Pre- AP World History (AMHS Summer Work)

Hunter-gatherers

The earliest human beings that lived in small groups, foraging for plants and hunting animals.

Simple hierarchies

Where one person might become the leader of the group.

Hierarchy

An organization in which certain people are ranked higher or lower than others.

Civilization

A human society based in cities and possessing specialists.

Specialists

Skilled workers who can advance tech and develop structs of gov and economic exchange.

Diffusion

The process in which one society passes its cultural, tech, or social traditions on to another culture through contact.

Agriculture

Farming of crops on land

Religion

The worship of superhuman powers like gods. Priests devoted to religion, advancing their cities’ interest by performing rituals to secure divine favor, ensuring good harvest and protection from natural disasters.

Polytheism

The practice of worshipping multiple gods. Nearly all early religions were polytheistic.

Raw materials

Ei. wood, metal

Finished goods

Farming tools, furniture, weapons

Artisans

Craftspeople that turned raw materials into finished goods for the use of others.

Trade

The exchange of good from one city for goods produced in another. Specialists called merchants engaged in trade.

Economy

A process made up of the harvesting of raw materials, their conversion into finished goods, and their exchange through commerce (trade).

Warriors

Specialists whose job was to protect their city from potential enemies and plunder goods from other weaker cities.

Military

Constitutes matters pertaining to fighting and war.

Infantry

Warriors who fought on foot. These warriors tended to be poorer.

Calvary

Warriors who fought on horse back. Calvary tended to be wealthier, as horses were expensive.

Prostration

A low and exaggerated bow, often to the point of lying flat on the floor.

Classes

Sub-groups within ancient human societies. In some societies, social class was based on one’s job, but in other, it frequently became based on descent.

Slaves

Often people of economic misfortune or prisoners of war, denied their status as equal human being, and instead treated like property.

Tribute

Forced gifts of economic material. Mighty kings sometimes forced the surrounding communities to recognize their rule through paying tribute.

State

An institution possessing the right to exercise violence within a territory (defined area).

Interstate anarchy

The absence of any world gov to govern individual states. (no universal authority of individual states)

Small States

These states range from the scale of a city (city-state) to a few cities and their surrounding area.

Medium states?

These states have a substantial amount of territory within a region without clearly dominating it. It is said that medium states share a region with other states of comparable size.

Large states

These states tend to dominate their entire regions and are often empires. Large states have at most a single rival of comparable size in their region, or have no rival at all.

Culture

The “stuff” that makes a group of people unique, such as language, religion, clothing, etc.

People groups

People bound together by a common culture. Are Chinese-Americans their own group?

Empire

This is what is established by a conquering state over a defeated state. The conquering state is called a metropole, and rules over and exploits conquered states called territories.

Tributary system

In this system, conquered territories (previous states) retained substantial independence if they paid regular tribute to the empire. (conquered territories = dependent states; i think?)

Dependent state

A conquered or otherwise subordinate state, like a territory, which retains some autonomy or institutional identity.

Capital city

A city, often selected by classical empires, to be an urban center that housed the offices of gov.

Provinces

Territorial divisions within the empire for purposes of governance, each administered by a gov. During the Classical empires, they used tributary systems to manage outlying lands while governing most of their territories with a system of provinces.

Governor

An appointed official answering to the monarch. Appointed officials would be more likely to follow the rulers commands compared to tribute-paying rulers, who did not owe their power the monarch.

Direct taxes

Systematic payments imposed on subjects of the empire based on their income, property, or per person. Providing for the empire’s funds.

Indirect taxes

Regular payments imposed on people taking particular actions. These taxes further funded the empire’s actions in addition to direct tax.

Trade duty

A type of indirect tax paid by merchants whenever they brought foreign goods into the empire. This tax further supported the empire’s funds.

Coinage

Round disks made up of specific amounts of precious metals (specifically gold or silver) which could be used to purchase goods or services.

Standing armies

Permanent forces of full-time warriors who could expand the empire and maintain the frontiers. Standing armies were funded by taxation.

Persia

How western outsiders refer to the land of Iran, including people groups such as the Medes and the Parthians. The terms “Iran” and “Persia” will be used interchangeably in this course.

King of Kings

This is what the Persian ruler called himself in reflection of his rule over what had once been powerful independent kingdoms.

Zoroaster

The founder of Zoroastrianism.

Zoroastrianism

The ancient Dualistic Persian religion honoring the god of light, Ahura Mazda, who stood opposed to the evil god of darkness, Angra Manyu. Zoroastrians believed that the earth that Ahura Mazda had created was good, and worshipped the elements, especially fire. Initially practiced outside, however, they later constructed temples which preserved sacred, eternal flames.

The Magi

A group of priests led the Zoroastrians in their worship by discovering, supposedly, Ahura Mazda’s will through the movements of stars.

Levant

Land in the western part of the Middle East, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Abraham

The Israelites/Hebrews looked to the patriarch Abraham as their distant ancestor. Abraham had made a covenant with God, agreeing to honor him with sacrifices in exchange for blessing his descendants.

Covenant

A sacred deal

Judaism

Israelites, following the teachings of Prophet Moses, practiced Judaism, the first monotheistic religion. It holy text was the Torah, which recounted their history and laws.

Moses

The Prophet for Judaism.

Torah

The Holy text for Judaism, which recounted the history and laws which they had to follow as part of their covenant with God.

Jerusalem

Judaism was centered on a central temple in the holy city of Jerusalem.

Jewish Diaspora

When the Roman empire conquered Israel-Judea, many Jews rebelled. After suppressing a major revolt, the Roman Empire scattered the Jew across the Mediterranean Sea, creating the Jewish Diaspora, the spread of Jews across the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa as a religious minority.

Rabbis

Teachers of the Torah who became the most significant religious leaders in Judaism after the Jewish diaspora when followers access to the central institution of the temple in Jerusalem ceased.

Olive Oil and Wine

Greece’s land is most suitable for the cultivation of olive trees and grape vines, from which the Greeks produced olive oil and wine, staple trade goods of the classical Mediterranean civilization.

Barbarians

This is what the Greeks called all foreign people after their non-Greek languages which the Greeks believed sounded like jibber-jabber (“bar-bar”).

City-State

Greek life centered on this gov structure. A government dominated by a single city. Greeks often lived in separate city-states.

Olympic games

In these Games, Greeks from all cities attempted to show their athletic prowess.

Theatre

In theatre, playwrights prepared extended dialogues for actors to perform out loud. Theatre often criticized Greek society/political structures.

Philosophy

It literally means “love of wisdom"; Philosophy is the study of fundamentals of human existence, knowledge, and purpose. A great legacy of Greece to the western world.

Plato

He mainly dealt in the understanding of the universe in abstract terms. Plato proposed that all reality was based on ideal types, but which thinkers could use to explain the world around them.

Ideal types

Abstract “things” which do not actually exist in reality.

Aristotle

Plato’s student who dealt primarily in categorizing and understanding the physical realities of the world. He created a system for understanding and categorizing knowledge through deductive reasoning which had long lasting impacts on western thoughts.

Monarchy

Ruled by one ruler.

Aristocracy

Ruled by a few people.

Democracy

Ruled by many people.

Tyranny

A selfish monarchy.

Oligarchy

A selfish aristocracy

“Mob Rule”

A selfish democracy.

Applying philosophy to governance

The Greeks sorted the types of government into the categories: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. In an ideal gov, the ruler(s) ruled for the interests of their people, not for themselves. However, each government had an “evil-twin” in which the ruler(s) governed selfishly. Examples are Tyranny, Oligarchy, and “Mob Rule”.

Patricians

Roman society: An upper class based on descent from the oldest families of Rome.

Plebeians

Roman society: Inhabitants of Rome descended from less distinguished ancestor

Slaves in Rome

A dependent class filling a variety of roles from farm worker to accountants.

Republic

An “ideal” form of mixed gov, combining the best of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy.

Dictator in Rome

During times of severe military danger, the consuls could appoint a dictator, a powerful but temporary monarchial figure to rule Rome until the emergency had passed.

The Senate

A group of important Romans who voted on the motions to be reviewed by the assemblies, democratic gatherings of the citizens.

Civil wars

Wars fought btw competing factions inside the same state.

Emperor

In Europe, this title became the highest possible rank a ruler could hold, even higher than king.

Romanization?

The Roman language, Latin, spread throughout much of the western Empire.

Religious persecution

The use of discrimination or violence by a state against a religious minority.

Aqueducts

A part of Roman technology, these vast stone structures carried fresh water from the mountains to the cities.

Christianity

A monotheistic religion with its origins in Second Temple Judaism. It was founded by Jesus of Nazareth. For centuries, the Roma empire persecuted Christians, however, following a notable military victory and a purported vision of Christ, the Emperor Constantine converted and patronized Christianity.

Jesus of Nazareth

Also called Messiah and Christ by his followers, Jesus of Nazareth founded Christianity. He was also a Jewish Rabbi. In 33 CE, he was crucified by the Roman gov, however according to his followers, he rose from the dead the 3rd day after ascended to heaven, promising to return to judge the souls of the living and dead.

Peter

He was Jesus of Nazareth’s chief follower. Peter wanted Christianity to remain restricted to the Jews. The Roman authorities eventually executed Peter for his beliefs.

Paul of Tarsus

An important convert to Christianity, Paul of Tarsus believed in spreading the religion to the gentiles (non-Jews), and embarked on a journey to spread Christianity across the Roman Empire. The Roman authorities eventually executed Paul for his beliefs.

The Council of Nicaea

In the council of Nicaea, the Church clarified the particulars of its beliefs in a great meeting of bishops.

The Christian Church

The body of all Christian faithful which was led by Bishops.

Bishops

The most senior of the Christian priests whose job was to care for the Christians, maintain proper Christian doctrine, and practice in their territories (called dioceses).

Patriarchs

The most important 5 bishops who administered the Christian church within the Roman Empire.

The Pope

He was the senior Patriarch who claimed to be Peter’s successor as the head of the Church.

Constantinople

To address the threat of the Persian Empire, Roman Emperor Constantine established a new capital, Constantinople, in the east, on the site of the old Greek city of Byzantium.

Subcontinent

A region with an large scale, diversity, and geographic separation. Ei. India

Vedic Age

Named after the Vedas, the term refers to the period of ancient history within India.

Vedas

Religious text which are our only source of information about the Vedic Age or Ancient India.

The Vedic Age was structured by two societal systems:

Varna (class) and Jati (caste).

Varna

One of the societal systems during the Vedic Age. It consisted of four classes: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra. The fifth “class” was the Untouchables. One was born into Varna

Brahmin

Priests. First class of Varna.

Kshatriya

Warriors. Second class of Varna.

Vaishya

Traders and artisans. Third class of Varna.

Shudra

Peasants and laborers. Fourth class of Varna.