*****DBQ Practice Questions
DBQ: World/ Global History Ancient Civilizations during the Golden Ages
Directions:
The task below is based on 9questions which will provide a basis of information in the forms of various types of documents followed by questions. The task is designed to assess your ability to work with the documents, answer the questions, use your background knowledge on the topic of global history, then use the information to develop a well organized
Historical Context: Throughout history, there were different periods of time that demonstrate remarkable achievements that enabled them to construct great empires, stable governments and strong economies. Throughout this time period, which is often referred to as the Golden Ages, these societies grew, rich in culture and ideas, and has continued been an influence on our architecture, government, and entertainment even in our lives today. These ancient civilizations achieved great intellectual achievements have contributed to our culture and lives today. During these times, the period which is often referred to as the Golden Ages, have left a legacy of historical traditions and practices that have been adopted and seen in American culture. Since many different civilizations during this time thrived, societies ‘grew; stable government and strong economies were maintained, it is important to understand where these contributions came from that influence our world today.
DBQ Document-Based Essay Question
Essay Task:
- Be sure to accurately analyze and address all the aspects of the Task and interpret and incorporate information from at least four of the 8-10 documents, along with relevant facts of knowledge you have obtained in Social Studies and Ancient Civilizations during the Golden Ages.
- Support your organized essay by following a logical framework by establishing a Graphic Organizer as a framework to create a clear plan of the point of your essay.
- Use part of the question in your opening paragraph (introductory paragraph), be sure to state your idea, point of essay and
- Use transition words between paragraphs
- Include details and examples: from the previous documents and your previous knowledge to write a well-organized essay on social studies, using your experiences to identify similarities of cultures you see in the United States cultures compared to similar Ancient cultures.
- Edit your essay. Check your essay for errors such as: capitalization, punctuation, spelling, run-on sentences, and grammar,
- Include a closing paragraph by concluding the information you wanted to go beyond a simple sentence that is only restating the question, Task or Context.
Document 1
Egyptian Trade Route
“Egypt had only partial success in controlling the flow of goods from Africa to Europe and the Near East. The cheapest and fastest way of transporting merchandise was by ship, despite the cataracts of the Nile and the storms on the Mediterranean and Red Sea and the difficulty and expense of keeping the canal connecting the Nile and the Red Sea in good repair. Because of the limitations of the ships' rigging which prevented them from sailing into the wind, the prevailing winds dictated the seasons when departure and return journeys took place.”
“The alternatives were the routes crossing the Eastern and Western Desert. These caravan routes through the Negev and the Libyan Desert were impossible to interrupt and difficult to administer. Even during the times when Egypt was nominally in power in these regions and sent officials there, their very distance from the central authority gave them an independence they often abused.”
Major trade routes in north-east Africa and the Middle East.
The direct overseas route to India was opened up by a Greek named Hippalus ca. 100 BCE. Before that traders had been hugging the coast line.
Question (1 point) Describe a major result of the development of civilization in ancient Egypt __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Document 2
Architecture 
Question (1 point): Identify what ancient civilizations’ architecture has influenced the characteristics of the building on the bottom left:
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Question (1 point): A major impact of ancient Greece and Rome on western civilization was that: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Question (3 points): Compare the pictures above and describe which elements are borrowed from the Greeks and how the distinguishing characteristics influenced other cultures. Give one similarity and one difference between a Roman building and a Greek building.
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Document 3
The Fertile Crescent: Rivers
“The region that once comprised Babylonia and Assyria is today known
as Iraq. This name, meaning "land of the river banks," is particularly
appropriate because the country has literally been created by the rivers
Euphrates and Tigris. Thanks to their alluvial silt deposits, the region
produced rich harvests, flowering civilizations, thousands of cities and,
in fact, marked the beginning of our Western history.”
RESOURSE(s): Google Doc’s for Map of Rivers
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication Information: Book Title: The Living Past. Contributors: Ivar Lissner - author, J. Maxwell Brownjohn - transltr. Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1957. Page Number: 38.
Question (2 point) Why were the river valleys of the Tigris-Euprhates, the Nile, and the Indus were centers of civilization.
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Question (1 point)
One similarity in the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, ancient Indian (Harappan), and ancient Chinese civilizations were that they each developed
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Question (1 point) The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt were similar in that both cultures
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Document 4
Hymn to the Nile
1500 B.C.
“Egypt as Herodotus the Greek historian says, “is wholly the gift of the Nile.” Except for the annual inundation the country would be as hopelessly desert as the lands about it. The Egyptians quite naturally recognized their debt to the wondrous river, the bounty whereof was all the more marvelous because the sources of the stream and the real causes of the inundation were practically unknown to them. This feeling of gratitude is expressed in the very ancient hymn here quoted.”
From Readings In Ancient History, Illustrative Extracts From The Sources, Volume I. Greece and the East, by William Stearns Davis, with an Introduction by Willis Mason West; Allyn and Bacon; Boston; 1912; pp. 1-3.
- Adoration to the Nile!
Hail to thee, O Nile!
Who manifestest thyself over this land,
Who cometh to give life to Egypt!
Mysterious is thy issuing forth from the darkness,
On this day whereon it is celebrated!
Watering the orchards created by Ra2
To cause all the cattle to live
Thou givest the earth to drink, O inexhaustible one!
Loving the fruits of Seb3
And the first fruits of Nepera
Thou causest the workshops of Ptah4 to prosper.
Lord of the fish, during the inundation,
No bird alights on the crops!
Thou createst corn, thou bringest forth the barley,
Assuring perpetuity to the temples.
If thou ceasest thy toil and thy work,
Then all that exists is in anguish.
If the gods suffer in heaven,
Then the faces of men waste away. . . .5
If the Nile smiles the earth is joyous,
Every stomach is full of rejoicing,
Every spine is happy,
Every jawbone crushes its food. . . .
3 A festal song is raised for thee on the harp,
With the accompaniment of the had.
The young men and thy children acclaim thee
And prepare their long exercises.
Thou art the august ornament of the earth,
Letting thy bark advance before men,
Question (2 Points) Based on the land surrounding the Nile River, describe two reasons the Ancient Egyptians claim that the Nile gives “life” to Egypt.
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Document 5
Indian Agriculture: Ancient habitations on the Indus Valley
“If by 'urban' we mean the tendency to form society, founding cities with all their attendant rules, then the Harappan people of ancient India succeeded admirably. Excavations show a degree of urban planning which the Romans achieved only later, after a gap of 2500 years. The twin cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa formed the hub of the civilization
The streets of Harappa run parallel and are crossed at right angles by other parallel streets. These ancient habitations on the Indus had no winding lanes, like the cities of medieval Europe, and town planning seems to have been in competent hands. In fact, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa represent the oldest examples of city planning in the world.
Almost every building in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro is constructed of burned bricks whose shape more or less resembles our own. But the most remarkable feature of Mohenjo-Daro's houses is their simplicity. There is scarcely any ornamentation; no pillars, balconies, sculpture or windows -- only narrow doorways and flat roofs; windows were impractical in the hot Indus Valley.
Anyone strolling through the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa will see that these ancient houses had every "modern" convenience. There were baths, toilets, drainage and fresh-water tanks, handsome interior courtyards-similar to those that still exist throughout the modern Orient -- comfortable bedrooms, guest rooms, dining rooms and janitor's quarters. And all of this is "prehistoric?" It all existed at a time when Central Europe's only housing accommodation was the cave!”
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication Information: Book Title: The Living Past. Contributors: Ivar Lissner - author, J. Maxwell Brownjohn - transltr. Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1957. Page Number: 147.
Question (2 Points): The author sarcastically poses a question about the amenities incorporated into the housing,” And all of this is "prehistoric?" It all existed at a time when Central Europe's only housing accommodation was the cave!”
Name two accommodations that the author was referring to that were unique features that made the Ancient Indian people them ahead of their time.
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Question (1 Point): A side from the city planning, the Harappan people took other environmental factors into account when building their homes. Name another practical feature of the houses built to deal with the elements of the desert climate?
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Document 6
Babylonian Numerals
“Sumer (a region of Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq) was the birthplace of writing, the wheel, agriculture, the arch, the plow, irrigation and many other innovations, and is often referred to as the Cradle of Civilization.“
“Mathematics proper initially developed largely as a response to bureaucratic needs when civilizations settled and developed agriculture - for the measurement of plots of land, the taxation of individuals, etc - and this first occurred in the Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations of Mesopotamia (roughly, modern Iraq) and in ancient Egypt. In addition, the Sumerians and Babylonians needed to describe quite large numbers as they attempted to chart the course of the night sky and develop their sophisticated lunar calendar.”
“Sumerian and Babylonian mathematics was based on a sexegesimal, or base 60, numeric system, which could be counted physically using the twelve knuckles on one hand the five fingers on the other hand. Unlike those of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, Babylonian numbers used a true place-value system, where digits written in the left column represented larger values. Also, to represent the numbers 1 - 59 within each place value, two distinct symbols were used, a unit symbol (Roman numerals (e.g. 23 would be shown as
Question (2 points): Mathematics plays an important role in modern society. Name two ways the Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations used mathematics for practical reasons?
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Question (1 points): The counting system that the Babylonians developed is similar to the modern day counting system that we use in what respect?
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Document 7
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/rome-balance.asp
Based on your knowledge of the American System of Government and the provided chart. Answer the following questions:
Question (1 point): Which branch of the Roman system of government most closely resembles the American Executive Branch?
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Question (1 point): Describe the reason that both the US and Roman Government have multiple branches of government?
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Document 8
“Ancient Chinese alchemists were trying to find a potion for immortality and they ended up making gunpowder. When the Chinese found out that it exploded they used it for fireworks. After a few hundred years they started using it in war. They first used it at the beginning of a war to try to scare people off before they fought them. The Chinese finally realized that if you explode gunpowder near people they might die so they started using it in war as a kind of explosive.”
Gunpowder by: Cody Ross
The Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty is one of the great dynasties in Chinese history, encompassing nearly four hundred years of expansion and consolidation which coincided with the period of the Roman republic and empire in the West. The period is usually broken down into three stages: The Han began with a devastating fight between two rebel groups, one led by Xiang Yu, the other by the leader who would eventually succeed, Liu Bang. (Posthumously, Liu Bang was known as Gaodi.) The rise and fall of Eastern and Western Han seemed to follow a typical pattern of political consolidation, imperial expansion, and exhaustion ending in peasant uprisings and a final breakdown of administration.
Significant developments during both major stages included the revival of learning and formulation of Confucian-based educational systems, the expansion of trade and empire to the north, south, and west along the Silk Route, and a general economic expansion domestically, coupled with changes in beliefs and burial practices.
Various economic measures were taken that expanded state control, including (in 119 BCE) a state monopoly of iron and silk production. Forty-nine foundries produced large numbers of agricultural implements. Steel began to be produced from experiments in making alloys from different irons of different carbon contents. Many farms were involved in silk production. Silk was used to pay taxes, used to trade horses, and made its way to Rome via the Silk Route. During the Eastern Han, a form of paper made from boiled remnants of fabric, bark, rape and hemp was produced and came into wide use. Along with improvements in paper production, the first Chinese dictionary (Shou wen) was compiled around 100 CE listing more than 9,000 characters, with an explanation of their meanings.
Question (2 points): Modern building technique utilizing metals have allowed us to build the skyscrapers that dominate the modern skyline. Describe what material the Chinese discovered that allow that to happen and what process of making that material.
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Question (1 point): What modern war tool did the Chinese accidentally discover.
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Question (2 points): Name to common educational materials that the Chinese are credited with discovering?
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Question (2 points): Briefly describe the role that silk played in both the Chinese economic system and how it encouraged interactions with other cultures.
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Document 9
Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor. Without civilization, we would not have reached the position that we are today. But there is a section of the people who feel that we are not civilized enough because we still fight for power, for wealth and for trivial monetary benefits. In the advance of civilization it is new knowledge which paves the way and the pavement is eternal. Bertrand Russell feels “Every advance in civilization has been denounced as unnatural while it was recent”. But man started to being civilized the moment when he started using insult instead of stone. Civilization has to be a continuous process and must not end because there is always a scope for refinement.
Question (3 point): All the previous documents highlighted the achievements of ancient civilizations. In the document above, the author describes the advancement of civilizations as a whole. Based on the author’s point of view, briefly describe if our civilization is at its end point for advancement and why?
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