1. Final Test. Part I. Identify and explain the meaning of the following Renaissance masterpieces (30 points): Part II. Write identification essays on (30 points): Covenant Jewish diaspora Five Pillars of Islam Sunni-Shia split Umayyads Mohammed St. Augustin Charlemagne Genghis Khan bubonic plague Renaissance humanism guilds Part III. Write comprehensive essays on the following (40 points): 1. According to the text, “the Jewish belief in one god, monotheism, was not simply a reduction in the number of gods from many to one.” In your opinion, what does Spodek mean by this statement? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers. 2. Christianity began as an obscure Jewish sect, but four centuries after the death of Jesus it became a major world religion. In your opinion, what factors contributed to such spectacular rise? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers. 3. In contrast to Christianity, Islam rarely relied on fire and sword to convert millions. In your opinion, what factors contributed to mass conversions to Islam in the areas outside of the Middle East? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers. 4. Between 700 and 1500AD the central Asian and Indian Ocean trade routes were dominated by Muslim and Mongol rulers. In your opinion, what were the most important economic, political, and cultural effects of this domination? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers. 5. In your opinion, what role did “trade diasporas” play in establishing world trade routes? Support your points with specific examples and cite page numbers. 6. In your opinion, what were the major driving forces of the European geographic explorations in the late 15 th – early 16 th centuries? What were the most important consequences of these explorations? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers.

2. Test 3. Part I (30 points): Locate the following countries and name their capitals and main religious denominations: ChinaIndiaN. Korea S. KoreaVietnamCambodiaLaos ThailandMalayaIndonesia BurmaBangladeshJapan BhutanNepalSri Lanka Part II Write identification-essays on the following (70 points): DaoismMandate of HeavenDynastic cycleQin Shi Huangdi LegalismConfucianismAshokaVishnu HinduismBuddhismShintoismFour Noble Truths

3. Test 3. Part I. Map quiz. Locate and identify the provinces of the Roman Empire. Identify the modern countries that have emerged from these provinces and their capitals (30 points): Mauretania CyrenaicaNoricum Pannonia Thracia Dacia Illyricum Raetia Lusitania Numidia Aquitania Syria Judaea Aeguptus Belgica Part II. Write a comprehensive essay in response to the following questions/statements (70 points): 1. Analyze the political structure of the Roman republic. In what respect was it less democratic than modern democracies? In what respect, it was perhaps more democratic? Support your points with specific examples and cite page numbers. 2. In your opinion, what was the connection between Rome’s expansion and the evolution of the Roman political structure? Support your points with specific examples and cite page numbers. 3. Gaius Marius, the Gracchus brothers, Julius Caesar, and Octavian Augustus appear as great reformers. But it is arguable that their reforms only made Rome’s problems worse in the long run. Corroborate this assertion by analyzing one of these individuals. Support your arguments with specific examples and cite page numbers. 4. Compare the decline of Rome with the general classification of causes of imperial decline enumerated in Chapter 5. Which of these causes are applicable in Rome’s decline and fall? Which one, in your view, was most important? Support your arguments with specific examples and cite page numbers. 5. Who were the “Barbarians”? In your opinion, how exactly did they contribute to the decline an fall of the Roman Empire? Support your arguments with specific examples and cite page numbers. 6. After the fall of the Roman Empire, its eastern part survived for another thousand years. In your opinion, what were the most important factors that contributed to such longevity? Support your points with specific examples and cite page numbers.

4. Midterm exam. Part I. These countries have emerged from the ancient settlements in Africa. Locate them and identify their capitals (20 points): LibyaEthiopiaSudanMaliNigerGhanaNigeria DR Congo AngolaMozambiqueZimbabweS. Africa Part II. Write identification-essays on (30 points): Minoan civilizationPhoeniciansLydiaMycenae ZoroastrianismGreek-Persian warsphilosophiaGreek theater Part III. Write a comprehensive essay in response to one of the following (50 points): 1.Apply Spodek’s definitions of “dominance” and “hegemony” to the two of the ancient empires. In your opinion, which one was more successful in maintaining its power and influence? Why? Support your points with specific examples and cite page numbers. 2. The textbook cites several common reasons for imperial decline and dissolution. In your opinion, which of these reasons are most applicable to an empire of your choice? Support your points with specific examples and cite page numbers. 3. Some historians argue that cultural heritage is the most important legacy left to Western civilization by the ancient Greeks. Others insist that Greek political ideas influenced Western civilization in much more profound way. In your opinion, which argument is more convincing? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers. 4. In your opinion, what were the main traits of Athenian democracy? In what respect was Athens less democratic than modern democracies? In what respect, it was perhaps more democratic? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers. 5. From the times of Sumer to ancient Greece, the status of women gradually declined. In your opinion, what cultural and social values in particular contributed to this process? Support your points with specific examples. 6. Choose a Greek myth or an epic. In your opinion, what are its main ethical and moral messages? Support your points with specific examples.

5. History 151. Test 2 Part I (30 points). Locate Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait. Identify their modern capitals and main religions. Be specific identifying the branches of Islam. (70 points)Write a comprehensive essay in response to the following questions/statements: Part II (70 points). Write a comprehensive essay in response to the following questions/statements: 1. In your opinion, which of the following factors – abstract thought, information- gathering, communication, organization, social divisions, art, or use of fire - was critical in the evolution of pre-historical communities? Support your argument with specific examples from your textbook (cite page numbers). 2. Compare a myth of creation with the theory of evolution. In your opinion, can they be reconciled for education purposes? Support your argument with specific examples from your textbook (cite page numbers). 3. Compare and contrast the political and socio-economic structures of two ancient societies. According to our definition of civilization, which one was more “civilized”? Support your argument with specific examples from your textbook (cite page numbers). 4. Compare and contrast the role of religion in two ancient societies. In your opinion, what were the main similarities between the two? What were the main differences? Support your argument with specific examples from your textbook (cite page numbers). 5. Compare and contrast the role of technology in two ancient societies. In your opinion, what were the main similarities between the two? What were the main differences? Support your argument with specific examples from your textbook (cite page numbers).

6. History 151. Test 1 Part I (40 points) Artifacts and technology reflect the complexity of political, socio-economic, and cultural structure of ancient societies. In this context, what is the meaning of these artifacts? earliest tool kitsHe-goat Chauvet CaveZigguratIshtar Gate Part II (60 points). Write an identification-essay on: Fertile Crescenturbanization Neolithic eraHomo sapiens Epic of GilgameshNeanderthal Theory of evolutionAustralopithecus Stone AgeBronze Age Cuneiform Iron Age

7. History 151. Test 2 review. Part I (20 points). Locate the following Mesoamerica and Andean countries and identify their capitals: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Salvador, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile. Part I (20 points). Locate the following Mesoamerica and Andean countries and identify their capitals: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Salvador, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile. Part II. Write a comprehensive essay in response to the following questions/statements (80 points): Part II. Write a comprehensive essay in response to the following questions/statements (80 points): 1. “Myth and science are not necessarily mutually exclusive, for both explain how things got to be the way they are.” Analyze this statement by comparing a creation myth – for example, the Epic of Gilgamesh -- with our historical knowledge of an ancient society – for example, ancient Summer. Support your assertions with specific examples. 2. Compare and contrast the political and socio-economic structures of two ancient societies. In your opinion, which one was more “civilized”? Support your assertions with specific examples. 3. It can be argued that ancient societies were relatively progressive in regards to the status of women. In your opinion, what cultural/social values might have accounted for prevailing attitudes towards women in a society of your choice? Support your points with specific examples. 4. What can we infer about the concepts of the afterlife in ancient societies from the artifacts they left to posterity? Support your points with specific examples.

8. Midterm exam review. Part I. Locate and identify (10 points): Attic Peninsula Neapolis Peloponnesus DelphiTroy Crete ByzantiumAthens SpartaMagna Graecia Part II. Write identification-essays on (40 points): HittitesCyrus the GreatMinoan civilizationPhoenicians LydiaMycenaeKushZoroastrianism Machu PicchuMohenjo-Daro Hellenistic Age Alexander Shang dynasty Part III. Write a comprehensive essay in response to the following questions/statements: 1.Apply Spodek’s definitions of “dominance” and “hegemony” to the two of the ancient empires. In your opinion, which factors contributed to these empires’ successes in maintaining their power and influence? Support your points with specific examples and cite page numbers. 2. The textbook cites several common reasons for imperial decline and dissolution. In your opinion, which of these reasons are most applicable to an empire of your choice? Support your points with specific examples and cite page numbers. 3. Some historians argue that cultural heritage was the most important legacy left to Western civilization by the ancient Greeks. Others insist that Greek political ideas influenced Western civilization in much more profound way. In your opinion, which argument is more convincing? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers. 4. Analyze the key elements of Greek philosophy and its role in the development of Greek civilization. In your opinion, what was its most important legacy to the world? Support your arguments with specific examples and cite page numbers. 5. In your opinion, what were the main traits of Athenian democracy? In what respect was Athens less democratic than modern democracies? In what respect, it was perhaps more democratic? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers. 6. From the times of Sumer to ancient Greece, the status of women gradually declined. In your opinion, what cultural/social values in particular contributed to this process? Support your points with specific examples.

9. Test 3. Part I. Identify and explain the significance of: Borobudur, Angkor Watt, Taj Mahal, Ka’ba, and the Dome on the Rock (30 points). Part II. Write a comprehensive essay in response to one of the following questions/statements (70 points): 1. Compare and contrast Hinduism and Buddhism as the vehicles of “cultural transfer.” What were their major commonalities and differences in this process? Are their large followings the only reason we call them “world religions”? Support your assertions with specific examples. 2. According to the text, “the Jewish belief in one god, monotheism, was not simply a reduction in the number of gods from many to one.” What does Spodek mean by this statement? What in addition to having only one god, does “monotheism” imply? Support your assertions with specific examples. 3. Analyze and support or refute the following statement: “the main premises of Jesus Christ’s teachings were love and compassion. And yet, the track record of the Christian nations has been filled with atrocities, ignorance, persecutions, and oppressions so numerous as to bring fear into the hearts and minds of non-Christian peoples.” Support your assertions with specific examples. 4. Contrary to popular beliefs, forced conversion to Islam was the exception, rather than the rule. How do you account for massive conversions to Islam, especially in the areas outside the Muslim heartland such as the Byzantine empire, North Africa, Spain, or Asia? Why, in contrast to Christianity, Islam did not use fire and sword to convert millions? Support your assertions with specific examples.

10. Part II (70 points): 1.Explain the importance of “trade diasporas” for establishing world trade routes between 1000 and 1500AD. Support your points with specific examples. 2. What were the major driving forces of the European economic recovery between 1000 and 1500? What social and ethnic groups had played the most crucial role in this process? Why? Support your points with specific examples. 3. Between 700 and 1500AD the central Asian and Indian Ocean trade routes were dominated by Muslim and Mongol rulers. What were the most important economic, political, and cultural effects of this domination? Support your assertions with specific examples. 4. What were the major driving forces of the European geographic explorations in the late 15 th – early 16 th centuries? What were the most important consequences of these explorations? Support your assertions with specific examples. 5. How did the economic recovery of Europe reflect in the Renaissance culture? How unique was this culture for its age? Support your assertions with specific examples.