Fled from Ur because of barbarian invasions.

Gutians (17) barbarian invaders from the Zagros Mountains

“vile asiatics” (17) Semites

What was the first environmental disaster? (18) salinization that destroyed the irrigated land.

nome (19) Egyptian territory ruled by nomarchs

Mentuhotep (19) pharaoh of Thebes, “uniter of the two lands,” “second Narmer”

Sumu-abum (20) first king of Babylon

Shamshi-Adad (20) king of upper Mesopotamia (Assur), the largest area of any king outside of Egypt

Hammurabi (20) Babylonian king, famous for his code of rules.

Rim-Sin (20) king of lower Mesopotamia (Larsa), south of Hammurabi’s territory

When was the Xia dynasty (2205-1766)

Longshan (21) people who built walled villaged in the valley at the south end of the Yellow river

What is the cyclical nature of hereditary dynasties? (21) good, wise king, generations pass and the grandson becomes corrupt, then a good usurper takes over.

When was the Shang dynasty? (21) 1766-1122

Tang (21) the good ruler that took over after Qi and his sons messed up so badly.

Samsuiluma (22) son of Hammurabi, king of Babylon

Kassites (22) small bands of nomads who wandered over the Zagros mountains (different than the Gutians, though both came from the same place)

Who were the Hyksos and how did they get into Egypt? Manethos describes a violent takeover. Archaeology supports a non-violent seeping of Semitic people.

Minos (24) king of Crete, in Knossos

Pasiphae (24) wife of Minos, gave birth to the minotaur

minotaur (who (specifically) did he eat, where did he live, how was he killed?) (24, 31) ate Athenians (Mycenaeans). He lived in the labyrinth at Knossos. Was killed by Theseus.

What happened to the island of Thera? (24) a volcano made a caldera, wiped out civilization there.

What happened to Harappa? (25) probably a flood of a silt dam along the Indus, but the Harappan civilization was already deteriorating. Aryan invasion probably played a part in the deterioration.

Aryans (25) nomadic invaders from the north; means “noble”

Hatti (26) territory of the Hittites

Mursilis (26) great Hittite warrior, invaded as far south as Babylon.

Hantili (26) cupbearer to and assassin of Mursilis. Reigned 30 years

Hatshepsut (28) wife of Tuthmosis II, regent for Tuthmosis III. Great builder, reigned 21 years

Megiddo (28) well-positioned city in a mountain pass near the Sea of Galilee, site of several great battles.

Mitanni (29) two classes – Hurrians, and Maryannu

Yi Yin (30) bad guy, cook and court official who killed off Shang heirs.

Sima Qian (30) royal historian

Aegeus (31) king of Athens, father of Theseus

Linear B (31) type of alphabet, Minoan script

Ra (32) sun god, one of many gods

Aten (33) god of monotheists in Egypt, creator. Was not worshiped very long after Akhenaten’s reign.

Supiluliuma (33) king of the Hittites

Tushratta (33) king of the Mitanni

Tutankhamun (34) king of Egypt, son of Akhenaten

What happened at Kadesh? (34) Hittites, Egyptians did battle

When did Homer live? (35) 800 BC

Wu Ting (36) first historical king of China

How were oracle bones read? (36) A person with a question went to the Shang court to ask a question of the priests. The priests use shoulder bones or turtle shells carved with patterns or inscriptions. The bone was touched with a hot poker, and it would crack. The priests would read the message that was affected by the crack.

I Ching (36) book of changes that describes Wu Ting favorably

Rig Veda (37) earliest collection of Indian hymns

mandala (37) one of 10 cycles of the Rig Veda

Tukulti-Ninurta (38) Hebrews called him Nimrod, he was king of Assyria

similarities between Assyrians and Babylonians (38) “The were balanced in strength and twins in culture. They had once been part of the same empire, under Hammurabi, and the Babylonian stamp on the whole area remained visible. Assyria and Babylon shared the same gods, albeit with occasionally different names; their gds had the same stories; and the Assyrians used Babylonian cuneiform in their inscriptions and annals.

Marduk (38) Babylonian and Assyrian god. People sacrificed children to him.

When and what were the dark age of Greece? (40) 1200-1050 BC

Dorians (40) took over Greek cities. no knowledge of writing, no skill in building with stone or brick, no grasp of bronzeworking, came from northern part of peninsula

Apollo Sminthian (40) “Lord of the Mice” a god who represented the Bubonic plague.

Phrygians (41) They attacked the Hittites from the area north of the Greek peninsula called Thrace. Tiglath-Pileser called them Mushki.

Tiglath-Pileser (41) a great king of Assyria

Nebuchadnezzar (41) a great king of Babylon

Erra Epic (41) poem describing Babylon’s hardships. Marduk complains. “Woe to Babylon.”

Zhou (42) tribe in China, complained that the Shang abandoned wisdom.

Wu-yi (42) bad Shang king, blasphemed the gods

Chou (42) bad Shang king, too fond of pleasure, and a tyrant

Wen (42) Lord of the West, imprisoned by Chou, escaped and started a revolt.

[Laura K (NC)]

Answers

(finding a blackline map was difficult. We have big blackline maps of the middle east that you use a whiteboard marker with, but we didn't have one of China. I had to take a blackline map from the internet that was labeled, print it, white out the labels, and then copy it for my son to use to label the important rivers in China. I could have been more "draconian" about it and asked him to draw China and its maps freehand from memory, but we didn't really spend time on that this year, so that would have been especially cruel and unusual punishment.

B.

1. (2) wisest king on earth built an ark to save his people from coming disaster

2. (7): clay lasted longer, but heavier and took up more space. Papyrus easier to carry, but disintegrated.

3. (15) because he was divine, he needed to

marry another divinity.

4. (18) salinization that destroyed the irrigated land

5. (21) good, wise king, generations pass and the grandson becomes corrupt, then a good usurper takes over

6. (38) “The were balanced in strength and twins in culture. They had once been part of the same empire, under Hammurabi, and the Babylonian stamp on the whole area remained visible. Assyria and Babylon shared the same gods, albeit with occasionally different names; their gods had the same stories; and the Assyrians used Babylonian cuneiform in their inscriptions and annals.”

7. (24) a volcano made a caldera, wiped out civilization

there.

8. (36) book of changes that describes Wu Ting favorably

9. (41) poem describing Babylon’s hardships. Marduk complains. “Woe to Babylon.”

10. Manethos describes a violent takeover. Archaeology supports a non-violent seeping of Semitic people.

 

C.

1. (6) a thing is attributed to a time it does not belong

2. (19) Egyptian territory ruled by nomarchs

3. (37) one of 10 cycles of the Rig Veda

4. (16) stone or wood slab commemorating funerals or marking territory or events

5. (4) waterfall

6. (7) wedge-shaped symbols in clay

7. (17) Semites

8. (38) Babylonian and Assyrian god. People sacrificed children to him.

9. (8) ancestor of Gilgamesh. In the epic, he was said to be Gilgamesh’s father.

10. (28) someone who rules for a ruler who is too young to rule on his own; Hatshepsut was a regent.

 

D.

 

1.c

2. d

3. b

4. d.

5. b

6. c

7. c

8. a

9. b

10. c

11. d

12. a

13. c

14. b

15. a

Edited November 7, 2008 by Laura K (NC)

[Beth in SW WA]

Girlfriend, You are awesome!

 

I can't wait to get SWB's book in the mail next week.

 

Thanks for sharing this!

[anissarobert]

I am so thrilled, like Gretchen, I have not been able to keep up on all of the reading.

 

Thank you so much!

[mcconnellboys]

Thank you!

[Cathy in TX]

Wow, Laura, thanks for sharing your hard work! We are planning to use this book next year.

[Rhondabee]

I saw in another thread that you have a syllabus???? Is it in a form you could share? (mine would be on various note-pad papers in chicken scratch even *I* couldn't read after a few months - LOL!)

 

Seriously, I would love a copy if it's possible....

[camibami]

I love you!!

:001_wub:

 

I would be so, so, so interested as well in the syllabus!

[Starr]

Thank you very much for sharing this with us!:grouphug::party:

[sleepy]

Laura, you are a gem!

 

Dd14 is reading History of the Ancient World right now. This is so helpful, thank you! :001_smile:

[jamnkats]

thanks so much for this - I came across it looking for a recommended translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh. We're only on Chapter 9 but I'll keep your test as discussion questions. Thank you!

 

I'm reading to book aloud to my boys and really enjoying myself!

[Caryl]

Thank you, Laura, for sharing your hard work!

[Stacie in UT]

Wow. I am tired just thinking of making up a test for that book.

[Gretchen in NO. CA]

Just wanted to repost this as I know this will be helpful for me as I plan my next child's quest into the ancients. This hive is great!

Gretchen

[Guest hsmomo]

awesome! thank you so much!

[arabicenthusiast]

Thanks for this! I'll be self-educating with the book over the summer so this will be very helpful. :-)

[ReAmy]

Thanks so much for sharing all of your hard work....much appreciated!

[Hot Lava Mama]

Wow!  Just Wow!  I am so amazed at the quality of people on this board!  You are amazing!  Thanks so much for sharing your hard work!  We ordered the study guide from SWB to go with the book, and are still waiting for it.  I think in is due to be shipped next month.

:)

Your hard work is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!

Hot Lava Mama

[mumto2]

The first five chapters of the new study guide are available as a sample pdf at the Peace Hill Website if anyone is interested. It looks great. :)