Terms : Hide Images
| 6860193027 | Neolithic Revolution | The first cultivation of plants and domestication of animals, which took place during the Neolithic period and radically changed the structure of prehistoric society; the development of agriculture |  | 0 |
| 6860195281 | domestication | the process of increasing human control over the breeding of wild plants and animals in order to select for traits that make them more useful for human needs, such as food, transportation, or other animal products, such as wool, hides, or dairy products. |  | 1 |
| 6860195282 | civilization | The emergence and spread of food production by 6000 BCE across the Middle East established the social and economic foundations for the emergence of urban civilization. Farming and herding produced enough surplus food to support craft specialists, priests, and political leaders. |  | 2 |
| 6860197509 | specialization of labor | The ability to produce a surplus freed some people from having to spend all their time producing food; individuals could now specialize in other skills. Artisans crafted weapons, jewelry, and other specialty products that could not be produced as readily by nomadic people |  | 3 |
| 6860200747 | kinship group | vitally important in most hunting and gathering groups, as social interaction usually organized around kinship/family roles | 4 | |
| 6860200748 | polytheistic | Polytheism is the belief in and worship of many gods. Typically, these gods are distinguished by particular functions, and often take on human characteristics. In Ancient Egypt, gods take on the form and characteristics of objects found in nature, including trees, sacred herbs, cattle, animals and animal--human hybrids. The belief in multiple gods is probably the result of an earlier belief in vaguely defined spirits, demons and other supernatural forces. These belief systems are similar to animism and ancestor worship. |  | 5 |
| 6860203415 | monotheism | Monotheism is a religion or belief system that involves just one God. The first of the monotheistic religions was Judaism. |  | 6 |
| 6860203416 | Ziggurats | Ziggurats were a form of temple common to the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians of ancient Mesopotamia. |  | 7 |
| 6860203417 | Jewish Diaspora | When Jews spread from Israel to western Asia and Mediterranean lands in antiquity, and can still be found there today. The synagogue was built/created during this time. |  | 8 |
| 6860206762 | Epic of Gilgamesh | The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest surviving written piece of fiction dating back to about 2000 BCE in Ancient Sumer and Babylon. This epic is preserved on clay tablets, written in Sumerian language, in a writing system called cuneiform. |  | 9 |
| 6860206763 | Ancestor Veneration | Veneration of the dead or ancestor reverence is based on the beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living, the worship of deceased ancestors. | 10 | |
| 6860208726 | Indus River Valley | A major civilization in the Indus Valley, started around 2600 BCE. The Indus River was the reason the civilization started and thrived, as it provided a sustainable resource, more efficiency in farming, and the ability to trade with other peoples. Made many technological advancements such as a system of writing on clay tablets and heated building bricks. Harappa had a very sustainable culture with a very efficient agricultural system that included trading routes with Sumer and Mesopotamia. |  | 11 |
| 6860208727 | Nile River | The ancient Egypt civilization was located in Northeastern Africa and started around 3100 BC and were ruled by the Pharaohs. The Egyptian civilization had great success by their ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River Valley, with the fertile valley they were able to produce crops with many resources to spare. Another achievement of the Egyptians was the construction of the pyramids and temples. These developments of architecture were copied throughout the world and are still present to this day. |  | 12 |
| 6860210485 | Huang He | Ancient Chinese Civilization developed along the Huang He River around 2000 BCE. | 13 | |
| 6860213036 | Tigris & Euphrates | Site of Mesopotamian civilization that emerged about 3500 BCE. The Sumerians were the most influential people in the Tigris-Euphrates region who had developed the first known human writing, cuneiform. They also were characterized by the development of astronomical sciences, intense religious beliefs, and tightly organized city-states. The Sumerians improved the region's agricultural prosperity by learning about fertilizers and using silver to conduct commercial exchange. | 14 | |
| 6860213037 | Mesopotamia | Mesopotamia should be more properly understood as a region that produced multiple empires and civilizations rather than any single civilization. Even so, Mesopotamia is known as the "cradle of civilization" primarily because of two developments that occurred there, in the region of Sumer, in the 4th millenium BCE: the rise of the city as we recognize that entity today and the invention of writing |  | 15 |
| 6860213038 | Mesoamerica | The Olmec civilization was the first major civilization of modern day Central America, that lasted from 1200-400 B.C.E. The Olmecs were located in the southern tropical lowlands of present day Mexico. The civilization was known for their elaborate work in art, such as architecture and sculpting Colossal heads (large sculpted human head figures, made out of boulders) |  | 16 |
| 6860214958 | maize | People in Mesoamerica grew squash and maize during the Neolithic Era, which migrated to North America. |  | 17 |
| 6860214959 | Hieroglyphics | Set of ancient Egyptian pictographs in written language, used to record and explain much of the ancient Egyptian culture; these pictographs commonly represent what they are depicting. Hieroglyphics were the first set of writings discovered in ancient Egypt, which helped to uncover much of their lost culture and how their civilization developed. |  | 18 |
| 6860217794 | cuneiform | Written language created around 2500 BCE by Sumerians. Created to keep track of goods stored in Ziggurat. Script created written on wet clay tablet. It was used to write Sumerian literature, poems, history, etc. and became the way the Sumerians recorded literature and pass it on. |  | 19 |
| 6860217795 | patriarchal | A form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male line. | 20 | |
| 6860220195 | Mandate of Heaven | A religious and political term created by Zhou Dynasty. This means that the deity granted power for Zhou to rule. The ruler would have to keep the kingdom stable. If the ruler failed to keep Mandate of Heaven and natural disasters happened. Then another, ruler would be chosen. The ruler was called "Son of Heaven." |  | 21 |
| 6860220196 | Shang Dynasty | The Shang Dynasty lasted roughly from 1600 BCE to 1046 BCE, and was located in the Huang He River Valley. Consequently, the flooding of the river soon led to agricultural and irrigation technology. The river also caused the society and government to be strengthened. Walled cities began to form with extravagant upper classes and rulers. With modernization came religion; oracle bones and ancestor worship became a large part of the Shang culture. We also know that the Shang Dynasty was extremely advanced in their craftsmanship of bronze, jade, ceramic, and bone. The empire was molded by the Huang He River, which brought technology and cities, then religion and intellectual advancements. |  | 22 |
| 6860220197 | Zhou Dynasty | Ruled China from 1029 BCE to 248 BCE. Under the Zhou, Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism spread rapidly through the Chinese culture. Years of war and conflict lead to a demand for a better way and new philosophies of life compete to offer the Chinese more stability and protection from warlords. |  | 23 |
| 6860222352 | city-state | A small independent state consisting of an urban center and the surrounding agricultural territory. A characteristic political form in early Mesopotamia. |  | 24 |
