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| 10430727648 | Akkadian Empire | world's first empire began in 2350 BCE when Sargon - King of Akkad - began conquering Sumerian cities. The empire was the first to unite city-states under a single ruler and ruled for 200 years. | 0 | |
| 10430729681 | Amon-Re | the ancient Egyptian god of the sun | 1 | |
| 10430729682 | Analects | The book that Kong Fuzi wrote and that stresses the values and ideas of Confucianism. | 2 | |
| 10430732293 | Aryans | nomads from Europe and Asia who migrated to India and finally settled; vedas from this time suggest beginning of caste system | 3 | |
| 10430732294 | Assyrians | Known as a warrior people who ruthlessly conquered neighboring countries; their empire stretched from east to north of the Tigris River all the way to centeral Egypt; used ladders, weapons like iron-tipped spears, daggers and swords, tunnels, and fearful military tactics to gain strength in their empire | 4 | |
| 10430734875 | Babylonians | A group of people who conquered the Sumerians. They had a very famous king named Hammurabi. Hammurabi created nearly 300 laws known as Hammurabi's Code of Laws, the old known legal system based on the concept of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". | 5 | |
| 10430735656 | Book of the Dead | A collection of ancient Egyptian funerary texts from various periods, containing prayers, magic formulas, and hymns to be used by the soul of the deceased for guidance and protection on its journey to the afterlife. | 6 | |
| 10430735657 | Chavin | the first major South American civilization, which flourished in the highlands of what is now Peru from about 900 to 200 B.C. | 7 | |
| 10430737002 | city-state | A small independent state consisting of an urban center and the surrounding agricultural territory. A characteristic political form in early Mesopotamia, Archaic and Classical Greece, Phoenicia, and early Italy. | 8 | |
| 10430738445 | civilization | the stage of human social development and organization that is considered most advanced. | 9 | |
| 10430738446 | Confucianism | The system of ethics, education, and statesmanship taught by Confucius and his disciples, stressing love for humanity, ancestor worship, reverence for parents, and harmony in thought and conduct. | 10 | |
| 10430739214 | cultural diffusion | the spread of cultural elements from one society to another | 11 | |
| 10430739215 | cultural hearths | the areas where civilizations first began that radiated the customs, innovations, and ideologies that culturally transformed the world | 12 | |
| 10430740226 | cuneiform | the world's first system of writing A form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets. | 13 | |
| 10430742018 | dynastic cycles | long periods of rule by a family punctuated by times of "chaos", when the family lost its power and was challenged by a new, and ultimately successful, ruling dynasty | 14 | |
| 10430742591 | Epic of Gilgamesh | An epic poem from Mesopotamia, is among the earliest surviving works of literature | 15 | |
| 10430742592 | 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. Includes Mesopotamia, Palestine, and the Nile. | 16 | |
| 10430743493 | Hammurabi | The most important ruler of the Babylonian empire; responsible for codification of law. He designed a legal code in early Babylon that gave punishment based on crime and social status. Relied on the principle of lex talionis. | 17 | |
| 10430743494 | Hammurabi's Code | Code of Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian code of law of ancient Mesopotamia, dated back to about 1754 BC (Middle Chronology). It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. | 18 | |
| 10430743918 | Harappa | Site of one of the great cities of the Indus Valley civilization of the third millennium B.C.E. It was located on the northwest frontier of the zone of cultivation, and may have been a center for the acquisition of raw materials. Ancient city in the Indus River valley in present-day Pakistan | 19 | |
| 10430743919 | Hatshepsut | First female pharaoh who expanded Egypt through trade | 20 | |
| 10430745346 | Hittites | The group of people who toppled the Babylonian empire and were responsible for two technological innovations--the war chariots and refinement of iron metallurgy. | 21 | |
| 10430745678 | Late Bronze Age | 1550-1200 BCE that was violent, and catastrophically disruptive with regard to cultures, social systems/practices, government institutions, languages, ethnic identities, trade routes, literacy, and technologies. | 22 | |
| 10430745961 | Mandate of Heaven | The ideological underpinning of Chinese emperors, this was the belief that a ruler held authority by command of divine force as long as he ruled morally and benevolently. a power or law believed to be granted by a god | 23 | |
| 10430746291 | matrilineal | relating to a social system in which family descent and inheritance rights are traced through the mother | 24 | |
| 10430747341 | Mesopotamia | first civilization located between the Tigris & Eurphrates Rivers in present day Iraq; term means "land between the rivers;" Sumerian culture | 25 | |
| 10430747342 | Minoans | earliest Greek civilization that had developed on the island of Crete by 2000 B.C. | 26 | |
| 10430749483 | Mohenjo-Daro | Largest of the cities of the Indus Valley civilization. It was centrally located in the extensive floodplain of the Indus River in contemporary Pakistan. Little is known about the political institutions of Indus Valley communities, but the large-scale of construction at Mohenjo-Daro, the orderly grid of streets, and the standardization of building materials are evidence of central planning. | 27 | |
| 10430749484 | monsoon rains | seasonal winds crossing the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia during the summertime that bring extreme rain and flooding | 28 | |
| 10430750355 | Mycenaeans | a group of people who settled on the Greek mainland around 2000 B.C.; leading city called Mycenae which could withstand any attack; nobles lived in splendor; these people invaded many surrounding kingdoms | 29 | |
| 10430750356 | Olmec | The first Mesoamerican civilization. Between ca. 1200 and 400 B.C.E., these people of central Mexico created a vibrant civilization that included intensive agriculture, wide-ranging trade, ceremonial centers, and monumental construction. | 30 | |
| 10430750809 | oracle bones | The earliest known Chinese writing is found on these from ritual activity of the Shang period. | 31 | |
| 10430750810 | papyrus | A reed that grows along the banks of the Nile River in Egypt. From it was produced a coarse, paperlike writing medium used by the Egyptians and many other peoples in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East. Egyptian paper | 32 | |
| 10430751327 | patriarchy | A form of social organization in which males dominate females | 33 | |
| 10430752515 | pharaoh | A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader. | 34 | |
| 10430752516 | pictographs | pictures that stand for words or ideas; picture writing | 35 | |
| 10430753106 | Semitic | Family of related languages long spoken across parts of western Asia and northern Africa. In antiquity these languages included Hebrew, Aramaic, and Phoenician. The most widespread modern member of the this language family is Arabic. | 36 | |
| 10430753493 | shaman | an ancient doctor, healer, or priest, they were called upon for religious ceremonies | 37 | |
| 10430753494 | Shang Dynasty | Second Chinese dynasty (about 1750-1122 B.C.) which was mostly a farming society ruled by an aristocracy mostly concerned with war. They're best remembered for their art of bronze casting. | 38 | |
| 10430754043 | social mobility | the movement between different positions within a system of social stratification in any given society | 39 | |
| 10430754044 | Sumerians | the creators of the first Mesopotamian civilization The name of the first culture in the world to develop cities. | 40 | |
| 10430754880 | theocracy | government run by religious leaders | 41 | |
| 10430754881 | tribute | Money paid by one country to another in return for protection | 42 | |
| 10430755678 | vassals | lesser lords who pledged their service and loyalty to a greater lord -- in a military capacity | 43 | |
| 10430755679 | Xia Dynasty | This was the earliest known dynasty. There is no written evidence of this early time period, but artifacts have been found. The people of this time were farmers and made pottery. First Chinese dynasty | 44 | |
| 10430756088 | Zhao Dynasty | the imperial dynasty of China from 1122 to 221 BC; notable for the rise of Confucianism and Taoism | 45 | |
| 10430757458 | ziggurats | temples built by Sumerians to honor the gods and goddesses they worshipped | 46 |
