World History Test 1 Questions

1) What defines civilization? What are the similarities and differences among the world’s earliest civilizations? Show how and why these similarities and differences are significant.

2) Give an account of the theories of political legitimacy we have discussed in our consideration of Mesopotamia and Egypt, for example, theocratic kingship, military aristocracy and royal absolutism. What advantages and disadvantages resulted from such theories?

3) Write an essay in which you explain the common political problem of political fragmentation in Mesopotamia and Egypt. What were the various solutions to the problem, and what problems resulted from the various solutions?

4) In as much detail as possible, develop an essay in which you compare the impact of geography on the development of the politics and culture of Mesopotamia and Egypt.

5) What general conclusions can you draw about the differences in the political and intellectual outlooks of the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia? Compare especially Egyptian and Mesopotamian religious views. In what ways did the regional geography influence the religious outlooks of these two civilizations?

Sargon the Great

After 2350 BCE Mesootamia was continually run over by outsiders. Sargon the Great (2371-2316 BCE), who was an Akkadian from the North, successively attacked the Mesopotamian cities North to South until the entire region was under his control. The was the beginning of the first imperial state. Ironically, since Sumerian culture was far more advanced than anything Sargon could muster, it swept through the entire region. Thus, it was true that the conqueror himself was conquered by his conquerors.

The Cradle of Civilization

The beginning of civilization is built on the advancement of the Neolithic revolution. The ability to domesticate animals and produce food from agriculture supported a greater density of population. The rise in population and technology quickly outpaced the available resources of newly settled villages, thus moving them into the fertile river systems, such as that of the Nile, the Indus Valley, and, of course, The Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia. The River Valley systems are the cradle of civilization, and to know the temper of these river systems is ultimately to know the temper of the civilization built upon them.

Situated "between the two rivers" (Tigris and Euphrates), Mesopotamia is the earliest civilization that we know to have developed. Merging onto the southern banks of the two rivers, the villages quickly formed leagues and eventually dynasties to help fend off attack from Northern territories, and also to help create the social organization necessary for taming the two rivers.