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AP World History: Ancient World Flashcards

First set of words in the AP World History book by the Princeton Review.

Terms : Hide Images
4864727024AgricultureThe deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain.0
4864727025Agrarianpertaining to land or its cultivation; Ex. agrarian reform, agrarian society1
4864727026Bands/ Clansextended family groups that generally lived together2
4864727029Civilizationa society in an advanced state of social development (e.g., with complex legal and political and religious organizations)3
4864727030City-Statesdifferent sections of land owned by the same country but ruled by different rulers (e.g. Greece)4
4864727032Domesticationprocess of changing plants or animals to make them more useful to humans5
4864727033Economysystem by which goods and services are produced and distributed to meet people's needs6
4864727034Egalitariana person who believes in the equality of all people7
4864727038Foragingthe process of scavenging for food8
4864727039Hierarchya series of ordered groupings of people or things within a system9
4864727041Hunter-GathererA hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild, foraging and hunting without significant recourse to the domestication of either plants nor animals10
4864727042Irrigationsupplying dry land with water by means of ditches, sprinklers, etc.11
4864727043Monarchya government in which power is in the hands of a single person who usually inherits their power12
4864727044Monotheismbelief in a single God13
4864727045NeolithicThe New Stone Age from circa 8500 to 4500 BCE: The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient Agricultural Revolution(s)14
4864727046Nomadic(of groups of people) tending to travel and change settlements frequently15
4864727047Pastoralrelating to shepherds or herdsmen or devoted to raising sheep or cattle (e.g. pastoral peoples)16
4864727048PaleolithicThe Old Stone Age from circa 750,00 to 500,000 years BCE to 8,500 years BCE: The period of the Stone Age associated with the evolution of humans and the development of minor tools17
4864727049Philosophythe rational investigation of questions about existence, knowledge, and ethics18
4864727050Polytheismbelief in multiple Gods19
4864727051River Valleythe fertile land surrounding a river- the first civilizations arose near them20
4864727052Sedentaryremaining in one place21
4864727053Settlementthe act of colonizing or a small group of people in a sedentary position22
4864727054Subsistencethe necessities of life, the resources of survival23
4864727055Surplusa quantity much larger than is needed24
4864727056Sustenancethe act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of subsistence25
4864727057Theocracygovernment run by religious leaders26
4864727058Traditionalconsisting of or derived from tradition; customary practices27
4864727059Urbanizationthe social process whereby cities grow and societies become more urban28
4864727063Bronze Agea period between the Stone and Iron ages, characterized by the manufacture and use of bronze tools and weapons29
4864727065Code of Hammurabithe set of laws drawn up by Babylonian king Hammurabi dating to the 18th century BC, the earliest legal code known in its entirety30
4864727066CuneiformOne of the first written languages known: A system of writing in which wedge-shaped symbols represented words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially for Sumerian and Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of western Asia.31
4864727067Democracya political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them32
4864727076Iron Agethe period following the Bronze Age; characterized by rapid spread of iron tools and weapons33
4864727080PyramidsHuge stone tombs with four triangle-shaped walls that met in a point on top34
4864727083Shang CivilizationChina's first dynasty almost 2000 BCE35
4864727089Zigguratsa temple or tomb of the ancient Assyrians, Sumerians, or Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories36
4864727094Trans Saharanroute across the sahara desert. Major trade route that traded for gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling dessert, camels played a huge role in the trading37
4864727095MonsoonsMajor winds in the Indian Ocean that blew into India for half the year, and blew away from India for the other half. Helped facilitate trade in the Indian Ocean.38
4864727096Sumerianspeople who dominated Southern Mesopotamia through the end of the 3rd Millennium BCE. Responsible for the creation of irrigation technology, cuneiform, and religious conceptions.39
4864727097Indo-EuropeansGroups of people who came from the area north of the Caucasus mountains, which are between the Black and Caspian seas. Herded multiple animals. Rode into battle on chariots. The Indo-European language of Sanskrit, by the Aryans, are the basis of many languages today. Often accepted and adapted aspects of technology, religions, and social order of those with whom they came in contact.40
4864727098Before agriculture, men and women are believed to have a greater degree of equality. But after the rise of agriculture, most human societies became ________ as a result of greater male strength.Patriarchal41
4864727099caste systema set of rigid social categories that determined not only a person's occupation and economic potential, but also his or her position in society, there was virtually no social mobility42
4864727100Paleolithic(Old Stone Age) a long period of human development before the development of agriculture43
4864727101CarthageThis city has existed for nearly 3,000 years, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC into the capital of the Carthaginian Empire. Controlled commerce in the Mediterranean prior to the rise of Roman Power. The expanding Roman Republic took control of many of its outposts after the two Punic Wars.44

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