Survey of World History MODULE 1-4 - "Exam Preparation"

Hominids

3-4 million years ago, pre-humans. Primarily trial-and-error lifestyle.

Hominid achievements

Shelter, food, and water resources, facing predators.

Homo-habilis

1-4 million years ago. Invented tools.

Homo-habilis achievements

Rock tools, sharp flakes and sticks, meant for cutting/defense.

Homo-habilis meaning

“Skillful / handy man”.

Homo-erectus

1.8 million years ago, became upright, more sophisticated tools.

Homo-erectus meaning

“Upright man”.

Homo-erectus achievements

Creation of handaxes, cleavers, scrapers.

Homo-sapiens

250k years ago, grew in intelligence, beginning of cultures.

Homo-sapian meaning

“Wise man”.

Homo-sapian achievements

Stone tools, burial, and cloth

Neanderthal

Subsect of Homo-sapian in Europe and Middle East. Died off because of middling intelligence and lack of climate adaption

Paleolithic Age

“Old” age. Nomadic hunting / gathering, focus on classic gender roles, creation of fire, forming of cultural activities.

Neolithic Age

“New” age. Shift to farming and domestication of animals. Political + social changes, forming of towns, start of gender role split (men as hunters, women as nurturers.

Mesopotamia

3000-2400 BC, “Land between the rivers”. Numerous city-states at odds. Cities were walled with defense towers.

Ziggurats

Large, flat top temples, the original pyramids of Mesopotamia.

Sargon

Creator of world’s first empire in 2340 BC - the Akkadians. First standing army with a tax system. Adopted and spread cultures rather than overwriting them.

Sargon’s death

Empire falls into civil war, fought between relatives.

Rivers of Mesopotamia

Tigiris and Euphrates.

Hammurabi

Major ruler after Sargon. Sets up new capital in Babylon, heavy focus on strict, consistent law (written) and straightforward, harsh punishments.

Polytheism

Belief of multiple gods. Added purpose to each natural aspect of life (sun, items, etc..).

Cuniform

Wedge-shaped writing.

Hittites

Aryan (Indo-European) warrior group in Asia Minor & Anatolia. First to harness iron, domestication of horses

Nile River

Longest river in the world, located in Egypt.

Hymn to the Nile

Religious text celebrating source of life.

Amun & Re

Egyptian sun gods.

Osiris

Egyptian agricultural and Nile god.

Isis

Egyptian Earth, motherhood, and magic god.

Pharaohs

Egyptian rulers, gods on Earth.

Ankh

Egyptian symbol of rebirth & fertility.

Maat

Egyptian law code; idea of order, justice, and truth balancing the world.

Hatshepsut

Egyptian queen that brought age of prosperity, peace, and started building projects. Interestingly, dressed as a man and buried in Valley of Kings.

Akhenaten

Controversial Egyptian religion brought in by Queen Hat, replaced current religion. Worshipped a lone sun-disk, technically first monotheistic religion.

Tutankhamen

Egyptian king following Hat, returned Egypt to its old ways.

Ramses II

Egyptian king following Tut, takes empire to largest size in Egyptian history.

Treaty of Kadesh

Egyptian peace treaty that pushed for intermarriage.

Phoenicians

Semitic-speaking people in Canaan. Known for cedar wood (strong boats), focused on sea trade and colonization (first to sail around Africa). Formed an alphabet that would later be the foundation of the Roman, Greek, and Cyrillic alphabet.

Israelites

Semitic-speaking people southwards of fellow Semitics. Believed in relationship with God, who was all powerful and just.

Abraham

Initial leader of the Israelites and the very first Jew. Father of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, eventually Christianity and then Islam).

Monotheism

Belief in a single god.

Solomon

Jewish king that unified his people and led them into Jerusalem, the holy land and their capital. Built the first temple, housing the Ark of the Covenant.

Solomon’s death

The Jewish people split apart in response, resulting in twelve tribes. Only two would survive, with the rest being taken into slavery / dispersed by the Assyrians.

Kingdom of Israel

One of the two surviving Jewish tribes. Claimed Samaria as their capital.

Samaria

Capital of the Kingdom of Israel.

Kingdom of Judah

One of the two surviving Jewish tribes. Kept Jerusalem as their capital.

Jerusalem

Capital of the Israelites and later the Kingdom of Judah.

Chaldeans

The group of people that would end up conquering Judah, then destroying Jerusalem.

Harappans

An ancient, largely unrecorded Indian civilization known for a grid-like city structure surrounded by 40-foot walls. Appears to have wielding numerous advanced technologies, such as drains, sewers, public baths, and economic systems housing markets + making use of extensive trade routes (land & sea).

Mohenjo-Daro

Harappan temple, meant “mount of the dead”.

Harappan Seals

Mysterious Harappan artifacts of unknown meaning. Language and writing yet to be deciphered. Theorized to be a reflection of the civilization’s enigmatic collapse around 1500 BC.

Indo-Europeans

Nomads from the Caucasus region & Central Asia cross mountains. Settled in India and adopted local Dravidian agricultural life, blending it with their ways and their materials (iron).

Sanskirt

Writing system brought by the Indo-Europeans.

Raja

Prince / chieftain role of the Indo-Europeans. Uniquely lacked status as gods nor had absolute power.

Dharma

Standard of behavior followed by the Rajas and eventually implemented into future Indian societies.

Mauryan Empire

An earlier Indian empire.

Chandragupta Maurya

Indian king that unifies his people to defeat the Greeks, forming the Mauryan Empire. Highly effective leader both economically and infrastructurally.

Arthashastra

Indian statecraft by advisor Kautilya of the Mauryans.

Patna

Capital of the Mauryan Empire.

Ancient Indian gender roles

Largely patriarchal. Women seen as inferior, thus receive no education, property, nor inheritance, but remain crucial to family structure. Divorce is prohibited with an exception of desertion.

Sati

Practice of a widowed Indian throwing herself upon the burning corpse of her dead husband.

Caste System

Indian social class system applied at birth. Determines social standing and occupations. Cannot be altered once given.

Brahmins

The top of the caste system. Made up of priests and scholars.

Kshatriya

Second of the caste system. Made up of rulers and warriors.

Vaishya

Third of the caste system. Made up of farmers, tradesmen, and merchants.

Shudra

Fourth of the caste system. Made up of laborers.

Pariah

Bottom of the caste system, not considered an official level. Known as the “untouchables”, made up of outcasts, street sweepers, and latrine cleaners.

Jati

Indian kinship group of families in a caste, living in a specific location performing a specific job.

Hinduism

Indian religion, blended with Aryan and Dravidian culture. Belief in spiritual union (self-sacrifice, simplicity, yoga to control mind + body) and resurrection. Made up of 33 gods / goddesses, with the main 3 being Brahmin, Vishnu, and Shiva.

Brahmin

Primary major god of the Hindu religion, “the creator”.

Vishnu

Second major god of the Hindu religion, “the preserver”.

Shiva

Third major god of the Hindu religion, “the destroyer of evil”.

Vedas

Sacred texts of Hinduism.

Samsura

The Hinduist concept of reincarnation; tied to Indian caste system.

Karma

The Hinduist concept regarding personal actions that determine your next life’s place in the caste system.

Jainism

Indian religion focused on ending the “wheel of life” (resurrection).

Mahavira

Founder of Jainism, first to seek end of the wheel.

Ahisma

Jainist belief that all things have a soul.

5 vows of Non-Violence

Jainist concept; “Truthfulness, Do no steal, Chasity, No possessions, Fasts to death”.

Buddhism

Indian religion founded by the Buddha. Focuses on the search for Bodhism and reaching Nirvana, acting as a peculiar blend of religion and philosophy.

Siddhartha Gautama

The Buddha. Born as a prince, faces a defining experience that leads him to leave his place in search of the cause and cure of suffering. At the end of his days, he finds Moksha and achieves, Nirvana under the Bodhi tree, escaping the wheel of life.

Bodhism

Buddhist concept of wisdom.

Moksha

Buddhist concept and primary goal: reaching spiritual liberation.

Nirvana

Buddhist concept of successfully escaping the wheel of life.

Four Noble Truths

Buddhist concept, “Life is suffering, Suffering is caused by desire, Way to end suffering is to cease desire, Way to cease desire is to follow the middle path”.

Ashoka

Grandon of Chandragupta, greatest ruler of ancient India. Started a bloody conqueror, converts to Buddhism following a battle and sends missionaries all over India to spread Buddhism (with tolerant restraints).

Battle of Kalinga

The battle that converted Ashoka to Buddhism.

Rig Veda

Highly sacred Indian text containing over 1000 hymns.

Mahabharata

An Indian epic of war, ethics, gods, history, and more. Basis of Indian culture.

Ramayana

Indian hero; model of courage, honor, and duty.

Kama Sutra

Indian writing about the pleasures of life.

Stupas

Indian places of Buddhist worship.

Yellow River

Chinese river known for its cold, harsh conditions, and its short growing season. 3395 miles long.

Yangtze River

Chinese river known for its warm climate, abundant rain, and long growing season. 3915 miles long.

Yellow River subterm

“China’s sorrow”.

Yangtze River subterm

“China’s blessing”.

Xia Dynasty

Earliest, though largely unrecorded Chinese dynasty. Only known via writings of other dynasties. Specialized in bronze and silk production.

Yu the Great

Founder of the Xia Dynasty. Known for engineering projects to control floods.

Erlitou

Capital of the Xia Dynasty. Sported paved roads, palaces, tombs, defensive moats, and walls.

Shang Dynasty

Second Chinese dynasty, overthrew the Xia. Focuses largely on horse domestication, chariot warfare, masses of bronze spears and armor (made via molds), and the introduction of trade with Indo-Europeans. Had a class system, writing system, worshipped their ancestors, and used oracle bones as fortune telling.

Anyang

Capital of the Shang Dynasty.