River Valley Civilizations and World Religions Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and important historical figures from the River Valley Civilizations and World Religions study guide.

Monotheism

One god

Dynasty

Ruling family

Polytheism

Many gods

Diaspora

The spreading of the Jews beyond their homeland

Cuneiform

A system of writing; refers to ancient Sumer

Ten Commandments

Laws given to the people by God that they were meant to follow

Empire

Cities that conquered other regions or the city

City-State

A city and its surrounding villages

Carbon Dating

Method of chronology

Fertile Crescent

Region of the Middle East where early civilizations arose

Hieroglyphics

System of writing in pictures

Covenant

A binding agreement

Nomad

Person who moves from place to place in search of food

Anthropologist

People that study society and culture

Homo Sapiens

First humans

Abraham

The ancestor of Jewish people

Hammurabi

First set of written laws

Moses

Jewish religious leader

Siddhartha Gautama

Developed Buddhism

Asoka

The last major Mauryan that died in India

Shi Huangdi

First emperor of Chinese civilization

Indo-Aryans

Nomadic people who migrated through Russia, moved into India

Laozi

Founder of Taoism

Confucius

China's most famous philosopher