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| 7244680032 | hunting and gathering | means of obtaining subsistence by humans before the mastery of sedentary agriculture; normally typical of tribal social organization | 0 | |
| 7244680033 | civilization | societies with reliance on sedentary agriculture, ability to produce food surpluses, and existence of nonfarming elites, along with merchant and manufacturing groups | 1 | |
| 7244680034 | Paleolithic | the Old Stone Age ending in 12,000 B.C.E.; typified by use of evolving stone tools and hunting and gathering for subsistence | 2 | |
| 7244680035 | Neolithic | the New Stone Age between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; period in which adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred; domestication of plants and animals accomplished | 3 | |
| 7244680036 | nomads | cattle- and sheep-herding societies normally found on the fringes of civilized societies; commonly referred to as "barbarian" by civilized societies | 4 | |
| 7244680037 | culture | combinations of ideas, objects, and patterns of behavior that result from human social interaction | 5 | |
| 7244680038 | Homo sapiens | the species of humanity that emerged as most successful at the end of the Paleolithic | 6 | |
| 7244680039 | Agrarian revolution | occurred between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; transition from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture | 7 | |
| 7244680040 | pastoralism | a nomadic agricultural lifestyle based on herding domesticated animals; tended to produce independent people capable of challenging sedentary agricultural societies | 8 | |
| 7244680041 | Çatal Hüyük | early urban culture based on sedentary agriculture; located in modern southern Turkey; larger in population than Jericho, had greater degree of social stratification | 9 | |
| 7244680042 | Bronze Age | from 4000 to 3000 B.C.E.; increased use of plow, metalworking; development of wheeled vehicles, writing | 10 | |
| 7244680043 | Mesopotamia | literally "between the rivers"; the civilizations that arose in the alluvial plain of the Tigris Euphrates river valleys | 11 | |
| 7244680044 | potter's wheel | a technological advance in pottery making; invented circa 6000 B.C.E.; encouraged faster and higher quality ceramic pottery products | 12 | |
| 7244680045 | Sumerians | people who migrated into Mesopotamia circa 4000 B.C.E.; created the first civilization within the region; organized area into city states | 13 | |
| 7244680046 | cuneiform | a form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets | 14 | |
| 7244680047 | city-state | a form of political organization typical of Mesopotamian civilization; consisted of agricultural hinterlands ruled by an urban based king | 15 | |
| 7244680048 | ziggurats | massive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple connections | 16 | |
| 7244680049 | Babylonian Empire | unified all of Mesopotamia circa 1800 B.C.E.; collapsed due to foreign invasion circa 1600 B.C.E | 17 | |
| 7244680050 | Hammurabi | the most important Babylonian ruler; responsible for codification of the law | 18 | |
| 7244680051 | pharaoh | the term used to denote the kings of ancient Egypt; the term, "great house" refers to the palace of the pharaohs | 19 | |
| 7244680052 | pyramids | monumental architecture typical of Old Kingdom Egypt; used as burial sites for pharaohs | 20 | |
| 7244680053 | hieroglyphs | form of writing developed in ancient Egypt; more pictorial than Mesopotamian cuneiform | 21 | |
| 7244680054 | Kush | African state that developed along the upper reaches of the Nile circa 1000 B.C.E.; conquered Egypt and ruled it for several centuries | 22 | |
| 7244680055 | monotheism | the exclusive worship of one god; introduced by Jews into Middle Eastern civilization | 23 | |
| 7244680056 | Phoenicians | seafaring civilization located on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean; established colonies throughout the Mediterranean | 24 | |
| 7244680057 | Harappa and Mohenjo Daro | major urban complexes of Harappan civilization; laid out on planned grid pattern | 25 | |
| 7244680058 | Aryans | Indo-European nomadic, warlike, pastoralists who replaced Harappan civilization | 26 | |
| 7244680059 | Huanghe (Yellow) River Basin | site of the development of sedentary agriculture in China | 27 | |
| 7244680060 | Shang | 1st Chinese dynasty | 28 | |
| 7244680061 | oracles | shamans or priests in Chinese society who foretold the future through interpreting animal bones cracked by heat; inscriptions on bones led to Chinese writing | 29 | |
| 7244680062 | Ideographic writing | pictograph characters grouped together to create new concepts; typical of Chinese writing | 30 | |
| 7244680063 | Zhou | originally a vassal family of the Shang; possibly Turkic-speaking in origin; overthrew Shang and established 2nd Chinese dynasty (1122-256 B.C.E.) | 31 | |
| 7244680065 | Feudalism | social organization created by exchanging grants of land (fiefs) in return for formal oaths of allegiance and promises of loyal service; typical of Zhou dynasty | 32 | |
| 7244680066 | Mandate of Heaven | the divine source of political legitimacy in China; established under Zhou to justify overthrow of Shang | 33 | |
| 7244680071 | Laozi | Chinese Daoist philosopher; taught that governments were of secondary importance and recommended retreat from society into nature | 34 | |
| 7244680076 | Himalayan Mountains | region marking the northern border of the Indian subcontinent | 35 | |
| 7244680101 | monsoons | seasonal winds crossing Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia; during summer bring rains | 36 |
