history midterm flashcards
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129 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Fertile Crescent | In Southwest Asia a large band of fertile land forms an oasis in the midst of the desert and mountains. |
| Mesopotamia | the area between the Tigres and Euphrates rivers. In greek it means "between the rivers" |
| ziggurat | in each city center a large temple rose to the city's chief god. At the heart of the temple a pyramid shaped structure rose to the sky. |
| city-state | a political unit with its own government that is a walled city and owns the land that borders it |
| polytheism | worship of many gods |
| dynasty | a series of rulers from one family |
| cuneiform | sumerian writing. Used to keep business accounts and other records |
| Sargon 1 | the akkadian ruler came to power in 2330 BC. He created a permanent army, being the first ruler to do so. he used this army to conquer all of Sumer and northern Mesopotamia. This area became known as the Akkadian Empire |
| Hammurabi | (1792 BC) He united all of Mesopotamia and it became the Babylon Empire. He is most famous for his Code of Laws, consisting of 282 laws dealing with everything from trade and theft to injury and murder. |
| Indo-Europeans | several tribes that invaded Mesopotamia. They spoke related languages. |
| steppes | (indo-europeans may have come from here) arid grasslands, north of the Black Sea. |
| Nebuchadnezzar II | most famous Chaldean king, was known as both a warrior and a builder. He fought the Egyptians and the Jews, capturing the Jewish capital of Jerusalem and taking many of its residence to Babylon as slaves. He also build the Hanging Gardens |
| Judaism | a monotheistic religion originating with the Israelites, tracing tis origins to Abraham, and having its spiritual and ethical principles embodied chiefly in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Talmud |
| Torah | The accounts of the Hebrews' early history appear in five books. Together they make the Torah (like the Bible) |
| Abraham | A shepherd, he lived near Ur in Mesopotamia. The Torah says that God told Abraham to leave Mesopotamia and to abandon the polytheism he had grown up with. |
| covenant | solemn promise |
| partiarchs | ancestral "fathers" |
| Moses | moses went to the pharaoh and demanded the Israelites freedom. He led them on the Exodus |
| Exodus | When moses led the Israelites our of Egypt. This major even is celebrated by Jews today and is called Passover |
| Diaspora | the scattering of the Jews outside Judah |
| monotheism | belief in one God. Judaism was the first |
| delta | is an area at the mouth of a river often triangle-shaped, made up of silt deposits |
| cataracts | rocky stretches marked by swift currents and rapids. Because of these dangerous currents and falls, boats could not sail through the Nile's cataracts |
| Menes | ruler from upper egypt conquered the north. Menes is also said to have founded the city of Memphis, the capital of unified Egypt. Also says that he founded Egypt's first dynasty |
| pharaoh | the term pharaoh literally means "great house". Pharaohs had absolute power in Egypt. They were believed to be gods |
| Theocracy | a state ruled by religious figures. |
| bureaucracy | a highly structured organization managed by officials. In Egypt many of these officials were the pharaoh's relatives |
| Hatshepsut | known for encouraging trade, one of the few women to rule Egypt |
| Ramses the Great | a.k.a Pharaoh Ramses, led his army out to confront the Hittites. |
| obelisks | tall, thin pillars with pyramid-shaped tops. An obelisk was made from a single piece of stone and carved with intricate designs |
| mummification | the process that the Egyptians developed to prevent the breakdown of a dead body. |
| hieroglyphics | this system which uses picture symbols to represent objects, sounds, and ideas, was one of the world's first writing systems |
| papyrus | isa reedy plant that grew along the Nile. The Egyptians used the pulp of the papyrus to make paper-like sheets |
| Rosetta stone | long passages of ancient writing. the 3 scripts used on the stone were: hieroglyphics, demotic, and ancient Greek. Using the Greek text as a guide, a French scholar managed to figure out the meaning of hieroglyphs and of the demotic characters |
| Culture | refers to a society's knowledge, art, beliefs, customs, and values |
| artifacts | objects that people in the past made or used, such as coins, pottery, and tools |
| Mary Leakey | an anthropologist who found skull fragments in East Africa that were more than 1.75 million years old. |
| hominid | early human being |
| Donald Johanson | found a partial Australopithecine skeleton in Ethiopia (named it Lucy) |
| Louis Leakey | found hominid fossil in Olduvai, Gorge, located in TAnzania |
| Paleolithic Era | Old Stone Age. It lasted from around 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 years ago |
| nomads | moving from place to place as they follow migrating animal herds |
| hunter gatherers | hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants, berries, nuts, and other foods |
| animism | the belief that all things in nature have spirits |
| Neolithic Era | New Stone Age, it marked the development of more sophisticated tools |
| Neolithic Revolution | when some people learned to farm. The development of agriculture. radically changed how people lived. |
| domestication | the selective growing or breeding of plants and animals to make them more useful to humans |
| pastoralists | people who ranged over wide areas and kept the heards of livestock on which they depended for food and other items. |
| megaliths | huge stones used for burial or spiritual pruposes |
| bronze age | the period after the New Stone Age, when people began to make items out of bronze |
| surplus | excess of food |
| division of labor | The economic arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular task or job |
| traditional economy | economic decisions are made based on custom, tradition, or ritual |
| civilization | is a complex and organized society. the first ones arose in river valleys |
| artisans | skilled craftspeople, devoted their time to crafts such as basketry, carpentry, metalwork, or pottery |
| cultural diffusion | people adopted new customs, skills, and technologies. Advances such as writing, metalworking, and farming techniques spread from one civilization to another. "blending of cultures" |
| cyrus the great | led a revolt against the Medes. He defeated the Median army and untied the Persians and the Medes under his rule. He allowed people to keep their own customs rather than forcing them to adopt Persian ones. |
| Darius I | had to fight to restore order to Persia. he reformed the army, he made it a permanent army with paid soldiers |
| satraps | governors. each satrap governed a region, or satrapy, in the emperors name |
| Xerxes | the son of Darius I and was the last strong ruler of ancient Persia |
| Zoroaster | taught that the world had been created by a god named Ahura Mazda. The god was the source of everything good, true, and pure. Ahura Mazda was in an eternal struggle with the evil force known as Ahriman. |
| dualism | the belief that the world is controlled by two opposing forces, good and evil |
| subcontinent | is a large landmass that is part of a continent. As its name inplies, most of the Indian subcontinent is occupied by the country of India |
| monsoons | seasonal winds |
| citadel | located in the largest cities, this is a walled elevated structure (like a fortress) consisting of enclosed buildings such as granaries, warehouses, and meeting halls. Homes, workshops, and shrines were built outside the citadel |
| Vedas | most of what we know comes from sacred writings called the Vedas. which include many details about Aryan history and society |
| rajas | groups of villages banded together under regional leaders known was rajas. the raja were primarily a war leader who was responsible for protecting the people. In return for this protection, he received payments of food or money |
| varnas | The Vedic society was divided into 4 social classes. each varna played a particular role in society (look on page 97 for a chart) |
| castes | over centuries, the 4 varnas of the Vedic period were divided into hundreds of smaller divisions called castes. Membership in a caste determined what jobs one could hold and whom one could marry |
| Hinduism | practiced by most people in India today. its origins are difficult to trace because it has no founder. It is influenced by the cultures and traditions of many people |
| reincarnation | "samsara"- after death, people believed that the atman will be released from the body and later reborn in another |
| karma | the sum effect of one's deeds and actions during his/her life |
| moksha | the ultimate goal of human existence, escape from the cycle of rebirth. |
| dharma | set of spiritual duties and obligations. A person's dharma varies based on their class and their station in life. fulfilling one's dharma allows a person to create good karma, to avoid suffering, and, eventually, to break free from the cycle of rebirth |
| yoga | a series of integrated physical and mental exercises |
| Jainism | thought that most Hindus of the time put too much emphasis on ritual. the Jains thought ritual was unnecessary, because people could achieve moksha by giving up all worldly things and carefully controlling their actions |
| ahimsa | nonviolence. wasn't a new idea, most Hindus also practiced ahimsa, though not to the same extent as the Jains did. |
| Buddhism | Unlike Hinduism, which evolved over thousands of years, Buddhism can be traced back to the teachings of a single founder, Siddhartha Gautama, also called the Buddha |
| Buddha | Siddhartha gautama |
| 4 noble truths | 1. suffering is a part of human life. No one can escape from suffering while alive 2. Suffering comes from people's desires for pleasure and material goods 3. overcoming these desires during life eventually brings suffering to an end 4. desires can be overcome by following the eightfold path |
| eightfold path | 1. right view, or accepting the reality of the 4 noble truths 2. right attitude, or striving for moderation in all things 3. right speech, or avoiding lies, boasts, and hurtful words 4. right action, or treating other fairly 5. right livlihood, or avoiding jobs that could bring harm to others 6. right effort, or constantly trying to improve oneself 7. right mindfulness, or remaining aware of the world around one 8. right concentration, or ignoring temptation and discomfort while meditation |
| nirvana | a state of perfect peace in which the soul would be free from suffering forever |
| middle way | advises people to live in moderation, avoiding the extremes of either comfort or discomfort in the search for nirvana |
| loess | fine yellowish soil blown from the desert regions |
| court | rituals intended to strengthen the kingdom and keep it safe |
| oracle bones | inscribed animal bones used to predict the future. A way of communicating with ancestors |
| mandate of heaven | the gods would support a just ruler, but they would not allow anyone corrupt to hold power. |
| dynastic cycle | the rise and fall of dynasties in china. any dynasty that lost power, they claimed, had obviously become corrupt, and it was the will of the gods that it be overthrown. |
| confucianism | a belief system based on the teachings of Chinses philosopher Confucius that stressed treating one another humanely and honoring one's family |
| daoism | a system of ideas and beliefs based on the teachings of Chinese thinker Laozi, who believed that people should live as simple, honest life and not interfere with the course of natural events |
| Shi Huangdi | first emperor of China |
| Legalism | a Chinese political philosophy that holds that the most effective government is that which rules the people by a harsh set of laws |
| Wudi | when the Han dynasty was at it height. considered the greatest of all Han rulers. he promoted economic growth, new roads and canals, and set up monopolies on salt, iron, and alcohol |
| civil service | candidates for government jobs had to pass an exam in the Confucian classics. |
| Xiongnu | nomads who lived in the steppes, or grasslands, north of China. They had excellent horse skills and were fierce warriors. |
| filial piety | obedience and devotion to parents and grandparents. Stressed by Confucianism |
| Ban Zhao | a Confucian scholar and writer. Her best known essay "Lessons for Women" she instructs women to be humble and obedient. |
| silk roads | this network of routes eventually stretched from China across the heart of Asia to the Mediterranean Sea. The silk roads linked China to India, the Middle East, and the Roman Empire |
| Zhang Qian | a Han official who returned from a mission to Central Asia in 126 BC. He told of the region's riches and the demand there are for Chinese goods. These events led to increased Chinese trade with the west |
| Sima Qian | worte "Records of the Grand Historian", or Shiji. This early history became a model for Chinese historical writing. |
| acupuncture | this practice involves inserting fine needles into the skin at specific points to cure disease and relieve pain. |
| Chandragupta Maurya | a leader who gained control and began conquering the surrounding kingdoms. His conquests led to the founding of India's first empire- the Mauryan Empire |
| Kautilya | chandragupta's advisor who was a Brahmin, or member of the preists caste. Historians think that Kautilya might have writted the arthasastra, a manual for statecraft. |
| Ashoka | Chandragupta's grandson. he is considered to be one of India's greatest rulers, the Mauryan Empire reached its height under his rule. |
| Chandra Gupta II | he further expanded the Gupta Empire and strenghthened its economy. |
| Kalidasa | a poet and playwright. His work was so brilliant that Chandra Gupta II hired him to write plays for the royal court. |
| Hindu-Arabic numerals | the number system that we use today created by Indian scholars and brought to Europe by Arabs |
| Aryabhata | famous Indian astronomers. He correctly argued that Earth rotates around the Sun. He also knew that Earth was a sphere and calculated it circumference to remarkable accuracy. |
| Wendi | reunified China. Also know as Yang Jain, Wendi founded the new Sui dynasty and became its first emperor |
| Taizong | one of China's most admired emperors, Taizong relied on talented ministers to help him govern. In addition to his military conquests, he had schools built to prepare students for the civil service exams |
| Wu Zhao | wife of Taizong, gained power when her husband died, Wu Zhao continued to rule through her sons. Wanting full power, she became emperor herself- the only woman to hold the title in Chinese history. |
| scholar-officials | elite, educated members of the government. They receive good salary and were respected |
| porcelain | a type fo ceramic often known as china |
| pagoda | these multistoried buildings featured roofs at each floor that curved upwards at the corners |
| woodblock printing | a page of texts is carved into a block of wood. The block is then coated with ink and pressed against paper to create a printed page. These blocks could be recoated with ink and reused to create other prints |
| Movable type | uses blocks on which individual letters or characters are carved. The blocks can be rearranged and reused to print many things. Printing with movable type was faster than woodblock but infrequently used in China becuase of the vast number of Chinese characters |
| gentry | a new class that included scholar-officials and leading landowners, who gained power during this time |
| Khan | the Mongols were divided into separate clans, each led by a khan or chief. |
| Genghis Khan | "universal ruler" he united the Mongols under his rule |
| Pax Mongolia | the Mongol Empire established peace and stability across Asia |
| Kublai Khan | became the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. |
| Marco polo | traveled with his father to China. The polos visited the Yuan court, where Kublai Khan took a liking to the younger polo. The Yuan emperor sent Marco Polo on several missions, and for 17 years he traveled in and around China |
| archipelago | large island chain; Japan |
| Shinto | "way of the kami"; an indigenous religion of Japan that holds that everything in nature has a spirit; believers perform ceremonies to ask for the blessings of the spirits; traditionally, Shinto believers venerated the emperor |
| Lady Murasaki Shikibu | women writer in Japan. Wrote "The Tale of Genji" |
| Koryo dynasty | Korean dynasty founded by he warlord Wang Kon |
| Anawrahta | Pagan's first great king. began to conquer the surrounding areas and had united much of what is now Myanmar under his rule. he supported Theravada Buddhism |
| Angkor Wat | Hindu temple complex built by the Khmer rulers of Camboya |
| Trung Trac and Trung Nhi | 2 sisters raised an army and briefly drove the Chinses from Vietnam. |
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