Semester Test 1 - World History

Nomads?

a member of a people having no permanent abode, and who travel from place to place in search of food

Who was the first to use tools?

Homo Habilis

Paleolithic Age, also known as?

Old Stone Age

Primary source of food of Paleolithic people?

Hunting and gathering

What happened at the end of the Paleolithic age?

Development of Agriculture

What is the Neolithic Revolution?

The switch from nomadic lifestyles to a settled agricultural lifestyle is this revolution

Consequence of the Neolithic Revolution?

Permanent Settlements

Location of early farming communities?

Near rivers

What is domestication?

to tame; to bring plants or animals under human control

What is a civilization?

A society with cities, a central government, job specialization, and social classes

Characteristics of civilization?

advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, advanced technology

Where was the first known civilization located?

Mesopotamia

What/where is Mesopotamia?

A region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that developed the first known civilization.

Why were governments developed?

the need to organize large populations.

What 2 rivers are important to Mesopotamia?

Tigris and Euphrates

Where is the fertile crescent?

A geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates

What natural feature was important to Egypt?

Nile River

What are ziggurats?

temples built by Sumerians to honor the gods and goddesses they worshipped

Mesopotamia practiced what religion?

Polytheism

Egyptions believed in afterlife by?

mummification

What is the Code of Hammurabi

a written code of rules based on Divine Justice that guided the ancient society of Babylon; dates back to 1772 B.C.

Rulers of Egypt were called?

Pharaohs

Who united upper and lower Egypt?

Menes

Who are the Assyrians?

Known as a warrior people who ruthlessly conquered neighboring countries; their empire stretched from east to north of the Tigris River all the way to centeral Egypt; used ladders, weapons like iron-tipped spears, daggers and swords, tunnels, and fearful military tactics to gain strength in their empire

Who built the hanging gardens?

One of the 7 wonders of the Ancient World. Nebuchadnezzar built these for his wife in the grand palace in the Kingdom of Babylon

The Persian empire is known for what?

Greatest empire in the world up to 500 BCE. Spoke an Indo-European language. They were tolerant to the people they conquered. They had a network of roads uniting the kingdom. A multi-ethnic and multi-religious empire. Fell to Alexander the Great. / Conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem.

Sumerians developed what writing system?

cuneiform - the first known written language

What is the Rosetta Stone?

a huge stone slab inscribed with hieroglyphics, Greek, and a later form of Egyptian that allowed historians to understand Egyptian writing.

Who is concitered the mother of Mesoamerica?

Olmec

What civilization had the first language?

Sumerians

What were the Olmec stone heads made of?

Basalt

What body of water did the Olmec live by?

Gulf of Mexico

What type of calander did the Maya’s make?

Long Count Calendar

What writing system did the Mayas use?

Hieroglyphs

What is the most important crop to the Maya’s?

Maize (Corn)

What did Maya’s use pyramids for?

Religious Ceremonies

Capital of Aztecs?

Tenochtitlan

What did Aztecs believe about gods?

They wanted human sacrifice

Spanish leader who beat the Aztecs?

Hernan Cortes

Capital of Inac?

Cuzco, Peru

What did Inca use to record keep?

Quipu

Where were the Inca located?

Andes Mountains / Peru

Most famous Inca city?

Machu Picchu, Peru

Kaaba

(Islam) a black stone building in Mecca that is shaped like a cube and that is the most sacred Muslim pilgrim shrine

Quran

the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina

Caliph

successor to Muhammad as political and religious leader of the Muslims

Sunni

A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Shiite

A member of the branch of Islam that supports the descendants of Muhammad as his rightful successors

Mosque

Islamic house of worship

Hajj (Pilgrimage)

The fifth pillar of the Muslim faith: visit Mecca at least once in your lifetime

Ottoman Empire

A Muslim empire based in Turkey that lasted from the 1300's to 1922.

Istanbul

Capital of the Ottoman Empire; named this after 1453 and the sack of Constantinople.

Sultan

Military and political leader with absolute authority over a Muslim country

Suleiman

Great Ottoman leader, expanded land area of Ottomans, and restructured system of law.

Rajah

a king or prince in India; a minor chief or dignitary

Taj Mahal

A beautiful tomb built by the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan to honor his wife.

Dowry

property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage

Pagoda

multistoried Buddhist temple with eaves that curve up at the corners

Stupa

a dome-shaped structure erected as a Buddhist shrine.

Tsunami

A huge destructive wave (especially one caused by an earthquake)

Tang Dynasty (618-907)

Successor to the Han Dynasty. Lasted from 618 to 907. Accomplishments such as the Grand Canal were some of the great feats achieved in this "Golden Age". Ended in rebellion, created another warring states period. Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism flourished during this time.

Genghis Khan

A Mongolian general and emperor of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, known for his military leadership and great cruelty. He conquered vast portions of northern China and southwestern Asia.

Marco Polo

Venetian merchant and traveler. His accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade.

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

It was perhaps the peak of Chinese civilization with 300 years of peace and prosperity. They improved the Grand Canal, made great porcelain, and under Yong Le encouraged exploration.

Hangul

alphabet that uses symbols to represent the sounds of spoken Korean

Celadon Glaze

Sea-green glaze with percentage of iron as the colorant; fired in a reduced oxygen atmosphere, usually a stoneware or porcelain glaze, first used in the Orient. Jade like appearance.

Koryo Dynasty

Korean dynasty that ruled from 935-1392, Replaced the Silla Dynasty in Korea capital was Songak metal type print led to mass production of books also produced celadon, Confucianism flourished; lasted until 1892.

Archipelago

A chain of islands

Samurai

Class of warriors in feudal Japan who pledged loyalty to a noble in return for land.

Shinto

"Way of the Kami"; Japanese worship of nature spirits

Zen

The Japanese word for a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on highly disciplined meditation.

Muhammad

the Arab prophet who founded Islam (570-632)

Mecca

the holiest city of Islam; Muhammad's birthplace

Schism in Islam

(650s) The Shia / Sunni split which occurred in the decades immediately following the death of the Prophet Mohammed in 632; they could not agree on a new leader. Mohammed failed to select a successor before his death.

Battle of Tours

(732 CE) European victory over Muslims. It halted Muslim movement into Western Europe.

Damascus, Syria

capital of the Umayyad dynasty

Baghdad, Iraq

Capital city of Iraq. As heart of the Arab Empire, it was second only to Constantinople in terms of size and grandeur in 1000 C.E.- Capitol of the Abbasid Dynasty

Ibn Sina (980-1037)

A.k.a. Avicenna; wrote about science and philosophy; wrote "Canon of Medicine", which set medical standards for centuries

Al-Khwarizmi

Muslim mathematician who pioneered the study of algebra

Hijra

The Migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622, marking the founding of Islam

Vizier

a high government official in ancient Egypt or in Muslim countries

End of Islamic Golden Age

in 1258 with the destruction of Baghdad

Five Pillars of Islam

Declaration of faith, prayer, alms, fasting, and pilgrimage

Akbar the Great

The most famous Mughal leader, known for religious tolerance toward the Hindu people of India.

Shah Jahan

Mughal ruler who built Taj Mahal

Yuan Dynasty China

Mongol dynasty initiated by Khubilai Khan that ruled China from 1271 to 1368.

Admiral Zhenghe (China)

led a series of voyages that spread Chinese influence far into the Indian Ocean, they were later discontinued in 1433

Silla Dynasty (Korea)

The first ruling dynasty to bring a measure of politcal unity to the Korean peninsula (688-900 CE)

King Sejong the Great

The king who commissioned scholars to create the Korean alphabet

Heian Period

The era in Japanese history from A.D. 794-1185, arts and writing flourished during this time

Shogun

A general who ruled Japan in the emperor's name

Kamakazi

Divine winds (typhoon) that destroyed mongol ships attacking Japa

China

In the classical and postclassical era, people in this country invented the compass, the rudder, and gun powder, among other things. Very influential to other countries in the Far East.

Middle Ages

Also known as the medieval period, the time between the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD and the beginning of the Renaissance in the fourteenth century.

Constantinople

City founded as the second capital of the Roman Empire; later became the capital of the Byzantine Empire

Justinian

Byzantine emperor in the 6th century A.D. who reconquered much of the territory previously ruler by Rome, initiated an ambitious building program , including Hagia Sofia, as well as a new legal code

Theodora

the wife of Justinian, she helped to improve the status of women in the Byzantinian Empire and encouraged her husband to stay in Constntinople and fight the Nike Revolt.

Fall of Constantinople

Finally overcome by the Ottoman turks in 1453 after constant attack by Germanic/European tribes, Persians and Muslims

Charlemagne

800 AD crowned by the Pope as the head of the Holy Roman Empire, which extended from northern Spain to western Germany and northern Italy. His palace was at Aachen in central Europe

Early Middle Ages

-c. A.D. 500-1000

-Dark Ages: A.D. 500-800

-The collapse of Rome and sweeping advances of Germanic and Viking raiders, Europe entered a time of chaotic political, economic, and urban decline

-A struggle back toward stability