Semester 1 Review

Examples of Paleolithic Life

"Cave Art", Simple tools/weapons, oral communication and fire

Hellenic Culture

"Classical" Greek culture prior to the Macedonian invasions

Dynasty

A line of rulers from the same family

Caste System

A rigid class system, based on birth that would influence all aspects of life in ancient India

Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma

The three forms of one major deity of the Hindu religion

Golden Age

Time period of peace and prosperity as well as achievement in learning and the arts.

Artifact

Ancient items made or shaped by human hands

Stonehenge

Archeological site in England begun during the Neolithic Age and finished during the Bronze Age

Salamis

Battle during the 2nd Persian War. Greece won this naval battle and forced the Persians to retreat to Asia.

Marathon

Battle during the Persian Wars. Won by Greece after they attack and defeat the Persians while the Persians were loading their ships.

Homer

Blind poet who wrote the Iliad and Odyssey

Sumerians

Tolerant rulers who built a great empire from the Middle East to South Asia. Known for organizing a great bureaucracy and building an impressive system of roads

Silk Road

Trade route that connected China with cultures as far away as Rome

Aeschylus and Sophocles

Two most famous writers of Greek drama (tragedies)

Doric

Type of column used in the Parthenon

Solon

Tyrant known for his land reforms and establishing a two house legislature

Draco

Tyrant who came up with a harsh but written set of laws

Peloponnesian Wars

War fought between Athens with the Delian League and Sparta with Peloponnesian League. Led to the downfall of "classical" Greece.

Persian Wars

Wars fought between the Persian Empire and united Greek city-states. Won by Greece and led to the Golden Age of Athens.

Hellenistic Culture

Culture of Alexander the Great. Mixed Greek with Asian culture.

Alphabet

Developed by Phoenicians. Symbols represented sounds not words

Gupta

Dynasty that ruled during the Golden Age of India

Pictograms

Earliest forms of writing that used symbols to represent words

Hieroglyphics

Egypt's first system of writing. Translated by the Rosetta Stone

Euclid

Egyptian mathematician who achieved in Geometry during the Hellenistic Age.

Artemis

Greek goddess of the hunt, moon, and childbirth

Athena

Greek goddess of wisdom. Patron deity of Athens.

Pythagoras

Greek mathematician who worked with right triangles

Hippocrates

Greek scientist who is the "father of medicine"

Hittites

Group of Mesopotamian people who came of the worlds's first cities and writing system

Hebrews

Group of people who were the first to worship one god

Moses

Hebrew prophet who led his people out of Egypt and received the Ten Commandments

Abraham

Hebrew prophet who made the covenant with Yahweh. Father of Monotheism

Aryans

Invaders that migrated into India and a hereditary class system

Himalayas

Mountains north of India that separated civilization that developed there from the rest of Asia (including China)

Artisan

People skilled in a craft

Zoroastrianism

Persian religion based on the belief the world was a battle between good and evil. Influenced later religions with its belief in "heaven and hell".

Natural Barriers

Physical landforms such as rivers, seas, mountains, and deserts that protect civilization from invaders

Hinduism

Religion of India that helped further entrench the Caste System

Buddhism

Religion that was established in India but caught on in China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Believed in reincarnation, but not the Caste System or Hindu deities

Yin and Yang

Represented opposites for Confucianism and Taoism

Oligarchy

Rule by a small group (4th stage in Sparta)

Direct Democracy

Rule by all citizens (4th stage in Athens)

Monarchy

Rule by kings (1st stage)

Tyranny

Rule by one powerful man who is not a king (3rd stage)

Aristocracy

Rule by wealthy, landowning nobles (2nd stage)

Archaeologists

Scientists who investigate early civilizations

Alexander the Great

Son of Philip II who built an empire that stretched from the northern Balkan Peninsula to the Indus River. Spread the Hellenistic culture across his empire.

Neolithic Revolution

The name for the changes that occurred following the development of agriculture and the domestication of animals

Huang He (Yellow River)

The river valley that gave rise to ancient Chinese civilization in East Asia

Nile

The river valley that gave rise to ancient Egyptian civilization

Indus

The river valley that gave rise to ancient Indian civilization in South Asia

Tigris and Euphrates

The river valley that would give rise to Mesopotamian civilizations in Southwest Asia

Vedas and Upanishads

The sacred writings (texts) of the Hindu religion

Diaspora

The scattering of the Jews away from Jerusalem. Once by the Babylonians and later by the Romans

Eightfold Path

The steps a Buddhist must follow to eliminate desire

Hammurabi's Code

World's first set of written laws. Written by a Babylonian king.

Cuneiform

World's first system of writing, Sumerian system that used wedge shaped symbols

Bronze

an alloy (bronze and tin) that would replace stone as the primary material used to make weapons and tools

Sparta

Greek city-state who valued military strength. Oligarchy.

Carbon Dating

Method used to determine the age of once living materials by measuring the amount of radioactive material remaining

100,000 to 400,000 BC

The dates that Homo Sapiens emerged in Africa

Pharaoh

The hereditary (passed down from father to son) ruler of Egypt

Hunting and Gathering

The methods that prehistoric man used to find food and water

Athens

Greek city-state who valued learning and wisdom. Eventually became a direct democracy Sparta

Pass

Breaks in a mountain range that allows traders and invaders through

Taoism

Chinese religion/philosophy based on achieving harmony with nature, humility, and inner peace by living a simple life. Founded by Laozi.

Confucianism

Chinese religion/philosophy that believed humans were good, should respect their elders and ancestors and emphasized education. The code of politeness in still used in China today

Qin Shi Huangdi

Chinese ruler who ordered the Great Wall be built in order to defend China from migratory invaders from the North

Kush

Civilization in Africa of Egypt along the Nile River

Examples of Neolithic Life

Clay pottery, advanced tools, the wheel, farming, domesticated animals

Citizens of Greece/Rome

Eventually all free men. However, women and slaves had few if any rights.

Archimedes

Famous Greek inventor (pulley, cylinder screw, lever)

Socrates

Father of Greek philosophy. Created the Socratic Method of questioning in order to find the truth. Sentenced to die for corrupting the youth of Athens

Silt

Fertile soil left behind when rivers flood, important to the development of early civilizations

Persians

Fierce empire builders of the Middle East. First to use iron weapons

Phoenicians

Great sailors and traders who invented the first alphabet based on sound

Phidlas

Great sculptor who created the sculptures in the Parthenon.

Jerusalem

Holy city of the Hebrews

Canaan

Land area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River in the Fertile Crescent. It was the home of both the Hebrews and Phoenicians

Mesopotamia

Land between the rivers that saw the first civilizations develop there

Macedonia

Land north of Greece on the Balkan Peninsula. Home of Philip II and would eventually conquer and unite the Greek city-states.

Peninsula

Landform surrounded by water on three sides. Balkan and Italian are examples

Pericles

Leader of Athens during the Golden Age. Built the Parthenon and increased the power of Athens.

Greek Mountains

Led to the development of isolated city-states, limited the availability of farmland and led to the establishment of colonies .

Philip II

Macedonian king who conquered and united most of Greek city-states

Paper, silk, porcelain

Major inventions and contributions of classical China

Dardanelles

Strait that connects the Aegean and Black Seas through the Sea of Marmara and Bosphorus.

Aristotle

Student of Plato. Known for achievement in philosophy, politics, and science.

Plato

Student of Socrates. Wrote the Republic and founded the Academy.

Coined Money

System of exchange that came from the Lydians and would lead to an increase in the Greek economy.

Barter System

System of exchange that involves trading a good for another good

Civil Service System

System of tests to ensure that government officials were picked fairly and qualified to do the job. Still used by civilizations today including the United States

Irrigation System

Systems of dams and canals that provided early farmers with a more stable water supply. Led to increased production of food crops.

Herodetus and Thucydides

The 1st is the father of history. The 2nd is the first modern historian

Torah

The Hebrew holy book. Also important to Christians as the first five books of the Old Testament

10 Commandments

The Hebrews set of laws. State both religious and moral conduct

Siddhartha Gautama

The Indian prince who would go to found Buddhism. A.K.A. the Buddha

Asoka

The Indian ruler who sent missionaries to spread Buddhism from India to China and other parts of Asia

Rhetoric

The art of public debate. Necessary for participation in government.

Four Noble Truths

The basic beliefs of the Buddhist religion

Polytheism

The belief in more than one god, practiced by most early civilizations

Monotheism

The belief in only one god. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are examples

Mandate of Heaven

The belief that Chinese rulers were divine held power as long as they had the support of the gods

Karma

The belief that future reincarnation is based on present behavior

Reincarnation

The belief that the soul goes through many cycles of rebirth