OSAT Middle Level Social Studies Study Guide

ancient Egyptian civilization CORRECT ANSWER centered around Nile river, and "oasis in the desert," nile allowed for irrigation, transportation, trade, etc., sort-of sharecropping system (king "owned" all the land, others delegated it, lower sorts worked and paid portion of their crops to the king/official, foreign slaves usually, notable labor force and technical advancements result in the pyramids and other monuments, women had near-equal legal status to men social heirarchy: gods, the king, the blessed dead, humanity (then foreigners), king represented gods to humanity, legacy: architecture, religion (concern for afterlife), first civilization to have an army, theocracy, science, math, medicine (surgery, cures), 365-day calendar, papyrus paper, astronomy (calculated a solar year) ancient Mesopotamian civilization CORRECT ANSWER built on tigris and euphrates rivers, birthplace of humanity, commonalities were gods, attitude towards women, and script, everything else was varied by different people groups like babylon, assyria rise of a city, invention of writing, invention of the wheel, tires, time in hours, minutes, seconds, philosophy and religion, literature: the epic of gilgamesh, Hammurabi's code (Amorite laws clearly stating crime and punishment,