CLEP WESTERN CIVILIZATION 1 ACTUAL EXAM
SET 2026 COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
◉ "The river was easy to navigate because of a peculiar trait: Its strong
winds blew in the opposite direction of its water's flow. The winds blew
down from the north, but the river flowed up from the south. This
unusual feature made it easy to transport goods back and forth from the
Mediterranean Sea, which lay to the north."
Which river is most likely being described in the above passage.
Answer: The Nile River
◉ According to tradition, who founded the Israelite people. Answer:
Abraham
◉ A monotheistic religious practice was central to which of the
following cultures?
- Sumerians
- Hebrews
- Hittites
- Babylonians
,- Egyptians. Answer: Hebrews
— Of the cultures listed, only the Hebrews worshiped one God. The rest
all practiced polytheistic religions that worshiped a host of deities.
◉ In what modern day country is the remains of Mesopotamian
civilization found. Answer: Iraq
— Mesopotamian civilization developed in the Tigris and Euphrates
River Valley, an area now controlled by Iraq.
◉ The earliest urban settlements typically arose in what type of areas.
Answer: Fertile River Valleys
◉ The outstanding achievement of King Hammurabi of Mesopotamia
was that he.... Answer: ...issued a more comprehensive law code than
had any known predecessor.
◉ Which ancient culture produced "The Epic of Gilgamesh?". Answer:
Sumerian
◉ Nomads. Answer: - People who move from place to place and follow
their food sources wherever they go.
◉ Neolithic Age. Answer: - This is a time period where there is the
emergence of sedentary agriculture, where there are people who are
,learning how to domesticate both plants and animals, and live essentially
in one spot, or in a very small area and grow their own food resources.
◉ The Fertile Crescent. Answer: - A geographical area of river valleys in
the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Tigris-
Euphrates valley (modern Iraq) northwest into Syria, then south along
the shore of the Mediterranean sea toward the Nile River Valley in
Egypt.
- The favorable conditions for agriculture afforded by these river valleys
encouraged population growth and enabled the people living in them to
devote some of their time to pursuits other than raising food.
◉ The Old Stone Age. Answer: (Paleolithic Age)
The earliest phase of techonoligcal process where human beings lived as
nomads in small communities, hunting and gathering fruits for their
sustenance, and using fire and crude implements fashioned principally
from stone and wood to assist in the struggle for survival.
◉ The New Stone Age. Answer: (Neolithic Age)
An age of cultural revolution brought about by the most recent retreat of
the glaciers that covered large portions of Europe and North America in
8,000 BCE where stone tools were refined, animals were domesticated,
and agriculture was developed.
, Many people abandoned nomadism in favor of a settled way of life, as
necessary for the practice of farming, and organized themselves in small
villages.
◉ The Bronze Age. Answer: In the Fertile Crescent, this age began with
the appearance of cities around 3,000 BCE where individuals began to
live in cities and discovered how to work metals which replaced the
previous use of stone for tools.
◉ Mesopotamia (empires in order). Answer: The earliest cities arose
about 3200 BCE in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, known as Mesopotamia.
Unification of the entire river-valley was desirable because it would lead
to more efficient use of the river systems for agriculture, and conflict
arose because one city-state was unwilling to surrender its sovereignty to
another to achieve this goal.
- Sumer
- Akkadians
- Third Dynasty of Ur
- Amorites (Old Babylonian Dynasty)
- Hittites, Kassites, and Hurrians
◉ Akkadians. Answer: Semi-nomadic people, led by their king Sargon,
who began to settle in the central region of the Tigris-Euphrates valley
during the fourth millennium BCE and conquered various Sumerian
SET 2026 COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
◉ "The river was easy to navigate because of a peculiar trait: Its strong
winds blew in the opposite direction of its water's flow. The winds blew
down from the north, but the river flowed up from the south. This
unusual feature made it easy to transport goods back and forth from the
Mediterranean Sea, which lay to the north."
Which river is most likely being described in the above passage.
Answer: The Nile River
◉ According to tradition, who founded the Israelite people. Answer:
Abraham
◉ A monotheistic religious practice was central to which of the
following cultures?
- Sumerians
- Hebrews
- Hittites
- Babylonians
,- Egyptians. Answer: Hebrews
— Of the cultures listed, only the Hebrews worshiped one God. The rest
all practiced polytheistic religions that worshiped a host of deities.
◉ In what modern day country is the remains of Mesopotamian
civilization found. Answer: Iraq
— Mesopotamian civilization developed in the Tigris and Euphrates
River Valley, an area now controlled by Iraq.
◉ The earliest urban settlements typically arose in what type of areas.
Answer: Fertile River Valleys
◉ The outstanding achievement of King Hammurabi of Mesopotamia
was that he.... Answer: ...issued a more comprehensive law code than
had any known predecessor.
◉ Which ancient culture produced "The Epic of Gilgamesh?". Answer:
Sumerian
◉ Nomads. Answer: - People who move from place to place and follow
their food sources wherever they go.
◉ Neolithic Age. Answer: - This is a time period where there is the
emergence of sedentary agriculture, where there are people who are
,learning how to domesticate both plants and animals, and live essentially
in one spot, or in a very small area and grow their own food resources.
◉ The Fertile Crescent. Answer: - A geographical area of river valleys in
the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Tigris-
Euphrates valley (modern Iraq) northwest into Syria, then south along
the shore of the Mediterranean sea toward the Nile River Valley in
Egypt.
- The favorable conditions for agriculture afforded by these river valleys
encouraged population growth and enabled the people living in them to
devote some of their time to pursuits other than raising food.
◉ The Old Stone Age. Answer: (Paleolithic Age)
The earliest phase of techonoligcal process where human beings lived as
nomads in small communities, hunting and gathering fruits for their
sustenance, and using fire and crude implements fashioned principally
from stone and wood to assist in the struggle for survival.
◉ The New Stone Age. Answer: (Neolithic Age)
An age of cultural revolution brought about by the most recent retreat of
the glaciers that covered large portions of Europe and North America in
8,000 BCE where stone tools were refined, animals were domesticated,
and agriculture was developed.
, Many people abandoned nomadism in favor of a settled way of life, as
necessary for the practice of farming, and organized themselves in small
villages.
◉ The Bronze Age. Answer: In the Fertile Crescent, this age began with
the appearance of cities around 3,000 BCE where individuals began to
live in cities and discovered how to work metals which replaced the
previous use of stone for tools.
◉ Mesopotamia (empires in order). Answer: The earliest cities arose
about 3200 BCE in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, known as Mesopotamia.
Unification of the entire river-valley was desirable because it would lead
to more efficient use of the river systems for agriculture, and conflict
arose because one city-state was unwilling to surrender its sovereignty to
another to achieve this goal.
- Sumer
- Akkadians
- Third Dynasty of Ur
- Amorites (Old Babylonian Dynasty)
- Hittites, Kassites, and Hurrians
◉ Akkadians. Answer: Semi-nomadic people, led by their king Sargon,
who began to settle in the central region of the Tigris-Euphrates valley
during the fourth millennium BCE and conquered various Sumerian
