World History

Ancestor Veneration

Veneration of the dead or ancestor reverence is based on the beliefs that the dead have a continued existence

Aryans

nomadic and herding people who spoke an Indo-European language and migrated to South Asia and chose Indra as their chief deity.

Ashoka

Leader of the Mauryan dynasty of India who conquered most of India but eventually gave up violence and converted to Buddhism.

Book of the Dead

A collection of spells and prayers that Egyptians studied to obtain life after death

How Egyptians made it to the afterlife

Brahmins

Priests

Catal Huyuk

one of the best known neolithic settlements in south central Anatolia (Turkey)

7250-5400 BC

Center for obsidian tools

One of the first cities

city-state

A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland.

Civilization/complex societies

• urban focus: birth of cities

• distinct religious structures (gods + priests)

• political and military structures

• social structure based on economic power

• writing: record keeping

• building monumental architecture

Code of Hammurabi

A collection of 282 laws. One of the first (but not THE first) examples of written law in the ancient world.

• eye for an eye

• dismemberment

• punishment that resembled crime

• classism

Cuneiform

Sumerian writing which was made with a reed impressed in clay and then dried in the sun

Egypt Old Kingdom

2700-2200 BC

age of pyramids

Egypt Middle Kingdom

2050-1750 BC

• high point of Egyptian art

Egypt New Kingdom

1550-1070 BC

• Imperial Egypt
• Valley of the Kings (Tut)
• Moses
• Strong female leadership
• Restored Egyptian dominance in Nubia

Gilgamesh

5th King of Uruk

• gods supposedly gave him power
• killed an evil monster

Hammurabi

Babylonian king who codified the laws of Sumer and Mesopotamia (died 1750 BC)

• Leader of Amorite people • Strategically conquered other Mesopotamian city-states • Established capital at Babylon • Most famous for his law code

• "king of the four quarters of the world"
• centralized bureaucratic rule and regular taxation rather than suppression and plunder
• claimed that the gods had chosen him to rule

Harappa

A fortified city in the Indus Valley of northeastern Pakistan

• could have possibly served as a center of political authority
• complex societyish

Hatshepsut

First female pharaoh who expanded Egypt through trade

• coruler with her stepson
• made her seem less threatening by stylizing her with a beard

Hieroglyphs

pictures

ancient Egyptians used instead of an alphabet like ours

Hyksos

semitic nomadic people who came from southwest Asia who overtook Egypt for a short period of time (1674 BC)

• defeated Egypt with their chariots

Indus River

a large river surrounded by fertile land in modern India/Pakistan

• supported the Indus Civilization

Jati

A sub-varna in the caste system that gave people of sense of community because they usually consisted of people working in the same occupation.

• could move up but only with a group

Jericho (?)

oldest Neolithic community in the West Bank between Israel and Jordan

Kshatriyas

The warrior and aristocrat varna of the caste system. (#2 on the list)

Lex Talionis

"eye for an eye" the law of retaliation

Ma'at

Egyptian term for the concept of divinely created and maintained order in the universe. Reflecting the ancient Egyptians' belief in an essentially beneficent world

Mandate of Heaven

Chinese political theory stemming from the Zhou dynasty that gives the kings a divine right to rule. This is how the Zhou took the thrown and were able to overthrow the Shang

"son of heaven"

Mesopotamia

"land between the rivers"

• in between the Tigris and Euphrates

• between Indus river valley and Egypt

• agriculture

Mohenjo-Daro

Largest city of the Indus Valley civilization. It was centrally located in the extensive floodplain of the Indus River. Little is known about the political institutions of Indus Valley communities

Monotheism

Belief in only one god

Neolithic age

"New Stone Age" 12000 years ago supposedly

• domesticated animals and plants
• economic

Neolithic Revolution

The switch from nomadic lifestyles to a settled agricultural lifestyle

Nile River

north flowing river which supported Egypt

• flooded yearly and Egyptians praised their gods for it

Oracle bones

The earliest known Chinese writing is found on these from ritual activity of the Shang period

• should or hip bone that diviners would use to answer questions
• would heat the bone and read the lines that would crack on it

Osiris

Egyptian god of the underworld and judge of the dead

• weighs their hearts to determine who went to the afterlife

Paleolithic Age

The Old Stone Age ending in 12

typified by use of crude stone tools and hunting and gathering for subsistence.

• nomadic likely since you could not have private property

Patriarchy

A form of social organization in which males dominate females

• China (especially)
• Egypt
• Mesopotamian societies
• Most ancient societies

Polytheism

Belief in many gods

• Egypt
• Mesopotamia

Pyramids

Huge stone tombs for Pharaohs

• Old Kingdom of Egypt

Qin Dynasty

a short-lived Chinese dynasty that replaced the Zhou Dynasty in the third century B.C.

• followed the period of warring states
• effective central government returned to china
• destroyed many ancient records

Qin Shi Huangdi (First Emperor)

proclaimed himself First Emperor and decreed his descendants would reign for 1000s of years

• created a political system in which he ruled and created different provinces and districts to implement his policies
• facilitated interregional commerce through the building of roads

Raja

Sanskrit term for king

• used this to claim divile sanction of rule in the manner of Hindu rulers in India

Sanskrit

an Indo-European

Sargon of Akkad

A conqueror from Akkad

Shang

(1766-1122 BCE) The Chinese dynasty that rose to power due to bronze metalurgy

Shudras

The landless peasants and serfs of the caste system. (4th on the system)

Sumerians

The people who dominated southern Mesopotamia through the end of the third millennium B.C.E. They were responsible for the creation of many fundamental elements of Mesopotamian culture-such as irrigation technology

Terracota Soldiers

The clay army guarding the tomb of Emperor Qin.

Tigris and Euphrates River

the two rivers that surround Mesopotamia. These rivers would flood and provide silt that made the soil fertile.

• When the rivers flooded

Untouchables

lowest class of people in the caste system of Hinduism

Vaishyas

The artisan and merchant varna of the caste system.

-3nd on the system

Varna

The four major social divisions in India's caste system: the Brahmin priest class

Vedas

Collections of hymns

Warring States Period

time of warfare between regional lords following the decline of the Zhou dynasty in the 8th century B.C.E.

• Qin dynasty took over
• technically the Zhou kings still ruled but their power was basically non-existent

Xia

A legendary Chinese dynasty that was not believed to exist until relatively recently. Walled towns ruled by area-specific kings assembled armies

Xiongnu

nomadic peoples from the steppes of central Asia who were skilled with the bow and horses

Yangtze River

Longest major river in China

• State of Chu formed in the region
• subtropical climate that supported even more agriculture and helped with the growing of rice
• southern portion of the river was not technically part of China but it later joined

Yellow River

a large river in northern China

Zhou

the imperial dynasty of China from 1050ish to 256 BC

• Last (3rd) major dynasty

• Used the "mandate of heaven" to take control of China from the Shang

• determined that they had a divine right to rule which is how they overthrew the Shang

• emerged from the Wei river valley

• rulers had to govern consciously

Ziggurat

A pyramid shaped temple tower from Mesopotamia where the priest would go to the top to speak or sacrifice to the gods

• not hollow on the inside

• gods said to live in the top of them