Tamilnadu State Board New Syllabus Samacheer Kalvi 9th Social Science Guide Pdf History Chapter 2 Ancient Civilisations Text Book Back Questions and Answers, Important Questions, Notes.
Tamilnadu Samacheer Kalvi 9th Social Science Solutions History Chapter 2 Ancient Civilisations
Samacheer Kalvi 9th Social Science Ancient Civilisations Text Book Back Questions and Answers
I. Choose the correct answer
Question 1.
The earliest signs to denote words through pictures
(a) Logographic
(b) Pictographic
(c) Ideographic
(d) Stratigraphic
Answer:
(b) Pictographic
Question 2.
The preservation process of dead body in ancient Egypt
(a) Sarcophagus
(b) Hyksos
(c) Mummification
(d) Polytheism
Answer:
(c) Mummification
Question 3.
The Sumerian system of writing
(a) Pictographic
(b) Hieroglyphic
(c) Sonogram
(d) Cuneiform
Answer:
(d) Cuneiform
Question 4.
The Harappans did not have the knowledge of
(a) Gold and Elephant
(b) Horse and Iron
(c) Sheep and Silver
(d) Ox and Platinum
Answer:
(b) Horse and Iron
Question 5.
The Bronze image suggestive of the use of lost-wax process known to the Indus people.
(a) Jar
(b) Priest king
(c) Dancing girl
(d) Bird
Answer:
(c) Dancing girl
Question 6.
(i) The oldest civilisation in Mesopotamia belonged to the Akkadians.
(ii) The Chinese developed the Hieroglyphic system.
(iii) The Euphrates and Tigris drain into the Mannar Gulf.
(iv) Hammurabi, the king of Babylon was a great law maker.
(a) (i) is correct
(b) (i) and (ii) are correct
(c) (iii) is correct
(d) (iv) is correct
Answer:
(d) (iv) is correct
Question 7.
(i) Yangtze River is known as Sorrow of China.
(ii) Wu-Ti constructed the Great Wall of China.
(iii) Chinese invented gun powder.
(iv) According to traditions Mencius was the founder of Taoism.
(a) (i) is correct
(b) (ii) is correct
(c) (iii) is correct
(d) (iii) and (iv) are correct
Answer:
(c) (iii) is correct
Question 8.
What is the correct chronological order of four civilisations of Mesopotamia
(a) Sumerians – Assyrians – Akkadians – Babylonians
(b) Babylonians – Sumerians – Assyrians – Akkadians
(c) Sumerians – Akkadians – Babylonians – Assyrians
(d) Babylonians – Assyrians – Akkadians – Sumerians
Answer:
(c) Sumerians – Akkadians – Babylonians – Assyrians
Question 9.
Assertion (A): Assyrians of Mesopotamian civilisation were contemporaries of Indus civilisation.
Reason(R): The Documents of an Assyrian ruler refer to the ships from Meluha
(a) A and R are correct and A explains R
(b) A and R are correct but A doesn’t explain R
(c) A is incorrect but R is correct
(d) Both A and R are incorrect
Answer:
(a) A and R are correct and A explains R
II. Fill in the blanks:
- __________ is a massive lime stone image of a lion with a human head.
- The early form of writing of the Egyptians is known as __________
- __________ specifies the Laws related to various crimes in ancient Babylonia.
- __________ was the master archive keeper of Chou state, according to traditions.
- The __________ figurines and paintings on the pottery from the sites suggest the artistic skills of the Harappans.
Answer:
- The Great sphinx of Giza
- Hieroglyphic
- Hammurabi’s code of law
- Lao Tze
- Terracotta
III. Find out the correct statement:
Question 1.
(a) The Great Bath at Harappa is well-built with several adjacent rooms.
(b) The cuneiform inscriptions relate to the epic of Gilgamesh.
(c) The terracotta figurines and dancing girls made of copper suggest the artistic skills of Egyptians.
(d) The Mesopotamians devised a Solar calendar system.
Answer:
(a) The Great Bath at Mohenjodaro is well built with several adjacent rooms.
(b) The Epic of Gilgamesh was originally written on twelve clay tablets in Cuneiform in Ancient Sumeria.
(c) The terracotta figurines and the dancing girl made of Bronze suggest the artistic skills of the Harappans.
(d) The Egyptians devised a solar calendar system.
Question 2.
(a) Amon was considered the king of god in ancient Egypt.
(b) The fortified Harappan city had temples.
(c) The great sphinx is a pyramid-shaped monument found in ancient Mesopotamia.
(d) The invention of the potter’s the wheel is credited to the Egyptians.
Answer:
(a) Correct.
(b) The fortified Sumerian cities had temples.
(c) The Great Sphinx of Giza is a massive limestone image of a lion with a human head in ancient Egypt.
(d) The invention of the potter’s the wheel is credited to the Sumerians.
IV. Match the following:
- Pharaoh – (i) A kind of grass
- Papyrus – (ii) the oldest written story on Earth
- Great Lawmaker – (iii) Mohenjo-Daro
- Gilgamesh – (iv) Hammurabi
- The Great Bath – (v) The Egyptian king
Answer:
- – v
- – i
- – iv
- – ii
- – iii
V. Answer the following briefly.
Question 1.
The Egyptians excelled in art and architecture. Illustrate.
Answer:
- The Egyptians excelled in art and architecture. Their writing is also a form of art.
- Numerous sculptures, painting,s and carvings attest to the artistic skills of Egyptians.
- The Pyramids are massive monuments, built as tombs of mourning to the Pharaohs.
- The Great Sphinx of Giza is a massive limestone image of a lion with a human head.
Question 2.
State the salient features of the Ziggurats.
Answer:
- Ziggurats were pyramid-shaped monuments found in ancient Mesopotamia (modem Iraq).
- One of the most famous Ziggurats of the time is the one in the city of Ur.
- The fortified Sumerian cities had temples called Ziggurats at their center.
Question 3.
Hammurabi Code is an important legal document. Explain.
Answer:
- Hammurabi Code is an important legal document that specifies the laws related to various crimes.
- It has 282 provisions specifying cases related to family rights, trade, slavery, taxes, and wages.
- It is carved on a stone, which portrays Hammurabi as receiving the code from the Sun god Shamash.
- It was a compilation of old laws based on retributive principles.
- The ‘eye for an eye’ and ‘tooth for tooth’ form of justice is used in the Hammurabi Code.
VI. Answer all the questions are given under each caption:
Question 1.
Early Civilisations
- What is meant by civilisation?
- Name the important early civilisations.
- What did South India witness during the time of early civilisation?
- What happened when civilization began to take shape?
Answer:
- Civilization means an advanced, organized way of life. It is an adaptation to particular environmental and cultural contexts.
- The Egyptians, the Mesopotamians, the Chinese, and the Indus are the important early civilization.
- During the time of early civilizations, South India witnessed the emergence of Neolithic agro-pastoral communities and the Microlithic form of life by hunter-gatherers.
- As civilizations began to take shape, huge buildings were built, the art of writing developed and science and technology contributed to the betterment of society.
Question 2.
Feature’s of Egyptian civilisation
- Why was Egypt called ‘the gift of Nile’?
- Who were Pharaoh and Viziers?
- What is a pyramid and why was it built?
- What is the process of mummification?
Answer:
- The Egyptian civilisation depended solely upon the flow of the Nile River, and hence Egypt was called the ‘Gift of Nile’ by the Greek historian Herodotus.
- The Egyptian king was known as the Pharaoh.
Viziers were the high officials who administered territories under the direction of the Pharaohs. - Pyramids and tombs were built to preserve the body of pharaohs. The pyramids are massive monuments built as tombs of mourning to the Pharaohs.
- The Egyptians believed in life after death. Therefore, they preserved the dead body. The art of preserving the dead body is known as mummification.
VII. Answer the following in detail
Question 1.
Define the terms Hieroglyphics and Cuneiform with their main features.
Answer:
(a) Hieroglyphics:
- Egyptians are well known for their writing system.
- Their form of writing is known as hieroglyphics.
- Hieroglyphic was used in the inscriptions on seals and other objects.
- The heretic, another form of writing, was used for common purposes.
- This form of writing used a pictogram based system.
- The Egyptian writing system was deciphered by the French scholar, Francois Champollion.
- He used the Rosetta stone, a trilingual inscription, for deciphering the script.
- This inscription, which was written in Hieroglyphic, Demotic and Greek, was taken to France by Napoleon.
- From there it was taken to England where it is on display in the British Museum London.
(b) Cuneiform:
- Cuneiform is the Sumerian writing system.
- The shape of the letter is in the form of a wedge and hence it is called cuneiform.
- Evolving around 3000 BCE, it is one of the earliest scripts of the world.
- The epic of Gilgamesh was written in this script.
- They used this script for commercial transactions and writing letters and stories.
- The clay tablets contain loads of information on the Sumerian civilization.
Question 2.
To what extent is the Chinese influence reflected in the fields of philosophy and literature.
Answer:
Philosophy and literature of the Chinese.
- Chinese poets and philosophers such as Lao Tze, Confucius, Mencius, MoTi (Mot Zu) and Tao Chien contributed to the development of Chinese civilization.
- Sun-Tzu, a military strategist, wrote the work called Art of War.
- The Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the state, at the time.
- The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine is considered China’s earliest written book on medicine.
- It was codified during the time of Han Dynasty.
- Lao Tze was the master archive keeper of Chou state.
- He was the founder of Taoism. He argued that desire is the root cause of all evils.
- Confucius was famous among the philosophers.
- He was a political reformer. His name means Kung the master.
- He insisted on cultivation of one’s own personal life.
- He said, “If personal life is cultivated, family life is regulated; and once family life is regulated, national life is regulated.”
- Mencius was another well known Chinese philosopher.
- He travelled throughout China and offered his counsel to the rulers.
Question 3.
Write about the hidden treasure of Indus civilisation.
Answer:
The Indus civilisation, also known as the Harappan civilisation, covers an area of over 1.5 million square kilometres in India and Pakistan.
Planned Towns –
- Fortification, well-planned streets and lanes and drainages can be observed in the Harappan towns.
- The Harappans used baked and’unbaked bricks and stones for construction.
- A civic authority perhaps controlled the planning of the towns.
Agriculture and Animal Domestication –
- The Harappans practiced agriculture. They cultivated wheat, barley and various types of millets.
- Pastoralism was also known to them. They reared cattle, sheep and goats.
Metal, Tools and Weapons –
- The Harappans used chert blades, copper objects and bone and ivory tools.
- The tools and equipments such as points, chisels, needles, fishhooks, razors, weighing pans, mirror and antimony rods were made of bronze.
Textiles and Ornaments –
- The Harappans used metal and stone ornaments. They had knowledge of cotton and silk textiles.
- They made camelian, copper and gold ornaments. Faience, stoneware and shell bangles were also used.
Trade and Exchange –
- The mention of ‘Meluhha’ in the cuneiform inscriptions is considered to refer to the Indus region.
Weights and Measures –
- The Harappans developed a system of proper weights and measures. Since they engaged in commercial transactions, they needed standard measures.
Seals, Sealings and Scripts –
- The seals from various media such as steatite, copper, terracotta and ivory are found in the Harappan sites. They were probably used in the trade activities.
Arts and Amusement –
- The terracotta figurines, paintings on the pottery and the bronze images from the Harappan sites suggest the artistic skills of the Harappans.
- Toy carts, rattles, wheels, tops, marbles and hop scotches made in terracotta suggest the amusement of the Harappan people.
Religion –
- The Indus people had a close relationship with nature.
- They worshipped pipal trees. Some of the terracotta figures resemble the mother Goddess
Samacheer Kalvi 9th Social Science 2 Ancient Civilisations Additional Important Questions and Answers
I. Choose the Best Answer:
Question 1.
In the Neolithic way of life large groups of people were concentrated in the _______
(a) Towns
(b) Villages
(c) Cities
(d) River banks
Answer:
(b) Villages
Question 2.
The chiefdoms were formations.
(a) Political
(b) Trade
(c) Guild
(d) Social
Answer:
(a) Political
Question 3.
The early states had stratification.
(a) Political
(b) Economic
(c) Cultural
(d) Social
Answer:
(d) Social
Question 4.
Hieroglyphics developed in
(a) China
(b) Egypt
(c) Harappa
(d) Sumeria
Answer:
(b) Egypt
Question 5.
In the post Neolithic period ______ as science developed.
(a) Botany and Zoology
(b) Physics and Chemistry
(b) Physics and Chemistry
(d) Philosophy and astronomy
Answer:
(c) Mathematics and Astronomy
Question 6.
Egypt is in the North Eastern corner of the
(a) Asia
(b) Australia
(c) Africa
(d) America
Answer:
(c) Africa
Question 7.
Egypt is nourished by the river
(a) Nile
(b) Amazon
(c) Congo
(d) Brahmaputra
Answer:
(a) Nile
Question 8.
Pharaoh was the Egyptian
(a) King
(b) Noble
(c) Trader
(d) Teacher
Answer:
(a) King
Question 10.
Hieroglyphics was a form of
(a) Trade
(b) Communication
(c) Writing
(d) Painting
Answer:
(c) Writing
Question 12.
Cuneiform writing system was developed by the
(a) Akkadians
(b) Sumerians
(c) Assyrians
(d) Babylonians
Answer:
(b) Sumerians
Question 13.
Gilgamesh was a king of
(a) Babylonia
(b) Assyria
(c) Sumeria
(d) China
Answer:
(c) Sumeria
Question 14.
Under the Assyrians, Lamassu was the deity of
(a) Agriculture
(b) Education
(c) Peace
(d) Protection
Answer:
(d) Protection
Question 15.
Ziggurats were
(a) Public halls
(b) Palaces
(c) Granaries
(d) Temples
Answer:
(d) Temples
Question 16.
The Indus Valley culture is also known as
(a) Egyptian
(b) Sumerian
(c) Chinese
(d) Harappan
Answer:
(d) Harappan
Question 17.
Zebu were Harappan
(a) Temples
(b) Land
(c) Cattle
(d) Crops
Answer:
(c) Cattle
Question 18.
Meluhha’ in the Cuneiform inscriptions referred to the region
(a) Sumerian
(b) Indus
(c) Babylonian
(d) Assyrian
Answer:
(b) Indus
Question 19.
Dancing girl of copper was excavated from
(a) Sumeria
(b) Mohanjodaro
(c) Harappa
(d) Rome
Answer:
(b) Mohanjodaro
Question 20.
The Harappans used Rohri chert for making
(a) Vessels
(b) Boats
(c) Pottery
(d) Blades
Answer:
(d) Blades
II. Fill in the Blanks:
- Early societies were organized as __________ during the Pre-mesolithics age
- In the early societies, priests, king’s officials, and traders formed the _________
- Egypt is irrigated by ___________
- Egypt was invaded by the Greeks under _________
- The Hyksos were probably from _________
- The Egyptian king was known as _________
- The high officials called _________ adminstered territories under the direction of pharaohs
- Lapis Lazuli is a _________
- The Egyptian devised a _________ calendar consisting twelve months
- The word paper comes from _________
- The Tigris and Euphrates drain into the _________
- The oldest civilization in Mesopotamia belonged to the _________
- The Semitic people called Amorites came from the _________
- The oldest written epic on earth is perhaps the Epic of _________
- The first military power in history was the _________ empire.
Answer:
- Bandes
- Middle strata
- Nile
- Alexander the Great
- West Asia
- Pharaoh
- Viziers
- Precious stones
- Solar
- Papyrus
- Persian Gulf
- Sumerians
- Arabian desert
- Gilgamesh
- Assyrian
III. Match the Following
Question 1.
(a) Nile – (i) Greece
(b) Alexander – (ii) Egyptian King
(c) Persians – (iii) Mediterranean Sea
(d) Pharaoh – (iv) High officials
(e) Viziers – (v) Italy
_______ – (vi) Iran
Answer:
(a) – iii
(b) – i
(c) – vi
(d) – ii
(e) – iv
Question 2.
(a) Sumerians – (i) Sargon
(b) Akkad – (ii) God of Sky and Wind
(c) Babylon – (iii) Nippur
(d) Assyria – (iv) Wedge shape
(e) Enlil – (v) Hammurabi
_______ – Ashurbanipal
Answer:
(a) – iii
(b) – i
(c) – v
(d) – vi
(e) – ii
Question 3.
(a) Shi Huangdi – (i) Romans
(b) Wu Ti – (ii) Art of War
(c) Chinese Silk – (iii) Philosopher
(d) Sun-Tzu – (iv) Han Emperor
(e) Confucius – (v) Canon of Medicine
________ – (vi) Qin dynasty
Answer:
(a) – vi
(b) – iv
(c) – i
(d) – ii
(e) – iii
Question 4.
(a) Dholavira – (i) Rajasthan
(b) Banawali – (ii) Sindh
(c) Rakhigarhi – (iii) Maharashtra
(d) Daimabad – (iv) UP
(e) Alamgirpur – (v) Gujarat
_______ – (vi) Haryana
Answer:
(a) – v
(b) – i
(c) – vi
(d) – iii
(e) – iv
IV. Find out the Correct Statement.
Question 1.
(a) The Sumerians are believed to have originated from Central Asia
(b) The Sargon was a famous ruler of the Akkadians
(c) Hammurabi was the first King of Egypt
(d) The Assyrian kings were the priests of Ashur, the chief deity of the Babylonians
Answer:
(a) Correct.
(b) Correct.
(c) Wrong. Hammurabi was the sixth king of Babylon.
(d) Wrong. The Assyrian kings were the priests of Ashur, the chief deity of the Assyrians.
Question 2.
(a) A typical Sumerian city was surrounded by industries
(b) In the Sumerian society the priests maintained the account of the taxes
(c) Sumerians had well-developed irrigation system
(d) The Sumerians traded with Syria and Asia Minor.
Answer:
(a) Wrong. A typical Sumerian city was surrounded by cultivable lands.
(b) Wrong. In the Sumerian society the scribes maintained the account of taxes.
(c) Correct.
(d) Correct.
Question 3.
(a) The Mesopotamian art included sculptures in stone and clay.
(b) Mesopotamians were very poor in the field of science.
(c) Mesopotamians were very familiar with weight and measurement system.
(d) The Diagnostic Handbook was contributed by the Chinese.
Answer:
(a) Correct.
(b) Wrong. Mesopotamians excelled in maths, astronomy and medicine.
(c) Correct.
(d) Wrong. The Diagnostic Handbook was contributed by the Babylonians’
Question 4.
(a) Yellow river caused frequent floods.
(b) ‘Son of Heaven’ was the title given to the Egyptian pharaoh.
(c) The Great Wall of China gave protection from the attack made by the Greeks.
(d) Wu Ti belonged to Han empire.
Answer:
(a) Correct.
(b) Wrong. The title of ‘Son of Heaven’ was given to the Chinese Emperor Shi Huangdi.
(c) Wrong. The Great Wall of China gave protection from the attacks of the Mongols.
(d) Correct.
V. Answer the Following Briefly:
Question 1.
Define the term bands.
Answer:
- Early societies were organised as bands during the Pre-Mesolithic Age.
- Bands were small groups of people who were nomadic, hunter gathering, pastoral and sedentary.
Question 2.
Who formed a tribe?
Answer:
- With the beginning of the Neolithic way of life, large groups of people were concentrated in the villages.
- They were organized as tribal communities.
- Tribe as a community lived in a region connected by kinship ties.
- Their social formations were mostly egalitarian in nature.
Question 3.
The early states had social stratification. How?
Answer:
- The early states had social stratification.
- The kings and royals occupied the higher position in the social hierarchy.
- Palatial buildings were built for their dwelling.
- Priests, King’s officials and traders formed the middle strata.
- Craft persons and peasants formed the lower sections in the hierarchial social system.
Question 4.
Why was the Egyptian civilization known as the Gift of the Nile?
Answer:
- Egypt was nourished by the river Nile.
- The Egyptian civilization depended upon the wealth of the River Nile.
- The Nile River deposited fresh alluvium every year and helped to produce surplus supporting the civilization and served as a means of transport.
- Hence Egyptian civilization was called as the Gift of the Nile, by the Greek historian Herodotus.
Question 5.
What was the role of Pharaoh in the Egyptian Kingdom?
Answer:
- The Egyptian king was known as Pharaoh.
- He was considered divine.
- Under the Pharaoh there was a hierarchy of officials including viziers, the Governors of provinces, local mayors and tax collectors.
- Land belonged to king and was assigned to officials.
Question 6.
Mention one important artifact of the Egyptian civilization.
Answer:
- The famous Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb is located near Luxor in Egypt.
- Rich variety of offerings were made.
- The mask of his mummy was made of gold and decorated with precious stones.
- It is an important artifact of the Egyptian civilization.
Question 7.
Name the region which was referred to as Mesopotamia.
Answer:
- Mesopotamia refers to the region of Iraq and Kuwait in West Asia.
- Several kingdoms emerged around the city states of this region.
- It was around the early third millenium B.C.E.
- The Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilization flourished here.
Question 8.
What does the term Mesopotamia mean?
Answer:
- In Greek language ‘Meso’ means ‘in between’.
- ‘Potamus’means‘rivers’.
- The rivers of Euphrates and Tigris flow here and drain into the Persian Gulf.
- The Northern past of Mesopotamia was called as Assyria and the Southern part was called as Babylonia.
Question 9.
With whom did the Mesopotamia trade?
Answer:
- Trade was an important economic activity of the Mesopotamians.
- They traded with Syria and Asia Minor in the West.
- In the east, they traded with Iran and Indus Valley civilization.
- They used ships for navigation.
- Their temples acted as banks and lent credit on their own account.
Question 10.
Mention the contribution of the Mesopotamian civilization.
Answer:
- The invention of the potter’s the wheel was a great credit to the Sumerians.
- They developed the calendar system of 360 days and divided a circle into 360 units.
- The Cuneiform system of writing was another contribution.
- The Hammurabi’s code of law was another legacy of the Mesopotamians.
Question 11.
Why was silk route considered very important?
Answer:
- The Han emperor Wu Ti sent Zhang Qian as Emissary to the West in 13 8 BCE, and thereby
paved the way for the opening of the Silk route in 130 BCE. - Because of the silk route and the resultant trade connections, China benefited a lot during j the rule of the Emperor Zhang.
- Chinese silk was very famous among the Romans during the time of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelious in 166 CE.
- Some of the Chinese silk might have reached from Rome through the ports of Tamizhagam.!
Question 12.
What was contributed by the Chinese to the world?
Answer:
- Chinese developed a writing system from an early time. Initially it was pictographic and later it was converted into symbols.
- The first papermaking process was documented in China during the Eastern Han period (25-220 CE)
- The Silk Road or silk route was an ancient network of trade routes.
- Chinese silk was very famous among the Romans.
Question 13.
Give a description of the Indus Valley civilization.
Answer:
- The Indus Valley civilization, also known as Harappan civilization, covered over nearly 1.5 million sq. km area in India and Pakistan.
- Sutkagen-dor in the West on the Pakistan-Iran border, Shortugai (Afghanistan) in the North; Alamgirpur (UP) in the India in the East and Daimabad (Maharashtra-India) in the South were the boundaries with in which Harappan culture had been found.
- Its main concentration was in the regions of Gujarat, Pakistan, Rajasthan and Haryana.
Question 14.
Describe the pottery used by the Harappans.
Answer:
- The Harappans used painted pottery.
- Their potteries had a deep red slip and black paintings.
- The pottery had shapes like dish-on-stands, storage jars, perforated jars, goblets, S-shaped jars, plates dishes, bowls and pots.
- The painted motifs, generally noticed on the pottery depict pipal tree leaves, fish-scale designs, interesecting circles etc.
Question 15.
How did the Indus Valley civilization decline?
Answer:
- The Indus valley civilization started declining from about 1900 BCE.
- Changes in climate, decline of trade with Mesopotamians, drying up or flooding of the river Indus might have been the reasons for the decline of this civilization.
- People might have migrated towards Southern and Eastern directions.
VI. Answer all the questions given under each caption:
Question 1.
Early state formation.
- How were the societies classified before modern times by scholars?
- Explain the term ‘bands’
- What is meant by Chiefdoms?
- What were proto-states?
Answer:
- Societies before modem times were classified as bands, tribes, chiefdoms and proto-state by scholars.
- Bands were small groups of people who were nomadic, making their living on hunting and gathering.
- The Chiefdoms were political formations larger than the tribal level formation. People under chiefdoms lived over a larger area.
- In the post-Neolithic period, in the Bronze Age societies, early form of state (proto-state) originated in the areas where agricultural surplus and population density was more.
Question 2.
Egyptian civilization
- Why was Egypt called the Gift of the Nile?
- Who dominated the pre-Roman Egypt?
- Who were the Viziers?
- Mention about the literary work of the Egyptian civilization.
Answer:
- The Egyptian civilization depended solely upon the flow of the Nile river, and hence Egypt was called the Gift of the Nile.
- Cleopatra VII, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony dominated the political affairs of the preRoman Egypt.
- Viziers were the high officials who administered territories under the direction of Pharaohs.
- Literary works included treatises on mathematics, astronomy, medicine, magic and religion.
Question 3.
Sumerians
- Who were the Sumerians?
- When and where did the Sumerians settle down?
- Where did they originate from?
- Who were the chief priests in Sumerian society?
Answer:
- The Sumerians were the contemporaries of the people of Indus and Egyptian civilization.
- The Sumerians settled in the Lower Tigris valley around 5,000 to 4,000 BCE.
- They are believed to have originated from Central Asia.
- During the early phase of the Sumerian civilization, kings acted as the chief priests.
Question 4.
The Akkadians.
- When and where did the Akkadians dominate?
- Mention about the Cuneiform records of Akkadians.
- What was the change brought in the city of Akkad?
- Who were Babylonians?
Answer:
- The Akkadians dominated Sumeria briefly from 2450 to 2250 BCE. The Sargon of Akkad was a famous ruler.
- In the Cuneiform records of Akkadians; mention is made about the Indus civilization. The documents of Sargon of Akkadrefer to the ships from Meluhha, Magan and Dilmun in the quay of Akkad.
- The city of Akkad later became the city of Babylon, a commercial and cultural centre of West Asia.
- The Semitic people called Amorites from the Arabian desert moved into Mesopotamia. They were known as Babylonians as they established a kingdom and made Babylon its capital.
Question 5.
Mesopotamians in the field of Science.
- What concepts were developed by the Mesopotamians in the field of Mathematics?
- What idea was conceived by them and what did they formulate?
- What was created by them?
- What was developed by them?
Answer:
- They developed the concepts of multiplication, division and cubic equation.
- The numerical system based on 60 was conceived by them. They formulated the 60-minutes hour, the 24 hour day and the 360° circle. Their numerical system had place values.
- They created the water clock and the lunar calendar based on the movement of the moon.
- They developed methods for measuring areas and solids. They also developed advanced weight and measurement system.
Question 6.
The Terracotta army.
- What is Terracotta army?
- What do they depict?
- Where were they buried?
- Where are they found?
Answer:
- The Terracotta army refers to the large collection of Terracotta warrior images found in China.
- They depict the armies of the King Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China.
- They were buried with the king in 210-209 BCE.
- They are found at the northern foot of the Lishan mountains, thirty five kins north east of
Xian, Shaanxi province, as part of the Mausoleum of the king.
Question 7.
Planned Towns of the Indus Valley.
- What can be observed in the Harappan towns?
- What did the Harappans use for construction?
- Who controlled the planning of the towns?
- How was the tank excavated here known as?
Answer:
- Fortification, well planned streets and lanes and drainages can be observed in the Harappan towns.
- The Harappans used baked and unbaked bricks and stones for construction.
- A civic authority perhaps controlled the planning of the towns.
- A tank called Great Bath at Mohenjodaro is an important structure, well paved with several adjacnet rooms.
VII. Answer the following detail:
Question 1.
How did mummification take place?
Answer:
- The Egyptians believed in life after death.
- Therefore they preserved the dead body.
- The art of preserving the body was called mummification.
- The Egyptians preserved the dead bodies using Natron salt, a combination of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate.
- This preservation process was called mummification.
- After 40 days, when salt absorbed all the moisture, the body was filled with saw dust and wrapped with strips of linen cloth and was covered with a fabric.
- The body was stored in a stone coffin called sarcophagus.
Question 2.
Under Chinese civilization Shi’Huangdi was given the title ‘Son of Heaven’. Justify the
statement.
Answer:
- Shi Huangdi founded the Qin (Chin) dynasty.
- He was given the title Son of Heaven.
- He was considered the first emperor of China.
- This period (221-206 BCE) was known as the Imperial Era in China.
- He conquered the other principalities in 221 BCE and remained the emperor till 212 BCE.
- He defeated the feudal lords and established a strong empire.
- He unified China.
- Shi Huangdi destroyed the walled fortifications of different states and constructed the Great Wall of China to protect the empire from the invading nomadic people.
- He also built roads to integrate the empire.
Question 3.
Sumerian religion was polytheistic. How?
Answer:
- Sumerian religion was polytheistic.
- They worshipped several Gods and Goddesses.
- Sumerians did not pay much attention to the life after death.
- They did not build pyramids like the Egyptians.
- They worshipped Enlil, the God of sky and wind.
- The city of Nippur was centre of Entil’s worship.
- Ninlil was the Goddess of grain.
- The Babylonians worshipped Marduk.
- Ashur was the supreme god of the Assyrians.
- Ishtar was Goddess of love and fertility, Tiamat was God of sea and chaos.
- The kings were seen as representatives of the Gods on earth.
- The Mesopotamians developed a rich collection of myths and legends.
- The most famous was the epic of Gilgamesh.