20 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in every exam-style shape used in the paper. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markThe name Mesopotamia is built from the Greek words mesos and potamos. What do these two words mean?
(A) “Middle” and “river”(B) “City” and “river”(C) “Middle” and “mountain”(D) “Two” and “land” - 1 markThe territory of ancient Mesopotamia lies mostly inside the borders of which country today?
(A) Iran(B) Turkey(C) Iraq(D) Egypt - 1 markAround which year do the earliest Mesopotamian clay tablets carrying picture-like signs and numbers date from?
(A) c. 5000 BCE(B) c. 3200 BCE(C) c. 2600 BCE(D) c. 1800 BCE - 1 markThe roughly 5,000 oldest written tablets recovered from Uruk are mostly records of which kind?
(A) Hymns sung in the temple(B) Letters exchanged between kings(C) Legal codes announced by rulers(D) Lists of oxen, fish and bread loaves - 1 markCuneiform takes its name from the Latin cuneus. What does cuneus stand for?
(A) Reed(B) Clay(C) Wedge(D) Sign - 1 markFrom about 2400 BCE, which tongue gradually took the place of Sumerian as the spoken language of the land?
(A) Aramaic(B) Akkadian(C) Greek(D) Amorite
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): Southern Mesopotamia had to organise long-distance trade for wood, copper and tin.
Reason (R): Southern Mesopotamia lacked good stone, strong timber and metal ores of its own.
(A) A and R are both true, and R correctly explains A(B) A and R are both true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Every Mesopotamian transaction, however small, needed a fresh clay tablet of its own.
Reason (R): Once a clay tablet dried in the sun it became as hard as pottery.
(A) A and R are both true, and R correctly explains A(B) A and R are both true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) Enmerkar (ii) Gilgamesh (iii) Zimrilim (iv) Assurbanipal
List II: (a) Collected a library of some 30,000 tablets at Nineveh (b) Ruled from a palace of 260 rooms at Mari (c) Said in a Sumerian poem to have first written words on clay (d) Hero of an epic on twelve tablets who searched for immortality
(A) i-c, ii-d, iii-b, iv-a(B) i-d, ii-c, iii-a, iv-b(C) i-c, ii-b, iii-d, iv-a(D) i-a, ii-d, iii-b, iv-c - 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) Uruk (ii) Ur (iii) Mari (iv) Nineveh
List II: (a) Dug up in the 1930s, winding lanes and drains inside courtyards (b) Assyrian capital where a royal library was gathered (c) Trading town far upstream on the Euphrates in a pastoral zone (d) Temple town of about 250 hectares around 3000 BCE
(A) i-a, ii-d, iii-c, iv-b(B) i-d, ii-c, iii-a, iv-b(C) i-b, ii-a, iii-c, iv-d(D) i-d, ii-a, iii-c, iv-b
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
Statement I: Irrigated farming in southern Mesopotamia was among the most productive of any ancient system.
Statement II: Southern Mesopotamia enjoyed plentiful rainfall through the year.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true - 1 markConsider the following statements.
Statement I: Any settlement with a large population counts as a city.
Statement II: An urban economy rests on trade, manufactures and services besides the growing of food.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true
5 Chronological Ordering
Chronological Ordering
- 1 markArrange these developments in chronological order.
1. The cuneiform script develops fully
2. Uruk grows into a huge city of some 250 hectares
3. The first writing appears in Mesopotamia
(A) 1-2-3(B) 2-3-1(C) 3-1-2(D) 3-2-1 - 1 markArrange these rulers and events in chronological order.
1. Alexander conquers Babylon
2. Assurbanipal rules from Nineveh
3. The Achaemenids of Iran conquer Babylon
4. Nabopolassar frees Babylonia from Assyrian rule
(A) 2-4-3-1(B) 4-2-1-3(C) 2-3-4-1(D) 4-3-2-1
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markA scribe pressed wedge-shaped signs into damp clay with the obliquely cut end of a ______.
(A) bronze chisel(B) reed(C) bone needle(D) copper stylus - 1 markThe Assyrian ruler who sent his scribes southward to hunt out old tablets was ______.
(A) Nabopolassar(B) Sargon(C) Assurbanipal(D) Nabonidus
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markThree of these had to be brought into southern Mesopotamia from outside. Which one did not?
(A) Copper(B) Tin(C) Good building stone(D) Woollen textiles
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
A long Sumerian epic poem tells of Enmerkar, an early ruler of Uruk, the city so central to Mesopotamian tradition that it was simply called “The City”. Wanting lapis lazuli and precious metals to beautify a city temple, Enmerkar sent his messenger across seven mountain ranges to the distant land of Aratta, again and again, carrying threats and promises. In the end the messenger “grew weary of mouth” and could not repeat the long spoken messages correctly. So, the poem says, Enmerkar formed a clay tablet in his hand and wrote the words down, for in those days there had been no writing down of words on clay.
- 1 markAccording to the passage, why did Enmerkar keep sending his messenger to Aratta?
(A) To collect tribute in grain(B) To obtain lapis lazuli and precious metals for a temple(C) To carry a proposal of marriage(D) To proclaim a change in the law - 1 markWhat does this story suggest about how Mesopotamians understood the beginnings of writing?
(A) That merchants devised it to keep their accounts(B) That priests devised it to record hymns(C) That a king devised it to solve a problem of trade and communication(D) That temple schools devised it to train scribes
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
(i) The canals and channels of Mesopotamia carried boats as well as irrigation water.
(ii) Pack animals and bullock carts were the cheapest way to move goods over long distances.
(A) Both are true(B) Only (i) is true(C) Only (ii) is true(D) Both are false
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions1. (A): Mesopotamia means the land in the middle of rivers, that is, the land lying between the Euphrates and the Tigris. · 2. (C): The land between the Euphrates and the Tigris is now part of the Republic of Iraq. · 3. (B): The first Mesopotamian tablets, with picture-like signs and numbers, appear around 3200 BCE. · 4. (D): They are lists of goods brought into or given out from the temples of Uruk, so writing began as record keeping. · 5. (C): Cuneus is Latin for wedge and forma for shape, so cuneiform names the wedge-shaped marks a cut reed left in damp clay. · 6. (B): Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian from about 2400 BCE and lasted until the time of Alexander, 336 to 323 BCE.
Assertion-Reason1. (A): Both A and R are true, and R gives the exact reason for A: the mineral poverty of the south forced organised trade with Turkey, Iran and the Gulf. · 2. (A): Both A and R are true, and R gives the reason for A: hardened clay refuses a fresh sign, so each deal needed its own tablet, which is why tablets survive in hundreds.
Match the Following1. (A): Enmerkar is credited in the poem with writing on clay, Gilgamesh is the epic hero, Zimrilim ruled at Mari, and Assurbanipal built the Nineveh library. · 2. (D): Uruk was the huge early temple town, Ur was excavated in the 1930s, Mari lay upstream among herders, and Nineveh held Assurbanipal’s library.
Statement-Based Questions1. (C): Statement I is correct, since the south outproduced even Roman agriculture. Statement II is wrong: the south is desert, and its fertility came from river silt carried down by floods. · 2. (D): Statement I is wrong, because size alone never makes a city. Statement II is right and gives the real test of urbanism.
Chronological Ordering1. (D): Writing appears about 3200 BCE, Uruk reaches 250 hectares about 3000 BCE, and cuneiform matures about 2600 BCE. · 2. (A): Assurbanipal ruled 668 to 627 BCE, Nabopolassar freed Babylonia in 625 BCE, the Achaemenids took Babylon in 539 BCE, and Alexander in 331 BCE.
Fill in the Blanks1. (B): The stylus was a reed with a sharp, obliquely cut end, and it had to be used before the clay dried. · 2. (C): Assurbanipal ruled from 668 to 627 BCE and sent his scribes south to hunt out old tablets for his library.
Odd One Out1. (D): Textiles were what Mesopotamia gave in exchange, along with farm produce, while metal, stone and strong timber all had to be imported.
Passage-Based Questions1. (B): The poem says he wanted lapis lazuli and precious metals to beautify a city temple, which is why the messenger crossed seven mountain ranges. · 2. (C): In their own telling it was kingship that organised both trade and writing, and writing itself marked out their urban culture from its neighbours.
True / False1. (B): Canals doubled as trade routes, so (i) holds. Land transport was costly because animals eat as they travel, so (ii) fails: water transport was the cheap route.
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