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AP World History Unit 1 Flashcards

From Hunting and Gathering to Civilizations, 2.5 million-1000 B.C.E.: Origins

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11044024892Hunting and GatheringMeans of obtaining subsistence by humans before the mastery of sedentary agriculture; normally typical of tribal social organization0
11044024893NeolithicThe New Stone Age between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; period in which adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred; domestication of plants and animals accomplished1
11044024894NomadsCattle- and sheep-herding societies normally found on the fringes of civilized societies; commonly referred to as "barbarian" by civilized societies2
11044024895CultureCombination of ideas, objects, and patterns of behavior that result from human social interaction3
11044024896Neolithic/Agricultural/Agrarian revolutionOccurred between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; transition from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture4
11044024897PastoralismA nomadic agricultural lifestyle based on herding domesticated animals; tended to produce independent people capable of challenging sedentary agricultural societies5
11044024898MesopotamiaLiterally "between the rivers"; the civilization that arose in the alluvial plain of the Tigris-Euphrates river valleys6
11044024899SumeriansPeople who migrated into Mesopotamia circa 4000 B.C.E.; created the first civilization within the region; organized area into city-states7
11044024900CuneiformA form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge-shaped stylus and clay tablets8
11044024901City-stateA form of political organization typical of Mesopotamian civilization; consisted of agricultural hinterlands ruled by an urban-based king9
11044024902ZigguratsMassive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple connections10
11044024903Babylonian EmpireUnified all of Mesopotamia circa 1800 B.C.E.; collapsed due to foreign invasion circa 1600 B.C.E.11
11044024904HammurabiThe most important Babylonian ruler; responsible for codification of the law12
11044024905PharaohThe term used to denote the kings of ancient Egypt; considered a god as well as a political and military leader. The term, "great house" refers to the palace of the pharaohs13
11044024906PyramidsMonumental architecture typical of Old Kingdom Egypt; used as burial sites for pharaohs14
11044024907HieroglyphsForm of writing developed in ancient Egypt; more pictorial than Mesopotamian cuneiform15
11044024908MonotheismThe exclusive worship of one god; introduced by Jews into Middle Eastern civilization16
11044024909PhoeniciansSeafaring civilization located on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean; established colonies throughout the Mediterranean; extensive trade, communication networks, early alphabetical script17
11044024910Harappa and Mohenjo DaroMajor urban complexes of Harappan civilization; laid out on planned grid pattern18
11044024911AryansIndo-European nomadic, warlike, pastorialists who replaced Harappan civilization19
11044024912Huanghe (Yellow) River BasinSite of the development of sedentary agriculture in China20
11044024913Shang1st Chinese dynasty21
11044024914Big GeographyA term that draws attention to the global nature of world history.22
11044024915PaleolithicThe period that ended about 3,000 years after the end of the last Ice Age, it lasted until about 10,000 years ago. (Old Stone Age) The period of the Stone Age associated with the evolution of humans. It predates the Neolithic period.23
11044024916Path of migration for humans during Paleolithic eraFrom Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas24
11044024917EglitarianBelieving in the equality of all peoples25
11044024918Pastoralists were often the developers and disseminators of of ____ and ___ that transformed warfare in agrarian civilizationsnew weapons modes of transportation26
11044024919_____ developed in this period continued to have strong influences in later periodsNew religious beliefs27
11044024920Mediterranean SeaSea connecting Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and N. Africa28
11044024921PolytheismBelief in more than one god29
11044024922Nile RiverPrincipal water source of water flowing through North Africa (site of sophisticated cultural development); flooded regularly and enriched the soil in the process30
11044024923historythe study of past events and changes in the development, transmission and transformation of cultural practices31
11044024924stone agethe earliest known period of human culture, marked by the creation and use of stone tools and other nonmetallic substances32
11044024925foragersFood collectors who gather, fish, or hunt33
11044024926city-stateA sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate surrounding area34
11044024927Babylonan ancient city of Mesopotamia known for its wealth, luxury, and vice.35
11044024928HammurabiBabylonian king who codified the laws of Sumer and Mesopotamia (died 1750 BCE)36
11044024929scribea person who copies or writes out documents; often a record keeper37
11044024930cuneiformA form of writing developed by the Sumerians (Mesopotamia) using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets.38
11044024931bronzeA metal that is a mixture of copper and tin39
11044024932paleolithicstone age period when human used stone tools and survived by hunting and foraging40
11044024933Homo sapienshuman species derived from apes with more brain capacity for intelligence41
11044024934venus figurinespaleolithic female figurines that emphasize physical attributes associated with fecundity42
11044024935cave paintingspaleolithic cave paintings that emphasize hunting--Lascaux France is most famous43
11044024936pastoralismthe process of domestication, raising, and herding of animals44
11044024937specialization of laborpeople in civilizations could be assigned different jobs and statuses in society due to having a surplus of food45
11044024938patriarchythe idea that males have a right to rule and reign over states and families46
11044024939civilizationlarge scale communities that had certain characteristics in common such as: recordkeeping, complex institutions (government, economy, organized religion), cities, specialization of labor, long-distance trade, technology47
11044024940Euphrates and Tigristwo principle Mesopotamian rivers48
11044024941Sumerearliest Mesopotamian city state49
11044024942Babylonsecond oldest Mesopotamian city state, succeeds Sumer, most important king was Hammurabi50
11044024943Hammurabi's Codefirst law code in the world, of Babylonia, dealt with legal contracts and responsibility for wrong doing51
11044024944bronze metallurgyalloy of copper, tin, and zinc, this metal began to be produced from about 2800 BCE improved military equipment, agricultural knives, and plows52
11044024945iron metallurgya changeable metal, less hard than bronze, but more flexible, developed around 1500 BCE by the Hittites53
11044024946wheelround object used to move heavy weights and to create vehicles first in Sumer54
11044024947cuneiforma very early form of writing, from Sumer in Mesopotamia, done by pressing a cone-shaped stylus into soft clay55
11044024948Epic of Gilgameshepic Mesopotamian poem that highlights the stresses of civilization56
11044024949Egypta founding civilization along the Nile in Northeastern Africa57
11044024950HieroglyphicsEgyptian writing (pictographs & symbols representing sounds+ideas)58
11044024951Harrappa & Mohenjo DaroTwo early, very large, and complex Indus Valley city states. Little is known about these but their size and complexities imply central planning.59
11044024952Indus RiverRiver in Northern India on which the first Indian civilizations were built; flooded twice a year in a predictable manner60
11044024953VedasA belief system based on the caste system brought into India by peoples probably from the Caucasus between about 5000 and 4000 BCE61
11044024954VarnaCaste system of India: Brahmin, Khsatriya, Vaishya, Shudra--people could not move out of the caste they were born into62
11044024955Chinaearliest civilization in Asia63
11044024956Huang He and Yangzi Hetwo rivers in China that supported early civilization64
11044024957Shang DynastyThe dominant people in the earliest Chinese dynasty for which we have written records (ca. 1750-1027 B.C.E.). Ancestor worship, divination by means of oracle bones, and the use of bronze vessels for ritual purposes were major elements of this culture.65
11044024958HinduismTerm for a wide variety of beliefs and ritual practices that have developed in the Indian subcontinent since antiquity. It has roots in ancient Vedic, Buddhist, and south Indian religious concepts and practices.66
11044024959ZoroastrianismFounded by Zoroaster; taught that humans had the freedom to choose between right and wrong, and that goodness would triumph in the end. Marked by dualism between God = Good and the Evil. Influenced Christianity. Was one of the first monotheistic religions.67
11044024960JudaismMonotheistic (belief in one god), founded by Abraham, code of law found in the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible), led to the development of two other Abrahamic religions: Christianity and Islam.68
11044024961ConfucianismThe 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.69
11044024962Mandate of HeavenA political theory of ancient China in which the emperor is given the power to rule by a divine sources. This tie could be severed by ineffectual rule70
11044024963Oracle bonesbones on which the ruling class in China wrote questions and had them divined by the priestly class71
11044024964Mesoamericacultural area in the Americas extending from central America to present-day Peru72
11044024965Olmecthe first major civilization in Mexico73
11044024966MayaMesoamerican civilization in and near the Yucatan Peninsula--had the first and only pre-Columbian writing system in the Americans74
11044024967ChavinMesoamerican civilization in present-day Peru that had highly developed art and architectural practices75
11044024968CarthageCity located in present-day Tunisia, founded by Phoenicians ca. 800 B.C.E. It became a major commercial center and naval power in the western Mediterranean until defeated by Rome in the third century B.C.E. (p. 107)76
11044024969irrigation systemsreplacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops77
11044024970Indus River Valley Civilizationan ancient civilization thriving along the Indus River in what is now Pakistan and western India. This civilization is also sometimes referred to as the Harappan or Harappa-Mohenjodaro Civilization of the Indus Valley, in reference to the excavated cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro78
11044024971Persian Warsa series of conflicts between the Greek world and the Persian Empire that started about 500 BC and lasted until 448 BC.79
11044024972Alexander the GreatUnited Ancient Greece; Hellenistic Age, conquered a large empire.80
11044024973Socrates and PlatoGreek philosopher and his student81

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