World History Review
As the test date of your SAT World History Subject Test approaches, you will need to take some time to prepare for the test. Here are some things you might want to do before the big day arrives:
• Get started by taking the Diagnostic Test on page 53. The diagnostic test will help you become familiar with the format of the test and the types of questions you will encounter on it. Once you have finished the test, check your answers and look for any subject areas or question types you had difficulty with. Watch for trends in specific time periods, subject matter, or type of question. You may need to spend a little extra time brushing up on any (or all!) of these.
• Review all the test's key topics by reading through all of the sections in this review chapter. Again, pay close attention to any areas you struggled with on the diagnostic test.
• Read through the question strategies on pages 41-50. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the different types of questions that you will encounter on the SAT World History Subject Test. We've provided lots of helpful hints for tackling them.
• Take the practice tests! You will find two full-length practice
tests in this book. Taking both of them will help to improve your understanding of the material as well as your ability to work through the test accurately and efficiently. If you would like even more practice, you can find an additional practice test on our website: mymaxscore.com.
• On the night before you take the test, take another look at The Essentials: A Last-Minute Study Guide (page 1) and reread that material to make sure that you are fully prepared on test day.
• Pack up everything you need for the test, and get some sleep! By the time you arrive for your test, you will be ready to maximize your score!
The earliest stages of humankind's existence on Earth are traditionally referred to as prehistory. This period, which is generally accepted to span from the emergence of the earliest humanlike species to the dawn of early civilizations, is divided into two distinct eras: the Paleolithic (“ancient stone”) Age and the Neolithic (“new stone”) Age.
The Paleolithic Age
It is widely believed that the first humanlike species appeared in Africa somewhere between 3 million and 6 million years ago. These early relatives of modern humans, known as hominids, were known for their ability to walk upright. The earliest preserved example of a hominid is “Ardi,” a female who belonged to a hominid species known as Ardipithecus ramidus. Previously, this honor belonged to “Lucy,” a member of the Australopithecines hominid species, who was discovered in Ethiopia by Donald Johanson in 1974. Australopithecines were the first species of hominid to produce and use simple tools made of stone.
Around 2.5 million years ago, Homo habilis (literally “handy man”) appeared. These were the first hominids to be classified in the same species as modern humans. Homo habilis, like Australopithecines, also used basic stone tools.
The following major evolutionary step for humankind came with the emergence of Homo erectus about 1.4 million years ago. Well- known examples of Homo erectus include Java Man and Peking Man. Homo erectus made tools that were larger and more varied than those of their predecessors.
One of the most important stages of human development came when Homo sapiens (“wise humans”) first appeared between approximately 500,000 and 195,000 years ago. For a time, two separate Homo sapiens species coexisted: Neanderthals and early modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens. Both species made tools, used fire, and developed funerary rituals. Eventually, the Neanderthals went extinct between 35,000 and 28,000 years ago.
Scientists tend to disagree over exactly how Homo sapiens evolved and spread across the globe. The most widely accepted theory states that the evolution of Homo erectus into Homo sapiens occurred in Africa and that the species spread as Homo sapiens began to move out of Africa. The other theory holds that Homo erectus had already begun to migrate out of Africa when the shift toward Homo sapiens began, which means that Homo sapiens would have evolved in other regions of the world (e.g., Asia) at roughly the same time.
Although early humans evolved a great deal throughout the course of the Paleolithic Age, there are a number of key cultural attributes that define the period. Most notably, all Paleolithic human species were hunter-gatherers, meaning that their survival depended on their ability to hunt wild animals and gather whatever edible plant life they could find. As a result, most early humans were nomadic, moving from place to place to find new sources of food.
Over time, the early humans developed tools; learned how to use fire for cooking and heating; and near the end of the Paleolithic era, began to create art in the form of cave drawings. It was also during this time that the first spoken languages began to develop.
The Neolithic Age
The end of the Paleolithic Age was marked by a series of ice ages that had a profound impact on how early humans lived. By about 7000 BCE, the ice ages had significantly changed the landscape of Earth. Traditional practices of hunting and gathering no longer provided humans with sufficient food for survival. As a result, humans were forced to turn to agricultural pursuits to meet their need for sustenance. This Agricultural Revolution (or Neolithic Revolution) marked the beginning of the Neolithic Age.
One of the first and most significant changes spurred on by the rise of agriculture in the Neolithic Age was a shift from nomadism to the establishment of permanent settlements. Because people had to depend on the land for survival, they were forced to set up settlements where they could work the soil and grow crops.
The emergence of agriculture also affected the size of the human population. The nutritional benefits provided by crops grown in permanent settlements were significantly greater than the benefits provided by the food humans procured through hunting and gathering. As a result, this shift toward agriculture helped improve human health and led to an increase in the overall population.
Agriculture also had an important impact on the role of women in early societies. Initially, agriculture gave women an important social status, most likely because they were often responsible for carrying out the duties of farming. Later, however, as farming became a job that required the use of heavy equipment, agriculture became a male-dominated field. Although women no longer enjoyed the high social standing that came with being responsible for carrying out agricultural duties, their social status was bolstered as they took on other duties, such as raising children, preserving food, and managing household affairs.
Finally, the Agricultural Revolution also led to the development of the first small towns. As populations grew, it became increasingly apparent that not everyone needed to be a farmer. This resulted in the specialization of labor and development of other businesses and services, as well as early forms of trade. Eventually, this encouraged the growth of small towns, such as Jericho and Catalhuyuk. In time, as these small towns grew into cities and early civilizations began to emerge, the Neolithic Era gradually came to a close.
Emergence of civilization
As cities and towns began to appear in the ancient world, the cultures that developed around them began to grow into civilizations. A civilization is a complex society in which a large number of people share a broad range of characteristics. Most civilizations include elements such as an urban center of development, a clear religious structure, organized political and military systems, an economic social-class structure, a written language, and participation in artistic and intellectual endeavors.
Many of the earliest civilizations were formed in river valleys. These valleys offered the type of rich, fertile soil that was ideal for agricultural pursuits. One of the earliest and most important of those civilizations was located in a region of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent, which stretches in an arc from the Persian Gulf to follow the Tigris and Euphrates rivers northwest into Turkey and southwest to the Mediterranean Sea.
Mesopotamia and Sumer
In the Middle Eastern region that today is Iraq, the fertile valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was settled by the Sumerians sometime between 4500 and 3500 BCE. This area would later be called Mesopotamia (“land between the rivers”) by the Greeks. The valley was uniquely suitable for agricultural development. Every year, the Tigris and Euphrates would flood their banks and leave behind a layer of enriching silt. Although these violent floods often caused damage, the silt deposits left behind made the land perfect for farming. As a result, Sumer quickly flourished into one the most advanced and historically significant civilizations of its time.
Another reason for the success of the Sumerian civilization was the development of an advanced irrigation system that further increased the agricultural viability of the land. This resulted in food surpluses that led to increases in population and served as the foundation of the civilization.
Aside from agriculture, the Sumerians also made important contributions in many other areas. One of their most significant accomplishments was their written form of language, known as cuneiform. Cuneiform writing was made by pressing a stylus into moist clay. The language itself was composed of pictographs that represented various ideas and sounds.
As the civilization developed, the Sumerians became increasingly interested in trading with other cultures. Eventually, they developed trading relationships with other communities both near and far, often exchanging agricultural products, glass, and pottery for other goods. At its height, the Sumerian trading business extended over a significant portion of the ancient world.
In terms of religion, Sumer was a polytheistic society, which meant that the Sumerians believed in a system of many gods. Specifically, they believed that their gods controlled nature, and because nature and weather were so vital to their way of life, the Sumerians generally viewed their deities with fear and trepidation. The best surviving record of the Sumerian religion is the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's first epic poem. The Epic of Gilgamesh offers a detailed description of the Sumerians' relationship with their deities and includes the Sumerian version of the creation story, as well as a flood story quite similar to Noah in the Judeo- Christian Scriptures.
Like most other great civilizations, Sumer had a distinct, three-tiered social-class system. The Sumerian upper class was composed of kings, priests, members of the nobility, and government officials. The middle class was composed of traders, farmers, and artisans. The third and lowest class was reserved for slaves.
Because of the fertility of the land, Sumer was a prime target for invasion and, despite its thriving economy, was eventually conquered. The first major invasion of Sumer came around 2300 BCE, when the Semitic warrior Sargon the Great seized control in the name of the Akkadian Empire. Although the Akkadian Empire would eventually decline, Sumer and the rest of Mesopotamia would fall under the control of various other cultures. Most notable among these were the Babylonians, who are best known for the penal code created by the emperor Hammurabi (ca. 1750 BCE). The Code of Hammurabi, like other legal systems from the Mesopotamian region, was based on a system of retaliatory punishment (for example, “an eye for an eye”).
Over time, Mesopotamia's prominence on the world stage fell into decline. In the sixth century BCE, the Persians took over the region, and likely as a result of overuse, the once-rich land of the Fertile Crescent slowly became unable to support what remained of the once-great land of Sumer.
Ancient Egypt
While Sumer was developing along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, another civilization was developing in a similar fashion farther to the west. The Nile River in Egypt also flooded its banks each year, making the soil in the surrounding area ideal for agriculture. The Egyptians built farming villages along the Nile, the earliest of which may have appeared around 4400 BCE. As did the Sumerians, the Egyptians augmented their supply of water through artificial means. They built special reservoirs from which they could transport water into their fields through a system of ditches.
One of the key differences between Egypt and Sumer was in their vulnerability to attack from outside invaders. Whereas Sumer was relatively exposed and susceptible to invasion, Egypt was more protected by natural barriers. The rapidly flowing water of the Nile River; the vastness of the Mediterranean Sea; and the massive, inhospitable deserts that surrounded Egypt all served to isolate the region and protect it from invaders.
As Egyptian civilization developed, the farming villages that sprang up along the Nile eventually united with one another to form two separate kingdoms. Around 3200 BCE, the villages in the north became Lower Egypt, and those in the south became Upper Egypt. This arrangement lasted only about one hundred to two hundred years, however, before the two kingdoms were united into a single Egypt by a king named Menes. As a result of the unification, Menes became the first pharaoh, or ruler of the entirety of Egypt.
Egypt's history from this point on is divided into three main periods: the Old Kingdom (3100-2200 BCE), the Middle Kingdom (2100-1650 BCE), and the New Kingdom (1550-700 BCE). In addition, the Middle Kingdom was both preceded and followed by brief intermediate periods.
The Old Kingdom era, which began with the unification of the Egyptian kingdoms, was marked by the construction of a large number of extravagant tombs, monuments, and other buildings. Most notably, the pharaoh Khufu (2589-2566 BCE) ordered the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza, while his son, Khafra, oversaw the creation of the Sphinx, a large stone carving of his head on the body of a lion.
During the time between the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, Egypt experienced a period of chaos when the central power of the pharaohs diminished and the kingdoms became divided again. Thanks to the powerful leadership of the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom, Egypt was eventually reunited. The great achievements of this era included the construction of the pharaoh Mentuhotep's great mortuary complex and a renewed interest in literature and the visual arts.
Following the Middle Kingdom era, Egypt was overrun by foreign invaders known as the Hyksos, who would control the region for about a century. The New Kingdom era began with the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt. Among the notable events of the New Kingdom was the beginning of the construction of tombs in the Valley of the Kings under Thutmose I, as well as the brief reign of famed pharaoh Tutankhamen (“King Tut”).
Throughout most of history, the Egyptians, like the Sumerians, were polytheistic, which means they worshipped a variety of gods. They developed complex funerary rituals that included mummification and the use of ornate burial chambers. For a brief time between 1349 and 1336 BCE, the pharaoh Akhenaton attempted to convert the Egyptians to the monotheistic worship of a single sun god. However, the priests refused to accept this new religion, and it ultimately failed.
Another similarity between the Egyptians and the Sumerians was the nature of their social structures. Egypt, like Sumer, had a rigid, threetiered social class system with priests and nobles at the top, common peasantry in the middle, and slaves at the bottom.
One of ancient Egypt's greatest achievements was its written language, known as hieroglyphics. This unique language used pictures to represent a wide range of ideas and sounds. Our ability to translate hieroglyphics is, in large part, due to the discovery of the Rosetta stone, a carving with identical inscriptions in hieroglyphics, Greek, and Demotic (a variation on basic hieroglyphics). First located by Napoléon Bonaparte's forces during his Egyptian campaign in 1798, the Rosetta stone allowed linguists to decipher hieroglyphics.
In the waning years of its power, Egypt fell under the control of the Greeks and, later, the Romans. When it eventually became a province of Rome, ancient Egypt's history as an independent civilization came to a close.
Indus River Valley civilization
The development of civilization was not limited to Sumer and Egypt. In the region known today as Pakistan, another civilization formed in the Indus River valley. Although we know relatively little about the original Indus River civilization, its subsequent incarnation would have a substantial impact on the development and culture of the Indian subcontinent.
Most of what is known today about this civilization comes from the ruins of two major cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Both cities provide evidence for the sophistication of the early Indus River society. Most notably, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had nearly identical layouts, with meticulously designed street plans, similarly constructed buildings, and a simple form of indoor plumbing. It is believed that the Indus River civilization flourished before it fell into decline around 1900 BCE.
Around 1500 BCE, the Indus River valley was invaded by a race of Indo-Europeans known as the Aryans. The Aryans, who came from parts of today's Iran and Afghanistan, a warrior people that rode horses, ate meat, and hunted with bow and arrow, marched onto the Indian subcontinent through the Khyber Pass and immediately assumed control over the native Indus Valley people. One of the most significant changes the Aryans made to the traditional Indus way of life came with the introduction of a new system of social stratification. Because the Aryans were of a lighter skin tone than the native Indus people, the class system was based on skin color. Believing themselves to be superior, the lighter-skinned Aryans reserved the three uppermost classes for themselves. The highest-ranking class (Brahman) was occupied by priests (known as Brahmins). Warriors and rulers belonged in the second class (Kshatriya) and farmers, traders, artisans, and freemen in the third (Vaishya). The lowest class (Shudra) included unskilled workers, peasants, and bonded serfs. A separate category of social outcasts also existed; they were known as pariahs, or untouchables. Eventually, the classes established by the Aryans became fixed social castes determined solely by birth.
The primary historical record of the Aryan-era Indus River valley civilization is the Vedas, a four-volume collection of hymns, prayers, magical texts, mantras, chants, and a priestly textbook for conducting rituals. In addition to their role as a form of historical documentation, the Vedas eventually became one of the main spiritual texts of the religion that would soon come to dominate the Indian subcontinent: Hinduism.
The most influential result of the Aryan invasion of the Indus River valley was the emergence of the Hindu religion. Based on the Vedas, as well as other works such as the Upanishads, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana, Hinduism would eventually become a major world religion.
Hindus typically believe that life as we see it is no more than an illusion and that all people are reincarnated after death on the basis of their karma, or their deeds in life. People find themselves in a higher or lower caste in the next life depending on whether their karma is good or bad.
THE PRIMARY DEITIES OF HINDUISM
|
NAME |
TITLE |
ASPECT |
VEHICLE |
|
Brahma |
The Creator |
Male |
Swan |
|
Vishnu |
The Preserver |
Male |
Garuda (bird) |
|
Shiva |
The Destroyer |
Male |
Bull |
|
Saraswati |
Goddess of Knowledge, Music, and Arts |
Female |
Swan |
|
Lakshmi |
Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity |
Female |
Owl |
|
Parvati |
The Divine Mother |
Female |
Lion |
Hinduism was not the only major world religion to be established on the Indian subcontinent. Around 500 CE, questions about the meaningfulness of Hinduism led to the birth of Buddhism. This spiritual system was the brainchild of a young philosopher named Siddhartha Gautama. After taking a long, unsuccessful journey in the hopes of finding an explanation for suffering in the world, Gautama came to the conclusion that suffering was the result of humankind's desires. Renaming himself Buddha (“The Enlightened One”), for the remainder of his life, Gautama continued to teach his followers, who subsequently spread Buddhism throughout India and the world.
TENETS OF BUDDHISM THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
1. Human life is filled with sorrow and suffering.
2. Suffering is caused by desire.
3. By rejecting or removing desire, suffering is ended.
4. Nirvana is attained by following the Eightfold Path.
TENETS OF BUDDHISM THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
1. Right view
2. Right intention
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right living
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right meditation
Ancient china
Like the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia, the Nile River in Egypt, and the Indus River on the Indian subcontinent, the Huang He (Yellow River) in China also gave birth to one of the great early civilizations. The Huang He was named for its high concentration of loess (yellow silt) and was the birthplace of Chinese civilization. Despite regular devastating floods, a string of agricultural villages sprang up along the river's banks and produced key crops like wheat and millet.
Sometime around 1600 BCE, the agricultural villages along the Huang He were united under the banner of a nomadic people known as the Shang. As the Shang spread their customs and ideas among the people of the Huang He valley, they laid much of the groundwork for the way of life that would flourish in China for thousands of years to come. Among the most significant contributions of the Shang was the establishment of a new system of social stratification. In Shang society, the highest level of the social strata was reserved for kings, whereas warriors, artisans, traders, and peasants occupied the other levels.
The Shang also made scientific and technological contributions to Chinese society, such as introducing bronze as a material for producing weapons and other goods. During the Shang dynasty the Chinese began to cultivate silkworms and produce silk, which would later become one of China's most valuable trading commodities.
Perhaps the most important contribution of the Shang, however, was the introduction of a system of writing. The written language of the Shang used ideographs (characters) to represent various ideas. Most surviving examples of the Shang language were written on oracle bones. These were animal bones on which people inscribed questions for the deities. The bones would be taken to a spiritual guide known as an oracle; the oracle would heat the bones and find the answer to the question on the basis of the cracks that formed in the bone.
After a reign of about six hundred years, the Shang dynasty weakened. Around 1046 BCE, the Shang were overthrown by the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou based their claim to the Shang throne on what they termed the mandate of heaven, which they believed granted them the divine right to rule China. In the years following the rule of the Zhou, many of the succeeding dynasties would seize power using this same pretense.
Many historians agree that the most significant development during the Zhou dynasty was the emergence of a philosophy known as Confucianism. The creation of Confucius (Kung-fu-tzu), this philosophy espoused reverence of elders and ancestors, sound government, and the value of education. Confucius taught that social harmony could be achieved only if educated men controlled the government. The rise of Confucianism also led to the emergence of two alternative schools of philosophical thought: Daoism and legalism, founded by Lao Tzu and Shang Yang, respectively. Daoism revolved around the ideas of living closely with nature and following Dao (“the Way”), advocating a minimal government. Legalism, conversely, promoted the idea of a strong government with the power to prevent disorder.
Ancient civilizations in Africa and the Americas
While these civilizations developed in the East, other civilizations emerged in other regions of the world. In Africa one such civilization was that of the migratory, Bantu-speaking people. The early Bantu lived near the rain forests of present-day Nigeria before they began migrating southward and eastward around 2000 BCE. In the course of their travels, the Bantu encountered and assimilated many of the hunter-gatherer societies found in sub-Saharan Africa at the time. With the skills they acquired from these people and the discovery of a reliable source of sustenance in the form of crops such as bananas and yams, which were first brought to the island of Madagascar by sailors from Southeast Asia and subsequently spread westward through mainland Africa, the Bantuspeaking people expanded their territory to include a significant portion of the continent.
The Bantu migration had two key effects on cultures throughout sub-Saharan Africa. First, the spread of the Bantu language into Arabic regions led to the development of a new language called Swahili, a blend of Bantu and Arabic languages. Second, the Bantu speakers eventually developed the process of iron smelting. As with their language, they spread their iron-smelting techniques to other cultures as they traveled.
By around 1000 CE, the migration of the Bantu-speaking people established permanent settlements; however, they continued to migrate throughout the first millennium. Initially, Bantu society was based on a system of individual kinship groups, each led by a single family in charge of an entire family or group. Social expectations in Bantu society were often determined by the age grade, or a group in which people were divided by age. All those who fell into a specific age group were expected to carry out the responsibilities deemed appropriate for that age.
In time, a number of powerful kingdoms would emerge from the Bantu society, including the central African kingdom of Kongo, which eventually became the centralized state of the Bantu and, thanks to a thriving economy and viable currency, maintained a strong place among African cities until the sixteenth century.
As the number of permanent settlements grew, the kingdom of Kush in Eastern Africa also rose. Located in an area south of Egypt and rich with natural iron deposits, the Kush used their smelting techniques to turn their primary city, Meroe, into a major hub in the iron trade. As a result of this trade dominance, Meroe remained a major power until around 150 CE, when Kush fell under the control of the kingdom of Aksum.
The Nok, a West African culture from the region known today as Nigeria, was yet another African community that pioneered iron smelting. Primarily existing between 900 BCE and 200 CE, the Nok used their supply of iron and smelting skills to produce tools that could be used for agriculture and hunting. The Nok were also known for their terra-cotta sculptures.
Although it was largely isolated from the rest of the world, the Western Hemisphere also had a number of early civilizations. By around 7000 BCE, numerous small agricultural societies began to appear in parts of both North and South America. Historians theorize that these populations migrated to the Americas via land bridges, which appeared as a result of a variety of natural processes such as the rising and falling of sea levels and the movement of plate tectonics.
Around 1200 BCE, the Olmec became the first major civilization to emerge in the Americas. The Olmec constructed pyramids, compiled a basic system of written language, and invented both a numbering system and a sophisticated ritual calendar. Evidence also suggests that the Olmec may have been actively involved in trade with other cultures. Eventually, the Olmec would be succeeded by a number of other civilizations that would dominate the Americas until the arrival of Europeans.
Review Questions
1. Sumer and Egypt were similar in all of the following ways EXCEPT
A. agricultural dependence on the silt left behind by flooding
B. belief in a polytheistic religion centered on deities of nature
C. enjoyment of protection from invasion by natural barriers
D. development of distinct systems of written language
E. engagement in trade with other nearby cultures
2. A follower of the Chinese philosophy of Daoism would MOST agree with which statement?
A. Government intrusiveness should be kept to a minimum.
B. Government works best when run by well-educated men.
C. Government should be focused on strengthening the state.
D. Governments that allow too much freedom are doomed to fail.
E. Governments have an obligation to suppress independent thought.
3. Which of these was NOT a characteristic of early humans in the Paleolithic Age?
A. Ability to make and use simple tools
B. Tendency to live in permanent settlements
C. Reliance on hunting and gathering techniques
D. Propensity for creating artistic cave drawings
E. Mastery of fire for cooking and heating purposes
4. Buddhism was founded in part as a response to questions about which faith?
A. Islam
B. Daoism
C. Judaism
D. Hinduism
E. Christianity
5. The Kush city of Meroe rose to prominence mainly because of its natural supply of
A. salt
B. iron
C. gold
D. grain
E. silver
Answer Explanations
1. C. Although Sumer and Egypt had many similarities, the degree to which the natural surroundings safeguarded each from invasion was quite different. Whereas Egypt was relatively insulated from outside attacks by dangerous waterfalls, impassible deserts, and the vast Mediterranean Sea, Sumer was more exposed and was, in fact, subject to invasion on numerous occasions.
2. A. The teachings of Daoism state that since people are generally incapable of self-governance, the least government is the best government. As a result, followers of Daoism would be most likely to agree with the statement “Government intrusiveness should be kept to a minimum.”
3. B. The early humans of the Paleolithic Age did not usually live in permanent settlements. Because these humans were primarily hunter- gatherers, they were forced to move from place to place to find food. They were mostly nomadic. Humans would not begin to establish permanent settlements until the agricultural revolution of the Neolithic Age.
4. D. In its early stages, Buddhism arose in part because some followers questioned Hinduism.
5. B. Meroe became a major trading power mainly because of its natural iron deposits. With such vast amounts of readily available iron at their disposal, the Kush, having developed their own smelting techniques, managed to produce a variety of iron goods that they could use for trading with other cultures. The iron trade eventually made Meroe one of Africa's principal trading cities.