Honors World History Study Guide

Hominins

Term referring to all humans and their ancestors but not to chimpanzees, gorillas, or orangutans.

Carbon-14

Isotope of carbon whose presence in organic material can be used to determine the approximate age of archaeological samples.

Homo Sapien

Biological term for modern human beings belonging to the genus Homo, species sapiens, and subspecies sapiens.

Paleolithic

The period of the Stone Age associated with the evolution of humans. It predates the Neolithic period. means Old Stone Age

Neolithic

The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient Agricultural Revolution. It follows the Paleolithic period. Means New Stone Age

Prehistory

the period of time before written records

domestication

the process of changing plants or animals to make them more useful to humans

Mesopotamia

A region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that developed the first urban societies, means inbetween two rivers

Cuneiform

A form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets.

Pharaoh

A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader. Also means Pink House

Hieroglyphs

pictures, characters, or symbols standing for words, ideas, or sounds; ancient Egyptians used instead of an alphabet like ours

Papyrus

A reed that grows along the banks of the Nile River in Egypt. From it was produced a coarse, paperlike writing medium used by the Egyptians and many other peoples in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East.

Hittites

A people based in Anatolia, Turkey, and Syria who spoke the Indo-European language of Hittite and learned to work iron around 2000 b.c.e. The Hittite Empire reached its greatest extent between 1322 and 1220 b.c.e. and ended around 1200 b.c.e.

Monotheism

Beleif in only One god

Gilgamesh

A legendary Sumerian king who was the hero of an epic collection of mythic stories

Ziggurats

Massive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple complexes.

Sargon

2340 B.C. leader of the Akkadians who overran the Sumerian city-state and set up the first empire

Hammurabi's Code

An "eye for an eye" 48 criminal offenses, rest were civil, 248 laws

Amon-Re

the ancient Egyptian god of the sun

Ramses II

A long-lived ruler of New Kingdom Egypt (r. 1290-1224 BCE). He reached an accomodation with the Hittites of Anatolia after a standoff in battle at Kadesh in Syria. He built on a grand scale throughout Egypt.

Abraham

Founder of Judaism, Christians, and Islam

Assyrians

Known as a warrior people who ruthlessly conquered neighboring countries; their empire stretched from east to north of the Tigris River all the way to centeral Egypt; used ladders, weapons like iron-tipped spears, daggers and swords, tunnels, and fearful military tactics to gain strength in their empire

The Torah

The first five books of Jewish Scripture, which they believe are by Moses, are called this

Ashoka

Leader of the Mauryan dynasty of India who conquered most of India but eventually gave up violence and converted to Buddhism.

Dharma

the religious and moral duties of an individual

Monsoon

Major winds in the Indian Ocean that blew into India for half the year, and blew away from India for the other half. Helped facilitate trade in the Indian Ocean.

Rig Veda

a collection of 1,017 Sanskrit hymns composed about 1500 BC or earlier; Hinduism's oldest sacred text.

Karma

(Hinduism and Buddhism) the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation

Jainism

a religion founded in India in the sixth century BC, whose members believe that everything in the universe has a soul and therefore shouldn't be harmed. Mahavira founded this religion.

Buddha

Means "Enlightened One." He is said to have found a path for overcoming suffering.

Nirvana

The state of englightenment for Buddhists.

dhows

Large ships favored by Indian, Persian, and Arab sailors that could carry up to four hundred tons of cargo.

Brahmin

the highest of the four classes of the caste system, traditionally made up of priests

Dalits

Members of India's "lowest" caste; literally, "broken people." Also called "Untouchables."

Gurus

From the Sanskrit for "teacher," Hindu teachers and guides in philosophical and spiritual matters.

Ramayana

A Hindu epic written in Sanskrit that describes the adventures of the king Rama and his queen

Mahabharata

the longest single poem in the world, about a war fought between two branches of the same family. One of India's greatest epics written between 1000 and 700 BC

Bhagavad-Gita

The most important work of Indian sacred literature, a dialogue between the great warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna on duty and the fate of the spirit.

Chandragupta Maurya

He founded India's first empire. He was an Indian prince who conquered a large area in the Ganges River valley soon after Alexander invaded western India.

Oracle Bones

animal bones carved with written characters which were used for telling the future

Mandate of Heaven

a political theory of ancient China in which those in power were given the right to rule from a divine source

Confucianism

A philosophy that adheres to the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It shows the way to ensure a stable government and an orderly society in the present world and stresses a moral code of conduct.

Daoism

philosophical system developed by of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu advocating a simple honest life and noninterference with the course of natural events

Legalism

A Chinese philosophy that was devoted to strengthen and expand the state through increased agricultural work and military service.

Qin Dynasty

the Chinese dynasty (from 246 BC to 206 BC) that established the first centralized imperial government and built much of the Great Wall

SunTzu

Author of The Art of War

Confucius

(551-479 BCE) A Chinese philosopher known also as Kong Fuzi and created one of the most influential philosophies in Chinese history.

Filial Piety

In Confucian thought, one of the virtues to be cultivated, a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors.

Laozi

Chinese Daoist philosopher; taught that governments were of secondary importance and recommended retreat from society into nature.

Wu (Wudi)

The sole woman to rule China as emperor in her own right; she called herself emperor and founded a new dynasty, the Zhou (690-705), that replaced the Tang dynasty until her death in 705, when the Tang dynasty was restored.

Cai Lun

a Han court in China who invented paper and the wood-pulp paper making process in China in the early 2nd century CE (100s CE)

Mesoamerica

A geographic region in the western hemisphere that was home of the Mayan and Aztec civilizations.

Olmec

The first Mesoamerican civilization. Between ca. 1200 and 400 B.C.E., these people of central Mexico created a vibrant civilization that included intensive agriculture, wide-ranging trade, ceremonial centers, and monumental construction.

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.

Mississippi peoples

The first northern people (800-1450) to build large urban centers in the Mississippi River Valley.

Maize

An early form of corn grown by Native Americans

Three sisters farming

Native American method of planting corn, beans, and squash together

Ulama

Native American ball game played by hitting the ball with your hips.

Nazca

South American civilization famous for its massive aerial-viewable formations

Chimu

Pre-Incan South American society that fell to Incas in the fifteenth century.

Easter Island

an island owned by Chile where people died because of lack of natural resources, lots of heads, possibly cause of lack of natural recourcecs

Herodotus

A Greek-speaking historian born in Halicarnassus. Author of The Histories, an investigation of the history, folklore, geography, plants, and customs of the known world. Known as the "father of history."

Zoroastrianism

Iranian religion named for Zarathushtra (in Persian; Zoroaster in Greek), who taught that a host of good deities and evil demons, all in perpetual conflict, populate the spiritual world.

Ahura Mazda

The name of the supreme deity of Zoroastrianism, the Lord of Truth, who created heaven and earth, day and night, and darkness and light.

Cyrus

Founder of the Achaemenid dynasty in Iran. A native of Persis, Cyrus staffed his administration with many Persians as well as Medes, the tribe he defeated when he took power.

Phoenicians

seagoing people who, around 900 b.c.e., expanded outward from their base on the Mediterranean coast of modern-day Lebanon. Their alphabet, which used only letters with no pictorial symbols, is the ancestor of the Roman alphabet.

Hellenism

Formerly seen as a one-way stream of influence in which non-Greek peoples adopted Greek language, education, sculpture, architecture, and other customs, but more recently understood as a two-way process, with non-Greeks and Greeks influencing each other.

Barbarians

the name given to outsiders by the ancient Greeks; also used by the ancient Romans

Zarathushtra

Iranian who started Zoroastrianism. Had visions of God (Ahura Mazda or Wise Lord). Called as prophet of Ahura Mazda to teach dualistic monotheism (where God and Devil are equal powers).

Zoroaster

Persian prophet

Ahriman

the spirit of evil in Zoroastrianism

Cyrus

Persian king who freed the Jews from exile in Babylon

Croesus

King of Lydia, became an advisor to Cyrus upon his empire falling

Minoan

A Neolithic people that started around 3000BC, supposedly the earliest people on the island of Crete. They were excellent sailors & traded w/ Egypt & the Fertile Crescent. Were conquered by mainland Greece.

Minos

Legendary king of Crete

Knossos

Minoan capital city

Mycenaeans

first Greek-speaking people; invaded Minoans; dominated Greek world 1400 B.C. to 1200 B.C.; sea traders; lived in separate city-states; invovled in Trojan War against Troy

Helen

Face that launched 1,000 ships, queen of sparta, abducted by Paris and sparked trojan war

Paris

Prince of Troy

Homer

ancient Greek epic poet who is believed to have written the Iliad and the Odyssey (circa 850 BC)

The Iliad

Homer's great epic that tells the story of the Trojan War

The Odyssey

Homer's great epic that tells the story of Odysseus's return home after the Trojan War

Phoenicians

A maritime people who spread their alphabet to others including the Hebrews, Romans, and Greeks.

Polis

A city-state in ancient Greece.

Zeus

King of the Greek Gods

Athena

Goddess of wisdom and war

Helots

Spartan slaves

Hoplite

Heavily armored Greek infantryman of the Archaic and Classical periods who fought in the close-packed phalanx formation. Hoplite armies-militias composed of middle- and upper-class citizens supplying their own equipment. Famously defeated superior numbers of opponents by fighting as a unit.

Socrates

Greek philosopher; socratic method--questioning; sentenced to death for corrupting Athens youth

Plato

Socrates' most well known pupil. Founded an academy in Athens.

Aristotle

A Greek Philosopher, taught Alexander the Great, started a famous school, studied with Plato

Philip II

king of ancient Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great (382-336 BC)

Alexander III

Also known as Alexander the Great, took over persian empire, invaded southern tip of India

Euclid

(circa 300 BCE), Greek mathematician. Considered to be the father of modern geomertry.

Eratosthenes

Greek mathematician and astronomer who estimated the circumference of the earth and the distances to the moon and sun (276-194 BC)

Roman Republic

The period from 507 to 31 B.C.E., during which Rome was largely governed by the aristocratic Roman Senate.

Roman Senate

A council whose members were the heads of wealthy, landowning families. Originally an advisory body to the early kings, in the era of the Roman Republic the Senate effectively governed the Roman state and the growing empire.

Carthage

This city has existed for nearly 3,000 years, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC into the capital of the Carthaginian Empire. The expanding Roman Republic took control of many of its outposts after the two Punic Wars.

Punic Wars

A series of three wars between Rome and Carthage (264-146 B.C.); resulted in the destruction of Carthage and Rome's dominance over the western Mediterranean.

Julius Caesar

Made dictator for life in 45 BCE, after conquering Gaul, assassinated in 44 BCE by the Senate because they were afraid of his power