Humanities Analysis – Flashcards
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Which of the following is not a theory about the reasons Paleolithic people created cave art?
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Offerings to the dead found buried in the caves
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Why are the Chauvet animal paintings probably not associated with the hurt?
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Most of the animals painted on the walls were never or rarely hunted
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How has Chauvet cave changed thinking about prehistoric art?
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Art did not necessarily evolve in a linear progression from primitive to realistic
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What is significant about Lascaux's bird-headed man, bison, and rhinoceros painting?
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It is one of the few cave paintings to depict a human
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What effect does perspectival drawing create?
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Three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface
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What features distinguished homo sapiens from earlier hominids?
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Lighter skeletal structure and larger brain
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Why do Paleolithic female figurines vastly outnumber male representations?
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Females played a central role in the culture
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With what is the Venus of Willendorf's original red color associated?
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Menses
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Why was agriculture such an enormous development?
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It encouraged distinct centers of people with a common pursuit
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Which of the following is one of the Great River Valley Civilizations?
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Indus-Ganges
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Where is the oldest known Neolithic settlement?
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Jericho in the Middle East
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Why did the Neolithic era lead to increased pottery creation?
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Pottery is too fragile to have been practical for hunter-gatherers
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According to the most recent discoveries, why was Stonehenge constructed?
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A burial grounds
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What is the most basic architectural technique for spanning space?
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Post-and-Lintel
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What new technology followed agriculture in defining Mesopotamia?
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Metallurgy
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Why did the arts develop in Mesopotamia?
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As celebrations of the priest-kings' power
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What were ziggurats most likely designed to resemble?
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A mountain
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Why did visitors to the ziggurats often leave a statue representing themselves?
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To serve as prayer offerings to the gods
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How did the Mesopotamians view human society?
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As part of a larger society
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What was the Mesopotamian ruler's role in religion?
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To act as intermediary between the gods and humans
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Which of the follow pairs correctly identifies the subjects illustrated on the Royal Standard of Ur?
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'War' and 'Peace'
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What about the Royal Standard or Ur illustrates social perspective or hierarchy of scale?
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The most important figures are represented as larger than others
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Why is the Royal Standard of Ur such an important discovery?
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It is one of the earliest example of historical narrative
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Why is the legend of Sargon I considered a "rags to riches" story?
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Child abandoned at birth grows up to be king
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What did lost-wax casting enable the Mesopotamian sculptors to create?
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Larger and more lightweight bronze pieces
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Why did Mesopotamian scribes move from pictograms to the more linear cuneiform writing?
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Drawing lines instead of curves in wet clay was easier
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What distinguishes the Law of Code of Hammurabi from its predecessors?
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It is the most complete set of laws
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What does Hammurabi's code tell about the position of Mesopotamian women?
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They were inferior to men, on the same level as slaves
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Why does Hammurabi's law code represent an important change for Mesopotamian justice?
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It made laws more uniform, objective, and impartial
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What distinguishes an epic from other literary forms?
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It describes a people's common heritage
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What classic struggle do Gilgamesh and Enkidu represent?
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Nature versus civilization
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Why is the Epic of Gilgamesh a first in known literary works?
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It is the first to confront the idea of death
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Which of the following differentiates the Hebrews from other Near Eastern cultures?
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They worshipped a single god
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What did the Hebrews believe their status as "chosen people" meant?
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They were to set an example of a higher moral standard
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Why do the Ten Commandments provide equal treatment for all classes of the Hebrews?
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The Hebrews had once themselves been slaves
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Why is King Solomon's authorship of the "Song of Solomon" doubtful?
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The female protagonist's voice is stronger than the man's
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What was the role of the Hebrew prophets in the era following Solomon's death?
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To provide moral instruction according to the laws of the Torah
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What is the Persian Zoroaster's greatest contribution to religious thought?
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The emphasis on free will
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As noted in the chapter's "Continuity and Change" section, what most distinguishes Mesopotamia from Egypt?
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The Egyptians were united by a more stable succession of rulers
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What was left behind by the Nile's annual flooding?
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Deep deposits of fertile soil
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Why was Nebamun Hunting Birds a sort of visual pun?
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The artist depicts actions that reflected sexual procreation, not hunting
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What kind of government was found in Ancient Egypt?
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Theocracy
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Which god did the Egyptians believe the kind personified?
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Horus
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Why did the Egyptians believe that a good deity like Osiris required a bad deity like Seth?
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Opposites were necessary for balance, harmony, and cycles
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Why did Egyptian artists paint human's faces, arms, legs, and feet in profile?
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They believed it was the most characteristic view
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Why was the Palette of Narmer created?
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For a gift to a god or goddess
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How are the figures on the Palette of Narmer similar to those on the Mesopotamian Royal Standard of Ur?
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The king is shown as larger than anyone else
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With what has most surviving Egyptian art and architecture been associated?
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Burial and afterlife
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Why did the Egyptians bury their dead on the west side of the Nile?
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Because of the symbolic reference to death and rebirth, as the sun sets in the west
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Why did the Egyptians go to such lengths to preserve the dead?
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The believed the deceased's ka and ba would not recognize a decomposed body
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What is Imhotep's distinction?
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He is the first artist or architect whose name survives
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Why was deciphering the Rosetta Stone so significant?
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The stone was provided the key to reading hieroglyphs
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The Egyptian word for sculpture is the same as the word for what other act?
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Giving birth
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Why did the Egyptian sculptors idealize rulers in their sculptures?
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The rulers' perfection mirrored the perfection of the gods themselves
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How can we tell than an Egyptian statue portrays a lesser person?
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Lesser persons' statues were often made of less permanent materials
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What is one of the greatest changes that took place during the Middle Kingdom?
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Writing and literature moved from the sacred to the imaginative
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On what measure are the squares in the Egyptian grid system based?
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One clenched fist
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Why can the reliefs on Ramses II's pylon gate at Luxor be viewed as symbolic rather than historical?
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The battle scene they describe was not the success depicted
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What radical change in Egyptian religion did Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) decree?
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He mandated worship of one god exclusively
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Why would Akhenaten's change in the religion create change in the visual arts?
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The gods were no longer seen as perfect, so art's subjects also could be perfect
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Why was Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb so "wonderful?"
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This was the only royal tomb in Egypt not to have been looted
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What creature, part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus, would devour the unworthy deceased at the final judgment?
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Ammit
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Why were Egyptians buried with Book of Going Forth by Day (Books of the Dead)?
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To help them survive the ritual of judgment
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Why during the 8th century BCE were the Kushites able to control Egypt?
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The Egyptians needed stronger leadership to thwart an Assyrian invasion
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Why are archaeologists so certain that Egypt had contact with other civilizations?
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Egyptians artifacts have been discovered throughout the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Mesopotamian worlds
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Why were the Greeks faced with rebuilding Athens after 479 BCE?
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The Persians had destroyed it
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What events began and ended Athens' Golden Age?
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Victory over the Persians, defeat by Sparta
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Why did Athenians turn first to rebuilding the agora following the Persian War?
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NOT they needed a place to train military OR they needed a place to worship their gods
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Why were the Athenian citizens endowed with so much leisure time?
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Slaves outnumbered Athenian citizens more than two to one
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What was the primary duet of women in Athenian society?
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To produce mall offspring
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Why in part did Sparta form its own Peloponnesian League?
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Athens' use of Delian Fund leagues to rebuild its acropolis
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Why does Pericles claim in his funeral speech that Athens is "the school of Hellas"?
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Athens taught all of Greece by example
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Why did fifth-century Greeks not see themselves as at the mercy of the gods?
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They believed natural forces were knowable, not punishment from a god
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How does the Kritios Boy define classical beauty?
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He shows a lively posture and a sense of action
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Why was Doryphoros, or Spear Bearer, famous throughout the ancient world?
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It demonstrated Polyclitus's treatise on proportion
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Why was entasis, each column swelling about a third of the way up, employed in the Parthenon?
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To fool the eye against them appearing narrower as they rise
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Why today does the Parthenon lie mostly in ruins?
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In 1687 the Venetians exploded gunpowder the Turks had stored in it
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How did Socrates' view of the good, true, and just disagree with that of the Sophists?
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The meaning of these things were not relative
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Why was Socrates brought to trail and condemned to death?
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Subversive behavior, impiety and corruption of Athens' youth
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Why was Socrates not a staunch defender of democracy?
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He believed that most people were incapable of exercising good government
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Which of the following statements would be true about Plato's idealistic Republic?
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The Arts
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With which cult was drama originally associated?
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The cult of Dionysus
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What is the central subject of most Greek tragedies?
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Conflict between individual and his or her community
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Why does Sophocles' Antigone oppose her uncle, Creon?
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She believes that burying her brother is her democratic right
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What qualities define Hellenistic art?
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Animation, drama, and psychological complexity
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Why was Praxiteles' Aphrodite of Knidos such a sensation?
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She may be the first fully nude female in Greek sculpture
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Accoriding to Aristotle, how could a person come to know universal truths?
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By observing the material world itself in which reality exists
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Why did Aristotle consider catharsis to be so important to a tragedy?
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NOT it caused the protagonist to seem realistic OR it provided a climax for the drama
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According to Aristotle, how might one attain the "good life"?
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Balancing
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Why can Hellenistic sculpture be equated with Aristotle's idea of catharsis?
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Both aim to elicit viewer emotional response
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Why can it be claimed in the chapter's "Continuity and Change" section that even though Rome conquered Greece in 146 BCE, Greece "ruled" Rome culturally?
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The Romans greatly admired and even copied Greek art
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Why did Roman artists deviate from the Greeks' portrayals of mythological events and heroes, instead depicting in their art current events and real people?
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To awe the world with the state's accomplishments
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To what two groups does Roman culture trace its origins?
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The Greeks and the Etruscans
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Why does the Etruscan language present such a problem for translators?
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The language was unrelated to any other in Europe
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Why is the city of Rome's location geographically improbable?
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Its hillsides were not favorable to building
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According to its founding story, why was Rome named after Romulus, not his twin brother Remus?
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Romulus killed Remus and became Rome's first king
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According to the Roman poet Virgil, to whom do the Romans trace their origin?
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The Trojans
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When they overthrew the Etruscans in 510 BCE, what did the Romans decide not to have in their society?
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A monarch
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Why beginning in 264 BCE did Rome engage Carthage in the Punic Wars?
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The Romans desired control of Carthage's western Mediterranean wealth
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Why was Gaius Julius Caesar murdered in the Senate on March 14, 44 BCE?
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He had assumed dictatorial control over Rome
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Why would 2nd- and 1st- century BCE Romans portray their ancestors with verism, showing every wart and wrinkle?
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To show the wisdom and experience of age
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What deeply-seated Roman virtue demanded respect towards the gods, country, and parents?
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Pietas
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Why is Cupid riding a dolphin shown at Augustus's feet on the sculpture Augustus of Primaporta?
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To show Augustus's divine descent from Venus
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Why did Augustus pass laws forcing citizens to marry and penalizing them for being childless?
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TO increase the number of citizens in Rome
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Why were the Romans attracted to the philosophy os Stoicism?
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They appreciated
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Why did Virgil compose the Aeneid?
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To provide Rome and Augustus with a suitably grand founding myth
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Why did Augustus permanently banish the poet Ovid from Rome?
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For writing Ars Amatoria, a guidebook for having affairs
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What Roman invention enabled builders to construct the Colosseum's vaulted arches?
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Concrete
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Why did Rome have multiple forums?
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Emperors competed with their predecessors to build the grandest forums
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Why was the Arch of Titus constructed?
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To celebrate Titus's sack of the Second Temple of Jerusalem
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Why was the Pantheon constructed with a 30-foot-diameter oculus (hole) in its roof?
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To symbolize Jupiter;s ever-watchful eye over Rome
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Why can it be said that in a sense, the Pantheon mirrors the Roman Empire?
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Vast size, unified, harmonious, and orderly space
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Why is Pompeii such an important archaeological site?
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It tells us most of what we know about everyday Roman life
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What feature occupied the center of a Roman comus?
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A garden
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Why did the Roman baths come to signal a decline in values and morals?
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They came to symbolize material excess
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Why, by the end of the third century, were the Romans justified in feeling politically and culturally threatened by the Christians?
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Christians made up nearly one-thenth of the empire's population
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Why is Masada one of the most symbolic sites in all of Israel?
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It represents the sacrifice of Jews rather than submit to Roman defeat
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Why around 168 BCE did the Jewish religion start becoming increasingly messianic?
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The Seleucids tried to impose worship of Greek gods on the Jews
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Why did Judaism split into three distinct sects by the early first century CE?
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Difference in philosophy
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Which sect is associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls?
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Essenes
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Why did Jesus of Nazareth identify himself as the Messiah?
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He never made this claim; his followers did
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What promise became the foundation of Christian faith?
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Resurrection
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According to the evangelist Paul, what did sinners have to do to earn redemption?
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Show their faith in Christ and his salvation
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Why did the developing Church ban the Gnostic texts?
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They were at odds with what would become normative belief
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Why are the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke known as the synoptic gospels?
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They tell the same stories, in the same sequence, differing only in details
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Why did early Christians develop symbols to identify themselves to each other?
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They feared persecution for their faith
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Why was the Nicene Creed so important?
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It created a unified, universal faith
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On what Roman style did Constantine base St. Peter's in Rome?
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Basilica
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Why was early Christianity syncretistic, incorporating into itself pagan mythic traditions?
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To convert pagans by presenting Christianity in their terms
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From which cult did Christianity draw baptism, sacrifice for the good of humanity, and Jesus's birth date?
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The Persian Mithras
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Why is Augustine of Hippo's Confessions particularly noteworthy as a literary work?
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It is the first Western autobiography
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According to Augustine, why was the singing of hymns and psalms in church established?
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To prevent people from becoming bored or sad
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Why in 325 CE did Constantine move his capital from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople?
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Rome was too vulnerable to attack from Germanic tribes
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Why did the emperor Justinian begin construction of the Hagia Sophia in 532 CE?
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To divert attention from domestic turmoil stirred up by warring gangs
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What was the occupation of the two men Justinian appointed to design the Hagia Sophia?
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Mathematicians
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Why did Justinian choose the Sinai peninsula as the site for St. Catherine's Monastery?
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This was the location of God's fist address to Moses
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Why, by the fifth and sixth centuries, was Ravenna the most prosperous city in the West?
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Its natural defenses against Germanic invasion
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What about its design made Justinian's San Vitale church in Ravenna unique?
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Its octagonal shape
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Why did the Sane Vitale artists depict their subjects in reverse perspective and in shallow space?
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To reject earthy illusion for the sacred space of the image
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Which of the following did Boethius consider the highest form of music?
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Musica mundana
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Why did the Byzantine emperor Leo III inaugurate a program of iconoclasm?
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He argued that God in the Ten Commandments had prohibited images
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As explained in the chapter's "Continuity and Change" section, why is Venice home to a vast amount of Byzantine art?
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Venetian mercenaries looted Constantinople of art during the Fourth Crusade
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Why was Mecca important to the Bedouin traders?
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It had natural springs
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Why was the Kaaba significant to the Bedouins?
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It housed images of their gods
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Why is the Kaaba significant to Muslims today?
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It represents the physical center of the planet and universe
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What does the word Islam mean>
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Submission
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Why in 610 CE did the Archangel Gabriel first visit Mohammad?
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To deliver messages from the one one and only god
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How are the surahs in the Qur'an arranged?
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Longest to shortest
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Why do Muslims believe that the Qur'an cannot be translated?
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It is the direct word of God
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What is the hadith?
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Mohammad's sayings
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Why did Mohammad leave Mecca for Medina in 622?
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Mecca's leadership was displeased with him
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Why is the Muslim year shorter than the Christian year?
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The Muslim year is based on lunar cycles
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What does the Arabic word masjid mean?
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Place of prostration
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What structure inspired the design of most masques?
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Muhammad's house in Medina
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Why does a mosque feature a qibla?
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To indicate Mecca's direction
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Why did Mohammad allow Muslim men to have up to four wives?
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To provide protective charity
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Why in the Qur'an are Muslim women advised to dress modestly?
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To avoid harassment
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Why was Islam able to spread so quickly after Muhammad's death?
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NOT: The people in these areas embraced Islam as an alternative to paganism OR The Muslims viewed converting non-believers as their greater jihad
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Why did Islam split into two main groups around 661?
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Disagreement over ways of choosing a caliph
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Why do Muslims decorate their mosques without figurative images?
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Mohammad warned that image makers would face punishment at Judgment
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Why perhaps were conquered Africans eager to convert to Islam?
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To avoid enslavement
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Why did Mali's Mansa Moussa cause the value of gold in Egypt to fall in 1334?
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He distributed so much gold to the poor
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Why did the Spanish Jews welcome the Muslims invasion?
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The Visigoth rulers had persecuted them
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What did Muhammad and his followers initially think music would do?
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Distract the faithful from their true purpose
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Why does an author use a framing tale?
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To unite different stories
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Why does Scheherazade in The Thousand and One Nights tell her husband a story each night?
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To prevent execution the next morning
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Why are practitioners of Islam's mystical branch called Sufi (from the Arabic suf)?
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NOT: They write intense metaphorical poetry
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As reported in the chapter's "Continuity and Change" section, why did Islam inevitably come into conflict with Christianity?
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Islam's belief that Jesus was a mere prophet, not the son of God
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How has Chauvet Cave changed thinking about prehistoric art?
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Art did not necessarily evolve in a linear progression from primitive to realistic
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What does the Greek word archaiologia mean?
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Knowing the past
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Why are the most than 100 Aegean islands between mainland Greece and Crete known as the Cyclades?
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The islands form a rough circular shape
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Why do we think the Cycladic figurines served a mortuary function?
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Most were found in graves
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Why was the Minoan civilization on Crete able to flourish?
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Crete's position lay on diverse trade routes
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What is the bull associated with in Minoan art?
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Male virility and strength
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How do Minoan frescoes differ from Egyptian frescoes?
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Minoan frescoes appear on walls of homes and palaces, not tombs
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Why is the palace at Knossos known as the House of Double Axes?
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Representations of double axes decorated it
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Why do we think the Minoans abandoned Knossos in about 1450 BCE?
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They were overwhelmed by the Mycenaean army
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How do we know that the Mycenaeans were a warlike people?
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Battle and hunting scenes dominate their art
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Why did Homer include formulaic epithets into his poems?
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To fit a given name into the line's meter
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What is the Greek concept of arete?
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Being the best one can be
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According to Greek legend, why did Greece sink into a Dark Ages around 1100 BCE?
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Dorians from the North overran Greece
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Why did Athens emerge from the Dark Ages as a leading polis?
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It had provided a safe haven during the Dark Ages
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What are the three orders of classical Greek architecture?
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Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
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What function did the korai, the female equivalent of the kouroi, seem to serve?
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Votive offerings to Athena
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The term ceramics comes from which of the following?
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Kerameikoes, a cemetery in Athens
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What subject was depicted on many early ceramic pots?
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Gods and Goddesses
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Why is the celebrated poet Sappho so extraordinary for this period in Greece?
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Sappho was a female
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Why in 508 BCE did Athens turn to a democratic form of government?
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In reaction to the tyranny of Hippias
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Why did the Athenians turn first to rebuilding the agora following the Persian War?
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They needed a place to practice politics
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Why had Judaism split into three distinct sects by the early first century CE?
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Difference in philosophy
