WH9
Unit Exam
Pre-history to Urbanization (including the Fertile Crescent and the Nile River Valley)

A. Terms
For each of the terms, you should be able to give a one-sentence definition and explain why this term is significant to our study of pre-history through urbanization.

Fertile Crescent
Crescent-shaped region in modern-day Iraq around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
The Fertile Crescent is relevant because it is the site of the first civilizations, its geographical advantages present many contributions to the lives of humans living in it, and ________________
Mesopotamia
First civilization, located in the Fertile Crescent mostly between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
It is significant because it was the very first civilization, and the civilization that birthed many important things like the first written code of law we know of, the wheel, etc. polytheism The religious belief in more than one god
This is significant because we know that the people of the early civilizations in Mesopotamia practiced polytheism, which offers insight as to how these people lived, for religion must have impacted daily life at the time significantly.
Hammurabi
Hammurabi was the Babylonian king that is credited with the first whole code of written law, Hammurabi’s Code.
It is significant because these laws give us today much information about the daily life of Babylonians, how they dealt out punishments/handled different situations, and society at that time
Cro-Magnon
The prehistoric humans identical to modern-day humans that made new tools with specialized uses, planning their hunts, studying animal behaviors, stalking their prey. With these advances Cro-magnons survived much easier than those before them
This is significant because these were the people that developed many technological advancements such as specialized tools, better/more efficient hunting, and more advanced language plow agriculture
Agriculture that began with the shift from the use of hoes to plows, using plows (more strenuous but also more efficient farming) to work the land
This is very important because with the change from hoe agriculture to plow agriculture came the gradual decrease in value placed on women and their labor/contributions to society, bringing about the formation of the patriarchy as a result of male labor and thus males being considered higher and better than female. hoe agriculture
The original technique used in farming in which a hoe was used to till the soil see above
Neolithic Revolution
The birth/discovery of farming, which brought about the change in early humans’ lifestyles from hunter-gatherer to stationary and more permanent, and allowing more efficient supply of food
This is very significant in that it changed the way humans lived; they were now capable of survival while staying in one place. Instead of gathering the food, they grew it instead. Not only did it change the lifestyle, it would usher in new developments of permanent settlements, communities, and eventually civilization. Furthermore, with a steady supply of food and the farming not needing everyone to take part in the labor, people not required to farm were able to invent new ways to do things patriarchy The society in which males hold most (if not all) the power, and women are largely excluded from it
This is significant because the development of the patriarchy in prehistoric times would pave the way for male power and female oppression in the future, and greatly affected the way people lived because of it. domestication the taming of animals for human use
This is relevant because through the domestication of animals early peoples were able to more efficiently live and provide for themselves food even if the crops did not yield enough. They were one of the many merits of having a permanent settlement, and affected the lives of these early peoples specialization the development of skills in a particular field of work
Because of the