Concept Review
Review Questions
Question 1
What do all early river valley civilizations have in common?
Question 2
Define "civilization" and list its key characteristics.
Question 3
Why did writing systems develop in early civilizations?
Question 4
Compare the government structures of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China.
Question 5
How did religion influence daily life in ancient civilizations?
Question 6
What is the significance of law codes (like Hammurabi's Code)?
Question 7
How did Greek democracy differ from modern democracy?
Question 8
What lasting contributions did Rome make to Western civilization?
Question 9
Compare the philosophical traditions of ancient Greece, India, and China.
Question 10
How did trade routes connect ancient civilizations?
Answers
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1. They developed near rivers that provided water for irrigation, fertile soil from flooding, transportation, and resources for large populations
2. A complex society with: cities, organized government, social classes, specialized jobs, record-keeping/writing, organized religion, arts and architecture, technology
3. To keep records of trade, taxes, and laws; to communicate over distances; to preserve religious texts and stories
4. Mesopotamia: city-states with kings; Egypt: pharaoh as god-king with centralized power; China: emperors with Mandate of Heaven, dynasty system
5. Religion influenced laws, explained nature, justified rulers' power, guided moral behavior, and shaped art and architecture
6. First written law codes established consistent rules, protected citizens, and showed that laws applied to everyone (not just rulers' whims)
7. Greek democracy was direct (citizens voted on all issues), limited to free adult males, excluded women/slaves; modern democracy is representative and more inclusive
8. Law and legal systems, republican government, Latin language (basis of Romance languages), roads and engineering, architecture (arches, aqueducts), Christianity's spread
9. Greece: logic, reason, questioning (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle); India: spiritual paths, karma, dharma; China: social order (Confucius), harmony with nature (Daoism)
10. The Silk Road connected China to Rome; Mediterranean trade connected Egypt, Greece, and Phoenicia; trade spread goods, ideas, religions, and technologies