CLEP Western Civilization 1

The Fertile Crescent

An area of river valleys in the Near East where conditions are optimum for crop production.

The Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age)

The age in which humans lived as nomads in small communities, hunting and gathering fruits for food and using fire and crude stone implements.

The Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)

The age in which stone tools were refined, animals were domesticated, and agriculture was developed as people transitioned from a nomadic to a more settled way of life.

The Bronze Age

The age in which cities were developed, and tools were increasingly made out of metal alloys rather than stone. Irrigation and writing began to be developed during this time.

Sumer (Mesopotamia)

The area within the Tigris-Euphrates river valley.

Akkadians

A semi-nomadic people, who spoke a Semitic language. Migrated from the deserts west of Mesopotamia and settled in the Tigris-Euphrates valley during the 4th millennium B.C.E.

King Sargon

An Akkadian king (2371-2316 B.C.E., approximate) who led the Akkadians in conquering Sumerian city-states. Established an empire that unified Mesopotamia and reached beyond it into the Iranian plateau and as far west as Lebanon. His dynasty ruled Akkad and Sumer for about 200 years.

The Third Dynasty of Ur

Around 2100 B.C.E., the Sumerian city of Ur rose up in revolt against the Akkadian rule. The attained control of Mesopotamia and ruled for about 100 years.

Amorites

Re-unified Mesopotamia, and established their capital at Babylon, on the Euphrates. The Amorites (Old Babylonian Dynasty) ruled for about 300 years, from around 1900-1600 B.C.E.

Hammurabi

(1792-1750 B.C.E., approximate) The greatest king of the Old Babylonian Dynasty. Famous for his law code. Claimed to be a representative of the gods.

Hammurabi's Code

A law code that attempted to stabilize the hierarchical society. Presented like a pyramid: the slaves at the bottom, freemen such as peasants and merchants next, warrior aristocracy and priesthood, and the king at the top. Known for, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." Dealt with legislation regarding the family, ownership of land, and commercial transactions.

Hittites

From Anatolia (Asia Minor). Attacked the Old Babylonian Empire around 1600 B.C.E. and plundered them.

Kassites

From the region that is now Iran. Attacked the Old Babylonian Empire around 1600 B.C.E. and established themselves as rulers for 300 years.

Hurrians

Established the kingdom of Mitanni in the upper Tigris-Euphrates valley around 1500 B.C.E. which lasted for 100 years, until they were conquered by the Hittites.

Cuneiform

The earliest form of writing, made by wedge-shaped marks impressed on clay tables using a stylus. Initially pictographs (representing objects), but later included ideograms (representing ideas). Began around 3000 B.C.E.

Ziggurats

Multi-level, pyramid-like constructions by the people of Mesopotamia. Demonstrate practical engineering skills.

Gilgamesh

A Sumerian epic poem inscribed around 2000 B.C.E. on twelve cuneiform tablets. Describes the quest of the hero Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, in search of immortality. Includes an account of a great flood.

Enuma Elish

A Sumerian epic poem describing the story of creation.

The Egyptian Archaic Period

The first two dynasties of Egypt governed from about 3100-2700 B.C.E. Unified the Nile Valley. Under centralized government, the economy was carefully planned and agriculture was efficient.

The Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom in Egypt lasted from about 2700-2200 B.C.E., during the 3rd to the 6th dynasties, when the power of the pharaohs was supreme. Pharaohs were viewed as gods. The greatest pyramids were constructed at this time, particularly during the 4th dynasty. The belief in an afterlife for the pharaohs led to the practice of embalming, or mummification.

The First Intermediate Period

From about 2200-2050 B.C.E., the pharaohs in Egypt failed to assert their power effectively, and in this way the nobles gained control of the government. The decentralization of power led to civil wars between the nobles, or "nomarchs," and to the lack of coordination in agriculture which resulted in widespread famine.

The Middle Kingdom

From about 2050-1700 B.C.E., centralized government was restored in Egypt under the 11th and 12th dynasties. However, the period of stability ended when foreigners, known as the Hyksos, invaded the Nile Delta and conquered the Egyptian army.

The Second Intermediate Period

The Hyksos people dominated Egypt from about 1700-1550 B.C.E. They were expelled by a nobleman named Ahmose, who founded the 18th dynasty and began the era known as the New Kingdom.

The New Kingdom

From about 1550-1100 B.C.E., under the 18th to 20th dynasties, the Egyptian pharaohs reasserted their power. Expanded into the Levant and Anatolia, and up the Nile River into Africa and across the Sinai peninsula. Dominated the eastern shoreline of the Mediterranean, and came into conflict there with the Hittites, who claimed the same territory.

Megiddo

Location of a battle (1457 B.C.E.) between the Egyptians and the Hittites. So many battles were fought over the centuries in this location that it became immortalized in the Christian Bible as the apocalyptic battlefield of "Armageddon".

The Amarna Period

Amenhotep IV (1375-1358 B.C.E., approximate), later called Akhenaton, established a religion in Egypt centered around the sun-god Aton. He suppressed the worship of all other gods, but his reforms were resisted. After his death, the pantheistic religious traditions of Egypt were resumed. During this period art took on a more dynamic and naturalistic quality.

Hieroglyphics

A form of pictograph writing used in religious architecture, official documentation and archival purposes. May have predated Cuneiform.

Papyrus

Paper made from reeds that grew along the Nile, and used by the Egyptians for writing.

Minoans

A people who lived on the Island of Crete. Named for King Minos of that region, a name found in Greek mythology. They had a strong maritime empire and were generally peaceful and prosperous. However, natural disasters such as a volcanic eruption in 1627 B.C.E. soon annihilated most of their culture, and they were finished off around 1375 B.C.E. by Mycenaean peoples.

Mycenaeans

The earliest Greek peoples. They were at the height of their prosperity from about 1400 to 1200 B.C.E. Mycenae was their largest city center. By 1150 B.C.E. they had been devastated by the Sea Peoples.

The Iliad

Homer's epic poem describing the legendary war between Mycenae and Troy.

Phoenicians

Canaanites who spoke a Semitic language. They are known for having adapted the alphabet into a more usable form. First settling the island of Cyprus, they ventured out into the western Mediterranean.

Carthage

The most important of the Phoenician colonies, which eventually became the center of a powerful empire that threatened Rome during the 3rd century, B.C.E.

Assyrians

Came from northern Mesopotamia to conquer the entire Near East from the 8th to 7th centuries B.C.E. Used the practice of deportation to assimilate unruly subjects into their culture. Their capital at Ninevah on the Tigris river was conquered in 612 B.C.E. by the Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians).

Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians)

An empire that arose late in the 7th century B.C.E. These peoples also deported rebellious populations, but were less brutal than the Assyrians. Conquered Jerusalem and brought the Hebrew people to Babylon. Fell in 539 B.C.E. to Cyrus the Great of Persia.

Persian Empire (Achaemenid Empire)

Founded by Cyrus the Great (559-530 B.C.E.), who led the small Achaemenid kingdom in a revolt against Media, the empire that ruled it in 550 B.C.E. Annexed Anatolia, and conquered the Chaldean kingdom, including Syria and Palestine.

Cyrus the Great

(559-530 B.C.E.) King of Persia. Known for showing moderation in his treatment of the vanquished nations and his tolerance for the subcultures and religions of his people. Allowed the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem.

Zoroaster (Zarathustra)

The Persians, initially polytheists, began to follow this prophet around 600 B.C.E. He taught that the god Ahura Mazda represented good and light, and was in a cosmic struggle versus evil and darkness, represented by the god Ahriman.

Mycenaean Bronze Age

(2300-1100 B.C.E., approximate) The Bronze Age of the first Greeks, who first migrated into the Balkans around 2300 B.C.E. Mycenaean centers included Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, and Athens. Known for its beehive-shaped royal tombs. Conquered the Minoans on Crete and sacked Troy in Anatolia. Were destroyed in 1100 B.C.E. by the Sea Peoples, and the mainland was overrun by the Dorians, who spoke a different dialect of Greek.

The Ancient Greek Dark Age

(1100-800 B.C.E., approximate) The Dorian Greeks were less culturally advanced than their Mycenaean predecessors, who fled to Anatolia where they established Greek culture in the region called Ionia. During this time, writing was lost.

The Ancient Greek Archaic Period

(800-500 B.C.E., approximate) Greek culture revived between about 800 and 750 B.C.E. As a result of rapid population growth and economic change, the polis, or city-state, developed as a form of local government. Lots of fighting between neighboring poleis prevented the unification of the Greeks.

Magna Graecia

"Great Greece," Latin name given to the Greeks by the Romans.

Hoplites

Greek citizen-soldiers who provided their own armor and weaponry.

Phalanxes

Massive units of hoplites, or Greek citizen-soldiers.

Tyrant

An individual who received absolute power in order to restore order to a Greek polis. A temporary measure.

Sparta

A polis located in the Peloponnesus. Came to dominate the peninsula after two wars against its neighbor, Messenia (735-715 B.C.E. and 650-620 B.C.E.). Known for a highly regimented and militaristic society. Ruled by two kings of limited authority who shared power with a Council of Elders (28 men, age 60 or older) and an Assembly (all male citizens over age 30).

Spartiates

Citizens of Sparta.

Helots

The subjects of Sparta; peoples of the nations they conquered.

Perioikoi

A marginalized class of non-citizen merchants in Sparta.

The Peloponnesian League

To keep order within the polis and protect themselves from outside threats, Spartans formed this system of alliances, which was joined by nearly all of the poleis in the Peloponnesus.

Phratries

Brotherhoods into which the people of Athens were divided.

Areopagus

A council of wealthy Athenian aristocrats who ruled the phratries.

Archons

9 of these magistrates were annually elected to guide the administration of the Athenian polis, and became members of the Aeropagus once their term expired.

Cylon

An Athenian noble who tried to create order by establishing himself as a tyrant in 632 B.C.E. He was defeated by his aristocratic rivals.

Draco

An Athenian tyrant temporarily elected in 621 B.C.E. to establish a law code.

Solon

An Athenian archon elected to institute laws to help with the social and economic instability in Athens in 594 B.C.E. Known for the constitution he created.

The Boule

An Athenian council made up of 400 members, instituted by Solon.

The Ekklesia

An Athenian general assembly instituted by Solon.

Peisistratus

An Athenian nobleman who seized power during Solon's reign, ruling from 546-527 B.C.E. He was a benevolent dictator who funded public works and instituting new religious festivals.

Agora

"Marketplace" where the Boule met.

Cleisthenes

Tyrant of Athens around 508 B.C.E. Replaced the phrarites with the demes, or townships. Changed the four tribes of Athens to ten tribes that were made up of the demes. Replaced the Council of 400 with a Council of 500, which was made up of fifty elected officials from each tribe.

Ostracism

A practice of the Athenians to send an individual into exile for ten years if they were determined to be a potential political threat.

The Delian League

A naval alliance founded in 478 B.C.E. on the isle of Delos. Included well over one hundred poleis. Most of the ships were provided by the Athenians. Eventually transformed into the Athenian Empire.

Pericles

(495-429 B.C.E., approximate.) An Athenian statesman whose legislation helped make Athens a democracy. Issued the construction of the Parthenon, a temple to Athena on the Acropolis.

The Peloponnesian War

(431-404 B.C.E.) Sparta hoped to break the power of Athens and gain absolute rule of the divided Greek empire. Spartans besieged Athens for many years, and finally an epidemic within the city killed many Athenian people, including Pericles. Without his leadership, Athens lacked stability. Finally, in 404 B.C.E., they surrendered.

Hesiod

(c. 700 B.C.E.) Author of "Work and Days", which describes the hard life of the small farmer, and of the "Theogony", which describes the births of the gods and their legends.

Archilochus

(7th century B.C.E.) a famous Greek lyricist who pioneered the new poetic form.

Pindar

(518-438 B.C.E.) a Greek who wrote odes of victory for athletic contests.

Sappho of Lesbos

(7th century B.C.E.) a Greek who wrote love poems describing her own feelings of attraction for other women.

Aeschylus

(525-456 B.C.E., approximate) An Ancient Greek tragedian. His plays were profoundly moral and religious, focusing on the vice of hubris, or pride, by which individuals call down nemesis, or divine punishment, on themselves. He used this theme in "The Persians", "Prometheus Bound", and the "Oresteia" trilogy.

Sophocles

(496-406 B.C.E.) An Ancient Greek tragedian. His works seemed motivated by religious and moral concerns, expressing deep sorrow at the plight of human beings, who are born into a world of suffering and ignorance. He wrote the plays of "Oedipus" and "Antigone", among other surviving works.

Euripides

(480-406 B.C.E.) An Ancient Greek tragedian. He demonstrated great psychological sophistication in the portrayal of characters. His play "Medea", had an unconventional ending that didn't appeal to audiences.

Aristophanes

(450-385 B.C.E., approximate) Used comedy to ridicule his fellow Athenians. He lived during the Peloponnesian War and wrote several plays such as "Acharnians" and "Lysistrata" to demonstrate the stupidity of the war. He poked fun at his contemporary Euripides in "The Frogs" and at the philosopher Socrates in "The Clouds."

Herodotus

(484-425 B.C.E., approximate) An Ionian Greek who is known as the "Father of History". Wrote an account of the Persian Wars. He was the first to divide civilization between East and West, and to identify the Greeks as representatives of a distinctive Western civilization.

Thucydides

(460-400 B.C.E., approximate) An Athenian general who lost his command early on in the Peloponnesian War, went on to write an account of it and is known as one of the great historians.

Thales of Miletus

(c. 600 B.C.E.) A Pre-Socratic philosopher from Ionia, who established a long running debate in physics by attempting to identify the most basic substance that constituted all physical objects.

Heraclitus

(c. 500 B.C.E.) A Pre-Socratic philosopher who believed that the prime substance that constitutes all other substances is fire. He is remembered for his famous statement that one cannot step into the same river twice.

Empedocles

(c. 450 B.C.E.) A Pre-Socratic philosopher who brought forth a theory of four basic elements: earth, water, air, and fire. His theory remained the basic orthodoxy of western science until modern times.

Democritus

(c. 400 B.C.E.) A Pre-Socratic philosopher who theorized that physical objects were made up of atoms.

Pythagoras

(c. 530 B.C.E.) believed that all reality could be described in terms of mathematical relationships.

Hippocrates of Cos

(460-377 B.C.E., approximate) Known as the "Father of Medicine". Inspired the code of medical ethics known as the Hippocratic Oath. He stressed observation and experimentation, described diseases which detailed symptoms, and emphasized the importance of hygiene and diet to maintain good health.

Sophists

5th century B.C.E. Ancient Greek itinerant teachers.

Socrates

(469-399 B.C.E.) Although he was mistaken for a Sophist, he differed from them in several ways. He did not charge tuition. He focused on ethics. He wrote no books, so his thoughts were written down by one of his students, Plato.

Plato

Wrote the "Dialogues" and strove to preserve the legacy of his teacher, Socrates. Founded a school in Athens called the Academy. The core of his philosophy was his "Theory of Ideas" (or "Forms"). He argued that there is a spiritual world that exists beyond the material world of sense-perception.

Aristotle

(384-322 B.C.E.) Plato's most gifted pupil, who founded his own school in Athens called the Lyceum. Differently from Plato, he emphasized the primacy of physical objects rather than abstract principles.

Philip of Macedon

Invaded Greece in 338 B.C.E. and established unity after winning the battle of Chaeronea. He organized the polei intoan alliance known as the League of Corinth.

Alexander the Great

(?-323 B.C.E.) The son of Philip of Macedon, who inherited his empire. He overthrew the Persians and enlarged the kingdom, and had created the largest empire the world had ever seen by the age of 33.

Eratosthenes

(276-196 B.C.E.) Greek thinker who accurately calculated the circumference of the earth.

Aristarchus

(310-250 B.C.E.) Greek thinker who postulated a heliocentric theory.

Hipparchus

(190-120 B.C.E.) Greek thinker who developed the astrolabe, a device for making accurate observations of celestial bodies.

Euclid

(c. 300 B.C.E.) Greek mathematician who established a collection of geometrical theorems in his book the "Elements."

Archimedes of Syracuse

(287-212 B.C.E.) Greek thinker who calculated the value of pi. Famed for, "Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I will move the world."

Epicurus

(341-263 B.C.E.) Greek philosopher who taught that the good life consists of the pursuit of pleasure.

Zeno of Citium

(335-263 B.C.E.) Greek philosopher who urged the complete suppression of desire, so that a state of enlightened apathy would blunt the psychological impact of misfortunes.

Etruscans

The kings of Etruria governed the early Romans, until Romans rebelled and drove them out in 509 B.C.E.

Res Publica

A new form of government, "republic", instituted by Romans, who rejected the institution of kingship.

The First Punic War

(264-241 B.C.E.) A conflict between the Romans and the Carthaginians (or Phoenicians), to decide who would control the Mediterranean. Sicily was given to Rome.

The Second Punic War

(218-201 B.C.E.) A conflict between the Romans and the Carthaginians which began in Spain and spread to Italy. Hannibal, general of the Carthaginian army, could not conquer the Romans, who were under the leadership of general Fabian. Fabian refused to fight Hannibal's army in a pitched battle, but harassed his supply lines. This war ended when the Romans invaded North Africa under Scipio the Elder and defeated the Carthaginians at the Battle of Zama.

The Third Punic War

(149-146 B.C.E.) A conflict between the Romans and Carthaginians instigated by the Roman statesman, Cato the Elder. Carthage was soon reduced to ruins by Scipio the Younger.

The Social War

(90-88 B.C.E.) A conflict between Rome and its allies, who seceded because the Senate refused to grant their demand for status as full citizens. The Senate finally conceded when threatened by a massive uprising in the eastern provinces led by Mithridates, King of Pontus in Anatolia.