| Term | Definition |
|---|
| hominids | the earliest human-like creatures (3-4 mil years ago) |
| paleolithic age | 2,500,000-10,000BCE "old stone age" |
| spread of Homo sapiens sapiens | africa to eurasia to oceania; africa to eurasia to n. america to s. america |
| neolithic revolution | 10,000-4,000BCE "new stone age" misleading name; community develpm't |
| agricultural revolution | during neolithic revolution; change of hunter-gatherer life to farming |
| Çatal Hüyük | 6700-5700BCE height; advanced neolithic city in modern Turkey |
| division of labor | characteristic of civilizations in which people perform different jobs |
| sedentary lifestyle | farmer life; little movem't |
| gender role separation | woman stay at home, man works; consequence of neo. rev. |
| civilization | a complex culture with large numbers of people sharing variety of common element |
| 7 civilization characteristics | urban focus, new political/military structure, social structre based on econmic power, materialism, religion, writing, art/intellect |
| Mesopotamia | "land between rivers' fertile soil, tigris and euphrates |
| Sumerians | citizens of Sumer (city-state in southern mesopotamia) |
| ziggurat | sumerian temples, like pyramids |
| Babylonians | semitic civilization mesopotamia; flourished under Hammurabi |
| Hammurabi | 1792-1750BCE; leader of Babylon, gained Sumer and Akkad |
| Code of Hammurabi | collection of 282 laws written by Hammurabi (an eye for an eye); focus on family/marriage |
| divination | foretelling future, usually involvin killing animals and reading their organs if possible |
| cuneiform | Sumer 3000BCE, the world's first system of writing system; reed stylus on clay. |
| Epic of Gilgamesh | famous piece of mesopotamian literature; very similar to Noah's Ark |
| The Nile River | longest river in the world; very important to ancient Egypt |
| dynasties | 31 egyptian dynasties in 7 sets, a series of rulers from the same family |
| Old Kingdom | 2686-2125BCE, 3rd-6th dynasties, pyramids |
| Menes | 3100BCE, first king of the first royal Egyptian dynasty |
| bureaucracy | nonelected government officials, system of managing government through departments run by appointed officials |
| vizier | government official who worked for the pharaoh |
| Middle Kingdom | 2055-1650BCE, stable "golden age", more responsibility on pharoah |
| social classes | god/king-nobles/priests-merchants/artisans-common people/serfs |
| hieroglyphics | Egyptian writing, pictographs |
| New Kingdom | 1550-1070BCE Dyn. 18-20; new military,more wealth |
| Ancient Egyptian life | positive attitude, marry young and etablih family/home, monogamy but exception, husbands in charge but wives respected, divorce allowed but adultery not |
| Megalithic | around 4000BCE, "large stone" structures |
| Stonehenge | around 2000BCE, famous megalithic structure in england, linked to astronomy |
| Hittites | 1600-1200BCE, Indo-Europeans who settled in Anatolia; used iron (weaponry) |
| Phoenicians | Sailing and trading people who had many colonies on the Mediterranean coast, important alphabet |
| Hebrews | "children of israel", brought monotheism and morals |
| Judaism | first monotheistic religion, established Israel |
| Torah | "old testament, jewish bible" |
| King Saul | 1020-1000BCE, first israeli king |
| King David | 1000-970BCE, second israeli king |
| King Solomon | 970-930BCE, last israeli king, height of power |
| Temple (Israel) | symbolic center of judaism, housed ark of the covenant |
| Israel and Judah | (north-south) 2 ancient Hebrew kingdoms |
| covenant | the written bible |
| Assyrian Empire | 700-605BCE; semitic people, covered much of what is now middle east |
| persians | 600-486BCE; nomadic indo-europeans of southwestern iran, organized into tribes |
| Cyrus the Great | Persian emperor, created the Persian Empire by conquering most of Southwest Asia |
| satrapies | provinces of the persian empire |
| Darius | cyrus's successor, reigned 521-486 BCE. responsible for huge expansion of empire |
| Zoroastrianism | ancient Persian monotheistic religion |
| ethical dualism (Z-ism) | struggle between good and evil |
| ganges river | holy (Hindu) river in north India/Bangladesh |
| indus river valley | Location of the first Indian Civilization, east pakistan |
| dravidians | citizens of the Indus Valley civilization; the people that the Aryans conquered |
| aryans | 2000BCE, Indo-Europeans who conquered dravidian society |
| Harrapan civilization | 2600-1900BCE; walled city along the Indus River |
| Mohenjo-Daro | conquered 1500BCE; Indus Valley city laid out in a grid pattern. Had a complex irrigation and sewer system. |
| Rigveda | 2000BCE, first Veda |
| Vedas | 4 sacred writings of Hinduism that contained a collection of Hindu poems and hymns that were used for religious reasons |
| raja | the prince of a tribe, assisted by council of kshatriya elders |
| maharajas | "great rajas" formerly chieftains, now kings |
| dharma | a set of law that set behavioral standards for all classes |
| Mauryan Empire | 324-183BCE, lead by Chandragupta Maurya then Ashoka |
| Chandragupta Maurya | established the Mauryan Empire, followed Kautilya's Arthashastra, converted to jainism after giving up power and starved to death |
| Arthashastra | Kautilya's political how-to guide, written for Mauryan empire |
| varna | literally "color", used to distinguish castes |
| castes | social hierarchy; reflects reincarnation status |
| caste system | brahmins-khatirya-vaisyas-sudras-untouchables |
| brahmins | the priestly class of ancient India, top of social hierarchy |
| Brahman | the supreme god in Hinduism |
| kshatriya | second highest class of ancient india, warriors |
| vaisyas | third highest class of ancient india, literally "commoners", merchants |
| sudras | 4th highest classes of ancient india, had majority of indians, peasant artisans or manual laborers |
| untouchables | aka pariahs; outcasts of indian society, usually there for punishment from a past life, criminals prisoners of war slaves etc. |
| jati | subgroups of the ancient Indian castes; set social status |
| family importance | patriarchal, 3 generations in same house, mourned over family members, |
| male importance | strong father-son relationships, male superiority expressed |
| guru | teacher of Vedas |
| female suppression | harsher punishment, restricted freedoms, considered economic burden |
| sati | Hindu custom that called for a wife to join her husband in death by throwing herself on his funeral pyre |
| monsoon | seasonal winds in india |
| Hinduism | the common Aryan religion of India, (dharma, karma) |
| Dyaus | Aryan parent god |
| sacrifice | very important in Vedic times; first human than animal offering |
| asceticism | ridding of all possessions to live the most simple life |
| yoga | literally "union" with the divine |
| Upanishads | 600BCE, a set of commentaries to the Vedas) |
| reincarnation | Hindu belief that a soul is reborn in a different form after death continually until union with Brahman |
| karma | literally "actions" one's actions in this life will affect his placing in the next life, determined by dharma |
| Vishnu | the preserver, in the Hindu trinity of gods |
| Shiva | the destroyer, in the Hindu trinity of gods |
| Brahma | the creator, the the Hindu trinity of gods |
| Buddhism | 600BCE, branches from Hinduism, the teachings of the Buddha |
| Siddartha Gautama | the founder of Buddhism, a kshatriya sat under ree and gave advice |
| nirvana | the Buddhist state of bliss and end to human suffering |
| Atman | the individual soul in Hinduism/Buddhism |
| bodhi | wisdom and enlightenment of overcoming pain and sorrow |
| Middle Path | Also known as the eight fold path. |
| stupa | Buddhist monastaries; stone towers housing relics of the Buddha |
| Jainism | branches from Buddhism; basically more extreme simplicity |
| Mahavira | founder of Jainism and contemporary of the Buddha |
| Ashoka | 269-232BCE ruled Mauryan Empire, very successful, rock edict, converted to Buddhism |
| Sanskrit | Indo-European Language, lang. of vedas |
| Mahabarata | India's greatest epic; includes the Bhagavad Gita (welfare and religion) |
| Ramayana | A Hindu epic written in Sanskrit that describes the adventures of the king Rama and his queen |
| pillars | large columns in indian architecture, had buddhist art on them |
| rock chamber | indian architecture, carved out of cliff from mtns, monk housing |
| syncretism | the union of fusion of different beliefs |
| sciences of india | impressively advanced, 5 elements, astronomy |
| Yangshao | Chinese neolithic society on Yellow River |
| Longshan | Chinese neolithic society on Yellow River |
| Yellow River | important river to china, first chinese civilizations |
| Yangtze River | important river to china, first chinese civilizations |
| Xia dynasty | ?-1600BCE, the first Chinese dynasty ruled by Yu |
| Shang dynasty | 1600-1050BCE, capital at Anyang, majorly agricultural society |
| oracle bones | engravings on bones and shells |
| Xinjiang | a province in northwestern China on the border with Mongolia and Kazakhstan, origin of Shang ruler |
| Shang king | ruled with assistance of a central bureaucracy |
| veneration of ancestors | belief that ancestors could bring good or evil to the living members of the family if respected or not |
| clans | a group made of extended family |
| chinese class system | ruling elite/aristocrats-warriors/teachers-peasant/merchants/artisans |
| Zhou dynasty | 1050-200BCE, longest dynasty, Xian as capital, Luoyang 2nd capital |
| Rits of Zhou | one of the oldet surviving chinese documents, explained ho Zhou dynasty should rule |
| mandate of heaven | The divine right to rule |
| well field system | system of peasantry farming, divided into 9 segmt's |
| silk | material in high demand of trade, used for clothes and burial wrappings, silk road named after |
| hundred schools of ancient philosophy | around 300BCE, a wide-range debate over the nature of human beings, society, and the universe. |
| Tian | Chinese word for heaven |
| yin/yang | opposites of a situation (yang=sun, yin=moon0 |
| Confucius | about 551-478BCE, founder of Confucianism, Chinese philosopher |
| Analects | Confucius's teachings, written by his disciples |
| Dao | literally "the way", everyone had their own dao duty to follow it |
| legalism | the chinese philosophy that people are inherently evil and harsh punishemnet will scare them into doing good |
| Daoism | Chinese philosophy founded by lao-tzu, live a simple life in accord with nature |
| Lao-tzu | founder of daoim, dicipl of confucius |
| Dao De Jing | literally "the way of the Dao", docum't of daoist rules |
| wu wei | the best way to act in harmony with nature is to "let life do its thing" |
| period of warring states | 400-220BCE, time period when all of the Chinese states were fighting to determine the next dynasty |
| Q'in dynasty | 221-206BCE, where china gets it name, short but eventful dyn., great wall |
| Qin Shi Huangdi | the first emperor of the q'in dyn., very powerful |
| centralization | during, Q'in dyn. the act of consolidating power under a central ruler |
| Xiongnu | fierce nomads that attacked Q'in from northwest |
| Great Wall | started in Q'in-finished in Ming; 4000 miles of defensive wall to keep out north invaders |
| Han dynasty | founded by Liu Bang, (a commoner) |
| Han Gaozu | literally "exalted emperor of han", was Liu Bang |
| state confucianism | the integration of Legalist practices and Confucian doctrine |
| civil service examination | 165 BCE, an elaborate Chinese system of selecting bureaucrats on merit |
| Han territorial expansion | from china proper, pat gobi desert, and south to guangzhou |
| Han Wudi | lit. "martial emperor of han", extended the Chinese borders to its extent in Imperial China; Trained Civil Services; "Silk Road" |
| Wang Mang | 9-23CE, founder of Xin dynasty, killed in coup d'etat |
| filial piety | subordinate all personal desires to patriarch |
| 5 key relationships | son-father, wife-husband, friend-friend, younger brother-older, ruled-ruler |
| bao-jia system | a stable family system of obedience |
Combine with other sets
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