Grade 6 Social Studies Practice Test: Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome
- Ancient Civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome
- 15 questions
- 18 minutes
This test covers four ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Tip: think about how geography, such as rivers, mountains and the sea, shaped the way each civilization lived.
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Question 1
Mesopotamia developed on the land between which two rivers?
Correct answer: B
Mesopotamia means "land between the rivers," and those rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates in present-day Iraq. The Nile is in Egypt, and the Tiber flows through Rome.
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Question 2
The Sumerians pressed wedge-shaped marks into clay tablets. What is this writing system called?
Correct answer: D
Cuneiform comes from a Latin word meaning "wedge." Hieroglyphics was the writing system of ancient Egypt.
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Question 3
Why is the Code of Hammurabi important?
Correct answer: A
Hammurabi, a king of Babylon, had about 280 laws carved on a stone pillar so people could know the rules and punishments.
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Question 4
Why was the yearly flooding of the Nile River helpful to ancient Egyptians?
Correct answer: C
When the floodwaters went down, they left a layer of dark, fertile silt. Farmers planted their crops in this soil.
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Question 5
What did scholars use to finally read Egyptian hieroglyphs in the 1820s?
Correct answer: B
The Rosetta Stone has the same message in hieroglyphs, a later Egyptian script and Greek. Because scholars could read the Greek, Jean-François Champollion was able to decode the hieroglyphs.
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Question 6
Why did the ancient Egyptians build the great pyramids at Giza?
Correct answer: D
The pyramids were built as tombs for pharaohs and held objects the Egyptians believed the ruler would need in the afterlife.
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Question 7
Why did ancient Greece develop as many separate city-states instead of one united kingdom?
Correct answer: A
Greece is rocky and mountainous, with many islands. Communities were cut off from one another, so each city-state, or polis, had its own government.
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Question 8
Which Greek city-state was best known for training all of its male citizens to be soldiers?
Correct answer: C
Spartan boys began military training at about age 7. Athens is better known for democracy, art and philosophy, and Babylon and Memphis were not Greek.
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Question 9
In the democracy of ancient Athens, who was allowed to vote?
Correct answer: B
Athenian democracy was direct: citizens voted on laws themselves. Women, enslaved people and foreigners could not vote.
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Question 10
The ancient Olympic Games were held at Olympia in honor of which god?
Correct answer: D
The Greeks held the games every four years to honor Zeus, the king of their gods. Ra and Osiris were Egyptian gods, and Jupiter was the Roman name for Zeus.
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Question 11
In the Roman Republic, the two officials elected each year to lead the government were called
Correct answer: A
Two consuls shared power for one year, so no single person could rule for life. Emperors came later, after the Republic ended.
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Question 12
Who became the first emperor of Rome in 27 BCE?
Correct answer: C
Augustus, also called Octavian, became the first emperor. Julius Caesar ruled as dictator, but he was killed in 44 BCE and never held the title of emperor.
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Question 13
What was the purpose of the aqueducts the Romans built?
Correct answer: B
Aqueducts used a gentle downhill slope to carry water from distant springs to fountains, baths and homes in Roman cities.
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Question 14
Which modern languages developed mainly from Latin, the language of the Romans?
Correct answer: D
Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian are called Romance languages because they grew out of Latin.
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Question 15
What made the Twelve Tables important in the Roman Republic?
Correct answer: A
Around 450 BCE the Romans posted their laws on twelve tablets in the Forum, so ordinary citizens could know the laws and judges could not simply make them up.
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