Week 4 terms

The State

A political system that organizes and governs people within a territory through a government, laws and officials.

Dumuzi

A legendary Sumerian divine king listed on the Sumerian King List who supposedly ruled for 36,000 years in Bad-tibira. He was married to Inanna and associated with death, resurrection, agriculture and seasonal renewal. His connection to the gods helped legitimize royal authority.

Isin

An ancient Sumerian city that became the seat of kingship after the fall of Ur. Its rulers commissioned the Sumerian King List to strengthen their legitimacy against more powerful rivals like Larsa. By combining historical and mythical rulers, they presented Isin as part of a divinely ordained order.

Manetho

An ancient Egyptian priest who wrote the Aegyptiaca, a history of Egypt organized into dynasties. His work helped the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic Dynasty legitimize its rule by connecting itself to Egyptian pharaonic history. The original text was lost, but fragments survived through later writers.

Table of Nations

A genealogy in Genesis 10 that traces the nations and peoples of the world to Noah's three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. It serves as an origin myth explaining how humanity repopulated after the Great Flood. It also reflects how ancient Judeans understood their relationships with other cultures.

Japheth

One of Noah's three sons in the Bible and a figure in Genesis 10's Table of Nations. His name is connected to Iapetus, a Greek Titan associated with human origins. His descendants represent various peoples, helping ancient Judeans explain the origins and geographic distribution of foreign nations.

Oracle Bones

Animal bones, especially ox scapulae, and turtle shells used during China's Shang Dynasty for divination. Kings asked questions, heated the bones until they cracked and interpreted the cracks as messages from ancestors or divine spirits. Their inscriptions preserve some of the earliest known Chinese writing and evidence of Shang political and religious practices.

Shiji

Also called Records of the Grand Historian, this ancient Chinese historical work was composed by Sima Qian and others around 100 BCE. Its 130 chapters combine historical records, royal genealogies, biographies and legendary traditions. It preserved China's past and presented examples of good and bad leadership.

Sima Qian

A Chinese historian of the Han Dynasty who lived around 100 BCE and is best known for writing the Shiji. He traveled across China, collected local stories and consulted court archives and earlier texts, including the Shang Shu. His work combined history and legend and influenced how later generations understood China's past and leadership.

Duke of Zhou

An early Zhou Dynasty statesman, brother of King Wu and regent for the young King Cheng. He was remembered for loyalty, moral virtue and helping stabilize the dynasty. In the Metal-Bound Coffer story, he secretly prayed to die in place of the ill King Wu. His actions illustrate the Mandate of Heaven, the importance of virtuous leadership and the idea that good behavior is rewarded by the heavens.