AP World History Exam Study Guide

Civilization

Civilization

An ambiguous term often used to denote more complex societies but sometimes used by anthropologists to describe any group of people sharing a set of cultural traits.

Foragers

People who support themselves by hunting wild animals and gathering wild edible plants and insects.

Cuneiform

A system of writing in which wedge-shaped symbols represented words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially for Sumerian and Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of western Asia. Because so many symbols had to be learned, literacy was confined to a relatively small group of administrators and scribes.

History

The study of past events and changes in the development, transmission, and transformation of cultural practices.

City-state

A small independent state consisting of an urban center and the surrounding agricultural territory. A characteristic political form in early Mesopotamia, classical Greece, Phoenicia, and early Italy.

Culture

Socially transmitted patterns of action and expression. Material _____ refers to physical objects, such as dwellings, clothing, tools, and crafts. _____ also includes arts, beliefs, knowledge, and technology.

Agricultural Revolution/Neolithic Revolution-When?

The change from food gathering to food production that occurred between 8000 and 2000 B.C.E., independently in various parts of the world. This also includes the domestication of plants and animals.

Paleolithic

The period of the Stone Age associated with the evolution of humans. It predates the Neolithic period.

Neolithic

The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient Agricultural Revolution (s). It follows the Paleolithic period.

Mohenjo-Darro

Largest of the cities of the Indus Valley civilization. It was centrally located in the extensive floodplain of the Indus River in contemporary Pakistan. Little is known about the political institutions of Indus Valley communities, but the large scale of construction at Mohenjo-Daro, the orderly grid for streets, and the standardization of building materials are evidence of central planning.

Name the 4 river valleys where civilization began.

1) Mesopotamia, 2) Egypt, 3) Pakistan, 4) northern China

What are the characteristics of civilization?

1) Cities that serve as administrative centers, 2) a political system based on control of defined territory, 3) specialization, 4) status based on wealth, 5) monumental buildings, 6) a writing system, 7) long distance trade, and 8) major advancements in science and art.

Loess

A fine, light silt deposited by wind and water. It constitutes the fertile soil of the Yellow River Valley in northern China. Because _____ soil is not compacted, it can be worked with a simple digging stick, but it leaves the region vulnerable to devastating earthquakes.

Daoism

Chinese school of thought, originating in the Warring States Period with Laozi. Daoism offered an alternative to the Confucian emphasis on hierarchy and duty. Daoists believe that the world is always changing and is devoid of absolute morality or meaning. They accept the world as they find it, avoid futile struggles, and deviate as little as possible from the Dao, or "path" of nature.

Legalism

An authoritarian political philosophy that came to be called ____. These thinkers believe human nature is essentially wicked and that people behave in an orderly fashion only if compelled by strict laws and harsh punishments.

Confucius

Western name for the Chinese philosopher Konzi (551-479 B.C.E.). His doctrine of duty and public service had a great influence on subsequent Chinese thought and served as a code of conduct for government officials.

Mandate of Heaven

Chinese religious and political ideology developed by the Zhou, according to which it was the prerogative of Heaven, the chief deity, to grant power to the rule of China and to take away that power if the ruler failed to conduct himself justly and in the best interests of his subjects.

Shang

The dominant people in the earliest Chinese dynasty for which we have written records (ca. 1750-1045 B.C.E.). Ancestor worship, divination by means of oracle bones, and the use of bronze vessels for ritual purposes were major elements of _____ culture.

Hittites

A people from central Anatolia who established an empire in Anatolia and Syria in the late Bronze Age. With wealth from the trade in metals and military power based on chariot forces, the _____ vied with New Kingdom Egypt for control of Syria-Palestine before falling to unidentified attackers ca. 1200 B.C.E.

Hatshepsut

Queen of Egypt (r. 1473-1458 B.C.E.). She dispatched a naval expedition down the Red Sea to Punt (possibly northeast Sudan or Eretria), the faraway source of myrrh. There is evidence of opposition to a woman as ruler, and after her death her name and image were frequently defaced.

Akhenaten

Egyptian pharaoh (r. 1353-1335 B.C.E.) He built a new capital at Amarna, fostered a new style of naturalistic art, and created a religious revolution by imposing worship of the sun-disk. The Amarna letters, largely from his reign, preserve official correspondence with subjects and neighbors.

Ramesses II

A long-lived ruler of New Kingdom Egypt (r. 1290-1224 B.C.E.). He reached an accommodation with the Hittites of Anatolia after a standoff in battle at Kadesh in Syria. He built on a grand scale throughout Egypt.

Minoan

Prosperous civilization on the Aegean island of Crete in the second millennium B.C.E. The Minoans engaged in far-flung commerce around the Mediterranean and exerted powerful cultural influences on the early Greeks.

Mycenae

Site of a fortified palace complex in southern Greece that controlled a Late Bronze Age kingdom. In Homer's epic poems Mycenae was the base of King Agamemnon, who commanded the Greeks besieging Troy. Contemporary archaeologists call the complex Greek society of the second millennium B.C.E. "Mycenaean."

Library at Ashurbanipal

A large collection of writings drawn from the ancient literary, religious, and scientific traditions of Mesopotamia. It was assembled by the 7th-centry B.C.E. Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal. The many tablets unearthed by archaeologists constitute one of the most important sources of present-day knowledge of the long literary tradition of Mesopotamia.

Assyrians

Their kings were viewed as both gods and kings and the center of the universe. They were known as a warrior people who ruthlessly conquered neighboring countries. They used iron weapons, cavalry, couriers, signal fires, and spy networks as well as scare tactics and mass deportation to conquer others.Their control was more effective at the core and less effective in the peripheral parts of the empire. They consisted of free, land-owning citizens, farmers and artisans, and slaves. They preserved the knowledge inherited from older Mesopotamian societies and made original contributions to mathematics and astronomy. They maintained libraries that were attached to temples in the cities, such as the Library of Ashurbanipal in Ninevah.

Hebrews

These people were nomadic herders and caravan drivers who developed a complex sedentary agricultural civilization. As they did so, their cult of a desert god evolved into an influential monotheistic religion. They were known by various names: Canaan, Israel, Palestine; Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews.

Torah/Hebrew Bible

A collection of sacred books containing diverse materials concerning the origins, experiences, beliefs, and practices of the Israelites. Most of the extant text was compiled by members of the priestly class in the 5th century B.C.E. and reflects the concerns and views of this group.

Solomon

The Israelite monarchy reached the height of its power in King ____'s reign (David's son), who forged alliances and sponsored trade with distant lands. He also expanded the bureaucracy and the army, and built the first temple in Jerusalem.

Monotheism

Belief in the existence of a single divine entity. Some scholars cite the devotion of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten to Aten (sun-disk) and his suppression of traditional gods as the earliest instance. The Israelite worship of Yahweh developed into an exclusive belief in one god, and this concept passed into Christianity and Islam.

Diaspora

A Greek word meaning "dispersal," used to describe the communities of a given ethnic group living outside their homeland. Jews, for example, spread from Israel to western Asia and Mediterranean lands in antiquity and today can be found throughout the world.

Phoenicians

Semitic-speaking Canaanites living on the coast of modern Lebanon and Syria in the 1st millennium B.C.E. From major cities such as Tyre and Sidon, Phoenician merchants and sailors explored the Mediterranean, engaged in widespread commerce, and founded Carthage and other colonies in the western Mediterranean.

Olmecs

The first Mesoamerican civilization. Between 1200-400 B.C.E., the ____ people of central Mexico created a vibrant civilization that included intensive agriculture, wide-ranging trade, ceremonial centers, and monumental construction. They had great cultural influence on later Mesoamerican societies, passing on artistic styles, religious imagery, sophisticated astronomical observation for the construction of calendars, and a ritual ball game.

Satrap

The governor of a province in the Achaemenid Persian Empire, often a relative of the king. He was responsible for protection of the province and for forwarding tribute to the central administration. Satraps in outlying provinces enjoyed considerable autonomy.

Zoroastrianism

a religion originating in ancient Iran that became the official religion of the Achaemenids. It centered on a single benevolent deity, Ahuramazda, who engaged in a struggle with demonic forces before prevailing and restoring a pristine world. It emphasized truth-telling, purity, and reverence for nature.

Polis

The Greek term for a city-state, an urban center and the agricultural territory under its control. It was the characteristic form of political organization in southern and central Greece in the Archaic and Classical periods. Of the hundreds of city-states in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions settled by Greeks, some were oligarchic, others democratic, depending on the powers delegated to the Council and the Assembly.

Hoplite

Heavily armored Greek infantryman of the Archaic and Classical periods who fought in the close-packed phalanx formation. Hoplite armies-militias composed of middle- and upper-class citizens supplying their own equipment: Superior to all other forces.

Tyrant

The term the Greeks used to describe someone who seized and held power in violation of the normal procedures and traditions of the community. Tyrants appeared in many Greek city-states in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E., often taking advantage of the disaffection of the emerging middle class and, by weakening the old elite, unwittingly contributing to the evolution of democracy.

Democracy

system of government in which all 'citizens' (however defined) have equal political and legal rights, privileges, and protections, as in the Greek city-state of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.

Herodotus

Heir to the technique of historia-'investigation'-developed by Greeks in the late Archaic period. He came from a Greek community in Anatolia and traveled extensively, collecting information in western Asia and the Mediterranean lands. He traced the antecedents and chronicled the wars between the Greek city-states and the Persian Empire, thus originating the Western tradition of historical writing.

Pericles

Aristocratic leader who guided the Athenian state through the transformation to full participatory democracy for all male citizens, supervised construction of the Acropolis, and pursued a policy of imperial expansion that led to the Peloponnesian War. He formulated a strategy of attrition but died from the plague early in the war.

Peloponnesian War

A protracted (431-404 B.C.E.) and costly conflict between the Athenian and Spartan alliance systems that convulsed most of the Greek world. The war was largely a consequence of Athenian imperialism. Possession of a naval empire allowed Athens to fight a war of attrition. Ultimately, Sparta prevailed because of Athenian errors and Persian financial support.

Socrates

Athenian philosopher (ca. 470-399 B.C.E.) who shifted the emphasis of philosophical investigation from questions of natural science to ethics and human behavior. He attracted young disciples from elite families but made enemies by revealing the ignorance and pretensions of others, culminating in his trial and execution by the Athenian state.

Plato

Student of Socrates. He distrusted democracy. He set up a school called the Academy. He emphasized the importance of reason. He wrote Republic, a book about an ideal state that would regulate every aspect of life. He believed men surpassed women mentally and physically, but some women surpassed men and that talented women should be educated to serve the state.

Alexander

King of Macedonia in northern Greece. Between 334 and 323 B.C.E. he conquered the Persian Empire, reached the Indus Valley, founded many Greek-style cities, and spread Greek culture across the Middle East. Later known as Alexander the Great.

Hellenistic Age

Historians' term for the era, usually dated 323-30 B.C.E., in which Greek culture spread across western Asia and northeastern Africa after the conquests of Alexander the Great. The period ended with the fall of the last major Hellenistic kingdom to Rome, but Greek cultural influence persisted until the spread of Islam in the seventh century C.E.

Roman Republic

The period from 507 to 31 B.C.E., during which Rome was largely governed by the aristocratic Roman Senate.

Augustus/Octavian

Honorific name of Octavian, founder of the Roman Principate, the military dictatorship that replaced the failing rule of the Roman Senate. After defeating all rivals, between 31 BCE and 14 CE he laid the groundwork for several centuries of stability and prosperity in the Roman Empire.

Pax Romana

Literally, "Roman peace," it connoted the stability and prosperity that Roman rule brought to the lands of the Roman Empire in the first two centuries C.E. The movement of people and trade goods along Roman roads and safe seas allowed for the spread of cultural practices, technologies, and religious ideas.

Romanization

The process by which the Latin language and Roman culture became dominant in the western provinces of the Roman Empire. The Roman government did not actively seek to Romanize the subject peoples, but indigenous peoples in the provinces often chose to Romanize because of the political and economic advantages that it brought, as well as the allure of Roman success.

Jesus

A Jew from Galilee in northern Israel who sought to reform Jewish beliefs and practices. He was executed as a revolutionary by the Romans. Hailed as the Messiah and son of God by his followers, he became the central figure in Christianity, a belief system that developed in the centuries after his death

Third-Century Crisis

Historians' term for the political, military, and economic turmoil that beset the Roman Empire during much of the third century C.E.: frequent changes of ruler, civil wars, barbarian invasions, decline of urban centers, and near-destruction of long-distance commerce and the monetary economy. After 284 C.E. Diocletian restored order by making fundamental changes.

Constantine

Roman emperor (r. 312-337). After reuniting the Roman Empire, he moved the capital to Constantinople and made Christianity a favored religion.

Shi Huangdi

Founder of the short-lived Qin dynasty and creator of the Chinese Empire (r. 221-210 B.C.E.). He is remembered for his ruthless conquests of rival states, standardization of practices, and forcible organization of labor for military and engineering tasks. His tomb, with its army of life-size terracotta soldiers, has been partially excavated.

Han

A term used to designate (1) the ethnic Chinese people who originated in the Yellow River Valley and spread throughout regions of China suitable for agriculture and (2) the dynasty of emperors who ruled from 206 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.

Gentry

In China, the class of prosperous families, next in wealth below the rural aristocrats, from which the emperors drew their administrative personnel. Respected for their education and expertise, these officials became a privileged group and made the government more efficient and responsive than in the past. The term gentry also denotes the class of landholding families in England below the aristocracy.

Monsoon

Seasonal winds in the Indian Ocean caused by the differences in temperature between the rapidly heating and cooling landmasses of Africa and Asia and the slowly changing ocean waters. These strong and predictable winds have been long ridden across the open sea by sailors, and the large amounts of rainfall that they deposit on parts of India, Southeast Asia, and China allow for the cultivation of several crops a year.

Varna

Four major social divisions in Indian history: the Brahmin priest class, the Kshatriya warrior/adminstrator class, the Vaishya merchant/farmer class, and the Shudra laborer class. Within the system of varna are many jati, regional groups of people who have a common occupational sphere and who marry, eat, and generally interact with other members of their group.

Buddha

(563-483 B.C.E.) An Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama who renounced his wealth and social position. After becoming "enlightened" (the meaning of Buddha) he enunciated the principles of Buddhism. This doctrine evolved and spread throughout India and to Southeast, East, Central Asia.

Theravada

"Way of the Elders" branch of Buddhism followed in Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia. _____ remains close to the original principles set forth by the Buddha; it downplays the importance of gods and emphasizes austerity and the individual's search for enlightenment.

Mahayana

"Great Vehicle" branch of Buddhism followed in China, Japan, and Central Asia. The focus is on reverence for Buddha and for bodhisattvas, enlightened persons who have postponed nirvana to help others attain enlightenment.

Gupta Empire

(320-550 C.E.) A powerful Indian state based, like its Mauryan predecessor, on a capital at Pataliputra in the Ganges Valley. It controlled most of the Indian subcontinent through a combination of military force and its prestige as a center of sophisticated culture.

Theater-state

Historians' term for a state that acquires prestige and power by developing attractive cultural forms and staging elaborate public ceremonies (as well as redistributing valuable resources) to attract and bind subjects to the center. Examples include the Gupta Empire in India and Srivijaya in Southeast Asia.

Hinduism

A general term for a wide variety of beliefs and ritual practices that have developed in the Indian subcontinent since the antiquity. _____ has roots in ancient Vedic, Buddhist, and South Indian religious concepts and practices. It spread along the trade routes to Southeast Asia.

Ashoka

Third ruler of the Mauryan Empire in India (R. 273-232 B.C.E.). He converted to Buddhism and broadcast his precepts on inscribed stones and pillars, the earliest surviving Indian writing.

Bhagavad-Gita

The most important work of Indian sacred literature, a dialogue between the great warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna on duty and the fate of the spirit.

Mahabharata

A vast epic chronicling the events leading up to a cataclysmic battle between related kinship groups in early India. It includes the Bhagavad-Gita, the most important work of Indian sacred literature.

Silk Road

Caravan routes connecting China and the Middle East across Central Asia and Iran.

Mauryan Empire

The first state to unify most of the Indian subcontinent. It was founded by Chandra Gupta Maurya in 324 B.C.E. and survived until 184 B.C.E. From its capital at Pataliputra in the Ganges Valley it grew wealthy from taxes on agriculture, iron mining, and control of trade routes.

Indian Ocean Maritime System

In premodern times, a network of seaports, trade routes, and maritime culture linking countries on the rim of the Indian Ocean from Africa to Indonesia.

Trans-Saharan Caravan Routes

Trading network linking North Africa with sub-Saharn Africa across the Sahara.

Bantu

Collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African languages and of the peoples speaking these languages.

Mecca

City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and ritual center of the Islamic religion.

Muhammad

Arab prophet; founder of religion of Islam.

Muslim

An adherent of the Islamic religion; a person who "submits" (in Arabic, Islam means "submission") to the will of God.

Caliphate

Office established in succession to the Prophet Muhammad, to rule the Islamic empire; also the name of that empire.

Quran

Book composed of divine revelations made to the Prophet Muhammad between ca. 610 and his death in 632; the sacred text of the religion of Islam.

Shi'ites (Shi'a)

Muslims belonging to the branch of Islam believing that God vests leadership of the community in a descendant of Muhammad's son-in-law Ali. _____ is the state religion of Iran.

Sunnis

Muslims belonging to branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. The majority religion in most Islamic countries.

What are the Five Pillars of Islam?

1) avowal that there is only one god and Muhammed is his messenger, 2) prayer five times a day, 3) fasting during the lunar month of Ramadan, 4) paying alms, and 5) making the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once during one's lifetime.

Charlemagne

King of the Franks (r. 768-814); emperor (r. 800-814). Through a series of military conquests he established the Carolingian Empire, which encompassed all of Gaul and parts of Germany and Italy. Though illiterate himself, he sponsored a brief intellectual revival.

Medieval

Literally "middle age," a term that historians of Europe use for the period ca. 500 to ca. 1500, signifying its intermediate point between Greco-Roman antiquity and the Renaissance.

Byzantine Empire

Historians' name for the eastern portion of the Roman Empire from the fourth century onward, taken from "Byzantion," an early name for Constantinople, the Byzantine capital city. The empire fell to the Ottomans in 1453.

Schism

A formal split within a religious community. See Great Western Schism.

Manor

In medieval Europe, a large, self-sufficient landholding consisting of the lord's residence (_____ house), outbuildings, peasant village, and surrounding land.

Serf

In medieval Europe, an agricultural laborer legally bound to a lord's property and obligated to perform set services for the lord. In Russia some _____ worked as artisans and in factories; serfdom was not abolished there until 1861.

Vassal

In medieval Europe, a sworn supporter of a king or lord committed to rendering specified military service to that king or lord.

Papacy

The central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the head.

Holy Roman Empire

Loose federation of mostly German states and principalities, headed by an emperor elected by the princes. It lasted from 962 to 1806.

Investiture Controversy

Dispute between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors over who held ultimate authority over bishops in imperial lands.

Crusades

Armed pilgrimages to the Holy Land by Christians determined to recover Jerusalem from Muslim rule. The ______ brought an end to western Europe's centuries of intellectual and cultural isolation.

Tang Empire

Empire unifying China and part of Central Asia, founded 618 and ended 907. The _____ emperors presided over a magnificent court at their capital, Chang'an.

Grand Canal

The 1,100-mile (1,771-kilometer) waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire.

Bubonic Plague/Great Pandemic/Black Death

A bacterial disease of fleas that can be transmitted by flea bites to rodents and humans. Because of its very high mortality rate and the difficulty of preventing its spread, major outbreaks have created crises in many parts of the world. An outbreak spread across Asia, North Africa, and Europe in the mid-fourteenth century, carrying off vast numbers of persons; for example, one-third of Europe's population was killed from it.

Song Empire/Technological Advancements

Empire in central and southern China (960-1126) while the Liao people controlled the north. Empire in southern China (1127-1279; the "Southern Song") while the Jin people controlled the north. Distinguished for its advances in technology, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. A technological advancement was a huge, chain-driven mechanical clock that told the time, day of the month, and indicated the movements of the moon and certain stars and planets. They also improved the compass, introduced the sternpost rudder and watertight bulkheads, and they developed and used gunpowder weapons in their wars.

Junk

A very large flat-bottom sailing ship produced in the Tang, Ming, and Song Empires, specially designed for a long-distance commercial travel.

Fujiwara

An aristocratic family that dominated the Japanese imperial court between the ninth and twelfth centuries.

Kamakura Shogunate

A very large flat-bottom sailing ship produced in the Tang, Ming, and Song Empires, specially designed for a long-distance commercial travel.

Chinampas

Raised fields constructed along lake shores in Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields.

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.