Eastern River Valley Civilizations

In ancient history, what do the areas marked with X all have in common?

• They could not trade over great distances

• The civilizations disappeared

• They were all were protected from invasion by geographic features

• They all had civilization that were centered along major rivers

What is a characteristic of the Indus Valley civilizations?

• Cities were always at war

• Cities were designed without thinking

• Cities were planned and had their own plumbing and sewage systems.

• Cities were destroyed by invaders in horse-drawn chariots.

What was a major advantage of the Chinese system of writing?

• People from areas outside of China could be read it

• People from areas within China could read it, even if they spoke other Chinese dialects or languages

• The Chinese written language has not changed very much since 200 B.C.

• Readers needed to know only a small number of pictographs

How did the Mandate of Heaven affect government in China?

• The Mandate of Heaven led to long periods of war among families.

• Religious leaders read oracle bones to select new rulers.

• It allowed new rulers to justify the overthrow of a declining dynasty.

• The ruler received a direct mandate from heaven that he should resign (quit)

Which letter on this map represents the Harappan civilization?

• A

• B

• C

• D

In Hinduism, the highest goal of the individual soul was:

• to achieve moksha

• to enter into permanent union with Indra

• to have good karma and dharma

• to be reincarnated into the warrior caste

The Aryans created a social class system based on skin color and a person’s

• birth

• Job

• education

• gender (male/female)

From ancient times to the present, Indians have depended on the summer rains brought by seasonal winds called

• loess

• mystics

• monsoons

• Brahmins

The Symbols in the image of Indus valley seals above represent

• A language that is not deciphered

• No one knows

• Artistic designs

• Hieroglyphics

Indus Valley Cities were arranged around a central building. The ruins of one such building is pictured above. What was it?

• A ziggurat to the gods

• A swimming pool

• A government building

• A pyramid