Period 0 and Classical Civilizations Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards of key terms and definitions from the lecture notes.

Paleolithic Age

Refers to about 12,000 BC, during which people were nomadic.

Neolithic Age

Refers to the age from about 12,000 BC to about 8000 BC, when people settled in communities and civilization began to emerge.

River Valley Civilizations

Refers to about 3500 to 1500 BC. Examples include Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, and Shang China.

Classical Civilizations

Refers to about 1000 BC to 600 CE. Major civilizations include Zhou and Han China, Greece and Rome, and the Gupta Empire.

Complex Irrigation Systems

A common characteristic of early river valley civilizations used for agriculture.

Legal Codes

A common characteristic of early river valley civilizations used to maintain order.

Cuneiform

The writing system developed in Mesopotamia.

Epic of Gilgamesh

A famous literary work from Mesopotamia.

Hammurabi's Code

A legal code from Mesopotamia that outlined laws and punishments.

Hieroglyphics

The complex pictorial language used in Egypt.

Book of the Dead

An Egyptian text containing beliefs about the afterlife.

Oracle Bones

Used in Shang China to communicate with ancestors.

Mandate of Heaven

The belief that Chinese dynasties rise and fall according to the will of heaven.

Olmecs

A Mesoamerican civilization known for highly developed astronomy and religious rituals.

Chavin

A civilization in the Andean region known for polytheism and stone architecture.

Agricultural Societies

Societies that cultivate crops, developed iron tools, and writing systems around 8000 BCE.

Pastoral Societies

Societies that domesticate animals, like horses and camels, around 8000 BCE.

Foraging Societies

Societies that rely on hunting and gathering, using baskets and hunting tools from 35,000 BCE.

Polis

A fortified site that formed the centers of many Greek city-states.

Partricians

The Aristocrats in Rome.

Plebeians

Free farmers in Rome.

Paterfamilias

Male dominated family structure in Rome.

Shi Huangdi

Often seen as the first real emperor; centralized political power.

Silk Road

An overland route extending from western China to the Mediterranean area facilitating trade.

Indian Ocean Trade

A set of water routes connecting eastern Africa and the Middle East with India, Southeast Asia, and the Chinese port of Canton.

Saharan Trade

A trade route connecting people south of the Sahara to the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Sub-Saharan Trade

Trade connecting people south of the Sahara to people in the eastern and southern parts of Africa, connecting to the Indian Ocean trade.

Huns

A nomadic people of Asia that migrated south and west, attacking Han China, the Gupta Empire, and the Roman Empire.

Phoenicians

A seafaring people from the eastern Mediterranean who simplified the cuneiform system into a 22-character alphabet.

Israelites

Originated in Mesopotamia and migrated to the eastern Mediterranean, practicing monotheism.

Aryans

Herding peoples who migrated to the Indian subcontinent and imposed their caste system.

Polytheism

Belief in several deities that can be anthropomorphic or related to the non-human world.

Confucianism

A belief system with key concepts like the Five Relationships, Mandate of Heaven, and civil service exam.

Daoism

A belief system emphasizing Yin-Yang, dualism in nature, and people as part of the balance in nature.

Hellenism

Greek philosophy, trade, and common culture throughout the Mediterranean.

Hinduism

A religion with a caste system, multiple expressions of deities, ritual prayer, and sacred texts.

Buddhism

A religion emphasizing the Four Noble Truths and Eight-Fold Path.

Judaism

A monotheistic religion emphasizing daily prayer and sacred text, the Torah.

Christianity

A monotheistic religion with Jesus Christ as Savior and Gospels, emphasizing saints.

Islam

A monotheistic religion with Mohammad as prophet and founder and the Qu'ran as its sacred text.

Brahmin

The priest caste in the Indian subcontinent.

Kshatriya

The warrior caste in the Indian subcontinent.

Vaishya

The merchant caste in the Indian subcontinent.

Shudra

The farmer caste in the Indian subcontinent.

Sati

Ritual for wealthy women (widow cremates herself in her husband’s funeral pyre).

Civilization

A Western word defined as having a food producing based that generated surpluses, and increase in population, specialization of labor, a social hierarchy, growth of trade, centralization of political and religious authority, monumental building, and the development of writing and written records.

Diffusion

The spread of ideas and technologies from one civilization to another through trade, migration, or conquest.

Syncretism

The blending of different cultures and religions.

Trans-Saharan Trading System

Dependent on camel and horse transportation, periphery of Afro-Eurasian trade networks. Luxury, non-perishable trade goods: porcelain, silk, gold, salt slaves commonly traded.

Imperial expansion beyond military control

Especially pressure of nomadic groups.