Unit 0/1: Intro to History, River Valley Civilizations

Intro to History. What is Culture and Civilization? Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus and China River Civilizations

Cuneiform

A form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets.

civilization

complex societies characterized by cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology.

culture

the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a society.

domestication

to take animals out of the wild and breed them for food production.

hunter-gatherer

a member of a culture in which food is obtained by hunting, fishing, and foraging rather than by agriculture or the domestication of animals.

nomads

people who have no fixed residence but move from place to place in order to obtain food.

specialization

the development of skills in a specific kind of work

History

inquiry into past events and why those events happened

artifacts

objects created by and used by humans

oral tradition

the custom of passing along stories by speech

primary source

A document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study.

secondary source

a document or written work created after an event by someone without first hand knowledge

prehistoric

before recorded history, roughly 3000 BC

ancient

old, starting with the start of recorded history up to the fall of Rome (476 AD)

medieval

time from the fall of Rome up to Columbus (1492 AD)

modern

time from Columbus up to the end of WWII (1945)

post modern

time from the end of WWII to the present

decade

a period of 10 years

century

a period of 100 years

millennium

a period of 1000 years

BC

Before Christ (aka BCE)

AD

after the birth of Christ (aka CE)

City-States

a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state.

Polytheism

the belief in or worship of more than one god.

ziggurat

massive pyramidal stepped tower made of mudbricks. It is associated with religious complexes in ancient Mesopotamian cities, but its function is unknown.

Sargon

A conqueror from Akkad, north of Sumer, who took over all of Mesopotamia and created the world's first empire.

Hammurabi

Babylonian king who codified the laws of Sumer and Mesopotamia

theocracy

a system of government in which priests rule in the name of a god.

Pharaoh

king of ancient Egypt

Mummification

A process of embalming and drying corpses to prevent them from decaying

Rosetta Stone

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

Hieroglyphics

An ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds

monsoons

Seasonal winds in South Asia that bring heavy rainfall.

subcontinent

A large landmass that is smaller than a continent, often referring to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Harappan civilization

Another name for the Indus River Valley civilization.

loess

A fertile, yellowish-gray silt deposited by wind, important for agriculture in river valleys.

oracle bones

Animal bones or shells used in ancient China for divination, inscribed with questions to deities about future events.

Mandate of Heaven

The political doctrine in ancient China that justified the rule of the Emperor, believing that heaven granted the right to govern based on their ability to govern well and fairly.

dynastic cycle

The historical pattern of the rise, flourishing, and fall of dynasties in China, believed to be influenced by the Mandate of Heaven.

feudalism

A social and economic system in which land is held in exchange for service and loyalty, characterized by a hierarchy of lords, vassals, and peasants.