World History Vocab

History

Study of past events.

Fossils

Rocklike remains of biological organisms.

Archaeology

Study of past societies through what people left behind.

Perspectives

Point of view from which a source creator describes events.

Nomad

A person constantly moving from one place to another.

Migration

Movement of people from one place to another.

Paleolithic

A period in history when the earliest tools were invented.

Chronology

An arrangement of events in the order they occurred.

Artifacts

Objects made by humans.

Timeline

A graphical representation of a period of time.

Sedentary

Tending to spend much time seated or inactive.

Agriculture

Raising crops for food or trade.

Neolithic

A time when people began domesticating animals and cultivating plants.

Sumer

A collection of city-states in southern Mesopotamia.

City-state

A city and its surroundings governed by a king.

Theocracy

A government led by a divine authority.

Empire

A large political unit under one leader controlling many people or territories.

Legacy

The impact left on the future.

Pharaoh

An ancient Egyptian ruler.

Mummification

The process of preserving a body.

Pyramids

Massive tomb structures for pharaohs.

Scribes

Educated individuals who maintained records.

Civilization

Societies with governments, cultures, languages, and religions.

Judaism

The main religion of Ancient Israel.

Diaspora

The forced spreading out of a people or ethnic group.

Kosher

Food prepared according to Jewish dietary laws.

Torah

The holy book of Judaism.

Synagogue

A Jewish place of worship.

Ocean

A large body of saltwater.

Landform

A natural feature of Earth’s surface.

Plateau

An elevated, flat area of land.

Mountain

Land with steep slopes reaching a summit.

Island

A piece of land surrounded by water.

Coast

Land at the edge of an ocean.

Region

An area defined by shared traits.