Chapter 2 Practice

Why might Mesopotamia have become traders?

• They produced much timber (wood) for export.

• They were curious about distant lands.

• They needed resources they did not have.

Hieroglyphics is to Egypt as _____ is to Sumer.

• Demotic

• Cuneiform

• Greek

Hammurabi’s Code was important because it

• was a written system of laws.

• made known the beliefs of a new religion.

• proved to be the key to understanding cuneiform.

The term polytheism applies to Sumerian religion because the people of Sumer believed in

• many gods.

• one god.

• a supreme sun god.

“The source of all life in ancient Egypt” is a fitting description of

• the Nile River.

• Mesopotamia.

• the pharaoh.

Why did Egyptians identify closely with the story of Osiris and Isis?

• They commanded the most respect.

• Their story related to human emotions such as love, jealousy, and fear of death.

• Their story taught Egyptians how to prepare bodies for the afterlife.

During the Old Kingdom huge pyramids were built as

• places of worship.

• altars to Egyptian gods.

• tombs for the pharaohs.

Scribes were important to Egyptian society mainly because they

• interpreted the writing systems of other civilizations.

• preserved the folk tales of Egypt.

• kept the records essential for an orderly government.

The first people to use iron were the

• Hittites.

• Sumerians.

• Lydians.

The Phoenicians are called “carriers of civilization” because they

• were the smartest of the ancient civilizations.

• were a sailing people who spread ideas and products of the ancient Middle East.

• invented social classes.