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Early Humans and Beginning of Civilisation: CBSE Class 9 History practice questions

Practise 50 questions on Early Humans and Beginning of Civilisation, free, with an explanation for each answer.

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Sample questions

Some old seals and pots have the signs of an early script. Scholars still cannot read this script. Which script is it?

Two square stone seals and a broken piece of pottery with scratched marks
  1. The cuneiform script of the Sumerians
  2. The hieroglyphic script of ancient Egypt
  3. The Harappan script, also called Sindhu lipi
  4. The logographic script of the Chinese
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C. The Harappan script, also called Sindhu lipi

The Harappans wrote in a pictographic script found on seals and pottery, but it has not been deciphered, so we still cannot read the Harappan script (Sindhu lipi). Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs flourished at about the same time but have been deciphered, and their records mark the start of the historical period, about 5000 years ago. Chinese characters, too, can be read today.

Human history goes back about 30 lakh (3 million) years, but writing began only about 5000 years ago. Roughly what percentage of human history comes after writing?

A long bar for the whole of human history with a very thin slice at its end
  1. About 0.17%0.17\%
  2. About 1.7%1.7\%
  3. About 17%17\%
  4. About 600%600\%
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A. About 0.17%0.17\%

500030,00,000×100=1600×100≈0.17%\dfrac{5000}{30{,}00{,}000} \times 100 = \dfrac{1}{600} \times 100 \approx 0.17\% This is why the chapter says less than 1 per cent of human history has written records, while more than 99 per cent is known only from artefacts. 1.7%1.7\% and 17%17\% come from slipping a power of ten (dropping zeros from 30 lakh), and 600600 comes from dividing the whole by the part instead of the part by the whole.

The Egyptian year had 12 months of 30 days plus 5 extra days. The real year is about 14\tfrac14 day longer. After 40 years, by roughly how many days would this calendar fall behind the seasons?

A calendar wheel split into three seasons of four months each, plus a thin slice of extra days, with a bright star in the centre
  1. 40 days
  2. 160 days
  3. 5 days
  4. 10 days
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D. 10 days

The calendar year is 12×30+5=36512 \times 30 + 5 = 365 days. It loses 14\tfrac14 day each year, so 40×14=10 days40 \times \tfrac14 = 10\ \text{days} 4040 days assumes a whole day is lost each year, 160160 multiplies by 4 instead of dividing, and 55 confuses the error with the 5 extra days. The calendar, based on the rising of Sirius (the Dog Star), had three seasons of four months: Inundation, Peret (growing) and Shemu (harvest).

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