AP World History Summer Work Vocabulary

Capital city

governor

standing army

permanent force of full-time warriors who could expand an empire and maintain its frontiers.

coinage

metal disks used to pay for goods and services.

Indirect tax

regular payments levied on people taking particular actions to bolster an empire’s funds

Trade duty

an indirect tax paid by merchants when they brought foreign goods into the empire

Direct tax

systematic payments levied on inhabitants of the empire based on their income, property, or per person.

Provinces

territorial divisions within the empire for purposes of governance

Abraham

distant ancestor of Israelites who had made a covenant with God to honor him with sacrifices in exchange for blessing his descendants.

Jerusalem

holy city of Judaism

Magi

Zoroastrian priests that led followers by discovering Ahura Mazda’ s will through star movements

Persia

Iran

Zoroaster

founder of Zoroastrianism

Covenant

A sacred deal with God

Judaism

first monotheistic religion in which Israelites followed the teachings of the Prophet Moses

Monotheistic

worshiping only one god

Rabbi

Teachers of the Torah, religious leaders in Judaism

Zoroastrianism

A dualistic religion honoring a god of light, Ahura Mazda, against a god of darkness, Angra Manyu. Followers honored the earth and elements.

Diaspora

the scattering of a group of people from their original homeland to live in different places around the world

King of Kings

Ruler of the Persian Empire, an emperor

Moses

Prophet whose teachings influenced Judaism

Torah

Holy book of Judaism, recounts history and laws of Jews’ covenant with God.