Semester 2 world civ study guide

Stone Age

Period when humans mainly used stone tools; included Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods.

Transition from farming villages to cities

Farming created food surpluses, growing populations, specialized jobs, trade, and governments.

Food surplus

Extra food beyond immediate needs; supported population growth and other jobs.

Job specialization

People focusing on specific jobs, such as pottery, farming, or metalworking.

Royal Road

Persian road system that improved communication, trade, and travel.

Spartan war training/tactics

The agoge trained boys for military life; soldiers fought in disciplined phalanx formations.

Birth of Democracy

Athens developed direct democracy around 508 BCE; eligible male citizens could participate.

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Greek philosophers: Socrates questioned beliefs; Plato founded the Academy; Aristotle studied logic, science, and ethics.

Marathon

Battle in 490 BCE where Athens defeated a Persian invasion force.

Persian Wars

Conflicts between Greek city-states and Persia; Greek victories protected their independence.

Advantages of location in early Egypt

The Nile provided fertile soil, water, and transport; deserts offered protection.

Pyramids (why built? how built, etc.)

Royal tombs for pharaohs; workers moved and placed massive stone blocks using organized labor and hauling methods.

Hatshepsut

Female Egyptian pharaoh known for trade expeditions and major building projects.

Egyptian afterlife beliefs/Mummification

Egyptians believed in an afterlife; mummification preserved bodies for the journey after death.

Egyptian cultural practices

Polytheism, hieroglyphics, mummification, monumental architecture, and Nile-based agriculture.

Rosetta Stone

Stone with Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphic writing that helped scholars decipher hieroglyphs.

Alexander the Great

Macedonian king who conquered Persia and spread Greek culture across a vast empire.

Inca

Andean civilization known for roads, terraces, stonework, and its capital, Cusco.

Mayan

Mesoamerican civilization known for mathematics, astronomy, calendars, and hieroglyphic writing.

Aztec

Mesoamerican empire centered on Tenochtitlan; known for tribute, markets, and chinampa farming.

Factors in Native American decline

Disease, warfare, forced labor, displacement, and disrupted food systems after European contact.

Advancements of humans (early groups in Early Humans chapter)

Stone tools, fire, hunting and gathering, language, art, cooperation, and eventually agriculture.

Ancient Greek contributions to modern world

Democracy, philosophy, mathematics, theater, the Olympics, science, and architecture.