January 19, 2015
1. Name the four early river valley civilizations
and name the river(s) the civilization was built
around.
Mesopotamia - Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Ancient Egypt - Nile River
Indus River Valley - Indus River
Ancient China - Yellow and Yangtze Rivers
2. A civilization is characterized by six traits.
Please list the six traits of a civilization.
The six traits of a civilization are government,
cities, religion, art, writing, and social
structure.
January 19, 2015
3. The Sumerians, Babylonians, Israelites, and Egyptians
made long lasting contributions to the world. Please name
two contributions of the Sumerians, Babylonians,Israelites,
and Egyptians.
Sumerians - cuneiform, wagon wheel, sundial, 360
degrees in a circle
Babylonians - Code of Hammurabi, Hanging Gardens,
astronomy
Israelites - Judaism, monotheistic, and 10 commandments
Egyptians - pyramids, calendar, embalming, architecture
4. Compare and contrast the life in Sparta and
Athens as two great city states of Greece.
Sparta - Military society, oligarchy, women
were equal in many ways
Athens - Democracy, political, architecture,
philosophers
January 19, 2015
5. Name three laws/codes that impacted Western Civilization
and write a brief description of
each.
Code of Hammurabi - 282 laws, written by Hammurabi,
strict justice, major and minor infractions set out in public
Twelve Tables - tablets that showed Roman law, established
rights for the plebeians, basic rights, laws couldn’t change on
whim of judge or other officials
Code of Justinian - simplified Roman laws, lasted for 900
years, helped link to the modern world
Code of Lycurgus - constitution for Sparta, state run
education system
6. What were the economic and military
problems that contributed to the decline of the
Roman Empire? Please write down two
economic and two military problems.
Economic problems - trade declined and
market places declined, inflation, social
welfare program was too costly, couldn’t pay
the soldiers
Military problems - troops were too loyal to
generals, lack of recruitment, couldn’t
protect empire from the Barbarians military
January 19, 2015
7. What were long lasting contributions of the Greek, Roman,
Byzantine, and Islamic
Empires? Please write down two for each civilization.
Greek - Olympics, poems, drama, democracy, Socratic Method,
architecture, math,
science
Roman - engineering (aqueducts, roads, and etc.), legal system
(12 Tables),architectural style, economics, republic, Latin
Byzantine - trade, industry, Code of Justinian, preserved
foundation of Western Civilization (classical science, literature,
numbers)
Islamic - Medical advancements (encyclopedia, syrup in
medicine,writing, and astronomy
8. Describe the role of the Catholic Church in
the Dark and Middle Ages in Europe.
Role of the Catholic Church - wealthy,
influence on people, salvation, crusades, unity,
monasteries were centers of learning, spiritual
community
January 19, 2015
9. PRIMES stands for Political, Religion, Intellectual, Military, Economic, and Social. Please
use PRIMES to identify the importance of Charlemagne’s reign as king of the Franks.
Political - united Frankish kingdom, established provinces,
conquered people keep their laws
Religion - Holy Roman Emperor, increased power of Catholic
Church, aligned with Catholic Church
Intellectual - established schools, universities
Military - expanded territories with battles, ended the threat of the
Lombards, Saxons
Economic - common currency (silver), standardized weights and
measures, increased trade
Social - common languages, promoted art, culture = Carolingian
Renaissance, building schools
10. Why was the Battle of Tours in 732 a
significant victory for Europe?
Battle of Tours in 732 prevented the northward
advance of Islam, ensured the continued rule
of the Carolingians, Charles “the Hammer”
Martel lead the Franks