AP World History Exam Study Guide
With Detailed Questions And Correct
Answers||Latest Exam 2026-
2027||Already Graded A+
Civilization -ANSWER An ambiguous term often used to denote more complex societies
but sometimes used by anthropologists to describe any group of people sharing a set of
cultural traits.
Foragers -ANSWER People who support themselves by hunting wild animals and
gathering wild edible plants and insects.
Cuneiform -ANSWER A system of writing in which wedge-shaped symbols represented
words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially for Sumerian and
Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of western Asia. Because
so many symbols had to be learned, literacy was confined to a relatively small group of
administrators and scribes.
History -ANSWER The study of past events and changes in the development,
transmission, and transformation of cultural practices.
City-state -ANSWER A small independent state consisting of an urban center and the
surrounding agricultural territory. A characteristic political form in early Mesopotamia,
classical Greece, Phoenicia, and early Italy.
Culture -ANSWER Socially transmitted patterns of action and expression. Material
_____ refers to physical objects, such as dwellings, clothing, tools, and crafts. _____
also includes arts, beliefs, knowledge, and technology.
Agricultural Revolution/Neolithic Revolution-When? -ANSWER The change from food
gathering to food production that occurred between 8000 and 2000 B.C.E.,
independently in various parts of the world. This also includes the domestication of
plants and animals.
Paleolithic -ANSWER The period of the Stone Age associated with the evolution of
humans. It predates the Neolithic period.
Neolithic -ANSWER The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient
Agricultural Revolution (s). It follows the Paleolithic period.
Mohenjo-Darro -ANSWER Largest of the cities of the Indus Valley civilization. It was
centrally located in the extensive floodplain of the Indus River in contemporary Pakistan.
,Little is known about the political institutions of Indus Valley communities, but the large
scale of construction at Mohenjo-Daro, the orderly grid for streets, and the
standardization of building materials are evidence of central planning.
Name the 4 river valleys where civilization began. -ANSWER 1) Mesopotamia, 2) Egypt,
3) Pakistan, 4) northern China
What are the characteristics of civilization? -ANSWER 1) Cities that serve as
administrative centers, 2) a political system based on control of defined territory, 3)
specialization, 4) status based on wealth, 5) monumental buildings, 6) a writing system,
7) long distance trade, and 8) major advancements in science and art.
Loess -ANSWER A fine, light silt deposited by wind and water. It constitutes the fertile
soil of the Yellow River Valley in northern China. Because _____ soil is not compacted,
it can be worked with a simple digging stick, but it leaves the region vulnerable to
devastating earthquakes.
Daoism -ANSWER Chinese school of thought, originating in the Warring States Period
with Laozi. Daoism offered an alternative to the Confucian emphasis on hierarchy and
duty. Daoists believe that the world is always changing and is devoid of absolute
morality or meaning. They accept the world as they find it, avoid futile struggles, and
deviate as little as possible from the Dao, or "path" of nature.
Legalism -ANSWER An authoritarian political philosophy that came to be called ____.
These thinkers believe human nature is essentially wicked and that people behave in an
orderly fashion only if compelled by strict laws and harsh punishments.
Confucius -ANSWER Western name for the Chinese philosopher Konzi (551-479
B.C.E.). His doctrine of duty and public service had a great influence on subsequent
Chinese thought and served as a code of conduct for government officials.
Mandate of Heaven -ANSWER Chinese religious and political ideology developed by
the Zhou, according to which it was the prerogative of Heaven, the chief deity, to grant
power to the rule of China and to take away that power if the ruler failed to conduct
himself justly and in the best interests of his subjects.
Shang -ANSWER The dominant people in the earliest Chinese dynasty for which we
have written records (ca. 1750-1045 B.C.E.). Ancestor worship, divination by means of
oracle bones, and the use of bronze vessels for ritual purposes were major elements of
_____ culture.
Hittites -ANSWER A people from central Anatolia who established an empire in Anatolia
and Syria in the late Bronze Age. With wealth from the trade in metals and military
power based on chariot forces, the _____ vied with New Kingdom Egypt for control of
Syria-Palestine before falling to unidentified attackers ca. 1200 B.C.E.
, Hatshepsut -ANSWER Queen of Egypt (r. 1473-1458 B.C.E.). She dispatched a naval
expedition down the Red Sea to Punt (possibly northeast Sudan or Eretria), the faraway
source of myrrh. There is evidence of opposition to a woman as ruler, and after her
death her name and image were frequently defaced.
Akhenaten -ANSWER Egyptian pharaoh (r. 1353-1335 B.C.E.) He built a new capital at
Amarna, fostered a new style of naturalistic art, and created a religious revolution by
imposing worship of the sun-disk. The Amarna letters, largely from his reign, preserve
official correspondence with subjects and neighbors.
Ramesses II -ANSWER A long-lived ruler of New Kingdom Egypt (r. 1290-1224 B.C.E.).
He reached an accommodation with the Hittites of Anatolia after a standoff in battle at
Kadesh in Syria. He built on a grand scale throughout Egypt.
Minoan -ANSWER Prosperous civilization on the Aegean island of Crete in the second
millennium B.C.E. The Minoans engaged in far-flung commerce around the
Mediterranean and exerted powerful cultural influences on the early Greeks.
Mycenae -ANSWER Site of a fortified palace complex in southern Greece that
controlled a Late Bronze Age kingdom. In Homer's epic poems Mycenae was the base
of King Agamemnon, who commanded the Greeks besieging Troy. Contemporary
archaeologists call the complex Greek society of the second millennium B.C.E.
"Mycenaean."
Library at Ashurbanipal -ANSWER A large collection of writings drawn from the ancient
literary, religious, and scientific traditions of Mesopotamia. It was assembled by the 7th-
centry B.C.E. Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal. The many tablets unearthed by
archaeologists constitute one of the most important sources of present-day knowledge
of the long literary tradition of Mesopotamia.
Assyrians -ANSWER Their kings were viewed as both gods and kings and the center of
the universe. They were known as a warrior people who ruthlessly conquered
neighboring countries. They used iron weapons, cavalry, couriers, signal fires, and spy
networks as well as scare tactics and mass deportation to conquer others.Their control
was more effective at the core and less effective in the peripheral parts of the empire.
They consisted of free, land-owning citizens, farmers and artisans, and slaves. They
preserved the knowledge inherited from older Mesopotamian societies and made
original contributions to mathematics and astronomy. They maintained libraries that
were attached to temples in the cities, such as the Library of Ashurbanipal in Ninevah.
Hebrews -ANSWER These people were nomadic herders and caravan drivers who
developed a complex sedentary agricultural civilization. As they did so, their cult of a
desert god evolved into an influential monotheistic religion. They were known by various
names: Canaan, Israel, Palestine; Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews.
With Detailed Questions And Correct
Answers||Latest Exam 2026-
2027||Already Graded A+
Civilization -ANSWER An ambiguous term often used to denote more complex societies
but sometimes used by anthropologists to describe any group of people sharing a set of
cultural traits.
Foragers -ANSWER People who support themselves by hunting wild animals and
gathering wild edible plants and insects.
Cuneiform -ANSWER A system of writing in which wedge-shaped symbols represented
words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially for Sumerian and
Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of western Asia. Because
so many symbols had to be learned, literacy was confined to a relatively small group of
administrators and scribes.
History -ANSWER The study of past events and changes in the development,
transmission, and transformation of cultural practices.
City-state -ANSWER A small independent state consisting of an urban center and the
surrounding agricultural territory. A characteristic political form in early Mesopotamia,
classical Greece, Phoenicia, and early Italy.
Culture -ANSWER Socially transmitted patterns of action and expression. Material
_____ refers to physical objects, such as dwellings, clothing, tools, and crafts. _____
also includes arts, beliefs, knowledge, and technology.
Agricultural Revolution/Neolithic Revolution-When? -ANSWER The change from food
gathering to food production that occurred between 8000 and 2000 B.C.E.,
independently in various parts of the world. This also includes the domestication of
plants and animals.
Paleolithic -ANSWER The period of the Stone Age associated with the evolution of
humans. It predates the Neolithic period.
Neolithic -ANSWER The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient
Agricultural Revolution (s). It follows the Paleolithic period.
Mohenjo-Darro -ANSWER Largest of the cities of the Indus Valley civilization. It was
centrally located in the extensive floodplain of the Indus River in contemporary Pakistan.
,Little is known about the political institutions of Indus Valley communities, but the large
scale of construction at Mohenjo-Daro, the orderly grid for streets, and the
standardization of building materials are evidence of central planning.
Name the 4 river valleys where civilization began. -ANSWER 1) Mesopotamia, 2) Egypt,
3) Pakistan, 4) northern China
What are the characteristics of civilization? -ANSWER 1) Cities that serve as
administrative centers, 2) a political system based on control of defined territory, 3)
specialization, 4) status based on wealth, 5) monumental buildings, 6) a writing system,
7) long distance trade, and 8) major advancements in science and art.
Loess -ANSWER A fine, light silt deposited by wind and water. It constitutes the fertile
soil of the Yellow River Valley in northern China. Because _____ soil is not compacted,
it can be worked with a simple digging stick, but it leaves the region vulnerable to
devastating earthquakes.
Daoism -ANSWER Chinese school of thought, originating in the Warring States Period
with Laozi. Daoism offered an alternative to the Confucian emphasis on hierarchy and
duty. Daoists believe that the world is always changing and is devoid of absolute
morality or meaning. They accept the world as they find it, avoid futile struggles, and
deviate as little as possible from the Dao, or "path" of nature.
Legalism -ANSWER An authoritarian political philosophy that came to be called ____.
These thinkers believe human nature is essentially wicked and that people behave in an
orderly fashion only if compelled by strict laws and harsh punishments.
Confucius -ANSWER Western name for the Chinese philosopher Konzi (551-479
B.C.E.). His doctrine of duty and public service had a great influence on subsequent
Chinese thought and served as a code of conduct for government officials.
Mandate of Heaven -ANSWER Chinese religious and political ideology developed by
the Zhou, according to which it was the prerogative of Heaven, the chief deity, to grant
power to the rule of China and to take away that power if the ruler failed to conduct
himself justly and in the best interests of his subjects.
Shang -ANSWER The dominant people in the earliest Chinese dynasty for which we
have written records (ca. 1750-1045 B.C.E.). Ancestor worship, divination by means of
oracle bones, and the use of bronze vessels for ritual purposes were major elements of
_____ culture.
Hittites -ANSWER A people from central Anatolia who established an empire in Anatolia
and Syria in the late Bronze Age. With wealth from the trade in metals and military
power based on chariot forces, the _____ vied with New Kingdom Egypt for control of
Syria-Palestine before falling to unidentified attackers ca. 1200 B.C.E.
, Hatshepsut -ANSWER Queen of Egypt (r. 1473-1458 B.C.E.). She dispatched a naval
expedition down the Red Sea to Punt (possibly northeast Sudan or Eretria), the faraway
source of myrrh. There is evidence of opposition to a woman as ruler, and after her
death her name and image were frequently defaced.
Akhenaten -ANSWER Egyptian pharaoh (r. 1353-1335 B.C.E.) He built a new capital at
Amarna, fostered a new style of naturalistic art, and created a religious revolution by
imposing worship of the sun-disk. The Amarna letters, largely from his reign, preserve
official correspondence with subjects and neighbors.
Ramesses II -ANSWER A long-lived ruler of New Kingdom Egypt (r. 1290-1224 B.C.E.).
He reached an accommodation with the Hittites of Anatolia after a standoff in battle at
Kadesh in Syria. He built on a grand scale throughout Egypt.
Minoan -ANSWER Prosperous civilization on the Aegean island of Crete in the second
millennium B.C.E. The Minoans engaged in far-flung commerce around the
Mediterranean and exerted powerful cultural influences on the early Greeks.
Mycenae -ANSWER Site of a fortified palace complex in southern Greece that
controlled a Late Bronze Age kingdom. In Homer's epic poems Mycenae was the base
of King Agamemnon, who commanded the Greeks besieging Troy. Contemporary
archaeologists call the complex Greek society of the second millennium B.C.E.
"Mycenaean."
Library at Ashurbanipal -ANSWER A large collection of writings drawn from the ancient
literary, religious, and scientific traditions of Mesopotamia. It was assembled by the 7th-
centry B.C.E. Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal. The many tablets unearthed by
archaeologists constitute one of the most important sources of present-day knowledge
of the long literary tradition of Mesopotamia.
Assyrians -ANSWER Their kings were viewed as both gods and kings and the center of
the universe. They were known as a warrior people who ruthlessly conquered
neighboring countries. They used iron weapons, cavalry, couriers, signal fires, and spy
networks as well as scare tactics and mass deportation to conquer others.Their control
was more effective at the core and less effective in the peripheral parts of the empire.
They consisted of free, land-owning citizens, farmers and artisans, and slaves. They
preserved the knowledge inherited from older Mesopotamian societies and made
original contributions to mathematics and astronomy. They maintained libraries that
were attached to temples in the cities, such as the Library of Ashurbanipal in Ninevah.
Hebrews -ANSWER These people were nomadic herders and caravan drivers who
developed a complex sedentary agricultural civilization. As they did so, their cult of a
desert god evolved into an influential monotheistic religion. They were known by various
names: Canaan, Israel, Palestine; Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews.
