All History Vocab Combined

Material remains of a society, including tools, weapons, pottery etc.

Artifacts

The study of the origins and development of people and their societies

Anthropology

The study of past people and cultures through artifacts

Archaeology

The site in present day Tanzania (East Africa) where ancient tools and hominid remains were found by archaeologists

Olduvai Gorge

Archaeologists who discovered hominid bones and tools in East Africa in the 1930s to 1950s

Mary & Louis Leakey

These social scientists learn about the past by studying primary and secondary sources, as well as by interpreting artifacts

Historians

The time period before written documentation

Prehistory

The entire way of life of a society (beliefs, values, practices) which is handed down through the generations

Culture

Archaeologist who discovered the remains of an early hominid nicknamed "Lucy" in the 1970s

Donald Johanson

The prehistoric period in which people lived in permanent settlements based on farming

Neolithic Period

People who wander from location to location following food; they do not live in settled societies

Nomads

Prehistoric Era in which people lived as nomadic hunter gatherers

Paleolithic Period

The shift in human behavior from nomadic, hunter gatherer lifestyle to permanent settlements based on farming

Neolithic Revolution

The belief that all things in nature have a spirit

Animism

Having goods leftover after all needs are met

Surplus

To raise plants and animals in a controlled way that makes them best suited for human use.

Domestication

Belief in many gods or goddesses

Polytheism

Economy based only on farming (everybody farms, so no specialized jobs)

Traditional Economy

Craftspeople (potters, sculptors, weavers, metalworkers etc.)

Artisans

A society which features cities, organized gov't, established religion, a complex economy, social classes, public works, arts and architecture, and a writing system

Civilization

Specially trained people who could read and write. Educated in temple schools and kept records.

Scribes

A political unit that includes a city and its surrounding lands and villages; A city that operates like a "little country"

City-State

The spread of ideas, customs, and technologies from one people to another

Cultural Diffusion

Simple symbolic drawings that look like the word they represent

Pictographs

A wide area that includes many cities and villages, all controlled by one ruler

Empire

Southernmost region of Mesopotamia (nearest to the Persian Gulf)

Sumer

Nickname for the region located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

The Fertile Crescent

Ancient Sumerian poem about a great flood that destroys the world

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Mesopotamian pyramid shaped temples with a shrine to the city's chief god/goddess on top

Ziggurat

Fine dirt and plant material that gets left behind after rivers flood, creating fertile soil

Silt

Mesopotamian writing system - wedge shaped marks made in clay tablets

Cuneiform

A system of managing gov't through a set of departments run by officials

Bureaucracy

A system in which people or groups are ranked one above the other by status or authority

Social Hierarchy

Conquered peoples are allowed to keep their own cultures & customs

Tolerance

Letter symbols that represent sounds, which are then grouped to form words

Alphabet

Territories settled and ruled by people from another land

Colonies

An economy where trade is conducted using currency/coins

Money Economy

Babylonian King who created the first codified legal system

Hammurabi

Akkadian King who first formed an empire in Sumer

Sargon I

Conquered the majority of the Persian Empire; extended tolerance to conquered peoples

Cyrus

Expanded Persia to its greatest extent; ruled through a bureaucracy; created a money economy

Darius I

A triangular area of marshland formed by silt deposits @ the mouth of a river

Delta

Another term for a waterfall

Cataract

Egyptian ruler; all-powerful; was viewed as a god

Pharoah

A line of rulers in one family

Dynasty

Egyptian Chief Minister; In charge of the bureaucracy and tax collection

Vizier

Egyptian chief god (sun god); Closely linked to the Pharaoh

Amon Re

Egyptian god of the dead, god of the Nile

Osiris

Egyptian goddess of magic & motherhood (wife of Osiris)

Isis

Egyptian written language; symbols and pictures represent objects, concepts or sounds

Hieroglyphics

Preserving dead bodies by embalming them & wrapping them in cloth

Mummification

Flat black stone with the same message carved in hieroglyphics, demotic & Greek. French scholar Jean Champollion used this to translate hieroglyphics.

Rosetta Stone

Egyptian paper-like writing material made from a river plant

Papyrus

Belief in only one god

Monotheism

An agreement or promise

Covenant

Most sacred text of the Jewish faith

Torah

Holy day for rest and worship

Sabbath

Person chosen by God to speak his messages

Prophet

Describes a society where men held greatest legal & moral authority

Patriarchal

The spreading out of the Jewish people throughout the world after the Babylonian Captivity

Diaspora

Moral standards of behavior

Ethics

Jewish patriarch who made the 1st covenant w/God - God promised to make his descendants as numerous as the stars, and he promised to follow God and move his family to Canaan

Abraham

Jewish patriarch who made the 2nd and 3rd covenants w/God (to free the Israelites from Egypt, and to accept the 10 commandments).

Moses

King of Israel who built the capital city of Jerusalem and fought to secure Israel's borders

David

King of Israel who was known for his wisdom, and built the Temple

Solomon

Kong Fuzi or "Master Kong" - Teacher and philosopher who aimed to achieve social harmony through the Five Relationships and Filial Piety

Confucius

A system of ideas (not a religion - no deities)

Philosophy

Confucian idea that helps everyone understand their duties/responsibilities, depending on their position in society

The Five Relationships

Confucian belief in respect/loyalty/honor for parents, which was of utmost importance

Filial Piety

Credited with founding Daoism, although historians aren't certain if he truly existed

Laotzi

Chinese philosophical belief which emphasizes living simply, in harmony with nature and the universe

Daoism

"The Way of Virtue" or "The Way and its Power" - the most influential Daoist text

Dao De Jing

First (and really only) Qin Emperor; unified China after the Warring States Period, but his Legalist policies led the people to be very unhappy with his rule.

Qin Shi Huangdi

Legalist philosopher whose political ideology shaped the Qin Dynasty.

Han Feizi

Chinese political philosophy which states that people are mainly greedy & evil, and therefore the only way to maintain order is to pass strict laws and have harsh punishments.

Legalism

Ruled at the height of the Han Dynasty; promoted economic growth, expanded the empire, and embraced Confucianism as the official philosophy of the Han Empire.

Han Wudi

Complete control of a product or business by one person or group

Monopoly

Policy of expanding a country's territory

Expansionism

4,000 mile network of intersecting trade routes connecting China with the West; led to vast exchange of both goods and ideas

Silk Roads

Fine, wind-blown, yellow soil

Loess

Groups of families with a common ancestor

Clans

Approval and right to rule from the gods

Mandate of Heaven

The process by which one Dynasty takes power, restores peace, declines over time, and eventually loses the Mandate of Heaven, to be replaced by another Dynasty.

Dynastic Cycle

A system of government in which local lords governed their own lands, but owed loyalty, military service and other forms of support to the ruler

Feudalism

elegant writing done with brush and ink as art

Calligraphy

A smaller piece of land that's part of a larger continent, but has some differences that earn a separate designation.

Subcontinent

Twin Capitals of the Indus Valley civilization

Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro

Seasonal winds that impact the Indian subcontinent

Monsoons

Hindu religious texts that date back to c.3500 B.C.E.; Collection of hymns, chants, ritual instructions and other religious teachings; outlines all aspects of Aryan society and life.

The Vedas

"Warrior King" under which the early Aryan tribes were organized

Rajah

The four Hindu social groups that make up the Caste System.

The Varnas

Varna of "those who serve" - servants

Sudra

Varna of "those who produce goods" - common people (merchants, artisans, farmers)

Vaishya

Varna of "those who accumulate power" - warriors & rulers

Kshatriya

Varna of "those who learn" - priests and teachers

Brahmins

Not considered part of the varnas; outside the caste system

Untouchables

Hindu/Jain principle of nonviolence

Ahimsa

In Hinduism, the piece of Brahman in every human - the essential self, the soul

Atman

The Hindu cycle of reincarnation/rebirth.

Samsara

In Hinduism, when a soul breaks free of the reincarnation cycle and returns to Brahman

Moksha