real global midterms

Paleolithic

(c. 2.5 million–10,000 BCE) The Old Stone Age when humans were hunter-gatherers using simple stone tools.

Neolithic

(c. 10,000–3,500 BCE) The New Stone Age marked by agriculture, settled villages, and polished stone tools.

Agricultural Revolution

(about 10,000 BCE) The shift from hunting-gathering to farming that enabled permanent settlements and population growth.

Domestication

(from ~10,000 BCE onward) The process of breeding and taming plants and animals for human use.

Hunter-gatherer

(prehistory) A person or group that obtains food by foraging, hunting, and fishing rather than farming.

Nomad

(prehistory–historic) A person who moves frequently instead of living in a permanent settlement.

Civilization

(from c. 3500 BCE) A complex society with cities, government, social classes, specialization, and often writing.

Artifact

(any period) Any human-made object that helps archaeologists understand past cultures.

Culture

(any period) Shared beliefs, practices, customs, arts, and institutions of a group.

Stone Age

(c. 2.5 million–c. 3000 BCE) Prehistoric period when stone was the primary material for tools and weapons.

Bronze Age

(c. 3300–1200 BCE) Period when bronze (copper + tin) tools and weapons became common.

Copper Age

(c. 4500–3300 BCE) Transitional era when copper tools were used before bronze became widespread.

Specialization

(from first civilizations c.3500 BCE) When people focus on one job or skill (e.g., potter, soldier) in a complex society.

Writing

(first c. 3200 BCE) A system for recording language using symbols; enables record-keeping and laws (e.g., cuneiform, hieroglyphs).

Religion

(throughout history) Organized set of beliefs and practices about the supernatural and moral rules.

Social class

(from early states) A division of society based on wealth, status, or occupation.

Monument

(ancient–modern) A large structure (e.g., pyramid, temple) built to honor people or events.

Fertile Crescent

(Neolithic origins c.9000 BCE) Fertile Near East region where agriculture and early states first developed.

Mesopotamia

(c. 3500–539 BCE) Ancient region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; home to Sumer, Akkad, Babylon.

Tigris River

(ancient times) One of Mesopotamia’s rivers that supported early agriculture and settlements.

Euphrates River

(ancient times) Partner river to the Tigris that nourished Mesopotamian civilizations.

Nile River

(ancient Egypt c. 3100 BCE–) Egyptian river whose predictable floods supported agriculture and state power.

Indus River

(Indus Valley c.2600–1900 BCE) River in South Asia where the Harappan civilization developed.

Yellow River (Huang He)

(early China c. 2000 BCE–) Chinese river where early Chinese civilization arose; known for loess soil and flooding.

City-state

(classical & earlier, c. 3000 BCE onward) Independent political unit made up of a city and its surrounding territory (e.g., Sumerian city-states, Greek polis).

Sumer

(c. 4500–1900 BCE) One of the earliest Mesopotamian civilizations, known for city-states and cuneiform.

Hammurabi

(reigned c.1792–1750 BCE) Babylonian king famous for codifying laws (Hammurabi’s Code).

Hammurabi’s Code

(c. 1754 BCE) An early written legal code specifying laws and punishments.

Cuneiform

(first c. 3200 BCE) Early Mesopotamian writing system using wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.

Hieroglyphs

(first c. 3200 BCE) Egyptian pictorial writing system used for records and monuments.

Pharaoh

(Old Kingdom onward c. 3100 BCE) Title for ancient Egyptian rulers who combined political and religious authority.

Indus Valley Cities

(c. 2600–1900 BCE) Planned Harappan urban centers with streets, drainage, and trade networks.

Harappa

(c. 2600–1900 BCE) Major city of the Indus Valley civilization noted for planning and craft production.

Mohenjo-Daro

(c. 2600–1900 BCE) Major Indus Valley city known for urban planning and sanitation systems.

Mandate of Heaven

(idea from Zhou dynasty c.1046 BCE) Chinese belief that rulers govern with heaven’s approval, revokeable by misrule.

Dynastic Cycle

(Zhou onward c.1046 BCE) Pattern of rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties in Chinese history.

Bureaucracy

(from early empires c. 2000 BCE onward) Organized system of officials and departments that administer state policies.

Mesopotamian Empire

(various: Akkadian c.2334–2154 BCE; Babylonian; Assyrian c.911–609 BCE) Series of empires controlling Mesopotamia.

Assyrian Empire

(Neo-Assyrian c.911–609 BCE) Militaristic Mesopotamian empire known for strong armies and administrative control.

Persian Empire

(Achaemenid c.550–330 BCE) Vast empire noted for tolerance, satraps, and the Royal Road.

Satrap

(Achaemenid Persia c.550–330 BCE) Provincial governor in the Persian Empire who administered a region for the king.

Royal Road

(Persian, built under Darius c.5th century BCE) Persian road network that facilitated rapid communication and trade.

Cyrus the Great

(c. 600–530 BCE; reigned c. 550–530 BCE) Founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, noted for tolerant policies.

Darius I

(reigned 522–486 BCE) Persian ruler who improved administration and infrastructure across the empire.

Indo-Europeans

(migrations c. 4000–1000 BCE) Groups from the Eurasian steppes whose movements spread languages and culture.

Steppe

(prehistoric–historic) Large grassy plain in Eurasia, homeland of many migrating peoples (e.g., Indo-Europeans).

Migration

(various eras) Movement of people from one region to another, spreading ideas and genes.

Caste System

(established in India by c. 1000 BCE solidified in later Vedic age) Rigid hereditary social hierarchy in South Asia determining status and jobs.

Jainism

(origins c. 6th century BCE) Indian religion stressing extreme nonviolence and ascetic practices.

Buddhism

(founded c. 5th century BCE by Siddhartha Gautama) Religion focusing on ending suffering via the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path.

Hinduism

(ancient Vedic roots c.1500 BCE onward) Diverse Indian religious tradition centered on karma, dharma, and reincarnation.

Phoenicians

(c. 1500–300 BCE) Seafaring Mediterranean traders who developed an influential alphabet.

Alphabet

(first major phonetic alphabets c. 1500–1000 BCE) Writing system where symbols represent sounds (Phoenician → Greek → Latin).

Judaism

(origins c. 2nd millennium–1st millennium BCE; codified Torah c. 6th century BCE onward) Early monotheistic religion centered on a covenant with one God.

Cultural diffusion

(ancient onward) The spread of ideas, technologies, and customs between societies through trade, migration, or conquest.

Polis

(classical Greece c. 8th–4th century BCE) The Greek city-state, the basic political and social unit in ancient Greece.

Acropolis

(classical Greece) Fortified high point in a Greek city, often the religious center (e.g., Athens’ Acropolis).

Agora

(classical Greece) Public marketplace and civic meeting place in a Greek polis.

Helot

(Sparta, archaic–classical Greece c. 8th–4th century BCE) State-owned serf in Sparta forced to work the land for Spartan citizens.

Phalanx

(classical Greece) Dense infantry formation of Greek hoplites relying on shields and discipline.

Mycenaean

(Bronze Age Greece c.1600–1100 BCE) Early Greek culture known for fortified palaces and warlike society.

Greek geography

(ancient) Mountainous and maritime landscape that encouraged independent city-states.

Types of government

(ancient Greece) Forms of rule in ancient Greece: democracy (Athens), oligarchy, aristocracy, monarchy, tyranny.

Persian Wars

(499–449 BCE) Conflicts where Greek city-states repelled Persian invasions, boosting Greek unity.

Golden Age of Athens

(c. 480–404 BCE) Period of Athenian cultural achievement in art, drama, and philosophy after the Persian Wars.

Socrates

(470–399 BCE) Greek philosopher who questioned assumptions and encouraged critical thinking.

Plato

(427–347 BCE) Student of Socrates who founded the Academy and wrote about justice and ideal forms.

Aristotle

(384–322 BCE) Philosopher who emphasized observation and wrote on many subjects including politics and science.

Alexander the Great

(356–323 BCE) Macedonian king who conquered Persia and spread Greek culture across a vast area.

Hellenistic Era

(323–31 BCE) Period after Alexander when Greek culture mixed with Persian, Egyptian, and Indian elements.

Roman Republic

(509–27 BCE) Roman government before the empire with elected officials, assemblies, and a senate.

Senate

(Roman Republic era) Advisory council of elite landowners in the Roman Republic with political influence.

Consul

(Roman Republic 509–27 BCE) One of two chief magistrates who commanded armies and presided over government.

Patrician

(early Rome) Elite land-owning class in early Rome with most political power initially.

Plebeian

(early–late Republic) Commoner class in Rome that gradually gained political rights.

Magistrate

(Roman Republic) Elected Roman official responsible for judicial and administrative duties.

Punic Wars

(264–146 BCE) Three wars between Rome and Carthage that secured Rome’s dominance in the western Mediterranean.

Carthage

(c. 9th century BCE–146 BCE) Powerful Phoenician-founded city-state in North Africa and Rome’s main rival.

Julius Caesar

(100–44 BCE) Roman general whose accumulation of power ended the Republic; assassinated in 44 BCE.

Augustus (Octavian)

(63 BCE–14 CE; emperor 27 BCE–14 CE) First Roman emperor who established stable imperial rule and began the Pax Romana.

Pax Romana

(27 BCE–180 CE) Long period of relative peace and stability across the Roman Empire.

Christianity

(origin c. 1st century CE) Religion based on the teachings of Jesus that spread widely in the Roman world.

Diocletian

(reigned 284–305 CE) Roman emperor who reorganized the administration and divided the empire into East and West.

Constantine

(reigned 306–337 CE) Roman emperor who legalized Christianity (Edict of Milan 313 CE) and refounded Byzantium as Constantinople.

Fall of Rome

(Western Empire traditionally dated to 476 CE) Gradual collapse of the Western Roman Empire due to internal issues and invasions.

Maurya Empire

(c. 322–185 BCE) Early Indian empire that unified much of the subcontinent; Ashoka promoted Buddhism.

Ashoka

(reigned c. 268–232 BCE) Mauryan emperor who converted to Buddhism and promoted nonviolence and moral governance.

Han Dynasty

(206 BCE–220 CE) Major Chinese dynasty known for bureaucracy, Confucianism, and the Silk Road’s expansion.

Confucianism

(Confucius lived 551–479 BCE; state ideology by Han c. 2nd century BCE) Chinese ethical system emphasizing filial piety and social order.

Legalism

(important c. 3rd century BCE Qin dynasty) Chinese philosophy advocating strict laws and harsh punishments to maintain order.

Daoism (Taoism)

(early texts c. 4th–3rd century BCE) Philosophical tradition advocating harmony with the Dao (the Way) and naturalness.

Silk Road

(established c. 2nd century BCE onward) Network of trade routes connecting China to Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean.

Bantu migrations

(c. 1000 BCE–500 CE) Movements of Bantu-speaking peoples across sub-Saharan Africa spreading language and agriculture.

Animism

(prehistoric–historic) Belief that natural objects, animals, and plants possess spiritual essences.

Aksum (Axum)

(c. 100–940 CE) Trading kingdom in the Horn of Africa known for Red Sea trade and early adoption of Christianity.

Mesoamerica

(preclassic to postclassic, c. 2000 BCE–1500 CE) Region of Central America where independent civilizations like the Olmec and Maya arose.

Olmec

(c. 1200–400 BCE) Early Mesoamerican culture known for colossal stone heads and influence on later societies.

Maya

(Classic period c. 250–900 CE) Mesoamerican civilization noted for cities, a complex calendar, writing, and astronomy.

Andean civilizations

(early civilizations c. 1500 BCE onward; later Inca 1438–1533 CE) Cultures in the Andes adapted to highland environments.

Bering Land Bridge

(last used by migrants c. 15,000–12,000 BCE) Land connection between Asia and North America used by early migrants.