| 10871462666 | (I) Mesopotamia | A region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that developed the first urban societies
-In the Bronze Age this area included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires
-In the Iron Age, it was ruled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires | | 0 |
| 10871462667 | (I) 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 | | 1 |
| 10871462668 | (I) Cataract | Parts of the Nile that are not navigable due to waterfalls and rapids | | 2 |
| 10871462669 | (I) Papyrus | A reed that grows along the banks of the Nile River in Egypt
-From it was produced a coarse, paper-like writing medium used by the Egyptians and many other peoples in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East | | 3 |
| 10871462670 | (I) Levant | A region on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea north of the Arabian Peninsula and south of Turkey, usually including the area of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria | | 4 |
| 10871462671 | (I) Crete | Island that was home to the first European civilization to have complex political and social structures and advanced technologies like those found in western Asia and northeastern Africa | | 5 |
| 10871462672 | (I) Yellow (Huang He) River | Cradle of Chinese civilization, country's second longest river | | 6 |
| 10871462673 | (I) Yangtze (Chian Jang) River | Longest river in China + Asia | | 7 |
| 10871462674 | (I) Loess | A fine, light silt deposited by wind and water
-Constitutes the fertile soil of the Yellow River Valley in northern China | | 8 |
| 10871462675 | (I) Mesoamerica | Region of great geographic and climatic diversity, extremely active geologically | | 9 |
| 10871462676 | (I) Llama | A hoofed animal indigenous to the Andes Mountains in South America
-Only domesticated beast of burden in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans
-Provided meat and wool
-Use of llamas to transport goods made possible specialized production and trade among people living in different ecological zones and fostered the integration of these zones by Chavín and later Andean states | | 10 |
| 10871462677 | (C) Scribes | In the governments of many ancient societies, a professional position reserved for men who had undergone the lengthy training required to be able to read and write using cuneiform, hieroglyphics, or other early, cumbersome writing systems | | 11 |
| 10871462678 | (C) Anthropomorphic | Like humans in form and conduct | | 12 |
| 10871462679 | (C) Ziggurat | A massive pyramidal stepped tower made of mud bricks
-Associated with religious complexes in ancient Mesopotamian cities, but its function is unknown | | 13 |
| 10871462680 | (C) Amulet | Small charm meant to protect the bearer from evil
-Found frequently in archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia and Egypt, amulets reflect the religious practices of the common people | | 14 |
| 10871462681 | (C) Metallurgy | Mesopotamians refined ores containing copper and alloying them with arsenic or tin to make bronze | | 15 |
| 10871462682 | (C) Bronze | Alloy of copper with a small amount of tin (or sometimes arsenic)
-Harder and more durable than copper alone
-Bronze Age: when bronze was the primary metal for tools and weapons | | 16 |
| 10871462683 | (C) Ma'at | Egyptian term for the concept of divinely created and maintained order in the universe
-The divine ruler was the earthly guarantor of this order | | 17 |
| 10871462684 | (C) Pyramid | A large, triangular stone monument, used in Egypt and Nubia as a burial place for the king
-The largest pyramids, erected during the Old Kingdom near Memphis, reflect the Egyptian belief that the proper and spectacular burial of the divine ruler would guarantee the continued prosperity of the land | | 18 |
| 10871462685 | (C) Osiris, Isis, Horus | Osiris: god who once ruled Egypt, slain by jealous brother Seth
Isis: Osiris's devoted sister and wife who reconstructed Osiris who became the king of the Underworld
Horus: Osiris's son, took revenge on Seth | | 19 |
| 10871462686 | (C) Mummification/Mummy | Body preserved by chemical processes or special natural circumstances, often in the belief that the deceased will need it again in the afterlife | | 20 |
| 10871462687 | (C) Shawabtis | Small figures that play the part of servants and take the place of the deceased in case the afterlife required periodic compulsory labor | | 21 |
| 10871462688 | (C) Iron Age | Historians' term for the period during which iron was the primary metal for tools and weapons
-The advent of iron technology began at different times in different parts of the world | | 22 |
| 10871462689 | (C) Shaft Graves | Burial sites of elite members of Mycenaean Greek society in the mid-second millennium B.C.E
-At the bottom of deep shafts lined with stone slabs, the bodies were laid out along with gold and bronze jewelry, implements, weapons, and masks | | 23 |
| 10871462690 | (C) Homer/'Iliad' | Homer: author of the 'Iliad'
'Iliad': Homer's tale of the Achaean's ten-year siege and eventual destruction of Troy (city on the fringes of Hittite territory controlling the sea route between the Mediterranean and Black Seas) | | 24 |
| 10871462691 | (C) Library of Ashurbanipal | A large collection of writings drawn from the ancient literary, religious, and scientific traditions of Mesopotamia
-Was assembled by the seventh-century B.C.E. Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal
-The many tablets unearthed by archaeologists constitute one of the most important sources of present-day knowledge of the long literary tradition of Mesopotamia | | 25 |
| 10871462692 | (C) Oracle Bones | Shoulder bones of cattle and bottom shells of turtles employed by Shang rulers to obtain information from ancestral spirits and gods | | 26 |
| 10871462693 | (C) 'Book of Songs' | Provides glimpses into lives, activities, and feelings of a diverse cross-section of early Chinese people of different classes and regions | | 27 |
| 10871462694 | (P) Sumerians | The people who dominated southern Mesopotamia through the end of the third millennium B.C.E. | | 28 |
| 10871462695 | (P) Semitic | Family of languages long spoken across parts of western Asia and northern Africa
-In antiquity these languages included Hebrew, Aramaic, and Phoenician
-Most widespread modern member of the Semitic family is Arabic | | 29 |
| 10871462696 | (P) City-State | 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 | | 30 |
| 10871462697 | (P) Lugal | "Big man", king, emerged in third millennium B.C.E., leads armies in time of war, extended authority in peacetime, assumed key judicial and ritual functions | | 31 |
| 10871462698 | (P) Sargon | Ruler of the city of Akkad around 2350 B.C.E., first to unite many cities under one king and capital | | 32 |
| 10871462699 | (P) Akkadians | Lived in Akkad, city located along western bank of the Euphrates River, first ancient Semitic-speaking empire of Mesopotamia | | 33 |
| 10871462700 | (P) Amorites | Ancient Semitic-speaking nomads from Syria, founded a new city at Babylon after fall of Third Dynasty of Ur | | 34 |
| 10871462701 | (P) Babylon | The largest and most important city in Mesopotamia
-Achieved particular eminence as the capital of the Amorite king Hammurabi in the eighteenth century B.C.E. | | 35 |
| 10871462702 | (P) Hammurabi | Amorite ruler of Babylon (r. 1792-1750 B.C.E.)
-Conquered many city-states in southern and northern Mesopotamia and is best known for a code of laws, inscribed on a black stone pillar, illustrating the principles to be used in legal cases | | 36 |
| 10871462703 | (P) Code of Hammurabi | Inscribed on a polished black stone pillar, provided judges with a lengthy set of examples illustrating principles to use in deciding cases
-Many offenses were met with severe physical punishments and, not infrequently, the death penalty | | 37 |
| 10871462704 | (P) King Menes | Ruler from the south who unified Upper and Lower Egypt
-Founder of the First Dynasty | | 38 |
| 10871462705 | (P) Old Kingdom | 'Age of the Pyramids', 3rd millenium BC, Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization | | 39 |
| 10871462706 | (P) Middle Kingdom | 'Period of Reunification' or 'Golden Age', ancient Egypt's Classical Age where culture produced some of its greatest art and literature works
-Period of economic, social, and political stability | | 40 |
| 10871462707 | (P) New Kingdom | 'Egyptian Empire', Egypt's most prosperous time
-Period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt | | 41 |
| 10871462708 | (P) Intermediate Periods | Times of political fragmentation and cultural decline that separated the "Kingdoms" | | 42 |
| 10871462709 | (P) Pharaoh | The central figure in the ancient Egyptian state
-Believed to be an earthly manifestation of the gods, he used his absolute power to maintain the safety and prosperity of Egypt | | 43 |
| 10871462710 | (P) Memphis | The capital of Old Kingdom Egypt, near the head of the Nile Delta
-Early rulers were interred in the nearby pyramids | | 44 |
| 10871462711 | (P) Thebes | Capital city of Egypt and home of the ruling dynasties during the Middle and New Kingdoms
-Monarchs were buried across the river in the Valley of the Kings | | 45 |
| 10871462712 | (P) Djoser, Khufu, Khafre | Djoser: Third Dynasty King, constructed stepped pyramid at Saqqara around 2630 B.C.E.
Khufu and Khafre: pharaohs that erected huge pyramids at Giza, several miles north of Saqqara between 2550 and 2490 B.C.E. | | 46 |
| 10871462713 | (P) Nubia | Had rich sources of gold, home to some of Africa's earliest kingdoms
-Ancient region in northeastern Africa | | 47 |
| 10871462714 | (P) Harappa | Site of one of the great cities of the Indus Valley civilization of the third millennium B.C.E.
-Was located on the northwest frontier of the zone of cultivation (in modern Pakistan) | | 48 |
| 10871462715 | (P) Mohenjo-Daro | Largest of the cities of the Indus Valley civilization, centrally located in the extensive floodplain of the Indus River in contemporary Pakistan | | 49 |
| 10871462716 | (P) Kassites | Originated as tribal groups in Zagros Mountains and migrated into southern Mesopotamia, controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire | | 50 |
| 10871462717 | (P) Assyrians | Semitic people living in the northern reaches of Mesopotamia, traded ambitiously and pursued economic interests | | 51 |
| 10871462718 | (P) Hittites | A people from central Anatolia who established an empire in Anatolia and Syria in the Late Bronze Age
-With wealth from the trade in metals and military power based on chariot forces, the Hittites vied with New Kingdom Egypt for control of Syria-Palestine before falling to unidentified attackers ca. 1200 B.C.E. | | 52 |
| 10871462719 | (P) Hyksos | "Princes of Foreign Lands", possessed advantageous military technology (war chariot and composite bow), interacted with Egyptian culture
-Semitic people that migrated from Syria-Palestine region into eastern Nile Delta | | 53 |
| 10871462720 | (P) Hatshepsut | Queen of Egypt (r. 1473-1458 B.C.E.)
-She dispatched a naval expedition to Punt (possibly northeast Sudan or Eritrea), the faraway source of myrrh
-Evidence of opposition to a woman as ruler, and after her death her name and image were frequently defaced | | 54 |
| 10871462721 | (P) Akhenaten | Egyptian pharaoh (r. 1353-1335 B.C.E.)
-Built a new capital at Amarna, fostered a new style of naturalistic art, and created a religious revolution by imposing worship of the sun-disk | | 55 |
| 10871462722 | (P) Aten | Disk of the sun, worshipped by Amenhotep/Akhenaten | | 56 |
| 10871462723 | (P) Amon (Amon-Re) | Chief god | | 57 |
| 10871462724 | (P) Nefertiti | Wife of Akhenaten | | 58 |
| 10871462725 | (P) Tutankhamun | Boy-king, (r. 1333-1323 b.c.e.), famous solely because his was the only royal tomb found by archaeologists that had not been pillaged by robbers, reveals both in his name (meaning "beautiful in life is Amon") and in his insignificant reign the ultimate failure of Akhenaten's revolution | | 59 |
| 10871462726 | (P) Ramesses II | A long-lived ruler of New Kingdom Egypt (r. 1290-1224 B.C.E.)
-Reached an accommodation with the Hittites of Anatolia after a standoff in battle at Kadesh in Syria
-Built on a grand scale throughout Egypt | | 60 |
| 10871462727 | (P) Minoan | Prosperous civilization on the Aegean island of Crete in the second millennium B.C.E.
-Minoans engaged in far-flung commerce around the Mediterranean and exerted powerful cultural influences on the early Greeks | | 61 |
| 10871462728 | (P) Mycenae | Site of a fortified palace complex in southern Greece that controlled a Late Bronze Age kingdom
-In Homer's epic poems, Mycenae was the base of King Agamemnon, who commanded the Greeks besieging Troy
-Contemporary archaeologists call the complex Greek society of the second millennium B.C.E. "Mycenaean" | | 62 |
| 10871462729 | (P) Neo-Assyrian Empire | An empire extending from western Iran to Syria-Palestine, conquered by the Assyrians of northern Mesopotamia between the tenth and seventh centuries B.C.E.
-Used force and terror and exploited the wealth and labor of their subjects
-Also preserved and continued the cultural and scientific developments of Mesopotamian civilization | | 63 |
| 10871462730 | (P) Mass Deportation | Forcible removal and relocation of large numbers of people or entire populations
-Practiced by Assyrian and Persian Empires, meant as warning of consequences of rebellion
-Also brought skilled and unskilled labor to imperial center | | 64 |
| 10871462731 | (P) Nineveh | Oldest and most-populous city (capital) of ancient Assyrian empire | | 65 |
| 10871462732 | (P) Chaldaean | Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, revived Babylonia, took over much of territory of Assyrian Empire and fostered a cultural renaissance | | 66 |
| 10871462733 | (P) Medes | Of NW Iran, took over Assyrian homeland and northern plain as far as eastern Anatolia | | 67 |
| 10871462734 | (P) Neo-Babylonian Kingdom | Under the Chaldaeans (nomadic kinship groups that settled in southern Mesopotamia in the early first millennium B.C.E.), Babylon again became a major political and cultural center in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E.
-After participating in the destruction of Assyrian power, the monarchs Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar took over the southern portion of the Assyrian domains | | 68 |
| 10871462735 | (P) Xia Dynasty | First dynasty in traditional Chinese history, first to adhere to policy of dynastic succession | | 69 |
| 10871462736 | (P) Shang Dynasty | Shang: the dominant people in the earliest Chinese dynasty for which we have written records (ca. 1766-1045 B.C.E.) | | 70 |
| 10871462737 | (P) Anyang | Where most tombs of Shang royal and elite families (contains large quantities of valuable objects and musical instruments) were excavated | | 71 |
| 10871462738 | (P) Zhou Dynasty | Dynasty that took over the dominant position in north China from the Shang and created the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule
-The Zhou era, particularly the vigorous early period (1045-771 B.C.E.), was remembered in Chinese tradition as a time of prosperity and benevolent rule | | 72 |
| 10871462739 | (P) Mandate of Heaven | Chinese religious and political ideology developed by the Zhou, according to which it was the prerogative of Heaven, the chief deity, to grant power to the ruler of China and to take away that power if the ruler failed to conduct himself justly and in the best interests of his subjects | | 73 |
| 10871462740 | (P) Wu | King that distributed territories to relatives and allies, which they were to administer and profit from so long as they remained loyal to them
-Regional rulers gave parts of their holdings to supporters, created feudal system | | 74 |
| 10871462741 | (P) Spring and Autumn Period | First part of the Eastern and Zhou era, states were frequently at odds with each other, warfare was persistent | | 75 |
| 10871462742 | (P) Sunzi/'Art of War' | Approaches war as a chess game in which the successful general employs deception, intuits the energy potential inherent in the landscape, and psychologically manipulates both friend and foe
-The best victories are achieved without fighting so that one can incorporate the unimpaired resources of the other side | | 76 |
| 10871462743 | (P) Warring States Period | Second half of the Eastern Zhou era because scale and intensity of rivalry and warfare between states accelerated | | 77 |
| 10871462744 | (P) Qin Dynasty | First imperial dynasty of ancient China | | 78 |
| 10871462745 | (P) Legalism | School of thought in Chinese philosophy, emphasizes need for order above all other human concerns | | 79 |
| 10871462746 | (P) Olmec | The first Mesoamerican civilization
-Between ca. 1200 and 400 B.C.E., the Olmec people of central Mexico created a vibrant civilization that included intensive agriculture, wide-ranging trade, ceremonial centers, and monumental construction
-The Olmec had great cultural influence on later Mesoamerican societies, passing on artistic styles, religious imagery, sophisticated astronomical observation for the construction of calendars, and a ritual ball game | | 80 |
| 10871462747 | (P) San Lorenzo/La Venta | San Lorenzo: largest and most important Olmec center, projected political and military power
La Venta: became preeminent Olmec venter when San Lorenzo was abandoned or destroyed | | 81 |
| 10871462748 | (P) Early Horizon Period | Period 900 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. in Andean history | | 82 |
| 10871462749 | (P) Chavín | The first major urban civilization in South America (900-250 B.C.E.)
-Capital, Chavín de Huántar, was located high in the Andes Mountains of Peru
-Chavín became politically and economically dominant in a densely populated region that included two distinct ecological zones, the Peruvian coastal plain and the Andean foothills | | 83 |
| 10871462750 | (P) Chavín de Huantar | Capital city of Chavín | | 84 |
| 10871462751 | (P) Indo-Europeans | From north of Mesopotamia, migrated south into Western Asia and Indus Valley, massive migration that threatened all early civilizations except for China | | 85 |
| 10871462752 | (P) Aryan Migrations | Aryans from the north spilled into Indus Valley and took control of Indus River Valley civilization (which disappeared) | | 86 |
| 10871462753 | (P) Phoenicians | By ~2000 B.C.E., small group of seafaring people from coastal area of eastern Mediterranean Sea had set up colonies in North Africa and southern Europe
-Traveled widely over entire Mediterranean area
-Spread maritime skills and set basis for alphabets in Greece, Rome, and many modern languages | | 87 |
| 10871462754 | (P) Israelites | Originated ~2000 B.C.E. in Mesopotamian city of Ur with founder of religion, Abraham
-Were monotheistic, which was distinctly different from other people of area
-Migrated to Egypt to escape drought, became slaves, then returned to Canaan under king Moses | | 88 |
| 10871462755 | (P) Aryans | Herding peoples that originated in Caucasus area, began migrating in many directions ~mid 2nd millennium B.C.E.
-Invaded Indian subcontinent, decimating Indus Valley
-Remained nomadic until settling in Ganges area as agriculturalists (pushed caste system) | | 89 |
| 10871462756 | (E) Cuneiform | A system of writing in which wedge-shaped symbols represented words or syllables
-Originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially for Sumerian and Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of western Asia
-Literacy was confined to a relatively small group of administrators and scribes | | 90 |
| 10871462757 | (E) Hieroglyphics | A system of writing in which pictorial symbols represented sounds, syllables, or concepts
-Was used for official and monumental inscriptions in ancient Egypt
-Because of the long period of study required to master this system, literacy in hieroglyphics was confined to a relatively small group of scribes and administrators | | 91 |
| 10871462758 | (E) Linear B | A set of syllabic symbols, derived from the writing system of Minoan Crete, used in the Mycenaean palaces of the Late Bronze Age to write an early form of Greek
-Was used primarily for palace records, and the surviving Linear B tablets provide substantial information about the economic organization of Mycenaean society and tantalizing clues about political, social, and religious institutions | | 92 |
| 10871462759 | (S) Three Classes of Babylonia | 1) Free, landowning class, largely living in the cities, which included royalty, high-ranking officials, warriors, priests, merchants, and some artisans and shopkeepers
(2) Dependent farmers and artisans, whose legal attachment to royal, temple, or private estates made them the primary rural work force
(3) Slaves, primarily employed in domestic service. | | 93 |
| 10871462760 | (S) Comparing Social Structures | Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, Shang China, Meso- and South America | | 94 |
