The Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648 exam covers material that is usually taught in the first semester of a two-semester course in Western civilization. Students will need to have knowledge of the influence of the Greek, Roman, Medieval, Renaissance and Reformation eras which all lead to the birth of ‘modern’ Europe.
The exam will ask questions relating to historical terms, historical figures and their notable actions, or understanding the cause and effect between historical events. The student may be asked questions about a literary passage, map, picture or graph.
The exam contains approximately 120 questions to be answered in 90 minutes. Some of these are pretest questions that will not be scored. The College Board provides the parameters for the exam which we have listed below.
The Western Civilization I exam uses the current identification for chronology of b.c.e. (before the common era) and c.e. (common era) to replace the previous use of b.c. (before Christ) and a.d. (anno Domini).
The subject matter of the exam is drawn from the following topics.
The Fertile Crescent is known as the cradle of civilization whose region includes the modern day countries of Iraq, Syria, lebanon, Jordan, israel, Palestine Egypt and parts of Turkey and Iran.
Ancient Greece has heavily influenced Western cultures in the areas of politics, philosophy, the arts, literature, science and language. Its legacy is foundational to European civilization.
Ancient Rome was a civilization that rose along the Italian Peninsula, centered on the city of Rome. Its Empire was one of the largest of the ancient world, encompassing much of Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa.
The Middle Ages are commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 15th century. It is marked by the rise of power of the Catholic Church and feudalism.
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that heavily influenced literature, philosophy, the arts, politics, science and religion. The Protestant Reformation began as a schism from the Roman Catholic Church and directly changed the politics and power structures throughout Europe.
The early modern period in European history saw the rise of secularized civic politics and the nation state.
Each college sets their own credit-granting policies for the exam, so check with your college admissions office, test center, or academic adviser before taking the test.