Pre-AP Midterm

Major World Regions

* **Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America; North America, Europe (be able to identify on a map)** 

History

* **The study of past events based on historical writings**

Historian

* **A person who analyzes historical sources, formulates theses, and writes about past events**

Economist

* **A person who studies resources, money, and labor practices and how they impact society** 

Archaologist

* **A person who analyzes past societies through a study of artifacts**

Artifact

**Items left behind by past societies**

Anthropologist

* **A person who studies the origin, development, and behavior of humans**.

Geographer

* **A person who studies landforms, regions, climate, and the environment.  Often, geographers assist historians in piecing together past events**

Archipelago

* **A chain of islands** 

Isthmus

* **A narrow strip of land connecting to larger areas of land**

Steppe

* **A high, cold, flat plain**

Primary Source

* **A source of learning about the past that is from the past**

Secondary Source

* **A source of learning about the past that is not from the period being studied** 

Oral History

* **Spoken traditions about past events** 

Comparison

* **Historical thinking skill relating to noting similarities and differences between at least two societies** 

Cause and Effect

* **Historical thinking skill -  a cause is a source or producer of effects. An effect is the result or consequence of a cause**

Continuity and Change Over Time

* **Historical thinking skill - over a period of time, some political, social or economic developments occur producing a new thing or change.  Over that period of time, many things remain the same, or continuous**   

Historical Context

* **The big picture or background surrounding a historical development** 

Geographic Context

* **How the terrain, climate, or environment directly influenced the historical development in question** 

Longitude and Latitude

* **Grid-like pattern of intersecting lines superimposed on world maps to indicate location.**  

Australopithecus

* **Early human ancestor discovered in the Great Rift region of Eastern Africa.  Demonstrated bi-pedal development of hominids** 

Lucy

* **Name given to the Australopithecus skeleton discovered in East Africa** 

The Leakeys

**Family of scientists who discovered Australopithecus**

Great Rift Valley

* **East African location that is believed to be the starting point of human migration across the world and the location of the discovery of Lucy** 

Paleolithic Period

* **Stone Age - pre-Neolithic period** 

Migration

* **Movement of people from one geographic region to another** 

Neolithic Revolution

* **10,000 BCE beginning of agriculture, domestication, pastoralism, and the rise of civilization** 

Agriculture

* **Farming - allows for stable settled communities that stay in one location**

Domestication

* **The use of plants and animals for human needs** 

Irrigation

* **Channeling water to locations where needed for farming**

Terrace Farming

* **Cutting steps in the sides of mountains to increase the surface area under cultivation** 

Chinampas

* **Floating gardens resulting from felled trees covered in soil to increase the surface area under cultivation** 

Civilization

* **Complex societies with government, laws, religious beliefs, and advanced economies** 

Urbanization

* **The growth of cities** 

Pastoralism

* **People who follow a herd as an economic source - important agents of cultural diffusion**

Cultural Diffusion

* **The spreading of ways of life from one group of people to another**

Core and Foundational Civilizations

* **Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus River, Yellow, Olmec, and Chavin**

Mesopotamia

* **The land between the rivers (Tigris-Euphrates) located in the Middle East** 

Tigris-Euphrates Rivers and the Geography of Mesopotamia

* **A Fertile Crescent of arable land allowed for the growth of early cities.** 

Geography of Mesopotamia

* **Relatively low-lying flat plains that were prone to invasions**

Cuneiform

* **The earliest form of pictographic writing - shapes pressed into wet clay tablets to keep track of surplus agriculture** 

Sumer, Ur, Uruk, Eridu

* **City-states that represent the earliest known sites of human civilization located in Mesopotamia**  

Assyrians

* **A warlike Mesopotamian society that established an empire throughout the region.  Known for iron weapons, use of chariots in the military, and a library in the city of Nineveh.  Very intolerant** 

Babylonians

* **The group that established a large Mesopotamian empire - generally tolerant toward conquered groups** 

Hammurabi

* **King of the Babylonians known for his system of 282 laws**

Code of Hammurabi

* **System of 282 laws; one of the earliest known systems of law**
* **Different punishments for different classes of people**
* **Reinforced the idea that government is responsible for what happens in society** 

Ziggurat

* **Pyramid-like temple of the Mesopotamians** 

Nile River

* **“The Gift of the Nile” - river was the giver of life and civilization for the Egyptians**
* **Predictable flooding every 365 days - led to innovations such as irrigation, the calendar, and a powerful government**

Geography of Egypt

* **Egyptian geography isolated by the desert so the society developed uninterrupted for a long period of time**

Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms

* **Divisions of Ancient Egyptian history** 

Pharaoh

* **Powerful king of the Egyptians - believed to be a living god**
* **Buried in ornate sarcophagi in the pyramids**  

Pyramid

* **Huge Egyptian burial tombs meant to symbolize the awesome power of the Pharaoh**
* **Demonstrates advanced building methods and ways of organization** 

Hieroglyphics

* **Pictographic writing systems of the Ancient Egyptians** 

Rosetta Stone

* **Artifact uncovered in the early 1800s containing a text written in Egyptian, Greek, and Aramaic**
* **Allowed for the translation of hieroglyphics** 

Polytheism

* **Belief in many gods** 

Indus River Valley and the Geography of South Asia

* **Isolated beneath the Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain reigns**
* **Very little (but some) diffusion of ideas and products to and from other regions**
* **Indus River flooded unpredictably yet the society developed sophisticated urban planning methods**  

Urban Planning Citadel

* **Streets in city-states such as Harappa and Mohenjo - Daro laid out in grid like patterns with highly developed plumbing systems beneath**
* **Citadels were fortified areas in the cities that were probably centers of government administration** 

Himalaya Mountain Range

* **Large central Asian mountain range that isolated South and East Asia from one another and other regions** 

Harappa and Mohenjo Daro

* **South Asian city-states that were centers of political, social, and economic development**
* **Located along the banks of the Indus River** 

Aryans

* **South Asian population group whose invasions did much to shape the demographic makeup of the area** 

Yellow River

* **“China’s Sorrow” unpredictable flooding**

Geography of East Asia

* **Isolated from other regions due to the Pacific Ocean, Himalayan Mountains, Gobi, and Taklamakan Deserts**
* **Led to cultural isolation** 

Desert

* **Isolating geographic factor in the north of China**

Shang Dynasty

* **The first confirmed Chinese dynasty established circa 1900 BCE**
* **Known for pictographic writing, ancestor worship, and oracle study**  

Zhou Dynasty

* **The dynasty that followed the Shang established circa 1000 BCE**
* **known for the concepts of the Mandate of Heaven, filial piety, and the dynastic cycle**
* **The dynasty that Confucius lived during** 
* **A very influential dynasty**

Mandate of Heaven

* **Chinese concept where the emperor gets his power to rule from God**
* **Natural signs determine how long a dynasty may maintain the Mandate** 
* **If it is a time of prosperity, it is believed the ruler has the mandate of heaven;  if not, the ruler's citizens will question his rule and want him to leave**

Silk

* **Cloth-making commodity produced in East Asia - primary product exchanged via the Silk Road which connected East Asia to the outside world** 

Olmecs

* **An Early Mesoamerican society known for the “Giant Head” sculptures** 

Big Head Sculptures

* **Massive Olmec art forms that probably indicate a high level of power of their government** 

Chavin

* **Early South American “Andean” society known for the magnificent capital city of Chavin de Huantar**  

Chavin de Huantar

* **The Chavin capital city located in the Andes Mountains**
* **Was located at the intersection of American trade networks**
* **A high level of organization**

Trade Networks

* **Mediterranean**
* **Silk Road**
* **East Asia to the Middle East**
* **Trans-Saharan**
* **Indian Ocean**
* **Royal Road**

Monsoons

* **Seasonal winds impacted trade in the Indian Ocean trade network** 

Caravans

* **Merchants who traveled in large groups for safety across land-based trade networks such as the Trans-Saharan and Silk Roads**

Caravanserai

* **“Rest stops” along land-based trade networks that facilitated exchange and cultural diffusion**  
* **Makes traveling easier**
* **“Safe-havens”**

Han Dynasty

* **A Chinese dynasty lasting from approximately 200 BCE - 200 CE**
* **Was known for the use of Confucian concepts of society and government**
* **Had civil service exams, the development of paper, and the expansion of the empire into new areas**
* **Existed concurrently with the Romans** 

Dynastic Cycle

* **The Chinese concept of the natural rise, reign, and decline of dynasties over time**
* **Has to do with the Mandate of Heaven and the right to rule** 

Confucianism

* **A belief system based on the ideas of Kung Fu Zi (Confucius)**
* **Meritocracy and filial piety**
* **5 relationships** 
* **Young inferior to old**
* **Women inferior to men**
* **Subject inferior to a king**
* **Child inferior to parent**

Filial Piety

* **Veneration of the family** 

Paper

* **Was developed during the Han period and diffused along the Silk Road westward over a period of hundreds of years** 

Achaemenid Empire

* **A Persian Empire that unified a large area of what is today the Middle East and Iran**
* **Known for Zoroastrianism and government innovations** 

Cyrus

* **Founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire - tolerant toward conquered peoples** 

Darius

* **Son of Cyrus**
* **Innovated the idea of empire being broken down into provinces with provincial leaders that reported to the central government**

Satraps

* **Persian governors** 

Satrapies

* **Persian provinces** 
* **Darius divided it**

Zoroastrianism

* **Persian monotheistic religion that contributed to ideas about the afterlife, heaven, and hell** 

Mauryan Empire

* **South Asian empire founded circa 300 BCE**

Hinduism

* **South Asian polytheistic faith-based partly on the ideas of the Aryans**
* **Belief activity in life determines position in the next life**
* **Reincarnation**

Caste System

* **Social hierarchy of the Hindu religion (Brahmans, Kshatyras, Vaiyes, Sudra, Pariah), influenced South Asian political, social, economic, and demographic development** 
* **Birth determines what your dharma is.  Based on how you fulfill your duty, it will decide your caste in the next life**
* **Caste could not be changed**

Karma

* **Hindu idea that activity during this life influences the next one** 

Dharma

* **The specific duty associated with each caste in the Hindu religion** 

Buddhism

* **Belief system founded by Siddhartha Gautama as a reaction to the caste system of Hinduism**
* **Belief in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path**

Four Noble Truths

* **Buddhist notion that;**
* **life is pain**
* **pain is caused by desire**
* **the way to eliminate pain is to eliminate desire**
* **the way to eliminate desire is to follow the eightfold path** 

Eightfold Path

* **The Buddhist prescription for how to live life** 

Gupta Empire

* **South Asian dynasty known as a period of Golden Age that lasted from approximately 300 CE - 460 CE**
* **Mathematicians developed the idea of zero and some used algebra** 

Concept of Zero

* **Developed by Ancient Indians**

Aryabhata

* **Mathematician known for the use of algebra** 

Ancient Greek Geography

* **Aegean Sea**
* **Mountains and islands had the effect of isolation of individual city-states**
* **Hot, dry summers with little arable land for agriculture led to a seafaring way of life and the establishment of colonies in other areas** 

City States

* **The principle political format of the Ancient Greek civilization (Sparta, Athens, Corinth would be examples)** 

Athens/Sparta

* **Two city-states in Ancient Greece that represent vastly different ideas of political, social, and economic organization**


* Athens: Attica; democracy, trade, philosophy, drama, patriarchy and history


* **Sparta: militarism, self-sufficiency, patriarchy, and oligarchy**