key terms history 106

Corvée

A system of forced labor where peasants were required to work on government projects, typically without pay.

Grain core

Refers to the primary grain-producing regions that formed the economic foundation of early agricultural societies.

Hammurabi

The sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty, known for creating one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes, the Code of Hammurabi.

Intermediary period

A term used to describe times of political instability or fragmentation in ancient civilizations, particularly in Egypt.

Marduk

A major god in Babylonian mythology, often associated with creation and divine justice.

Sargon of Akkad

The ruler of the Akkadian Empire, one of the first true empires in history, known for uniting much of Mesopotamia.

Scribal culture

Societies that placed a high value on writing and literacy, often centered around scribes who recorded religious, legal, and administrative matters.

Cognitive revolution

A theory that refers to a key shift in human development that enabled Homo sapiens to develop complex language and abstract thinking.

Entheogen

A substance used in a religious, spiritual, or shamanic context to induce altered states of consciousness.

Shamanism

A belief system that involves interaction with the spirit world through ritual, often led by a shaman or spiritual healer.

Domestication

The process by which humans selectively breed plants and animals for desired traits. From the Latin domus, “house,” represents the stage at which (non-human?) species can no longer reproduce or survive without human intervention

Neolithic

The later part of the Stone Age when humans transitioned from a nomadic lifestyle to settled farming communities.

Paleobotany

The study of ancient plants, often through fossilized remains, to understand past environments and ecosystems.

Palaeogenetics

The study of ancient DNA to learn about the genetic history of humans, plants, and animals.

Archaeoscience

The application of scientific techniques to the study of ancient cultures and archaeological sites.

Anunnaki

A group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian religions, sometimes humorously referred to in popular culture as ancient astronauts or extraterrestrials.

Proto-Indo-European(s)

Practiced pastoralism and agriculture. The hypothetical common ancestor language from which all Indo-European languages descended. first people to travel with their horses across Eurasia w/ their herds

Pastoralism

A form of agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals.

Primitive matriarchy

A theoretical social system where power is held by women or maternal lines of descent, though its existence is debated by historians.

Cuneiform

A system of writing developed by the ancient Sumerians, characterized by wedge-shaped marks made on clay tablets.

Enkidu

A central figure in the Epic of Gilgamesh, originally a wild man who was tamed through interaction with Shamhat, a temple prostitute.

Epic

A lengthy narrative poem, often about heroic deeds and events of cultural significance.

Gilgamesh

The protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian king who embarks on a quest for immortality.

Hydraulic despotism

A theory that suggests that centralized political power in ancient civilizations was often maintained through control of water resources, such as irrigation systems.

Inanna

A prominent goddess in Mesopotamian religion, associated with love, beauty, fertility, and war.

Mode of production

The way in which a society organizes the production of goods and services, including the relationship between labor and resources.

Mohenjo Daro

An ancient city of the Indus Valley Civilization, located in present-day Pakistan, known for its advanced urban planning and architecture.

Teotihuacán

A major city in ancient Mesoamerica, known for its monumental pyramids, including the Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon.

Charismatic power

A form of leadership where authority is derived from the personal charm, influence, or charisma of a leader.

Amarna archive

A collection of clay tablets from the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, containing correspondence between Pharaoh Akhenaten and other rulers of the ancient world.

Amphora

A type of ancient Greek or Roman container, typically used for storing liquids like wine or oil.

Hisarlik

An ancient archaeological site in Turkey, believed to be the location of the ancient city of Troy.

Knossos

The largest archaeological site on the island of Crete, known as the center of the Minoan civilization.

Tel

A type of archaeological mound or hill formed by layers of ancient ruins, often found in the Middle East.

Uluburun shipwreck

A famous Bronze Age shipwreck off the coast of Turkey, containing a wealth of artifacts, including trade goods, that provide insight into ancient Mediterranean trade networks.

Hisarlik

The modern archaeological site in Turkey identified as the location of ancient Troy, famously described in Homer’s Iliad. Excavations at Hisarlik have uncovered multiple layers of settlement, revealing the city’s long history from the Bronze Age to the Roman period.

Determinism

In historical contexts, refers to the idea that environmental, geographic, or economic factors largely dictate the development of civilizations. For example, environmental determinism suggests that access to fertile land and water resources shaped the rise of early agricultural societies.

Earthquake Storm

 A series of related earthquakes occurring over a period of decades or centuries, which may have contributed to the collapse of ancient civilizations, such as the Late Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean around 1200 BCE.

Paleoenvironmental proxies

Indirect sources of data, such as pollen analysis, ice cores, and sediment layers, used by historians and archaeologists to reconstruct past climates and environmental conditions that affected ancient civilizations.

Sea Peoples

A mysterious confederation of seafaring raiders who attacked and contributed to the collapse of several Late Bronze Age civilizations, including the Hittites and Egyptians, around 1200 BCE. Their origins remain uncertain, though they are believed to have come from the Aegean or Eastern Mediterranean region

Archaeoscience

The application of scientific techniques, such as radiocarbon dating, isotopic analysis, and DNA sequencing, to study ancient artifacts, structures, and biological remains, helping to reconstruct historical events and lifestyles.

Cultivation

“to till, to care for, to worship”, represents a stage at which humans intervene in the lives of non-human species in order to bend them to human ends

syllabry

A writing system using symbols to represent syllables, often used in ancient languages like Linear B.

Uruk

The largest city of ancient Mesopotamia, people work for the temple which is run by admin who follow priestess