World Cultures Midterm Review

What is a surplus?

A situation in which quantity supplied is greater than quantity demanded

What happened during 7 century C.E

Advances in Mathematics, Astronomy, and Metallurgy, metal tech, improved during this period. The Gupta imported Gold to create beautifully crafted gold coins and used iron to construct tall pillars, such as the iron pillar of Delhi.

What happens after Ashoka dies?

After Ashoka's death in 232 B.C.E., the Maurya Empire began to break apart. The religion of Buddhism continued to spread throughout India until it was a major world religion with followers in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia.

According to Hindus, what happens when we die?

After death reincarnation occurs, souls are reborn in different bodies. Impact of karma

What happened after the fall of the Maurya Empire?

India experienced a period of upheaval that lasted for approx. 500 years

What happened to Mecca?

It became a trade center where people from Persia, Egypt, the Byzantine Empire, and elsewhere exchanged. It became a prosperous city and the center of Islam.

What did Jeffrey Rose discover? Why was it important?

Jeffrey Rose and his team found stone tools made with a special technique and widely used by the people of the Nile Valley. This was important because it had never been found outside of Africa, so his discovery was further proof of migration from Africa to Arabia and why it happened.

What are the two oldest known large settlements from societies with elements of hunter-gatherer and agricultural economies?

Jericho and Çatalhöyük

Who was considered the greatest of Indian Sanskrit writers?

Kalidasa reflects the values of the Gupta dynasty and makes use of the literary possibilities of the Sanskrit language.

What 2 cities emerged?

Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa

What geneticist is interested in the ways of the indigenous?

National Geographic Explorer Keolu Fox is a geneticist who is interested in the ways that indigenous, or native, peoples have adapted to their environments.

Who were the Bedouins?

Nomadic people of the Arabian peninsula. They lived in the desert of the Arabian Peninsula, traveled together in clans, and each clan elected its own sheikh to lead. They practiced Polytheism

What part of India did the Gupta Dynasty control?

Northern India between 320 and 600 C.E (Pataliputra-captital)

What capital Chandragupta take control of?

Pataliputra along the Ganges

Why is period of failure sometimes valuable to researchers?

Period of failure can be useful to researchers as it is a way to show that a researcher is the looking for the wrong thing or in the wrong place.

What is the 8th fold path?

Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration

Who was the son of Chandragupta I?

Samudragupta

Çatalhöyük

Settlement in present-day Turkey that developed 12,000 years ago and lasted more than a thousand years Most of the food in the settlement came from farming, which created surpluses, or supplies of goods and labor not needed for short-term survival Surpluses allowed people to focus on other work.

Who founded Buddhism?

Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)

What is a chakravartin?

an ideal leader who does not leave his family to become a monk but does promote Buddhism.

What are mudras?

choreographed hand movements used in rituals

Why did early humans migrate out of Africa?

climate change

Two great works of epic literature, both written in Sanskrit

1. Mahabharata contains Bhagavad Gita Dharma —way of righteous conduct in life; "Duty" 2. Ramayana second epic written during that time period

How much followers does Islam have today?

1.5 billion

How much of a football field do humans occupy in Earth history?

1/8 of an inch

When did modern humans leave Africa?

100,000 B.CE

When did the Aryans first migrate into the Indian subcontinent?

1500-1000 b.c.e.: Nomads, people who migrate from place to place, arrived in Indus valley. They called themselves Aryan (meaning "noble"). They spoke Sanskrit, an Indo-European language that developed in Central Eurasia.

When and where is mitochondrial Eve from?

200,000 years ago in Africa

How long ago did the first modern humans appear in central and southern Africa?

200,000 years ago.

When did Chandragupta Maurya rule?

321 BC about 150 years after Buddha died.

When was the Chola Kingdom established

907 C.E

How long did the Chola Kingdom rule?

907-1279 longer than any other Indian Kingdom

Who was Rajaraja?

A Chola king who was devoted to Shiva

Who is Paul Salopek?

A Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who is most famous for walking around the world

What is the Periplus?

A book that describes trading ports, distances between ports, and the products traded in each location created by an Egyptian merchant

How big was Harrapa?

An area of 380 areas. The population was between 40,000 and 80,000.

What was the Rig Veda?

An oral collection of ritual texts, treatises, and hymns important to the Indo-Aryans.

What is an example that proves that early modern humans thought about the future.

Archaeological evidence indicates that by 38,000 B.C.E., early humans thought about the future; for example, they made needles to use for sewing.

How can scientists trace early human migration?

Artifacts

Who coined the term Hinduism?

British in the 19th century

What did the Chola Kingdom do for education?

Built colleges and educated students in mathematics, astronomy, literature, and religion 20% literacy rate (highest in world at time)

What caused the fall of the Gupta Dynasty?

By approx. 600, invasions and independence movements had weakened the dynasty that the Gupta were unable to retain control, and the dynasty fell apart after 300 years of rule.

Who was the leader of the Gupta Dynasty?

Chandragupta I

What is the ultimate goal?

End the cycle by living selflessly and overcoming material desires.

What is the human soul in Hinduism?

Eternal

How did the Gupta Dynasty rule?

Followed Hindu practices and tolerated other religions. They allowed defeated kings to continue ruling, but they had to pay tribute.

How does one attain nirvana?

Following the Noble Eightfold Path allows a person to attain nirvana, a state of blissful escape from suffering.

What is tribute?

Forced payment by conquered people

What did geneticists tell us about the early humans that migrated to Europe?

Geneticists tell us that early human migrants to Europe mingled with the Neanderthals, an extinct species of early humans.

What happened to Ashoka emotionally?

He felt deep remorse and underwent a dramatic change. He renounced war, converted to Buddhism, and used it to guide the way he ruled.

What kind of ruler was Ashoka?

He was a violent ruler leading armies to violent campaigns in North and Central India.

What 3 regions does the Indian subcontinent consist of?

Himalaya (north), Indus River (plains, empties into Arabian Sea), Ganges River (empties into Bay of Bengal).

Who takes the place of Chandragupta? When?

His grandson Ashoka 268 B.C.E

How did historians believe neighborhoods were formed in Harrapa?

Historians believed neighborhoods were formed based on peoples' occupations.

What other country did the Chola Kingdom expand to?

Sri Lanka

What are stupas?

Stupas are temples with domed roofs that were made to house sacred items from the life of the Buddha.

What does the word Islam mean?

Submission to the will of God

What language did the Chola Kingdom speak?

Tamil a Dravidian language related to Sanskrit.

What were the Upanishads?

The Upanishads were composed between 900-600 B.C.E.; introduced new ideas and gods. The Upanishads established ideas of reincarnation, the rebirth of the soul in different life cycles, and karma, the idea that people's actions in this life determine how they will be born in the next life.

What is another name for the soul?

The atman

What does Diaspora mean?

The dispersion or spread of a people from their original homeland

How do the excavations of Harappan cities show that the people of the Indus Valley had developed a sophisticated civilization?

The fact that they had sewage systems, toilets, houses, and things that that modern societies would have today.

What factors led to the sequence of migration from Africa to other parts of the world?

The factors that led to migration from Africa to other parts of the world were that water levels were much lower than they are now, this means that the travel was easier from continent to continent. Also, scientists suspect that people crossed the land bridge from Africa tot he Arabian peninsula..

What evidence shows that early humans made clothing to stay warm when they entered Europe?

The remains of clothing lice

Why does the understanding of human history keep changing?

The understanding of human history keeps changing because scientific research is evolving, and there are more reliable methods such as thermoluminescence which helps measure the release of energy performed by crystals exposed to extreme heat.

What caused these cities to decline in 1900 B.C.E

These cities began to decline because of little rainfall which changed the course and dried them up.

What can you conclude about early humans from their long distance migration?

They are very intelligent. They knew how to build ships, they knew how to survive in the sea, and they knew how to adapt to rough European climate.

What did Hinduism grow out of?

They grew out of the beliefs of the Aryans who moved into India from the south eastern Europe on the western Asia

How might the early humans have migrated from Beringia through the rest of America?

They used land bridges

How did traders take advantage of the monsoons?

They were able to travel more quickly and safely.

What is Gobekli Tepe?

This monumental site in southern Turkey, constructed by gathering and hunting people around 11,600 years ago, has surprised scholars, who have normally regarded such structures as the product of agricultural peoples. Supports the concept that agriculture resulted because people settled in one place

What is the caste system?

a rigid social hierarchy that dictated the kind of work people could do, who they could marry, what they could eat.

Origins of Siddhartha Gautama

Upon meeting an ascetic, one who chooses a life of poverty, Siddhartha decided to follow his example. "The Great Renunciation:" Siddhartha gave up his wealth and family to live a life of poverty. Siddhartha meditated for 49 days until he achieved enlightenment, a state of deep understanding and clarity. His teachings became the religion of Buddhism.

What does Vedic mean?

Vedic refers to religion and society of Indo-Aryans.

what do four or more arms represent in Hindu deites?

four or more arms, represents omnipotence or unlimited power, ability to overcome evil.

What are Natufians?

in what is today known as the Middle East, among the earliest people to cultivate, or plant and raise, crops

What is unique about Hinduism?

it has no single founder or sacred text

What ancestor does every human today share?

mitochondrial eve

What is the Neolithic Era?

new stone age," term used to describe societies that used stone tools

Where direction did the monsoons blow?

northeast toward India. Between November and March, the winds reversed direction and blew southwest away from India.

Jericho

one of the world's oldest known continuously occupied human settlements. Jericho began as a Natufian settlement near the Jordan River in the West Bank area of present day Palestinian territories. 1000 lived in Jericho between 8300 and 7500 B.C.E. Planted wheat and barley, and maybe figs and lentils. They didn't domesticate animals, but hunted them.

What are hunter-gatherers?

people who obtain food by collecting plants and by hunting wild animals or scavenging their remains

What are cultural hearths?

places where new ideas, practices, and technologies began

What was the Neolithic Revolution?

progression between hunting and gathering and agriculture

What are varnas?

social classes of the Aryan caste system: Brahmins (priests) Warriors Farmers and Merchants Laborers Untouchables (Dalits)

What is domestication?

taming of animals

What is historiography?

the art and science of creating a reliable and useful story from bits of information about the past

What is agriculture?

the cultivation of plant foods and domestication of animals as sources of food and labor

What is economy?

the production and exchange of goods and services among a group of people

What is cultural diffusion?

the spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another

What are the 4 noble truths?

the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.

What is Brahman?

universal spirit, created the universe, exists in everything (introduced concept in the Upanishads)

When did cities and valleys emerge in the Indian subcontinent?

valleys around 7,000 B.C.E. Cities emerged by 2600 B.C.E.

What did Aryabhata do?

wrote books in which he furthered the development of the decimal system, calculated area and volume.

What are the 3 Hindu Deities?

•Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver), Shiva (destroyer) are most venerated, or revered, deities.

Both private (at home) and public (in temples) worship •Hindu rites:

•Daily worship in the home •During religious holidays •Pilgrimages •Ganges River to bathe in its holy waters. •Purifying powers •Scatter cremated remains of loved ones •Varanasi •On the Ganges River •One of oldest cities in world •Home of Shiva.

Humans saw, and continue to see, animals as spiritual and religious symbols. These complex and varied relationships between people and animals have helped shape the human experience over thousands of years.

•Imaginary Animals •Ancient Egypt •Hanuman Langurs in Jodhpur, India •Asian Guardian Lions

What did the rigid caste system lead to?

•Lingayats: Hindu sect; forced to flee •Questioned reincarnation •Rejected caste system •Against child marriage •Encouraged widows to remarry (not allowed in Chola)

What are some examples of cultural diffusion?

•The decimal system was originally used in Harappan civilization. •Metalworking, shipbuilding, and agricultural techniques were shared. •Medical and veterinary knowledge was studied and developed. •Buddhism is perhaps the most widely spread idea.