History 1010 Midterm

Mohenjo-daro

Group of mounds and ruins on the right bank of the Indus River, northern Sindh province. It is named this to signify the mound of death. These mounds contained the remains of the Indus Civilization, the largest and richest civilization

Oracle bones

Oracle Bones were the shoulder blades of oxen or plastrons of turtles, which were used in the Shang Dynasty of China (1600-1046BCE) for divination. A fortune-teller would carve symbols on the bones of the of or the turtle shell, apply a hot poker or fire until the bone or shell cracked, then interpret the direction of the crack through their drawings to predict the future. This was a huge part in the development of Chinese writing.

Hittites

The hittites occupied the ancient region of Anatolia prior to 1700 BCE, developed a culture apparently from the indigenous Hatti people, and expanded their territories into an empire which rivaled, and threatened, the established nation of Egypt. They were attacked by the Sea People's and the Kaska tribe, fell to the Assyrians.

Warring States Period

(481-221 BCE) describes the three centuries when various rival Chinese states battled for territorial advantages and dominance. Ultimately the Qin State was victorious and established the first unified Chinese state. Besides incessant warfare, and probably because of it, the period saw significant developments in society, commerce, agriculture, philosophy, and the arts setting the foundations for the subsequent flourishing of imperial China.

The Art of War

A 5th century BCE military treatise written by the Chinese strategist Sun-Tzu. Covering all aspects of warfare, it seeks to advise commanders on how to prepare, mobilize, attack, defend, and treat the vanquished. One of the most influential texts in history, it has used by military strategists for over 2,000 years and admired by leaders from Napoleon to Mao Zedong.

Analects

A collections of the teaching and thoughts of Confucius; and they also contain fragments of dialogue between the great Chinese philosopher and his disciples. Also besieged to have been collected by the disciples of Confucius and not by anyone down.

Sea peoples

A confederacy of naval raiders who harried the coastal towns and suites of the Mediterranean region between 1276-1178 BCE, concentrating their efforts especially on Egypt. They are considered one of the major contributing causes to the Bronze Age collapse. Nationality of the sea people's remains a mystery as the existing records of their activities are mainly Egyptian sources. They assaulted the regions of the Hittite Empire and the Levant and other areas around the Mediterranean coast.

Ma'at

An ancient Egyptian goddess of truth, justice, harmony, and balance, who first appears during the period known as the old kingdom (2613-2181 BCE) but no doubt existed in some from earlier. She is depicted in anthropomorphic form as a winged woman, often in profile with an ostrich feather in her head, or simply as a white ostrich feather. The feather of Ma'at was an integral part of the Weighing of the Heart of the Soul ceremony in the afterlife.

Zoroastrianism

An ancient Persian religion that may have originated as early as 4,000 years ago. Arguably the worlds first monotheistic faith, it's one of the oldest religions still in existence. It was the state religion of three Persian dynasties, until Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century AD, Zoroastrian refugees, called parsons escaped Muslim persecution in Iran. The prophet is Zoroaster.

Confucius

Born 551 BCE and is China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, whose ideas have influence the civilization of east Asia. He made education available to everyone and who was instrumental in establishing the art of teaching as a vocation. He also established ethical, moral, and social standards that formed the basis of a way of known as Confucianism.

Spring and Autumn Period

During the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE) the first portion of the Dong Eastern Zhou when many vassal states fought and competed for supremacy. It was named for the title of a Confucian Book of chronicles. During the SAP the imperial house, with priestly, ritualistic, and diplomatic functions but with diminishing authority, slowly sank out of sight as the local nobles struggled with one another for the power. Survival required coalitions, both political and economic, as well as the accumulation productive wealth. To end it they put in drainage systems, canals, and walls.

The hundred schools of thought

Hundred Schools arose in response to practical conditions. Their philosophers were either government officials or scholars, traveling from one feudal state to the other and offering ideas for social reform. Expressing their ideas in conversations, officials documents, or short treatises, they set the pattern for later philosophers.

Imhotep

Imhotep was an Egyptian polymath best known as the architect of King Djiser's Step Pyramid at Samar's. His name means "He Who Comes in Peace" and he is the only Egyptian besides Amenhotep to be fully deified, becoming the god wisdom and medicine. He was the priest to Kind Djoser, a poet, physician, mathematician, Astronomers, and architect.

Xiao (filial devotion)

In Confucianism, the attitude of obedience, devotion, and care toward ones parents and elder family memebers thay is the basis of individual moral conduct and social harmony. Xiao consisted in putting the need of parents and family elders over self, spouse, and children, deferring to parents judgment, and observing toward them the prescribed behavioral proprieties.

Daoism

Indigenous religion-philosophical tradition that has shaped Chinese life for more than 2,000 years. In the broadest sense, a Daoist attitude toward life can be seen in the accepting and yielding, the joyful and carefree sides of the Chinese character, an attitude that offsets and complements the moral and duty-conscious and purposeful positive, active attitude toward the metaphysical.

Hammurabi

Reigned 1792-1750 BCE was the sixth king of Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon, assumes the throng from his father, Sin-Muballit, and expanded the kingdom to conquer all of ancient Mesopotamia. The kingdom of Babylon comprised only the cities of Babylon, Kish, Sippar, and Borsippa when Hammurabi came to the throne but, through a succession of military campaigns, careful alliances made and broken when necessary, and political maneuvers, he held the entire region under Babylonian control by 1759 BCE.

Sargon the Great

Reigned in Mesopotamia from 2334-2279 BCE. He is equally famous today as the father of the great poet-priestess Enheduanna. He was born an illegitimate son of a changeling, which could refer to a temple priestess of the goddess Innana. He never knew his father. Sargon would rise to conquer all of Mesopotamia and create the first multi-national empire in history.

Second Intermediate Period

Second intermediate Period (1782-1570 BCE) is the era following the time of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2040-1782 BCE) and preceding the New Kingdom (1570-1069 BCE). As with all historical designations of the eras of Egyptian history, the name 'Second Intermediate Period' was coined by 19th-century CE Egyptologists to demarcate time periods in Egypt's history. There was a division between the Hyksos in the north, the Thebes in the central country, and the Nubians in the south. This was a time of disunity and confusion.

Akkadian

Semitic speaking state that grew up around the city of Akkad north of Sumer, and reached its greatest extent under Sargon of Akkad (2296-2240 BCE) it has been described as the first true empire in world history. It was a flourishing civilization in one of the most fertile areas of the globe, the alluvian plain of southern Mesopotamia that later fed into the later Babylonian Civilization.

Sumer

Sumer was the southernmost region of ancient Mesopotamia which is generally considered the cradle of civilization the name comes from akkadian, the language of the north of Mesopotamia, and means "land of the civilized King's. The sumerians called themselves "the black headed people" and their land, in cuneiform script, was simply the land of the land of the black headed people and in the biblical book of genesis, Sumer is known as shinar

Tigris and Euphrates

The Tigris and Euphrates river system, great river system of southwestern Asia. It comprises the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which follow roughly parallel courses through the heart of the Middle East. The lower portion of the region that they define, known as Mesopotamia was one of the cradles of civilization. This opened up trade all along the Middle East.

Ur

Ur was a city in the region of Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, in what is modern day Iraq. According to biblical tradition, the city is named after the man who founded the first settlement there, Ur, though this has been disputed. The city's other biblical link is to the patriarch Abraham who left Ur to settle in the land of Canaan. This claim has also been contested by scholars who believe that Abraham's home was further north in Mesopotamia in a place called Ura, bear the city Harran, and that the writers of the biblical narrative in the book of genesis confused the two.

Mandate of Heaven

Was the divine source of authority and the right to rule of China's early Kong's and emperors. The ancient god or divine force known as Heaven or Sky had selected this particular individual to rule on its behalf on earth. An important element of the mandate was that although the ruler had been given great power he also had moral obligation to use it for the good of the people, if he didn't then his state would suffer terrible disasters and he would lose the right to govern.

Cuneiform

a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia 3500-3000 BCE. It is considered the most significant amount the many cultural contributions of the Sumerians and the greatest amount those of the Sumerian city of Uruk which advanced the writing of cuneiform 3200 BCE.