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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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7452027606Hunting and GatheringMeans of obtaining subsistence by humans before the mastery of sedentary agriculture; normally typical of tribal social organization0
7452027607NeolithicThe New Stone Age between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; period in which adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred; domestication of plants and animals accomplished1
7452027608NomadsCattle- and sheep-herding societies normally found on the fringes of civilized societies; commonly referred to as "barbarian" by civilized societies2
7452027609CultureCombination of ideas, objects, and patterns of behavior that result from human social interaction3
7452027610Neolithic/Agricultural/Agrarian revolutionOccurred between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; transition from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture4
7452027611PastoralismA nomadic agricultural lifestyle based on herding domesticated animals; tended to produce independent people capable of challenging sedentary agricultural societies5
7452027612MesopotamiaLiterally "between the rivers"; the civilization that arose in the alluvial plain of the Tigris-Euphrates river valleys6
7452027613SumeriansPeople who migrated into Mesopotamia circa 4000 B.C.E.; created the first civilization within the region; organized area into city-states7
7452027614CuneiformA form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge-shaped stylus and clay tablets8
7452027615City-stateA form of political organization typical of Mesopotamian civilization; consisted of agricultural hinterlands ruled by an urban-based king9
7452027616ZigguratsMassive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple connections10
7452027617Babylonian EmpireUnified all of Mesopotamia circa 1800 B.C.E.; collapsed due to foreign invasion circa 1600 B.C.E.11
7452027618HammurabiThe most important Babylonian ruler; responsible for codification of the law of Sumer and Mesopotamia12
7452027621HieroglyphsForm of writing developed in ancient Egypt; more pictorial than Mesopotamian cuneiform13
7452027622MonotheismThe exclusive worship of one god; introduced by Jews into Middle Eastern civilization14
7452027623PhoeniciansSeafaring civilization located on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean; established colonies throughout the Mediterranean; extensive trade, communication networks, early alphabetical script15
7452027626Huanghe (Yellow) River BasinSite of the development of sedentary agriculture in China16
7452027627Shang1st Chinese dynasty17
7452027629PaleolithicThe 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.18
7452027630Path of migration for humans during Paleolithic eraFrom Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas19
7452027631EglitarianBelieving in the equality of all peoples20
7452027632Pastoralists were often the developers and disseminators of of ____ and ___ that transformed warfare in agrarian civilizationsnew weapons modes of transportation21
7452027635PolytheismBelief in more than one god22
7452027638stone agethe earliest known period of human culture, marked by the creation and use of stone tools and other nonmetallic substances23
7452027639foragersFood collectors who gather, fish, or hunt24
7452027640city-stateA sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate surrounding area25
7452027645bronzeA metal that is a mixture of copper and tin26
7452027646paleolithicstone age period when human used stone tools and survived by hunting and foraging27
7452027647Homo sapienshuman species derived from apes with more brain capacity for intelligence28
7452027650pastoralismthe process of domestication, raising, and herding of animals29
7452027652patriarchythe idea that males have a right to rule and reign over states and families30
7452027653civilizationlarge scale communities that had certain characteristics in common such as: recordkeeping, complex institutions (government, economy, organized religion), cities, specialization of labor, long-distance trade, technology31
7452027654Euphrates and Tigristwo principle Mesopotamian rivers32
7452027655Sumerearliest Mesopotamian city state33
7452027656Babylonsecond oldest Mesopotamian city state, succeeds Sumer, most important king was Hammurabi34
7452027657Hammurabi's Codefirst law code in the world, of Babylonia, dealt with legal contracts and responsibility for wrong doing35
7452027658bronze metallurgyalloy of copper, tin, and zinc, this metal began to be produced from about 2800 BCE improved military equipment, agricultural knives, and plows36
7452027659iron metallurgya changeable metal, less hard than bronze, but more flexible, developed around 1500 BCE by the Hittites37
7452027661cuneiforma very early form of writing, from Sumer in Mesopotamia, done by pressing a cone-shaped stylus into soft clay38
7452027662Epic of Gilgameshepic Mesopotamian poem that highlights the stresses of civilization39
7452027663Egypta founding civilization along the Nile in Northeastern Africa40
7452027664HieroglyphicsEgyptian writing (pictographs & symbols representing sounds+ideas)41
7452027665Harrappa & Mohenjo DaroTwo early, very large, and complex Indus Valley city states. Little is known about these but their size and complexities imply central planning.42
7452027666Indus RiverRiver in Northern India on which the first Indian civilizations were built; flooded twice a year in a predictable manner43
7452027667VedasA belief system based on the caste system brought into India by peoples probably from the Caucasus between about 5000 and 4000 BCE44
7452027668VarnaCaste system of India: Brahmin, Khsatriya, Vaishya, Shudra--people could not move out of the caste they were born into45
7452027669Chinaearliest civilization in Asia46
7452027670Huang He and Yangzi Hetwo rivers in China that supported early civilization47
7452027671Shang 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.48
7452027674JudaismMonotheistic (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.49
7452027675ConfucianismThe 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.50
7452027676Mandate 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 rule51
7452027677Oracle bonesbones on which the ruling class in China wrote questions and had them divined by the priestly class52
7452027678Mesoamericacultural area in the Americas extending from central America to present-day Peru53
7452027679Olmecthe first major civilization in Mexico54
7452027680MayaMesoamerican civilization in and near the Yucatan Peninsula--had the first and only pre-Columbian writing system in the Americans55
7452027681ChavinMesoamerican civilization in present-day Peru that had highly developed art and architectural practices56
7452027682CarthageCity 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)57
7452027683irrigation systemsreplacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops58
7452027684Indus 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 Mohenjodaro59
7452027685Persian Warsa series of conflicts between the Greek world and the Persian Empire that started about 500 BC and lasted until 448 BC.60

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