History Exam 2

What happened to Bronze Age civilizations around 1200 BCE?

Collapse due to crises, invasions, warfare, disruptions to trade and political systems

Who were the Hebrews/Israelites?

Ancient people whose religious traditions became the foundation of Judaism

Who was Abraham?

Traditional ancestor of the Hebrews

What was the Exodus

Traditional departure of the Israelites from Egypt

What did King David accomplish

Made Jerusalem his capital and established the Israeliste kingdom

What happened to northern Kingdom of Israel

Assyria conquered it

What happened to Judah

Babylon conquered it and destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem

When did the Jewish exile end

After the Persians conquered Babylon

Who was Ashurbanipal

Assyrian king who conquered Egypt, defeated Elam, and built a major library of Akkadian and Sumerian texts

What was the Neo-Babylonian empire

The Chaldean empire that conquered Judah and destroyed Jersusalem’s First Temple

Which empires ruled the Jewish homeland after Babylon

The Achaemenid Persians, Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, and the Seleucids

What were the Vedas

Sacred texts of Vedic religion

What were the names of the Vedas

Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva

What is the Rig Veda

The oldest Vedic collection

What are the Upanishads

Philosophical texts exploring spiritual reality, the self, and liberation

What is Brahman

The ultimate cosmic reality or essence in Hindu traditions

What is atman

The eternal self or soul

What is samsara

The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth

What is moksha

Liberation from samsara

What is karma

The consequences of actions that influence future experiences and rebirth

What is dharma

Duty, moral responsibility, the order that sustains the universe and society

What is varna

The broad traditional social classes in Indian Society

What are the four varnas

Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras

What are Brahmins

Priests

What are kshatriyas

Warriors and rulers

What are vaishyas

Traders and farmers

What are Shudras

Laborers

Who are Dalits

People historically excluded from the four-varna system and subjected to social discrimination

What is jati

A specific birth-based social group or caste within the broader social hierarchy

What is the Mandate of Heaven

Chinese belief that Heaven grants rulers authority only while they govern virtuously

What is Tianming

The Mandate of Heaven, ruler can lose legitimacy through poor or immoral rule

What is the Chinese dynastic cycle

A dynasty rises, prospers, declines, loses Heaven’s mandate, and is replaced by another dynasty

What was the Zhou Dynasty

Chinese dynasty that was associated with the Mandate of Heaven

What was the Warring States period

An era of competing Chinese states

Who was Confucius

Chinese philosopher who emphasized ethics, social harmony, and proper relationships

What is filial piety

Respect, loyalty, and care toward parents and ancestors

What are the 5 relationships in Confucianism

Ruler-subject, Father-son, husband-wife, elder-younger sibling, friend-friend

What is ren

Humaneness, benevolence, and compassion

What is li

proper ritual, etiquette, and behavior that maintain social order

what is yi

Righteousness or doing what is morally appropriate

What is a junzi

An exemplary person who cultivates virtue and behaves ethically

Who was Laozi

Traditional founder of Daoism

What is the Dao

The Way, underlying natural order or path of the universe

What is wuwei

Effortless or non-forcing action that aligns with the Dao

What is Legalism

Chinese political philosophy emphasizing strict laws, strong rulers, and rewards and punishments

Who were Shang Yang, Han Fei, and Li Si

Major Legalist thinkers and political figures who promoted strong centralized government and strict laws

What does fa mean in legalism

laws and standards

what does shu mean in legalism

administrative methods

What does shi mean in legalism

authority derived from position

Who was Mahavira

Founder of Jainism, practiced life with extreme renunciation, reached absolute knowledge

Lesser Zhou states

Qi, Jin, Chu, and Qin

What is Jainism

Indian religious tradition emphasizing nonviolence, self discipline, and liberation from rebirth

Who was Siddartha Gautama

The Buddha

What are the Four Noble Truths

Suffering exists, it has a cause, it can end, the Eightfold path leads to its cessation

What is the Eightfold Path

Right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration

What is nirvana

Liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth

What are Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism

Two major Buddhist traditions with different interpretations, practices, and ideals of the path to liberation

What are the Iliad and the Odyssey

Epic poems attributed to Homer, central to ancient Greek literary tradition

Who was Herodotus

Often called the first European historian; gathered accounts and investigated the causes of events

Who was Thucydides

Athenian general and historian who emphasized eyewitness evidence, facts, war, and political causes

What was a polis

An independent Greek city-state and its surrounding territory

What was the Ekklesia

The Athenian citizens’ assembly where eligible citizens participated in political decisions

What was the Areopagus

An important Athenian council associated with aristocratic authority and judicial functions

Who was Solon

Athenian reformer whose laws addressed social and political problems and helped lay groundwork for democracy

What was the Delian League

An alliance led by Athens, originally formed to oppose Persia

Who was Pericles

A prominent Athenian leader associated with democracy, the Funeral Oration, and construction on the Acropolis

What was the Parthenon

A temple to Athena on Athens’ Acropolis, built during the city’s classical period

What was the Peloponnesian War

War between Athens and Sparta and their allies, Sparta won with Persian support

Who was Socrates

Athenian philosopher known for questioning people and examining ethical ideas; executed after trial

Who was Aristotle

Philosopher, student of Plato, and tutor

Who was Alexander the Great

Macedonian king who conquered the Persian Empire and spread Greek culture across a vast territory

What was the Battle of the Granicus

Alexander’s victory against Persian forces, beginning his conquest of Asia minor

What happened at Issus

Alexander defeated Persian king Darius III’s forces

What happened at Gaugamela

Alexander defeated Darius III, ending the Persian Empire’s power

What territories did Alexander conquer

Asia Minor, Egypt, Persia, Bactria, territories reaching the Indus River

Where did Alexander die

In Babylon after his army mutinied during the campaign near the Indus

What was Hellenism

Spread and blending of Greek culture, language, and ideas across conquered regions

What was Alexandria known for

A major Hellenistic Egyptian city and center of learning, scholarship, and textual analysis

Who were the Ptolemies

A greek-speaking dynasty that ruled Egypt after Alexander’s death

What was the Nanda dynasty

A dynasty in Magadha that ruled before the Mauryas

Who was Chandragupta Maurya

Founder of the Mauryan Empire

What was the Mauryan Empire

Major South Asia empire that unified India

Who was Kautilya

Chandragupta’s Brahmin adviser, associated with the Artha-shastra on governance, taxation, economics, and security

What happened to Chandragupta late in life

He became a Jain and starved himself

Who was Ashoka

Mauryan emperor who turned toward Buddhism after the Kalinga War

What was the Kalinga War

Ashoka’s conquest of Kalinga, influencing his turn toward Buddhism

What were the Hellenistic Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms

Greek-influenced kingdoms in Central and South Asia

Who was Qin Shi Huangdi

Ying Zheng, ruler of Qin who declared himself First Sovereign Emperor

What reforms did the Qin emperor introduce

Centralized administration, military districts, standardized laws, writing, measurements, roads, canals, and defensive walls

Why is the Qin dynasty important to the word “China”

“Qin” is pronounced Chin, the origin of the name China

What were the Terracotta Warriors

Thousands of life-size clay soldiers and figures buried in the tomb complex of Qin Shi Huangdi

How did the Han differ from the Qin

The Han kept much of Qin’s centralized administration but emphasized Confucian principles

What is sinicization

The adoption of Chinese culture, institutions, and practices by other peoples or regions

Who was Sima Qian

Han historian who wrote the Shiji, an influential history of China

What are the traditional founding stories of Rome

Aeneas was associated with an early settlement; Romulus and Remus were linked to Rome’s legendary founding

Who were patricians and plebeians

Patricians were the elite; plebeians were the majority of ordinary Roman citizens

What was the Conflict of the Orders

The struggle between patricians and plebeians for political rights and representation

What were the Twelve Tables

Rome’s written laws that made legal rules more publicly accesible

What were the Roman Republic’s major institutions

Consuls, senate, assemblies, tribunes, censors, and praetors

Could Roman women vote

Women could hold citizenship status but could not vote or hold elected political office