Ch.1 Origins of Civilization Flashcards
CE
Common Era
BCE
Before Common Era
Before Christ (BC) originates from Christianity and is generally replaced by
Before Common Era (BCE)
AD or “Year of the lord”
Anno Domini
Anno Domino is generally replaced by
Common Era (CE)
Human beings are members of a species?
hominids
What is the earliest hominid ancestor of humankind?
Australopithecus
When did the Australopithecus evolve?
3.9 billion years ago
Australopithecus was most similar to?
Present-day Chimpanzees
This descendant of the Australopithecus was the first hominid to walk upright?
Homo erectus
The Australopithecus were the first to develop?
Tool-making technology
Made knives out of obsidian
Which hominid descendent mastered the use of fire and when did they emerge?
Homo sapiens that emerged roughly 300,000 years ago
Which two hominids were physically different but able to interbreed?
Neanderthals (homo sapiens)
Homo sapiens sapiens
When did humans create agriculture, the deliberate cultivation of edible plants?
9,500 BCE
In what known 4 regions did agriculture first develop?
Fertile Crescent which is in the Middle East
Northern China
Sub-Saharan Africa
West South America
When did Northern China develop agriculture?
7000 BCE
When did Sub-Saharan Africa develop agriculture?
5000 BCE
When did Northern China develop agriculture?
4000 BCE
When/where was crop rotation developed?
Fertile Crescent around 8000 BCE
When/where was the plow developed?
Fertile Crescent around 5000 BCE
When were dogs domesticated?
Roughly 20,000 BCE
Where/when did the first towns exist?
Jericho, Palestine
Çatal Höyük, Turkey
What is the earliest surviving literature?
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Mesopotamia was located?
Eastern end of Fertile Crescent
What was the theme of The Epic of Gilgamesh?
Human mortality
What does Mesopotamia mean?
It’s Greek for “between the rivers”
Mesopotamia was in between what two main rivers?
Tigris and Euphrates
Urban Mesopotamia existed around?
3000 BCE
Where did the first true cities emerge?
Southern Mesopotamian region of Sumer
Northern Mesopotamian region of Akkad
What two languages were used in Sumer and Akkad?
Ancient Sumerian
Akkadian
What family of languages is Akkadian related?
Semitic
Related to modern languages like Arabic and Hebrew.
What/when is the name of the first early Sumerian city?
Uruk which was large by 3500 BCE
Uruk had a population of roughly
50,000 people
Why was Uruk important?
Major center for long-distance trade
What/when was the earliest term for “king”?
Around 2500 BCE
Ensis meaning representative of god who really ruled the city
Around 3,000 BCE each city center created huge temples for worship called?
Ziggurat - step-pyramid
Who/when was the first writing system invented?
Mesopotamians invented around 3,000 BCE
First writing system invented
Cuneiform
Pictographic system in which each word or idea was represented by a symbol but then evolved into syllabic symbols.
Cuneiform
The first known author?
Sumerian high priestess Enheduanna
Daughter of the great conqueror Sargon of Akkad
Enheduanna served as high priestess of the goddess and god?
Goddess Inanna
Nanna God of the moon
The most substantial surviving law code?
Babylonian King Hammurabi around 1780 BCE
The famous law by King Hammurabi
“if a man put the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out”
When/who/where was the world’s first true empire?
Around 2340 BCE and ended around 2200 BCE
King Sargon the Great also known as Sargon of Akkad
Conquered almost all of the major cities of Mesopotamia
The second empire after the Sargon’s Empire collapse was called and notable for?
Ur III Dynasty by King Ur-Nammu around 2112 BCE
Complex system of bureaucracy to govern conquered cities.
Bureaucracy means?
Rule by office
The third known empire after the collapse of Ur III Dynasty was known for?
Great empire of Hammurabi
Lasted from 1792 - 1595 BCE
Recentered Mesopotamia to Babylon and made laws.
The first domesticated horse comes from?
The steppes of Central Asia
When/who/where was the earliest Chinese kingdom?
1900 BCE
China’s Xia Dynasty
Yellow River region of Northern China
Mesoamerica regions historical architectural evolution rooted from/when/where?
Olmecs civilization
1400 BCE
Mesoamerica is the gulf coast of central Mexico
The earliest Chinese writings?
Shang Dynasty
1600 thru 1046 BCE
