Humanities Review Questions

"Prehistory" may be defined as the period prior to

written records

The landmark known as stonehenge is located in

england

which iron age sea-faring people created a non-pictographic alphabet?

Phoenicians

The name Zoroaster is associated primarily with the history of

Persia

Hammurabi’s Code is significant chiefly because it

is unusually comprehensive and extensive

In Hindiuism, the Absolute Spirit is known as

Brahman

The earliest discovered inscribed clay tablets come from

Sumer

Research in the origins of writing suggest that written signs derived from

markings on clay tokens

The landmark known as the Book of the Dead is

a set of Egyptian funerary prayers

Which of the following statements about the Epic of Gilgamesh is most accurate

it was passed down orally for centuries

The world’s oldest clay vessels appear to have come from

Japan

Jade artifacts, especially in the form of circular discs are primarily associated with ancient

China

One of the earliest landmarks of Paleolithic culture is

cave-painting

The first civilizations appeared

on the banks of rivers

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are located in present day

Iraq

The term Paleolithic is used interchangeably with the term

Old Stone Age

The Great Temple at Karnak was

dedicated to the sun-god Amon-Ra

Hammurabi was the ruler of

Babylon

The Egyptian pyramids functioned primarily as

tombs

Zhou rebels justified their rebellion against the Shang dynasty on the basis of

the Mandate of Heaven

Taking its name from the term for "sacred knowledge" which hindu literature teaches worship through prayer and sacrifice?

Vedas

Akhentaten is associated with what religion or religious view?

monotheism

The first literary epic developed in

Mesopotamia

Alexander carried Hellenic Culture as far east as

india

In the Republic, plato argues that ________ should govern.

philosopher-kings

Which of the following orders is NOT a program of ancient Greek architectural design?

Hellenistic

The word "marathon" derives from

news of Greek military victory over the persians

A landmark of the Hellenistic Age is the

Apollo Belvedere

In Golden Age Athens, laws were made by

male landowners

The so-called "Heroic Age" refers to the era that produced

the Greek epics

The name Herodotus is associated with the birth of

historical-record keeping

The thinker who advanced the idea that reality lay in numerical proportion was

Pythagoras

Dramatic festivals were held in Athens

twice a year

Aristotle’s landmark contributions include all of the following EXCEPT

the invention of the dialectical method

Minoan and Mycenacan civilizations arose in

the Aegan Sea

The Parthenon is dedicated to

Athena

The origins of Greek Drama are probably found in

religious celebrations

Athens’ Golden Age flowered shortly after the

Persian Wars

The unfree laborers in Sparta were called

helots

The word "Hellenic" means

Greek

The two great epics of the Greeks, the Iliad and the Odyssey, feature

the heroes of the Trojan War

Which of the following schools of thought was NOT developed in the Hellenistic Age?

Sophism

A series of arches placed back to back produce

a barrel vault

Which of the following landmarks commemorated Roman military victories?

Trajan’s Column

The punic Wars were waged between Rome and

Carthage

In contrast with Rome, imperial China under the Qin and Han left no landmark

epic poems

The geo of Virgil’s Aeneid is a native of

Troy

Roman portraits were

typically more realistic than Greek sculptures

Which Romas poet’s roque The Art of Love led Octavian to send him into exile?

Ovid

The civil and military authority of Rome was known as the

imperium

The Pantheon was dedicated to

the planetary deities

The immediate consequence of the assassination of Julius Caesar was

a struggle for power between his first lieutenant and his adopted son

The life-sized figures found in the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin dynasty are made of

terracotta

Juvenal was Romes

most famous satirist

Roman artists used the technique later known as tromp l’oeil in order to

trick the eye into perceiving depth on a flat surface

There wis little surviving evidence with which to judge Romes accomplishments in the field of

music

Catullus dedicated some of his poems to a woman he called Lesbia, a not to the influence of which poet on his work?

Sappho

Which of the following peoples had the LEAST direct influence on the development of Roman culture?

the Hitties

Which of the following statements best captures Seneca’s Stoic philosophy?

"Work to achieve peace of mind"

Romans innovated the use of which building material, which made large-scale architectural constructions much cheaper to build?

concrete

Roman baths typically centered on a rectangular colonnaded hall known as

a basilica

The powerful landowners of ancient Rome were known as

patricians

After their Exodus from Egypt, the Hebrews retook Canaan by defeating the

Philistines

The greatest architectural landmark of the Byzantine Constantinople was

Hagia Sophia

An integral aspect of Hebrew monotheism is the theme of

a covenant between human beings and God

A basic element in the arts of islam is

Arabic calligraphy

Which of the following statements about the pre-Christian cult of Mithra is False?

Membership in the cult of Mithra was dominated by women

Which of the following four religions is not generally regarded as one based on divine revalation

Buddhism

The first five books of the Hebrew Bible are known as the

Torah

The Latin Church father who wrote the City of God is

Augustine

In early Christian artistic tradition, which apostle was depicted as a lion?

Mark

The hebrew claim the Canaan begins with the bibical story of

Abraham

The goal of the Buddhist is

escape form rebirth

The obligatory Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca is known as the

haij

Paul helped transform Christianity into a major religion by

preaching to the Gentiles

Which cultural landmark was attributed to King David

the psalms

The Christian calendar, which dates form the birth of jesus was formulated by

a sixth century abbot

Christianity was legalized by

the Edict of Milan

The north/south arms of the early Christian church are called the

transept

In the Muslim faith, the world Allah means

God

The holy city of _______ is the birthplace of Mohammed, the destination of the Muslim pilgrimage, and the site of the sacred stone known as the Kaaba.

Mecca

One landmark of early Budhist culture is the

stupa at Sanchi

Which of the following themes or images would have been least likely to appear in Christian art before the fifth century?

The crucifixion of Jesus

The earliest of the Gospels was written

at least forty years after the death of Jesus.

Which of the following was not essential to the medical synthesis?

Chinese culture

The landmark literature of the Germanic tribes took the form of

epics

The battle of Adrianople was a landmark event that

opened the door to the Germanic invasion of the West.

The landmark event known as the Battle of Hastings is famously recorded in

The Bayeux Tapestry

The interlace designs of the book of Kells are most similar to the patters

on metalwork artifacts from Germanic graves

Among the most numerous and impressive landmarks of the Carolingian renaissance were

illuminated manuscripts in more legible script

The carolingian renaissance depended greatly on

benedictine monastaries

An important center of learning in Charlemagnes time was the palace-school at

Aachen

The first novel in world history was written by

Murasaki Shikibu

Japanese samurai abided by a warrior code known as

bushido

Medieval feudalism in Europe

involved that exchange of land for military service

The medieval feudalism in europe

involved the exchange of land for military service

The medieval surf was

an unfree rural laborer

Games of combat imitating medieval warfare were called

jousts

The Bayeux Tapestry recorded which historical event

the Norman conquest of England

The primary subject of chanson de geste was

heroic deeds

Which of the following statements about 12th century troubadours is FALSE?

they were usually of lowly birth

The tradition of courtly love

shaped modern concepts of gender

Medieval music-drama originated with the

embellishment of the mass

The intellectual elite Tang and Song China were deeply influenced by

Confucian traditions

The Tang and Song eras were a Golden Age of

landscape painting

Which of the following was NOT among the landmarks of Tang and Song China

the creation of a simplified Chinese writing system

The interdict and excommunication were methods by which

the Church maintained its authority

The sacraments by which medieval Christians hoped to receive the grace of God

were codified by an early 13th century church council

According to the medieval Catholic teachings, what was the intermediate realm where Christians were punished for the repented sins that had not been expiated before their deaths?

Purgatory

Christendom refers to the

christian community of the middle ages

The most important of the seven sacraments and central ritual of the mass is

the Eucharist

According to Hildegard, the visions that she recorded in Scivas came to her from

a voice from heaven

Saint Francis differed form the monastics that preceded him because he

rejected a cloistered life

which of the following statements about medieval towns is False

by the twelfth century, the majority of Europeans lived in towns

Know the Ways of the Lord, also known as Scivas , is a treatise written by

Hildegard on Bingen

The popular medieval drama everyman is an example of a

mortality play

The protagonist of the medieval drama Everyman discovers that his only hope for salvation rests with good works and

the grace of god