| Which of the following is not a theory about the reasons Paleolithic people created cave art? | Offerings to the dead found buried in the caves |
| Why are the Chauvet animal paintings probably not associated with the hurt? | Most of the animals painted on the walls were never or rarely hunted |
| How has Chauvet cave changed thinking about prehistoric art? | Art did not necessarily evolve in a linear progression from primitive to realistic |
| What is significant about Lascaux’s bird-headed man, bison, and rhinoceros painting? | It is one of the few cave paintings to depict a human |
| What effect does perspectival drawing create? | Three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface |
| What features distinguished homo sapiens from earlier hominids? | Lighter skeletal structure and larger brain |
| Why do Paleolithic female figurines vastly outnumber male representations? | Females played a central role in the culture |
| With what is the Venus of Willendorf’s original red color associated? | Menses |
| Why was agriculture such an enormous development? | It encouraged distinct centers of people with a common pursuit |
| Which of the following is one of the Great River Valley Civilizations? | Indus-Ganges |
| Where is the oldest known Neolithic settlement? | Jericho in the Middle East |
| Why did the Neolithic era lead to increased pottery creation? | Pottery is too fragile to have been practical for hunter-gatherers |
| According to the most recent discoveries, why was Stonehenge constructed? | A burial grounds |
| What is the most basic architectural technique for spanning space? | Post-and-Lintel |
| What new technology followed agriculture in defining Mesopotamia? | Metallurgy |
| Why did the arts develop in Mesopotamia? | As celebrations of the priest-kings’ power |
| What were ziggurats most likely designed to resemble? | A mountain |
| Why did visitors to the ziggurats often leave a statue representing themselves? | To serve as prayer offerings to the gods |
| How did the Mesopotamians view human society? | As part of a larger society |
| What was the Mesopotamian ruler’s role in religion? | To act as intermediary between the gods and humans |
| Which of the follow pairs correctly identifies the subjects illustrated on the Royal Standard of Ur? | ‘War’ and ‘Peace’ |
| What about the Royal Standard or Ur illustrates social perspective or hierarchy of scale? | The most important figures are represented as larger than others |
| Why is the Royal Standard of Ur such an important discovery? | It is one of the earliest example of historical narrative |
| Why is the legend of Sargon I considered a “rags to riches” story? | Child abandoned at birth grows up to be king |
| What did lost-wax casting enable the Mesopotamian sculptors to create? | Larger and more lightweight bronze pieces |
| Why did Mesopotamian scribes move from pictograms to the more linear cuneiform writing? | Drawing lines instead of curves in wet clay was easier |
| What distinguishes the Law of Code of Hammurabi from its predecessors? | It is the most complete set of laws |
| What does Hammurabi’s code tell about the position of Mesopotamian women? | They were inferior to men, on the same level as slaves |
| Why does Hammurabi’s law code represent an important change for Mesopotamian justice? | It made laws more uniform, objective, and impartial |
| What distinguishes an epic from other literary forms? | It describes a people’s common heritage |
| What classic struggle do Gilgamesh and Enkidu represent? | Nature versus civilization |
| Why is the Epic of Gilgamesh a first in known literary works? | It is the first to confront the idea of death |
| Which of the following differentiates the Hebrews from other Near Eastern cultures? | They worshipped a single god |
| What did the Hebrews believe their status as “chosen people” meant? | They were to set an example of a higher moral standard |
| Why do the Ten Commandments provide equal treatment for all classes of the Hebrews? | The Hebrews had once themselves been slaves |
| Why is King Solomon’s authorship of the “Song of Solomon” doubtful? | The female protagonist’s voice is stronger than the man’s |
| What was the role of the Hebrew prophets in the era following Solomon’s death? | To provide moral instruction according to the laws of the Torah |
| What is the Persian Zoroaster’s greatest contribution to religious thought? | The emphasis on free will |
| As noted in the chapter’s “Continuity and Change” section, what most distinguishes Mesopotamia from Egypt? | The Egyptians were united by a more stable succession of rulers |
| What was left behind by the Nile’s annual flooding? | Deep deposits of fertile soil |
| Why was Nebamun Hunting Birds a sort of visual pun? | The artist depicts actions that reflected sexual procreation, not hunting |
| What kind of government was found in Ancient Egypt? | Theocracy |
| Which god did the Egyptians believe the kind personified? | Horus |
| Why did the Egyptians believe that a good deity like Osiris required a bad deity like Seth? | Opposites were necessary for balance, harmony, and cycles |
| Why did Egyptian artists paint human’s faces, arms, legs, and feet in profile? | They believed it was the most characteristic view |
| Why was the Palette of Narmer created? | For a gift to a god or goddess |
| How are the figures on the Palette of Narmer similar to those on the Mesopotamian Royal Standard of Ur? | The king is shown as larger than anyone else |
| With what has most surviving Egyptian art and architecture been associated? | Burial and afterlife |
| Why did the Egyptians bury their dead on the west side of the Nile? | Because of the symbolic reference to death and rebirth, as the sun sets in the west |
| Why did the Egyptians go to such lengths to preserve the dead? | The believed the deceased’s ka and ba would not recognize a decomposed body |
| What is Imhotep’s distinction? | He is the first artist or architect whose name survives |
| Why was deciphering the Rosetta Stone so significant? | The stone was provided the key to reading hieroglyphs |
| The Egyptian word for sculpture is the same as the word for what other act? | Giving birth |
| Why did the Egyptian sculptors idealize rulers in their sculptures? | The rulers’ perfection mirrored the perfection of the gods themselves |
| How can we tell than an Egyptian statue portrays a lesser person? | Lesser persons’ statues were often made of less permanent materials |
| What is one of the greatest changes that took place during the Middle Kingdom? | Writing and literature moved from the sacred to the imaginative |
| On what measure are the squares in the Egyptian grid system based? | One clenched fist |
| Why can the reliefs on Ramses II’s pylon gate at Luxor be viewed as symbolic rather than historical? | The battle scene they describe was not the success depicted |
| What radical change in Egyptian religion did Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) decree? | He mandated worship of one god exclusively |
| Why would Akhenaten’s change in the religion create change in the visual arts? | The gods were no longer seen as perfect, so art’s subjects also could be perfect |
| Why was Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb so “wonderful?” | This was the only royal tomb in Egypt not to have been looted |
| What creature, part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus, would devour the unworthy deceased at the final judgment? | Ammit |
| Why were Egyptians buried with Book of Going Forth by Day (Books of the Dead)? | To help them survive the ritual of judgment |
| Why during the 8th century BCE were the Kushites able to control Egypt? | The Egyptians needed stronger leadership to thwart an Assyrian invasion |
| Why are archaeologists so certain that Egypt had contact with other civilizations? | Egyptians artifacts have been discovered throughout the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Mesopotamian worlds |
| Why were the Greeks faced with rebuilding Athens after 479 BCE? | The Persians had destroyed it |
| What events began and ended Athens’ Golden Age? | Victory over the Persians, defeat by Sparta |
| Why did Athenians turn first to rebuilding the agora following the Persian War? | NOT they needed a place to train military OR they needed a place to worship their gods |
| Why were the Athenian citizens endowed with so much leisure time? | Slaves outnumbered Athenian citizens more than two to one |
| What was the primary duet of women in Athenian society? | To produce mall offspring |
| Why in part did Sparta form its own Peloponnesian League? | Athens’ use of Delian Fund leagues to rebuild its acropolis |
| Why does Pericles claim in his funeral speech that Athens is “the school of Hellas”? | Athens taught all of Greece by example |
| Why did fifth-century Greeks not see themselves as at the mercy of the gods? | They believed natural forces were knowable, not punishment from a god |
| How does the Kritios Boy define classical beauty? | He shows a lively posture and a sense of action |
| Why was Doryphoros, or Spear Bearer, famous throughout the ancient world? | It demonstrated Polyclitus’s treatise on proportion |
| Why was entasis, each column swelling about a third of the way up, employed in the Parthenon? | To fool the eye against them appearing narrower as they rise |
| Why today does the Parthenon lie mostly in ruins? | In 1687 the Venetians exploded gunpowder the Turks had stored in it |
| How did Socrates’ view of the good, true, and just disagree with that of the Sophists? | The meaning of these things were not relative |
| Why was Socrates brought to trail and condemned to death? | Subversive behavior, impiety and corruption of Athens’ youth |
| Why was Socrates not a staunch defender of democracy? | He believed that most people were incapable of exercising good government |
| Which of the following statements would be true about Plato’s idealistic Republic? | The Arts |
| With which cult was drama originally associated? | The cult of Dionysus |
| What is the central subject of most Greek tragedies? | Conflict between individual and his or her community |
| Why does Sophocles’ Antigone oppose her uncle, Creon? | She believes that burying her brother is her democratic right |
| What qualities define Hellenistic art? | Animation, drama, and psychological complexity |
| Why was Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Knidos such a sensation? | She may be the first fully nude female in Greek sculpture |
| Accoriding to Aristotle, how could a person come to know universal truths? | By observing the material world itself in which reality exists |
| Why did Aristotle consider catharsis to be so important to a tragedy? | NOT it caused the protagonist to seem realistic OR it provided a climax for the drama |
| According to Aristotle, how might one attain the “good life”? | Balancing |
| Why can Hellenistic sculpture be equated with Aristotle’s idea of catharsis? | Both aim to elicit viewer emotional response |
| Why can it be claimed in the chapter’s “Continuity and Change” section that even though Rome conquered Greece in 146 BCE, Greece “ruled” Rome culturally? | The Romans greatly admired and even copied Greek art |
| Why did Roman artists deviate from the Greeks’ portrayals of mythological events and heroes, instead depicting in their art current events and real people? | To awe the world with the state’s accomplishments |
| To what two groups does Roman culture trace its origins? | The Greeks and the Etruscans |
| Why does the Etruscan language present such a problem for translators? | The language was unrelated to any other in Europe |
| Why is the city of Rome’s location geographically improbable? | Its hillsides were not favorable to building |
| According to its founding story, why was Rome named after Romulus, not his twin brother Remus? | Romulus killed Remus and became Rome’s first king |
| According to the Roman poet Virgil, to whom do the Romans trace their origin? | The Trojans |
| When they overthrew the Etruscans in 510 BCE, what did the Romans decide not to have in their society? | A monarch |
| Why beginning in 264 BCE did Rome engage Carthage in the Punic Wars? | The Romans desired control of Carthage’s western Mediterranean wealth |
| Why was Gaius Julius Caesar murdered in the Senate on March 14, 44 BCE? | He had assumed dictatorial control over Rome |
| Why would 2nd- and 1st- century BCE Romans portray their ancestors with verism, showing every wart and wrinkle? | To show the wisdom and experience of age |
| What deeply-seated Roman virtue demanded respect towards the gods, country, and parents? | Pietas |
| Why is Cupid riding a dolphin shown at Augustus’s feet on the sculpture Augustus of Primaporta? | To show Augustus’s divine descent from Venus |
| Why did Augustus pass laws forcing citizens to marry and penalizing them for being childless? | TO increase the number of citizens in Rome |
| Why were the Romans attracted to the philosophy os Stoicism? | They appreciated |
| Why did Virgil compose the Aeneid? | To provide Rome and Augustus with a suitably grand founding myth |
| Why did Augustus permanently banish the poet Ovid from Rome? | For writing Ars Amatoria, a guidebook for having affairs |
| What Roman invention enabled builders to construct the Colosseum’s vaulted arches? | Concrete |
| Why did Rome have multiple forums? | Emperors competed with their predecessors to build the grandest forums |
| Why was the Arch of Titus constructed? | To celebrate Titus’s sack of the Second Temple of Jerusalem |
| Why was the Pantheon constructed with a 30-foot-diameter oculus (hole) in its roof? | To symbolize Jupiter;s ever-watchful eye over Rome |
| Why can it be said that in a sense, the Pantheon mirrors the Roman Empire? | Vast size, unified, harmonious, and orderly space |
| Why is Pompeii such an important archaeological site? | It tells us most of what we know about everyday Roman life |
| What feature occupied the center of a Roman comus? | A garden |
| Why did the Roman baths come to signal a decline in values and morals? | They came to symbolize material excess |
| Why, by the end of the third century, were the Romans justified in feeling politically and culturally threatened by the Christians? | Christians made up nearly one-thenth of the empire’s population |
| Why is Masada one of the most symbolic sites in all of Israel? | It represents the sacrifice of Jews rather than submit to Roman defeat |
| Why around 168 BCE did the Jewish religion start becoming increasingly messianic? | The Seleucids tried to impose worship of Greek gods on the Jews |
| Why did Judaism split into three distinct sects by the early first century CE? | Difference in philosophy |
| Which sect is associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls? | Essenes |
| Why did Jesus of Nazareth identify himself as the Messiah? | He never made this claim; his followers did |
| What promise became the foundation of Christian faith? | Resurrection |
| According to the evangelist Paul, what did sinners have to do to earn redemption? | Show their faith in Christ and his salvation |
| Why did the developing Church ban the Gnostic texts? | They were at odds with what would become normative belief |
| Why are the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke known as the synoptic gospels? | They tell the same stories, in the same sequence, differing only in details |
| Why did early Christians develop symbols to identify themselves to each other? | They feared persecution for their faith |
| Why was the Nicene Creed so important? | It created a unified, universal faith |
| On what Roman style did Constantine base St. Peter’s in Rome? | Basilica |
| Why was early Christianity syncretistic, incorporating into itself pagan mythic traditions? | To convert pagans by presenting Christianity in their terms |
| From which cult did Christianity draw baptism, sacrifice for the good of humanity, and Jesus’s birth date? | The Persian Mithras |
| Why is Augustine of Hippo’s Confessions particularly noteworthy as a literary work? | It is the first Western autobiography |
| According to Augustine, why was the singing of hymns and psalms in church established? | To prevent people from becoming bored or sad |
| Why in 325 CE did Constantine move his capital from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople? | Rome was too vulnerable to attack from Germanic tribes |
| Why did the emperor Justinian begin construction of the Hagia Sophia in 532 CE? | To divert attention from domestic turmoil stirred up by warring gangs |
| What was the occupation of the two men Justinian appointed to design the Hagia Sophia? | Mathematicians |
| Why did Justinian choose the Sinai peninsula as the site for St. Catherine’s Monastery? | This was the location of God’s fist address to Moses |
| Why, by the fifth and sixth centuries, was Ravenna the most prosperous city in the West? | Its natural defenses against Germanic invasion |
| What about its design made Justinian’s San Vitale church in Ravenna unique? | Its octagonal shape |
| Why did the Sane Vitale artists depict their subjects in reverse perspective and in shallow space? | To reject earthy illusion for the sacred space of the image |
| Which of the following did Boethius consider the highest form of music? | Musica mundana |
| Why did the Byzantine emperor Leo III inaugurate a program of iconoclasm? | He argued that God in the Ten Commandments had prohibited images |
| As explained in the chapter’s “Continuity and Change” section, why is Venice home to a vast amount of Byzantine art? | Venetian mercenaries looted Constantinople of art during the Fourth Crusade |
| Why was Mecca important to the Bedouin traders? | It had natural springs |
| Why was the Kaaba significant to the Bedouins? | It housed images of their gods |
| Why is the Kaaba significant to Muslims today? | It represents the physical center of the planet and universe |
| What does the word Islam mean> | Submission |
| Why in 610 CE did the Archangel Gabriel first visit Mohammad? | To deliver messages from the one one and only god |
| How are the surahs in the Qur’an arranged? | Longest to shortest |
| Why do Muslims believe that the Qur’an cannot be translated? | It is the direct word of God |
| What is the hadith? | Mohammad’s sayings |
| Why did Mohammad leave Mecca for Medina in 622? | Mecca’s leadership was displeased with him |
| Why is the Muslim year shorter than the Christian year? | The Muslim year is based on lunar cycles |
| What does the Arabic word masjid mean? | Place of prostration |
| What structure inspired the design of most masques? | Muhammad’s house in Medina |
| Why does a mosque feature a qibla? | To indicate Mecca’s direction |
| Why did Mohammad allow Muslim men to have up to four wives? | To provide protective charity |
| Why in the Qur’an are Muslim women advised to dress modestly? | To avoid harassment |
| Why was Islam able to spread so quickly after Muhammad’s death? | NOT: The people in these areas embraced Islam as an alternative to paganism OR The Muslims viewed converting non-believers as their greater jihad |
| Why did Islam split into two main groups around 661? | Disagreement over ways of choosing a caliph |
| Why do Muslims decorate their mosques without figurative images? | Mohammad warned that image makers would face punishment at Judgment |
| Why perhaps were conquered Africans eager to convert to Islam? | To avoid enslavement |
| Why did Mali’s Mansa Moussa cause the value of gold in Egypt to fall in 1334? | He distributed so much gold to the poor |
| Why did the Spanish Jews welcome the Muslims invasion? | The Visigoth rulers had persecuted them |
| What did Muhammad and his followers initially think music would do? | Distract the faithful from their true purpose |
| Why does an author use a framing tale? | To unite different stories |
| Why does Scheherazade in The Thousand and One Nights tell her husband a story each night? | To prevent execution the next morning |
| Why are practitioners of Islam’s mystical branch called Sufi (from the Arabic suf)? | NOT: They write intense metaphorical poetry |
| As reported in the chapter’s “Continuity and Change” section, why did Islam inevitably come into conflict with Christianity? | Islam’s belief that Jesus was a mere prophet, not the son of God |
| How has Chauvet Cave changed thinking about prehistoric art? | Art did not necessarily evolve in a linear progression from primitive to realistic |
| What does the Greek word archaiologia mean? | Knowing the past |
| Why are the most than 100 Aegean islands between mainland Greece and Crete known as the Cyclades? | The islands form a rough circular shape |
| Why do we think the Cycladic figurines served a mortuary function? | Most were found in graves |
| Why was the Minoan civilization on Crete able to flourish? | Crete’s position lay on diverse trade routes |
| What is the bull associated with in Minoan art? | Male virility and strength |
| How do Minoan frescoes differ from Egyptian frescoes? | Minoan frescoes appear on walls of homes and palaces, not tombs |
| Why is the palace at Knossos known as the House of Double Axes? | Representations of double axes decorated it |
| Why do we think the Minoans abandoned Knossos in about 1450 BCE? | They were overwhelmed by the Mycenaean army |
| How do we know that the Mycenaeans were a warlike people? | Battle and hunting scenes dominate their art |
| Why did Homer include formulaic epithets into his poems? | To fit a given name into the line’s meter |
| What is the Greek concept of arete? | Being the best one can be |
| According to Greek legend, why did Greece sink into a Dark Ages around 1100 BCE? | Dorians from the North overran Greece |
| Why did Athens emerge from the Dark Ages as a leading polis? | It had provided a safe haven during the Dark Ages |
| What are the three orders of classical Greek architecture? | Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian |
| What function did the korai, the female equivalent of the kouroi, seem to serve? | Votive offerings to Athena |
| The term ceramics comes from which of the following? | Kerameikoes, a cemetery in Athens |
| What subject was depicted on many early ceramic pots? | Gods and Goddesses |
| Why is the celebrated poet Sappho so extraordinary for this period in Greece? | Sappho was a female |
| Why in 508 BCE did Athens turn to a democratic form of government? | In reaction to the tyranny of Hippias |
| Why did the Athenians turn first to rebuilding the agora following the Persian War? | They needed a place to practice politics |
| Why had Judaism split into three distinct sects by the early first century CE? | Difference in philosophy |
Humanities
February 16, 2020