Terms : Hide Images
| 9880151715 | Mesopotamia | A region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that developed the first urban societies. In the Bronze Age this area included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires, In the Iron Age, it was ruled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires. | 0 | |
| 9880159062 | Fertile Crescent | The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers gave life to the first known agricultural villages in this area about 10,000 years ago and the first known cities about 5,000 years ago. | 1 | |
| 9880162145 | Ziggurat | A temple tower of ancient Mesopotamia, constructed of square or rectangular terraces of diminishing size, usually with a shrine made of blue enamel bricks on the top | 2 | |
| 9880169522 | Cuneiform | The earliest known form of writing, which was used by the Sumerians. The name derives from the wedge shaped marks made with a stylus into soft clay. Used from the 3000s BCE to the 100s BCE. | 3 | |
| 9880187099 | Sumer | The world's first civilization, founded in Mesopotamia, which existed for over 3,000 years. | 4 | |
| 9880197312 | Xia | The world's first civilization, founded in Mesopotamia, which existed for over 3,000 years. | 5 | |
| 9880204824 | Shang | An early Chinese dynasty. Not a unified Chinese state. Instead rulers and their relatives gave orders through a network of cities. Earliest evidence of Chinese writing comes from this period. | 6 | |
| 9880207479 | Zhou | Succeeded the Shang dynasty. Similar to the Shang And Xia dynastic periods in that China was fragmented politically. Yet, despite the lack of true centralization, this was one of the longest Chinese dynasties, lasting about 600 years. It left substantial written records, unlike the preceding dynasties. | 7 | |
| 9880212601 | Yellow River | Also known as the Huang-He. The second longest river in China. The majority of ancient Chinese civilizations originated in its valley. | 8 | |
| 9880216585 | Oracle Bones | The earliest known Chinese writing is found on these from ritual activity of the Shang period. | 9 | |
| 9880220125 | Teotihuacan | A large central city in the Mesoamerican region. Located about 25 miles Northeast of present day Mexico City. Exhibited city planning and unprecedented size for its time. Reached its peak around the year 450. | 10 | |
| 9880226935 | Jenne- Jeno | One of the first urbanized centers in western Africa. A walled community home to approximately 50,000 people at its height. Evidence suggests domestication of agriculture and trade with nearby regions. | 11 | |
| 9880234051 | Great Zimbabwe | A stone-walled enclosure found in Southeast Africa. Have been associated with trade, farming, and mining. | 12 | |
| 9880238290 | Code of Hammurabi | A collection of 282 laws. One of the first (but not THE first) examples of written law in the ancient world. | 13 | |
| 9880242549 | Hittites | An ancient Anatolian group whose empire at largest extent consisted of most of the Middle East. Some of the first two-wheeled chariots and iron. | 14 | |
| 9880246696 | Zoroastrianism | One of the first monotheistic religions, particularly one with a wide following. It was central to the political and religious culture of ancient Persia. | 15 | |
| 9880249610 | Zoroaster | The founder of Persia's classical pre-Islamic religion, Zoroastrianism. | 16 | |
| 9880256196 | Hellenistic | Hellenistic | 17 | |
| 9880265245 | Paz Romana | The "Roman Peace", that is, the state of comparative concord prevailing within the boundaries of the Roman Empire from the reign of Augustus (27 B.C.E.-14 C.E.) to that of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 C.E.) | 18 | |
| 9880269273 | Republic | A state that is not ruled by a hereditary leader (a monarchy) but by a person or persons appointed under a constitution and in some way claims to be "of the people." | 19 | |
| 9880269274 | Consul | Under the Roman Republic, one of the two magistrates holding supreme civil and military authority. Nominated by the Senate and elected by citizens in the Comitia Centuriata, the consuls held office for one year and each had power of veto over the other. | 20 | |
| 9880274445 | Patricians | The land-owning noblemen in Ancient Rome | 21 | |
| 9880280041 | Plebeians | All non-land-owning, free men in Ancient Rome | 22 | |
| 9880283417 | Twelve Tables | Completed in 449 BCE, these civil laws developed by the Roman Republic following demands by plebeians. | 23 | |
| 9880293408 | Julius Caesar | Part of the first triumvirate who eventually became "emperor for life". Chose not to conquer Germany. Was assassinated by fellow senators in 44 B.C.E. | 24 | |
| 9880304548 | Octavian | Part of the second triumvirate whom the power eventually shifted to. Assumed the name Augustus Caesar, and became emperor. Was the end of the Roman Republic and the start of the Pax Romana. | 25 | |
| 9880310943 | Legalism | A school of Chinese philosophy. Prominent during Warring States Period. Had great influence on the policies of the Qin dynasty. Based on a pessimistic view of human nature. Social harmony could only be attained through strong government control and the imposition of strict laws, enforced absolutely. | 26 | |
| 9880318138 | Huns | large nomadic group from northern Asia who invaded territories extending from China to Eastern Europe. They virtually lived on their horses, herding cattle, sheep, and horses as well as hunting. | 27 | |
| 9880324960 | Tang | Continuing the imperial revival started by the Sui Dynasty this dynasty that followed restored the Chinese imperial impulse four centuries after the decline of the Han, extending control along the silk route. Trade flourished and China finally reached its western limits when its forces were defeated by the imperial armies of the Muslim Abbasid Empire at the Talas River--which stopped future expansion by both empires. | 28 | |
| 9880324961 | Yellow Turban Rebellion | A 184 C.E. peasant revolt against emperor Ling of Han. Led by Daoists who proclaimed that a new era would begin with the fall of the Han. Although this specific revolt was suppressed, it triggered a continuous string of additional outbreaks. | 29 | |
| 9880335610 | Aryans | immigrants who arrived at the Ganges river valley by the year 1000 BC | 30 | |
| 9880335611 | Vedas | compilations of hymns, religious reflections, and Aryan conquests | 31 | |
| 9880342076 | Siddhartha Gautama | The prince who is said to have founded Buddhism. | 32 | |
| 9880345639 | Caste System | India's traditional social hierarchy. | 33 | |
| 9880349941 | Nirvana | Within several Indian religious this is the peace of mind that comes from ending the cycle of rebirth. For some it is from overcoming suffering while for others it comes from joining with Brahman. | 34 | |
| 9880354577 | Mahayana. | The name of the more mystical and larger of the two main Buddhist sects. This one originated in India in the 400s CE and gradually found its way north to the Silk road and into Central and East Asia. | 35 | |
| 9880362354 | Silk Road | Connected China, India, and the Middle East. Traded goods and helped to spread culture. | 36 | |
| 9880365845 | Olmec | Mesoamerican civilization in lower Mexico around 1500 BCE to about 400 BCE focused. Most remembered for their large stone heads. | 37 | |
| 9880366132 | Maya | Never an empire but an extensive and culturally advanced Mesoamerican society with many cities in the Yucatan. | 38 | |
| 9880370399 | Persian Empire | Mesopotamian empire that conquered the existing Median, Lydian, and Babylonian empires, as well as Egypt and many others. Also known as the Achaemenid Empire. | 39 | |
| 9880374259 | Macedonia | Area between the Greek and Slavic regions; conquered Greece and Mesopotamia under the leadership of Philip II and Alexander the Great | 40 | |
| 9880374260 | Qin | 1st unified imperial Chinese dynasty | 41 | |
| 9880380753 | Buddha | Means "Enlightened One." He is said to have renounced his worldly possessions and taught of a way to overcome suffering. | 42 | |
| 9880385331 | Hieroglyphics | designating or pertaining to a photographic script, particularly that of the ancient Egyptians, in which many of the symbols are conventionalized, recognizable pictures of the things represented | 43 | |
| 9880413096 | Diaspora | any group migration or flight from a country or region; dispersion. Particularly used in relation to Jews scattered by Romans in 70 CE or to Africans spread to new places during the Atlantic Slave Trade. | 44 | |
| 9880422193 | Buddhism | a religion, originated in India by Buddha (Gautama) and later spreading to China, Burma, Japan, Tibet, and parts of southeast Asia, holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. | 45 | |
| 9880425265 | Mandate of Heaven | A political theory developed during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China in which those in power were believed to have the the right to rule from divine authority. | 46 | |
| 9880427825 | Sanskrit | an Indo-European, Indic language, in use since c1200 b.c. as the religious and classical literary language of India. | 47 | |
| 9880433085 | Cyrus | Created the Persian Empire by defeating the Medes, Lydians, and Babylonians; was known for his allowance of existing governments to continue governing under his name | 48 | |
| 9880438710 | Alexander the Great | King of Macedonia who conquered Greece, Egypt, and Persia | 49 | |
| 9880442494 | Constantinople | City founded as the second capital of the Roman Empire; later became the capital of the Byzantine Empire | 50 | |
| 9880445159 | Confucianism | Chinese ethical and philosophical teachings of Confucius which emphasized education, family, peace, and justice | 51 | |
| 9880452946 | Daoism | Philosophy that teaches that everything should be left to the natural order; rejects many of the Confucian ideas but coexisted with Confucianism in China | 52 | |
| 9880457142 | Constantine | Roman emperor who adopted Christianity for the Roman Empire and who founded Constantinople as a second capital | 53 | |
| 9880460176 | Byzantine Empire | Eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived the fall of the Western half. | 54 | |
| 9880490912 | Warring States Period | the period from 475 BC until the unification of China under the Qin dynasty, characterized by lack of centralized government in China. It followed the Zhou dynasty. | 55 | |
| 9880522076 | Zhou Dynasty | the longest lasting Chinese dynasty, during which the use of iron was introduced. | 56 | |
| 9880525381 | Akbar | The greatest of the Mughal Emperors. Second half of 1500s. Descendant of Timur. Consolidated power over northern India. Religiously tolerant. Patron of arts, including large mural paintings. | 57 | |
| 9880673497 | Sikh | A member of a religious community founded in the Punjab region of India. Developed in the 15th century. They believe in One Immortal Being and the teachings of ten Gurus, starting with Guru Nanak. | 58 | |
| 9880686360 | Mestizo | A new racial concept that develops in Latin America following the intermixing that occurred between European colonists and the native American population. | 59 | |
| 9880692389 | John Locke | 17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property. | 60 | |
| 9880699917 | 95 Theses | It was nailed to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517 and is widely seen as being the catalyst that started the Protestant Reformation. It contained Luther's list of accusations against the Roman Catholic Church. | 61 | |
| 9880703929 | Indulgence | Within the Catholic Church, this is the remission punishment for ones sins. Such as for a sin that has already been forgiven by God but which still carries with it some kind of punishment. Centuries ago the Church would sell certificates that would get a person out of purgatory. This practice contributed to the Protestant reformation. | 62 | |
| 9880743592 | Encomienda | A labor system set up by the Spanish government where Spanish colonists could work the native Americans on their land while compensating them and agreeing to educate some of them and teach them about Christianity. The system was meant to curb exploitation but actually made the exploitation of Native Americans worse. | 63 | |
| 9880759363 | Mercantilism | Economic policy common to many absolute monarchies. Government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the military security of the country. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade and desires new sources of gold and silver bullion, thus fueling more colonialism. | 64 | |
| 9880762606 | Laissez Faire | The belief that the government shouldn't intervene much in the economy and should instead let the people do what they want with their property. | 65 | |
| 9880765366 | Capitalism | Economic system with private and corporate ownership of property and competitive markets. However, since its origins in the 18th and 19th century it was also often correlated to large-scale collusion between governments and private industries such as through establishing royal charters, copyrights and patents, corporate law, and eventually even subsidies of taxpayer money to private industries. | 66 | |
| 9880799345 | Martin Luther | Economic system with private and corporate ownership of property and competitive markets. However, since its origins in the 18th and 19th century it was also often correlated to large-scale collusion between governments and private industries such as through establishing royal charters, copyrights and patents, corporate law, and eventually even subsidies of taxpayer money to private industries. | 67 | |
| 9880799361 | Enlightenment | A popular philosophical movement of the 1700s that focused on human reasoning, natural science, political and ethical philosophy. | 68 | |
| 9880815298 | The Colombian Exchange | The trading of various animals, diseases, and crops between the Eastern and Western hemispheres | 69 | |
| 9880822414 | Scientific Revolution | period in the 16th and 17th centuries where many thinkers rejected doctrines of the past dealing with the natural world in favor of new scientific ideas. | 70 | |
| 9880830225 | Ming | Chinese dynasty between 1368-1644. Economy flourished and the government even explored the Indian Ocean through many expeditions led by Zheng He. Ultimately they were taken over by the Manchurians from the North in 1644. | 71 | |
| 9880836190 | Young Turks | A coalition starting in the late 1870s of various groups favoring modernist liberal reform of the Ottoman Empire. It was against monarchy of Ottoman Sultan and instead favored a constitution. In 1908 they succeed in establishing a new constitutional era. | 72 | |
| 9880840600 | Franz Ferdinand | Archduke of Austria-Hungary assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. A major catalyst for WWI. | 73 | |
| 9880848136 | Treaty of Versailles | Treaty particularly known for its harsh reparations towards the Germans after World War I. | 74 | |
| 9880853558 | Joseph Stalin | Leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Vladimir Lenin. | 75 | |
| 9880862391 | Collectivization | The process seen in the Soviet Union and Communist China to form communal work units for agriculture and manufacturing--from private hands to large, collective, government operations. | 76 | |
| 9880865664 | Fascism | A political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical ultra-nationalist government. Favors nationalizing economic elites rather than promoting egalitarian socialist collectivization. | 77 | |
| 9880869671 | Bentio Mussolini | Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and created Fascism | 78 | |
| 9880874628 | Adolph Hitler | German leader of the Nazi Party. | 79 | |
| 9880878789 | Totalitarianism | Government ruled by a single party and/or person that exerts unlimited control over its citizen's lives. | 80 | |
| 9880885706 | Suez Canal | A ship canal in northeastern Egypt linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea | 81 | |
| 9880890344 | Nuremberg Trials | One key set of trials held for certain Germans accused of war crimes. | 82 | |
| 9880899134 | NATO | Alliance of the allied powers against the Soviets | 83 | |
| 9880902047 | Warsaw Pact | Alliance against democracy, supporting communism | 84 | |
| 9880918332 | Proxy War | A war instigated by a major power that does not itself participate | 85 | |
| 9880921014 | Fidel Castro | Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba | 86 | |
| 9880926128 | OPEC | An international oil cartel originally formed in 1960. Represents the majority of all oil produced in the world. Attempts to limit production to raise prices. It's long name is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. | 87 | |
| 9880962671 | Zionism | A Jewish movement starting in the 1800s that resulted in the migration of Jews to Palestine and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 | 88 | |
| 9880966698 | Delhi Sultanate | The first Islamic government established within India from 1206-1520. Controled a small area of northern India and was centered in Delhi. | 89 | |
| 9880971292 | Timur | Sometimes known as Tamerlane, this was the Central Asian leader of a Mongol tribe who attempted to re-establish the Mongol Empire in the late 1300's. His empire included Persia (Iran) and many surrounding lands. He is the great great grandfather of Babur. who later founds the Mughal Empire in India. | 90 | |
| 9880975240 | Ghana | Sometimes known as Tamerlane, this was the Central Asian leader of a Mongol tribe who attempted to re-establish the Mongol Empire in the late 1300's. His empire included Persia (Iran) and many surrounding lands. He is the great great grandfather of Babur. who later founds the Mughal Empire in India. | 91 | |
| 9880978733 | Mongol | Largest land empire in the history of the world, spanning from Eastern Europe across Asia. | 92 |
