Strayer Chapter 2 Flashcards

7073989627	Aryans	Indo-European migrants who came into South Asia after the Indus Valley civilization; developed the culture that would form the basis for Indian civilizations afterwards.	0
7073994096	Book of the Dead	An Egyptian book of spells and chants to be completed by a dead person in order that his soul might be rejoined with his body in paradise after death.	1
7073996330	Characters	Chinese writing system; originally a pictographic system that evolved into ideograms, in which symbols represent ideas regardless of the pronunciation.	2
7074005729	City-States	A political system in which an urban-based king rules his city and its surrounding area with a centralized government; each city-state thought of itself as an independent unity.	3
7074009644	Cuneiform	"Wedge-shaped"; the writing system invented by the Sumerians and used by all Mesopotamian civilizations afterwards.	4
7074011608	Cylinder Seal	A tool used to create a standard imprint when rolled on clay; used for record-keeping in the Indus Valley.	5
7074017711	Dravidian	The original inhabitants of South Asia, possibly descended from the first group of humans to leave Africa; while they created the Indus Valley civilization, they were later replaced by the Aryans.	6
7074033959	Dynasties	A family line of rulers, in which a father passed his political authority down to his son.	7
7074038868	Epiglyphs	"Almost writing"; a systems developed by the Olmecs that served as the basis for the later writing known as Mayan glyphs.	8
7074043360	Epic of Gilgamesh	Earliest known written epic poem, which tells the legendary deeds of Gilgamesh, a historical king of Uruk; later became the model for all Mesopotamian kings.	9
7074050869	Hammurabi's Code	Earliest known written laws, established by the King of Babylon.	10
7074052153	Social Hierarchy	A system of class distinctions in which some people have higher status than others.	11
7074054039	Hieroglyphs	"Sacred writing"; the writing system developed by the ancient Egyptians; also included a kind of "cursive" script known as Demotic.	12
7074060164	Indo-Europeans	A very large linguistic group that originated near the Caucasus mountains; eventually migrated to most of Eurasia, bringing the idea of civilization with them.	13
7074072392	Loess	Silt that was blown from the Himalayas and deposited in East Asia, turning the Huang He yellow and providing nutrients to the soil as it flooded.	14
7074078126	Monsoons	a very regular pattern of winds that provided most of the rainfall for a whole year.	15
7074081881	Monumental Architecture	Large buildings that were designed to glorify the ruler and to strengthen the authority of the state and the elite.	16
7074085373	Oracle Bones	A technique used to tell the future in Shang China; included an early form of characters (Chinese writing).	17
7074090757	Patriarchy	A system of gender distinctions in which men were superior to women.	18
7074093766	Public Works	Construction projects that were required for the good of the general public; examples include defensive walls, flood control and irrigation, places of public worship, and plumbing.	19
7074096203	Quipu	Record-keeping system using string and knots to make and record calculation; used by all of the civilizations in the Andes.	20
7074098412	Semites	A very large linguistic group that originated in the fertile crescent; eventually migrated into most of the Middle East, Mediterranean, and North Africa, spreading the idea of civilization with them.	21
7074104404	Sumerians	The original inhabitants of Mesopotamia; invented civilization without any previous model; would be replaced by other peoples but their civilization was copied.	22
7074117042	Urbanization	The process of living in large cities; a key feature of civilizations.	23
7074118492	Ziggurat	A large pyramid-like structure constructed in Mesopotamia and used as a temple for the public displays of ritual.	24