1. ERA 1 Content
Beginning – 600 BCE

2. How did farmers impact the environment?

3. Cultivating certain plants
Excluding certain plants for cultivation
Building irrigation systems
Use of domesticated animals for food & labor

4. Name the core foundational civilizations and give their location.

5. Mesopotamia = Tigris & Euphrates river valleys
Egypt = Nile River Valley
Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa = Indus River Valley
Shang = Yellow River Valley (Huang He)
Olmec = Mesoamerica
Chavin = Andean South America

6. Why have pastoralists been known as technological disseminators (spreaders)?

7. Their mobility (caused by having to move around with their animals) brought them into contact with multiple settled populations.

8. What new weapons and modes of transportation did pastoralists disseminate?

9. Chariots
Horseback riding
Iron weapons
Composite bows

10. Technological innovations led to improvements in agricultural production, trade and transportation. Name two examples that came before
600 BCE.

11. The wheel (transportation: chariots and carts)
Pottery (storage of food = greater population = specialization of labor=…)

12. What characteristics do all civilizations share?

13. Agricultural surpluses = specialization of labor
Cities
Complex institutions: Political bureaucracies, Armies, Religious hierarchies
Clearly stratified societies
Organized long-distance trade

14. What are some examples of monumental architecture and urban planning?

15. Pyramids
Ziggurats
Defensive walls

16. What are two early examples of record keeping?

17. Cuneiform (form Mesopotamia)
Hieroglyphs (from Egypt)

18. Name an example of a legal code that reflected existing social hierarchies?

19. Code of Hammurabi

20. What religious beliefs (besides Polytheism) developed that would have lasting impact in future eras?

21. Judaism
Zoroastrianism
Vedic religions (later becomes Hinduism)

22. What are some examples of interregional trade?
(that means trade between different regions)

23. Egypt & Mesopotamia
Egypt & Nubia
Mesopotamia & Indus River Valley
China & Southwest Asia

24. ERA 1 by SPICE Theme
Beginning – 600 BCE

25. Social

26. In what ways did the agricultural (Neolithic) revolution change social structures?

27. Irrigation required organization of labor and resources
Irrigation required organization of labor and resources. This created a need for leadership.
Agriculture = surplus of food = specialization of labor = social classes
Agriculture required heavy labor (ex: plowing) = men seen as more necessary to sustain society
Agriculture meant that land was now valuable, which in turn meant that those who owned land were wealthy = Rise of hereditary elites.

28. Political

29. What were the main functions of the first states?

30. Manage irrigation canals
Establish order (rule of law)
Protection
Facilitate trade

31. What relationships existed between states and pastoral societies?

32. Pastoralists traded between states
States provided plant-based agricultural products to pastoralists
Pastoralists sometimes attacked states to gain their resources.
Pastoralists served as disseminators of culture, goods, technology and diseases.

33. Interaction with Environment

34. What are some tools and technologies that early humans used to establish communities?

35. Pottery allowed storage of food, which allowed for a surplus of food.
Plows allowed for the intensification of agriculture. More food = greater population & greater surplus.

36. How did the following groups adapt differently to their environments?
Hunter-gatherers
Pastoralists
Agricultural societies

37. Hunter-gatherers: Used resources, then moved on to new lands
Hunter-gatherers: Used resources, then moved on to new lands. Dependent on the seasons and migration of animals that they hunted.
Pastoralists: Lived in grasslands that were not suitable for raising crops. Instead, they raised animals. Had to move often to find new pasture land.
Agricultural societies: Lived in areas that could support crop-based agriculture, usually near a river. They built permanent dwellings.

38. How did human migrations affected the environment in Era 1?

39. Migrations of almost every type led to the dissemination of crops and animals.
Agricultural societies permanently altered the landscape of the lands they settled in.
Pastoralists could cause overgrazing if they kept their herds in an area too long. This could cause erosion.

40. Cultural

41. Describe major belief systems from Era 1.

42. Judaism: A monotheistic religion of the Jews. Had a codified law
Judaism: A monotheistic religion of the Jews. Had a codified law. Holy book was the Torah.
Vedic religion: This was the precursor to Hinduism. Brahmins were the top class in society. Performed sacrifices and rituals.
Zoroastrianism: Persian monotheistic religion. Saw life as a struggle between good and evil.

43. What are some examples of cross-cultural interactions resulting in the diffusion of technologies from Era 1?

44. Hyksos conquer Egypt: spread ideas of chariots and compound bows.
Bantu migrate throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Spread crops and knowledge of iron weapons.
Interregional trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia, and Egypt and Sudan, spreads crops.

45. What purpose did monumental architecture serve for rulers?

46. Monumental architecture (such as the Pyramids or Hanging Gardens of Babylon) served to show off the greatness of rulers and legitimize their authority.

47. Economic

48. Are there any examples of a relationship between belief systems and economic systems?

49. Belief systems tended to support existing social structures, and the wealthy were usually at the top of society.

50. Did systems of record keeping influence economic exchanges (buying/selling/trade)?

51. Yes (or this question wouldn’t be on this review). How
Yes (or this question wouldn’t be on this review). How? Systems of writing, such as Cuneiform or Hieroglyphs, allowed for people to keep records of payment and credit, which allowed for more economic exchanges (regional and interregional), and for more effective taxation.

52. ERA 2 Content
600 BCE – 600 CE

53. What conquests contributed to the growth of Jewish diasporic communities throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East?

54. Assyrian
Babylonian
Roman

55. How did Hinduism affect the Indian social structure?

56. Contributed to the development of the social and political roles of the caste system.

57. Buddhism received state support from Ashoka, an emperor of the Mauryan Empire. How else did Buddhism spread, including to lands beyond India?

58. Missionaries & Merchants
(same way that Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire)

59. Name a Chinese ruler that strongly supported Confucianism.

60. Wudi (he initiated the civil service exams)

61. Early Christianity was persecuted by the Roman Empire. Who ended this?

62. Emperor Constantine, when he converted

63. What forms of local religions continued/were incorporated in the major religions?

64. Shamanism
Animism
Ancestor Veneration

65. What are some of the major differences between the Era 1 empires and the Era 2 empires?

66. In Era 2:
There were more states
The states were larger
The states were more organized poltically: centralized gov’ts, bureaucracies, legal systems
Greater military power

67. Name some groups that were common in Era 2 social hierarchies.

68. Cultivators (farmers)
Laborers
Slaves
Artisans
Merchants
Elites
India’s caste groups

69. What are some examples of problems that Era 2 empires faced, including the Roman Empire, Han China, Mauryan & Gupta India?

70. Invasions at borders (Germanic tribes, Huns, Xiongnu)
Economic difficulties and social tensions
Erosion of political institutions/political instability
Overuse of resources

71. What were the major interregional trade routes in Era 2?

72. Trans-Saharan
Silk Roads
Mediterranean Sea
Indian Ocean
Local trade developed in the Americas and Oceania

73. What stimulated trade in the Indian Ocean?

74. New maritime (ocean voyaging) technologies: lateen sails
Knowledge of the monsoon winds

75. The spread of disease helped lead to the decline of some empires
The spread of disease helped lead to the decline of some empires. Name two.

76. Roman & Han

77. What new crops from India stimulated changes in Middle Eastern agriculture?

78. New Crops: Rice & Cotton
Changes:
Qanat system
Water wheels
Improved wells and pumps

79. ERA 2 by SPICE Theme
600 BCE – 600 CE

80. Social

81. Though belief systems generally sustained social structures already in place, how did some new religions challenge them?

82. Challenges to Class:
Buddhism challenged the caste system and authority of the Brahman caste
Christianity appealed to lower classes, with the teaching of Jesus saying, “Blessed are the poor…”
Both Christianity and Buddhism allowed for a monastic life, and both permitted women to be nuns (which provided an outlet of change for them).
Christianity started as a Jewish sect, but grew into a world religion that incorporated Gentiles (non-Jews) as well.

83. What are some examples of belief systems sustaining them?

84. Sustaining Class:
Confucianism’s belief in unequal relationships enforced a stratified social structure, as well as gender roles and patriarchy.
Hinduism’s beliefs of karma and reincarnation reinforced the caste system.

85. What are some common social characteristics of imperial societies?

86. Most had social hierarchies that included (from the top down): elites, merchants, artisans, laborers and cultivators, slaves
Labor systems:
Slavery (different in different places)
Corvee labor
Continuance of patriarchy

87. What are some developments that occured in imperial social structures between 600 BCE and 600 CE?

88. Caste system continues in India (completely rigid: you will not change caste during your lifetime).
Chinese society provided a slight means of upward mobility for lower classes in the form of Civil Service Exams. Most peasant families couldn’t afford the cost of education, however.
Greek & Roman citizenship allowed for more participation from lower class males.

89. Political

90. What functions did governments serve?

91. Promoted trade
Kept the peace (internal revolts and external invasions)
Issued currency
Conducted diplomacy
Facilitated the growth of cities
Ensured the continuing production of food

92. What various relationships between belief systems and governments develop between 600 BCE and 600 CE?

93. Rulers continued to use religion and beliefs to legitimize their authority (Roman emperors worshiped as gods, Mayan kings were also high priests)
Sometimes belief systems became the ruling philosophies of dynasties (Qin used legalism, Han used Confucianism)
Some states promoted specific beliefs (Ashoka’s support of Buddhism, Constantine’s support of Christianity )
Some states resisted new religions (Rome’s persecution of Christianity (before Constantine)).

94. How has commerce influenced state building (the building or strengthening of a state)?

95. Roads encourage trade, but also aid state building and imperial gov’ts in the following ways: quicker transportation of armies, quicker sending/receiving of messages, allowing supply lines to be established to distant fortresses,
Trade has led to the growth of cities as they became centers of trade.
Gov’ts have issued currency to provide economic unity

96. What are the various methods rulers have used to facilitate state and empire building?

97. Build infrastructure (roads, walls, aqueducts)
Facilitate/encourage trade
Impose taxation to raise funds
Build defenses
Issue currency
Use belief systems to legitimize their authority
Use belief systems to maintain the social order
Maintain food production
Establish imperial bureaucracies
Divide the empire into provinces

98. Interaction with Environment

99. What were some causes and effects of the spread of epidemic diseases?

100. Causes: Interaction of people groups, usually trade.
Effects: Population loss, economic damage (dead people can’t do their jobs or pay taxes…), political instability

101. Are there any examples of spread of new foods and agricultural techniques? What were the causes and effects?

102. Crops (rice and cotton) from India to the Middle East.
Causes: Indian Ocean trade allowed for the diffusion of these crops.
Effects: These crops spurred agricultural advances (qanat system, water wheels, better pumps and wells) which allowed for more productive agriculture in the Middle East.

103. 2 Recurring Environmental topics:
How the environment affected people
How people affected the environment

104. Cultural
Many of the cultural themes were discussed earlier in the Social and Political sections, so there are not as many questions in this section as the others.

105. Be able to compare and contrast the various belief systems that arose in Era 2:
Hinduism
Buddhism
Christianity
Greek rationalism
Legalism
Confucianism
Daoism

106. How did the following religions spread?
Hinduism
Buddhism
Christianity

107. Hinduism
Buddhism
Christianity
Answer: All spread merchants. Christianity and Buddhism spread via merchants. Buddhism was spread by state support in India (only under Ashoka). Christianity was supported by Roman emperors after Constantine.

108. Economic
All economic topics for Era 2 have already been covered in previous sections of this SPICE review. Important topics include:
Diffusion of crops
Cities as centers of trade
Economic strategies: roads and currency
Coerced labor systems: slavery and corvee labor
Spread of religions by merchants along trade routes (Christianity and Buddhism)
New trade networks in Afro-Eurasia (Silk road, Indian Ocean, Trans-Saharan
Technological innovations allowing new trade