World History to the 1500's Key Terms

Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Revolution)

The shift from hunting and gathering to farming and agriculture

Animism

Belief system stating that everything has a soul

Bias

Prejudice either in favor or against something

Cave art

Art that was made by mostly Paleolithic and Neolithic people in caves

Cognitive Revolution

The growth of the human brain caused humans to be smarter, and bringing “advanced” technology

Domestication of plants and animals

Adapting wild plants and animals for human use (usually food)

Ethnosphere

The sum of all beliefs, myths, ideas, and thoughts

Fertile Crescent

Place where first civilizations emerged in the mediterranean

Foraging

The search for plants for food, usually took place in foraging groups

Göbekli Tepe

Ancient ruins that show evidence of transition from hunter gatherers to agriculture

Homo genus

Genus that humans are in

Hominid family

Great Apes are the main creatures in this family

Horticulture

Domesticated plant crops for food and supplies

Hunter

gatherers

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

He was the man that “invented” race, saying that caucasian skulls were the “most perfect”

Neanderthals

Extinct human species that were mostly found to be living during the ice

Neolithic Age

Archaeological period where stone was widely used for tools

Ötzi, the IceMan

A naturally mummified man who was found in a frozen river in the Alps between Austria and Italy

Paleolithic Age

During this time, humans lived in caves or simple huts/tents and were hunter gatherers. They used basic stone and wooden tools.

Pastoralists (herders)

Patriarchy

A system where men have more power and are “superior” to women.

Plow agriculture

People would either attach a simple wooden plow to animals to carry through a field, or they would break up the soil manually

Primary sources

A primary source is something such as an artifact or manuscript that came from the time of the thing that is being studied. Original source if topic for that information

Sapiens

Humans

Secondary sources

Sources that came from primary sources

Selective breeding of plants and animals

Breeding plants and animals to have certain traits

Shaman

A person that practices the religious system of shamanism by connecting to the spirits

Venus of Willendorf

fertility charm which was one of the earliest humanize sculptures

Unit 2: Bronze Age

Bronze

a metal that is made of a mixture of copper and tin

Cuneiform

Ancient writing system used mostly in Mesopotamia which was mostly written on clay tablets

Gilgamesh

Hero in ancient Mesopotamia and king of Sumerian city

Enkidu

Friend of Gilgamesh who helped him along the story of the epic of Gilgamesh

Enlil

He was th eMesopotamian god of Earth, wind, and air (he controlled almost everything)

Hammurabi

King of ancient Mesopotamia, put laws in country into a formal code known as Hammurabi’s code

Harappa

Ancient city in modern day Pakistan, the first major urban civilization

Hieroglyphs

A form of writing that is made of the picture of an object that can represent a word or sound that was mostly used in Ancient Egypt

Indus Valley Civilization

Bronze age civilizations that were mostly built/located around major river systems to help with crops and for protection

Mohenjo

daro

Negative Confession/Book of the Dead

It is a list of 42 sins that a soul of a dead person can claim that they have never committed to be able to go to the afterlife in ancient Egypt.

New Kingdom

A time period in Egypt of around 500 years where there was a good economy and political stability (c. 1500

Nile River

Major North flowing river in Egypt, gave fertile and healthy soil to Egypt for crops, and was a major source of trade and travel

Old Kingdom

This was the time period when the pyramids were built in (c. 2700

Pharaoh

The leader of Egypt

Sargon

Leader of Akkadian empire, he conquered many Summerian city states

Shang Dynasty

(c. 1600

Sumer

First known civilization in Mesopotamia, emerged during the early Bronze age

Uruk

Gilgamesh was the kind of Uruk, which was located in Sumer

Utnapishtim

Character in ancient Mesopotamian myths. He made the god Enlil make a boat to save only a few beings from a massive flood in The Epic of Gilgamesh

Unit 3: Early Iron Age

Abraham

Hebrew prophet and patriarch of Abrahamic religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Akhenaten/Amenhotep

Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, he created a religion that heavily supported the god Aten

Aryans

Indo

Asceticism

Strong belief in self

Assyrian Empire

Collection of city

Atman

A persons soul is there Atman

Axial Age

A time of turmoil all throughout the ancient world that was usually brought a major religious shift

Bhagavad Gita

It is an ancient Indian religious book that explains why things are how they are, aka. the big life question

Buddhism

major Asian religion/philosophy that teaches the ideas of karma and rebirth, it was founded by Siddhartha Guatama

Caste System

Fixed social groups that people are born into. The castes are as follows(In order of “worst” to ‘best”): Shudras(workmen), Vaishyas(commoners), Kshatriya(warriors), Brahmans(priests and nobles)

Confucianism

Teaching that was founded by Confucious

Cyrus the Great

Leader of the Persians, founder of the first persian empire. Conquered most of west Asia and some of central Asia. He usually didn’t have to fight outside civilizations which were being conquered because they wanted to join the persians because they could do almost whatever they wanted to

Daoism

Religion commonly used in China which taught to be in harmony with nature

Dharma

Religious/moral law governing everything

Han

(c. 206 BCE

Hinduism

Dominant religion in India. Teaches the Caste system

Hittites

Anatolian people who were famous for their building skills and use of Chariots

Hyksos

Group that invaded Egypt and settled in the Nile Delta (c. 1640 BCE)

Indo

Europeans

Iron Age

(c. 1200

Jainism

Indian religion focuses on non

Jerusalem

Current capital of Israel. It is a holy

Judaism

An Abrahamic religion strongly practiced by Jews, the belief is that there is one god

Karma

The sum of a person's actions that decides their entire future lives in the Caste System. Good karma\=good dharma

Legalism

One of the three major teachings of Chiea. Taught that people should stick to laws or codes over anything else

Mandate of Heaven

The idea that the Chinese emperor has “divine rule” that was given to him by the gods

Moksha

The release from the cycle of rebirth in the caste system that is enforced by karma

Nebuchadnezzar

Second king of the Neo

Neo

Babylonian Empire

Nirvana

Similar to moksha, Nirvana is a transcendent state where there is no desire, suffering, or sense of oneself, this happens after someone is released from karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. Nirvana is the final goal of Buddhism

Persian Empire

Founded by Cyrus the Great (c. 550 BCE), they obtained control of most of the middle east very quickly as they had a very good economy, and Cyrus would give his people a lot of freedom which made people “want” to join the Persian empire

Qin

(c. 221

Rigveda

Ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit myths. One of the four sacred texts known as the Vedas

Sea Peoples

Indo

Yahweh

The Hebrew name for Godc mostly regarded as Yahweh to Jewish people, nd to them the name is very sacred

Yin Yang

The Chinese philosophical concept of having opposite but interconnected forces, balance

Zhou

The Zhou dynasty, which followed the Shang dynasty, was led by the Zhou king. It was the longest dynasty in ancient China

Zoroastrianism

A monotheistic, pre

Unit 4: Greece

Achilles

Character in Greek mythology who was the hero of the Trojan war, and the main character of Homer’s Iliad

Acropolis

The center of a Greek polis. It was usually raised higher than the rest of the city, as it was the most important.

Aeschylus

He was an ancient Greek tragedian who is often said to be the father/founder of tragedy

Agora

A central public space or market space in ancient Greece that could be found in the polis. Agora translates to “gathering space” and “assembly”

Archaic Age

(c. 800

Aristophanes

An ancient Greek comedy

Aristocrats/aristocracy

A form of government where power is put in the hands of a few, privileged, rich aristocrats

Aristotle

Greek philosopher who was one of the first scientists in history

Alexander the Great

He was the son of Philip II. He was the king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He made his empire so large which allowed the Greek hellenistic ideas to spread very quickly

Antigonid

A Hellenistic dynasty in ancient Greece. The Antigonid kingdom was the kingdom that ruled over the later version of Macedonia during the Hellenistic era

Athens Helots

They were warriors of Athens and were originally used y the SPartans who made them slaves