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Direction: Read the following Passage and Answer the Questions.
The way stone tools were made also changed. While earner of making tools continued. some tools and equipment were now smoothened and polished by an elaborate process of grinding. New equipment Included mortars and pestles for processing and grinding grain. as well as stone axes and hoes. which were used to clear land for cultivation. as well as for digging the earth to sow seeds. In some areas. people learnt to tap the ores of metals such as copper and tin. Sometimes. copper ores were collected and used for their distinctive bluish-green colour. This prepared the way for the more extensive use of metal for jewellery and for tools subsequently.
Q1: How did the process of making stone tools change with the advent of new technologies, and what types of tools were created using these methods?
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Q2: What materials were tapped for the production of metal, and how did this influence early societies?
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Q3: How did the introduction of metalworking impact the development of early societies?
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Direction: Read the following Passage and Answer the Questions.
Further, there must be a social organisation in place. Fuel. metal. various stones. wood. etc.. come from many different places for city manufacturers. Thus, organised trade and storage is needed. There are deliveries of grain and other items from the village to the city. and food supplies need to be stored and distributed. Besides. many different activities have to be coordinated: there must be not only stones but also bronze tools and pots available for seal cutters. Obviously, In such a system some people give commands that others obey. and urban economies often require the keeping of written records.
Q1: Why is social organization essential in early urban centers, as mentioned in the passage?
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Q2: What are some of the key logistical challenges that early urban centers face, particularly in terms of resource management and distribution?
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Q3: How does social hierarchy manifest in early urban settings, and what role do written records play in such societies?
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Direction: Read the following Passage and Answer the Questions.
The first Mesopotamian tablets. written around 3200 BCE. contained picture-like signs and numbers. These were about 5000 lists of oxen. fish. bread loaves. etc. — lists of goods that were brought into or distributed from the temples of Uruk. a city In the south. Clearly. writing began when society needed to keep records of transactions — because city life transactions æcun-ed at different times. and involved many Iktople and a variety of goods.
Q1: What were the contents of the first Mesopotamian tablets dating back to around 3200 BCE?
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Q2: Why did the need for writing arise in ancient Mesopotamia, as mentioned in the passage?
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Q3: In what context were these early records of goods, like the lists of oxen and bread loaves, primarily used?
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Direction: Read the following Passage and Answer the Questions.
By 2600 BCE or so. the letters became cuneiform. and the language was Sumerian. Wrttlng was now used not only for keeping records. but also for making dictionaries. giving legal validity to land transfers. narrating the deeds of kings. and announcing the changes a king had made In the customary laws of the land. Sumerian. the earliest known language of Mesopotamia. was gradually replaced after 2400 BCE by the Akkadian language. Cuneiform writing In the Akkadian language continued In use until the first century C.E. that is for more than 2000 years.
Q1: What are the key developments in Mesopotamian writing mentioned in the passage, and when did these changes occur?
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Q2: How did the function of writing expand beyond record-keeping in ancient Mesopotamia?
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Q3: When did Sumerian, the earliest known language of Mesopotamia, begin to be replaced, and by what language?
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Direction: Read the following Passage and Answer the Questions.
War captives and local people were put to work for the temple, or directly for the ruler. This. rather than agricultural tax. was compulsory. 'Those who were put to work were paid rations. Hundreds of ration lists have been found. which give. against lx: people's names. the quantities of grain. cloth or Otl allotted to them. It has been estimated that one of the temples took 1,500 men working 10 hours a day. five years to build. With rulers commanding people to fetch stones or metal ores. to come and make bricks or lay the bricks for a temple. or else to go to a distant country to fetch suitable materials. there were also technical advances at Uruk around 3000 WE. Bronm tools came into use for various crafts. Architects learnt to construct brick columns. there being no suitable wood to bear the weight of the roof of large halls.
Q1: How were war captives and local individuals utilized in ancient Mesopotamia, and what distinguished this practice from agricultural taxation?
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Q2: What information do ration lists provide, and how were they used in ancient Mesopotamia?
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Q3: What technical advancements and architectural developments occurred in Uruk around 3000 BCE, and why were they significant?
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Direction: Read the following Passage and Answer the Questions.
Herders need to exchange young animals. cheese, leather and meat in return for grain, metal tools. etc., and the manure of a penned flock is also of great use to a farmer. Yet. at the same time. there may be conflict. A shepherd may take his flock to water across a sown field, to the ruin of the crop. Herdsmen being mobile can raid agricultural villages and seize their stored goods. For their part, settled groups may deny pastoralists access to river and canal water along a certain set of paths.
Q1: What are some of the goods exchanged between herders and agricultural communities, as mentioned in the passage?
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Q2: What are the potential sources of conflict between herders and settled agricultural communities?
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Q3: Why is access to water a point of contention between pastoralists and settled groups, and how might this conflict manifest?
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Direction: Read the following Passage and Answer the Questions.
Located on the Euphrates in a prime position for trade – in wood, copper, tin, oil, wine, and various other goods that were carried in boats along the Euphrates – between the south and the mineral-rich uplands of Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, Mari is a good example of an urban centre prospering on trade. Boats carrying grinding stones, wood, and wine and oil jars, would stop at Mari on their way to the southern cities. Officers of this town would go aboard, inspect the cargo (a single river boat could hold 300 wine jars), and levy a charge of about one-tenth the value of the goods before allowing the boat to continue downstream. Barley came in special grain boats. Most important, tablets refer to copper from ‘Alashiya’, the island of Cyprus, known for its copper, and tin was also an item of trade. As bronze was the main industrial material for tools and weapons, this trade was of great importance. Thus, although the kingdom of Mari was not militarily strong, it was exceptionally prosperous.
Q1: Why was the city of Mari strategically located for trade, and what were some of the goods exchanged through this trade?
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Q2: How did the city of Mari benefit from its position on the trade route along the Euphrates?
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Q3: Why was the trade in copper and tin particularly important for the city of Mari and its economic success?
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Direction: Read the following Passage and Answer the Questions.
The division of the year into 12 months according to the revolution of the moon around the earth, the division of the month into four weeks, the day into 24 hours, and the hour into 60 minutes – all that we take for granted in our daily lives – has come to us from the Mesopotamians. These time divisions were adopted by the successors of Alexander and from there transmitted to the Roman world, then to the world of Islam, and then to medieval Europe (see Theme 5 for how this happened). Whenever solar and lunar eclipses were observed, their occurrence was noted according to year, month and day. So too there were records about the observed positions of stars and constellations in the night sky.
Q1: What fundamental time divisions and measurements that we use today originated from the Mesopotamians, as mentioned in the passage?
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Q2: How did these time divisions from the Mesopotamians spread to different parts of the world, according to the passage?
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Q3: Besides time divisions, what celestial observations were recorded by the Mesopotamians, and why were they significant?
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