APWH Unit 0

over farming

loss of fertility due to over using land and not replenishing nutrients

overgrazing

Continual eating of grass and roots without allowing them to regrow

homosapiens sapiens

modern humans

Paleolithic Period

AKA Stone Age-- period of human prehistory defined by the development of stone tools-- extents to the development of humans and how they’d adapt to their changing environment

Neolithic Revolution

dramatic changes/development in how people lived based on the development of agriculture

Bronze Age

Discovery of bronze early civilization and written history

monotheism

religion that only worships one deity

civilization

large society of cities and states

Core and foundational civilizations

Civilizations that heavily influence successor civilizations in their regions

indus valley (india), mesopotamia (Tigris and Euphrates), nile valley, haung river valley, olmecs, meso america and andes mountain

what are examples of core and foundational civilizations

Jericho

mesoamerica-- west bank of jordan river-- one of the first cities created-- judeo-christianity

Catal Huyuck

turkey-- important for art.. excavation

textiles

items made of cloth

specialization of labor

process of allowing people to focus on limited tasks/skills

hunter-forager

survival by hunting animals an foraging

Agriculture

practice of raising crops/livestock in controlled continual basis

surplus

Having more than needed

domestication

process of adapting/farming plants and animals for human use

nomadic pastoralism

people moving based on moving herds of animals from pasture to pasture

kinship group

several related families moving in together hunting for food

clan

larger group of relatives together

tribe

Multiple clans

patriarchal

society dominated by men

egalitarian

equal society-- hunter gathering

artisans

people who made objects people needed

merchants

people who buy and sell goods

social stratification

idea that a person gained wealth through jewelry and bigger and better decorated houses/land

priest/priestesses

person who is authorized to perform rituals for a religion

Tigris and Euphrates

rivers SW of asia and iraq-- mesopotamia

mespotamia

cradle of civilization-- sumerians, babylonians, assyrians

fertile crescent

large area of yummy fertile land that overlaps with mesopotamia

Carthage

Phoenician colony-- important trading post in the north coast of Africa

Sahara

desert zone in Africa; north

Kalahari

desert zone in africa; south

Nile River

starts in Africa and flow out to the Mediterranean Sea; Egypt

desertification

creation of desert like conditions

Indus River Valley

comprised of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro-- Harappan, Aryans/dravidians

environmental degradation

Deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources

deforestation

Permanent forest clearance

Huang He (AKA Yellow River) and Chiang Jiang

rivers important for chinese development

Ioess

fertile yellow soil that gained the name for Huang He

Mesoamerica

reigion of southern North America that contains Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Charvin, Moche, Olmecs mayan and aztecs)-- one of the two early centers of civilization in america

maize

corn

oceania

region in the Pacific ocean

polynesia

islands

Division of Labor

division of the production process into different stages

Barter

trade goods without exchange of currency

polytheistic

worship of gods

Zigurat

temple

Astronomy

Mesopotamia;Babylonians -- study of objects outside of Earth

Astrology

predicting the future by studying the movement of the stars and planets

Hebrews

founded by Abraham-- ancestors of israelites and Jews-- lived in Caanin- present day Israel Palestine and Lebanon

Israelites

descendant of Hebrews- islam

Jews

descendants of Hebrews-- experiences diaspora

Abraham

left Ur and founded Hebrews-- revered in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Moses

another important figure in Judaism Christianity and Islam-- founded Ten Commandments

Jewish Dispora

spreading of Jews throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East

Aten

Egypt-- sun god-- Akhenaten tried to convert Egypt to worship this deity (failed)

mummification

egyptian death practice-- removing organs, drying, and wrapping the body in cloth

Aryans

indo-european speaking people

dravidians

indigenous people of the NW indian sub-continent

Hindi

indo-aryan language

sanskirt

aryan sacred language

Vedas

large body of religious text written in sanskirt

Rig Veda

vedas

Vedas Upanishads

subdivision in vedas

brahmin

aryan priest-- highest position in caste system

Vedic Age

period between late Bronze age to early iron age of indian history where vedic literature and the Vedas were being developed

brahma

hindu concept of the universal soul-- everyone is originally a part of it and are trying to reach this state

dharma

hindu concept of religious and moral law

karma

hindi concept of a person’s actions influencing their destiny after life

moksha

enlightenment-- eternal peace/unity with brahma

ancestor veneration

chinese-- belief that the dead have a continued existence and have the ability to speak with the gods

golden age

period of general peace and prosperity

scribes

class of people that could read and write-- kept track of items, history, stories, etc

The Epic of Gilgamesh

oldest written story

Cuneiform

earliest known writing system made by sumerians

Alphabetic script

language adapted from cuneiform and developed by Phoenicians

pictograph

picture representing a word/idea

glyph

specific representation of a character in a language

hieroglyphics

egyptian writing/language system consisting of picture writing-- used paper/papyus

papyrus

plant

Book of the Dead

Egyptian funerary text for a dead pharaoh

Indo-European Language

language family native to Europe, Iranian Plateau, and Northern Indian subcontinent

Austronesian-speaking people

group of people in Taiwan/Philippines that speak austronesian languages

feudalism

feudal system based on king to peasant hierarchy-- babylonians egyptians chinese etc

kingdom

territory ruled by a king

empire

large territory including multiple diverse groups controlled by one single authority

city states

Independent parts of a civilization

sumer

one of the first and oldest civilizations-- found in mesopotamia

Uruk

largest city in Sumer

Babylonians

persians from Ian-- took over Sumer-- King Hammurabi, code of hammurabi, etc

Phoenicians

occupied Lebanon Israel and Jordan-- had carthage and developed alphbetic script

egypt; old kingdom

first kingdom of egypt

egypt; middle kingdom

middle kingdom/era of egypt

egypt; new kingdom

last kingdom of egypt

hyksos

pastoral nomadics from mondern syria

Hittitus

empire that bordered egypt

nubia

empire upper on the nile

kush

re-emergence of nubia after its decline