2 WHAP All Terms (6th Final Exam)

~200,000 years ago

Homo sapiens first appeared.

~10,000 years ago

Development of agriculture emerges in various parts of the world.

Collective Learning

The view that the human species has a unique capacity to accumulate and share complex knowledge and to transmit this knowledge from one generation to the next.

Prehistory

the period of time before written records

Hominids

any of a family of erect, bipedal, primate mammals that includes recent humans together with extinct ancestral and related forms and in some recent classifications the great apes (the orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo)

Chronological Order: Australopithecus, Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Neaderthalensis, Home Sapiens

Out of Africa Theory

An evolutionary theory of modern human origin that posits that modern humans (Homo Sapiens) arose about 100,000-200,000 years ago, in Africa before migrating first to the Middle East and Europe and later to Asia, Australia, and the Americas.

Paleolithic Period

[2.5 million years ago to 10,000 years ago] the Old Stone Age; people were nomadic hunter-foragers characterized by the use of rudimentary chipped stone tools (such as hand axes) and the development of early human culture (such as cave paintings).

Hunter-Gatherers

Nomadic people who survived by hunting animals and foraging for seeds, nuts, fruits, and edible roots.

Nomads

A person with no permanent home who move from place to place -- often in search of food, shelter, or resources.

Migration

Movement of people from one place to another

Lascaux Cave

A cave in France found in the 1940's containing outstanding prehistoric art from around 15,000 years ago

Egalitarian

A belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs

Animism

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.

Neolithic Revolution

[10,000 - 8,000 BCE] The development of agriculture and the domestication of animals as a food source. This led to the development of permanent settlements and the start of civilization.

Domestication

The process of taming plants or animals to make them more useful to humans

Agriculture

The science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.

Surplus

(n.) an amount beyond what is required, excess; (adj.) more than what is needed or expected

Permanent Shelters

People lived in one place and did not have to travel to find food

Population Intensification

This means population increases in certain areas. Populations in those areas became both larger and denser

Urbanization

Movement of people from rural areas to cities

Government

The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies

Irrigation

The process of supplying water to areas of land to make them suitable for growing crops.

Theocracy

Government run by religion and religious leaders

Polytheistic

Belief in many gods

Specialization of Labor

The division of labor that aids the development of skills in a particular type of work

Merchants

People who buy and sell goods; Traders

Artisans

Skilled workers who make goods by hand

Scribes

Professional record keepers

Metallurgy

The science of working with metals

Social Stratification

The division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy (or ranking); Most early societies placed Kings, Priests, and Nobles at the top with farmers at the bottom of the pyramid.

Patriarchy

A form of social organization in which males dominate females

Barter System

A system of exchange in which goods or services are traded directly for other goods or services without the use of money.

Textiles

Woven fabric or cloth used to create clothes

Civilization

A complex, organized society often characterized by advanced cities, a government, religion, record keeping and writing, job specialization, social classes, and arts and architecture

Tigris and Euphrates

Two rivers that form the outside border of Mesopotamia

Nile River

The river in which early kingdoms in Egypt were centered around.

Yellow River (Huang He)

A river that runs through northern China, "River of Sorrow" because of frequent flooding.

Indus River

A river that flows from Tibet, through the Himalayas and Hindu Kush into the Arabian Sea.

8000 BCE

Beginnings of agriculture

Fertile Crescent

A geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Mediterranean to the Tigris and Euphrates

Mesopotamia

A region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that developed the first urban societies. In the Bronze Age this area included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires, In the Iron Age, it was ruled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires.

Tigris & Euphrates rivers

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

Sumer

A group of ancient city-states in southern Mesopotamia; the earliest known civilization in Mesopotamia.

City-states

A city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state.

Uruk

An ancient Sumerian city in Southern Iraq, near the Euphrates. Archaeological excavations found notably of a ziggurat and of tablets with very early Sumerian script.

Cuneiform

A system of writing in which wedge-shaped symbols represented words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially by Sumerians and Akkadians.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

An epic poem from Mesopotamia, and among the earliest known works of literary writing.

Ziggurats

Temples built by Sumerians to honor the gods and goddesses they worshipped

Babylonians

A group of people who conquered the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. They had a very famous king named Hammurabi. Hammurabi created nearly 300 laws known as Hammurabi's Code of Laws

Code of Hammurabi

A written code of rules that guided the ancient society of Babylon; dates back to c. 1780 BCE; established a judicial system of reciprocity -- an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Judaism

A religion with a belief in one god. It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Yahweh was responsible for the world and everything within it. They preserved their early history in the Old Testament.

Monotheism

Belief in one God

Ten Commandments

A set of laws for responsible behavior, which, according to the Bible, were given to Moses by God.

Jewish Diaspora

The scattering of the Jewish people outside their homeland beginning about 586 BCE

Phoenicians

Located on eastern Mediterranean coast; invented the alphabet which used sounds rather than symbols like cuneiform

Egypt

Society was ruled by a pharaoh considered the incarnation of the sun god who controlled access to the Nile; they had hieroglyphics, the 365-day calendar, they were polytheistic and worshipped the dead

Nile River

The world's longest river, which flows northward through East Africa into the Mediterranean Sea

Sahara Desert

The largest desert in the world, covering most of northern Africa

Old Kingdom

[2660 - 2130 BCE] Period in ancient Egyptian history characterized by the building of the Great Pyramids at Giza.

Middle Kingdom

[2050 - 1800 BCE] A new dynasty reunited Egypt. Moved the capital to Thebes. Built irrigation projects and canal between Nile and Red Sea so Egyptian ships could trade along coasts of Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. Expanded Egyptian territory

New Kingdom

[1550 to 1050 BCE] Period in Egyptian history when Egypt reached the height of its power and glory

Hieroglyphics

An ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds

Papyrus

A reed that grows along the banks of the Nile River in Egypt. From it was produced a coarse, paper-like writing medium used by the Egyptians and many other peoples in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East.

Book of the Dead

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

Mummification

The preservation of dead bodies by embalming and wrapping them in cloth

Pyramid

Huge, triangular shaped burial tombs of Egyptian pharaohs built during the Old Kingdom

Pharaoh

A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader.

Hatshepsut

[r. 1473-1458 BCE] Queen of Egypt Dispatched a naval expedition down the Red Sea to Punt (possibly Somalia), the faraway source of myrrh. There is evidence of opposition to a woman as ruler, and after her death her name was frequently expunged.

Ramses the Great

[r. 1279-1213 BCE] Egyptian Pharaoh he expanded the kingdom and built lasting temples at Karnak, Luxor, and Abu Simbel. He is often considered one of Egypt's greatest rulers.

Kush

An African state that developed along the upper reaches of the Nile c. 100 B.C.E.; conquered Egypt and ruled it for several centuries.

Indus River Valley Civilization

[2500-1700 BCE] an early river valley civilization located in the present-day countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India that included the cities Mohenjo-daro and Harappa

Indus River

A river that flows from Tibet, through the Himalayas and Hindu Kush into the Arabian Sea.

Harappa

Large ancient city of the Indus civilization, located in present-day Pakistan

Mohenjo-Daro

Indus Valley city laid out in a grid pattern. Had a complex irrigation and sewer system.

Citadel

A fortress overlooking a city; a stronghold

Aryans

Nomads from Europe and Asia who migrated to India and finally settled; Vedas from this time suggest the beginning of the caste system

Vedas

Ancient Sanskrit writings that are the earliest sacred texts of Hinduism.

Hinduism

A religion and philosophy developed in ancient India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being who takes many forms

Caste System

A set of rigid social categories that determined not only a person's occupation and economic potential, but also his or her position in society

Brahman

A single spiritual power that Hindus believe lives in everything

Dharma

In Hindu belief, a person's religious and moral duties

Karma

The belief that actions in this life, whether good or bad, will decide your place in the next life.

Moksha

The Hindu concept of the spirit's 'liberation' from the endless cycle of rebirths.

Sanskrit

An ancient language of India (the language of the Vedas and of Hinduism)

Laws of Manu

Rules and regulations of Hindu social order authorized by the first human being

Huang He

A river that flows from the Kunlun Mountains to the Yellow Sea; also known as the Yellow River

Yangtze

Longest river in Asia

Loess

Fine yellowish light silt deposited by wind and water. It constitutes the fertile soil of the Yellow River Valley in northern China.

Xia Dynasty

A legendary series of monarchs of early China, traditionally dated to 2200-1766 BCE

Shang Dynasty

[1766-1122 BCE] The Chinese dynasty that rose to power due to bronze metallurgy, war chariots, and a vast network of walled towns whose recognized this dynasty as the superior.

Oracle Bone Script

Earliest form of writing in China. Eventually became modern Chinese script.

Zhou Dynasty

[1050-221 BCE] A decentralized Chinese dynasty in China because of the massive size, and whose emperor was the first to claim to be a link between heaven and earth. Iron metallurgy increased in this dynasty.

Feudalism

A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land

Mandate of Heaven

A political theory of ancient China in which those in power were given the right to rule from a divine source

Dynastic Cycle

Rise and fall of Chinese dynasties according to the Mandate of Heaven

Book of Songs

The earliest collection of Chinese poetry; it provides glimpses of what life was like in the early Zhou Dynasty

Ancestor Veneration

The practice of praying to your ancestors. Found especially in China.

476 CE

Fall of Western Roman Empire

Polis

A city-state in ancient Greece.