Chpt. 5, The Classical Period Flashcards
Aksum
a kingdom located in the Ethiopian highlands; replaced Meroe in the first century CE; received strong influence from the Arabian peninsula; eventually converted to Christianity
Ethiopia
a Christian kingdom that developed in the highlands of eastern Africa under the dynasty of King Lalaibela; it retained Christianity in the face of Muslim expansion elsewhere in Africa
Sahara
a desert running across northern Africa; separates the Mediterranean caost from southern Africa
Shintoism
the religion of the early Japanese culture; devotees worshipped numerous gods and spirits associated with the natural world; offers of food and prayers made to gods and nature spirits
Olmec culture
a cultural that arose at San Lorenzo and La Venta in Mexico c. 1200 BC; they featured irrigated agriculture, urbanism, and writing systems
Teotihuacan
the site of classical culture in central Mexico; an urban center with important religious functions, supported by intensive agriculture in surrounding regions; population of as much as 200,000
Maya
a classic culture emerging in southern Mexico and Central America contemporary with Teotihuacan; it extended over a broad region, featured monumental architecture, written language, calendrical and mathematical systems, and highly developed religion
Inca
a group of clans centered at Cuzco that were able to create an empire incorporating various Andean cultures; the term was also used for the leader of the empire
Polynesia
islands contained in a rough triangle whose points lie in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island.
Yellow Turbans
Chinese Daoists who launched a revolt in 184 CE in China promising a golden age to be brought about by divine magic.
Sui
A dynasty that succeeded the Han in China. It emerged from the strong rulers in northern China and united all of northern China and reconquered southern China.
Tang
Dynasty that succeeded the Sui in 618 CE, it was more stable than the previous dynasty.
Rajput
Regional princes in western Indian; they emphasized military control of their regions.
Devi
A mother goddess within Hinduism. She was widely worshipped following the collapse of Gupta; they encouraged new emotionalism in religious ritual
Islam
A major world religion having its origins in 610 CE in the Arabian peninsula. It literally means “submission,” and is based on the prophecy of Muhammad.
Allah
The supreme God in strictly monotheistic societies.
Byzantine Empire
The eastern half of the Roman Empire following the collapse of the western half of old empire. It retaine the Mediterranean culture, particularly the Greek; they later lost Palestine, Syria, and Egypt to Islam. The capital was at Constantinople.
Justinian
An early Byzantine emperor responsible for major building in Constantinople and a codification of roman law; his efforts to recapture some additional previously Roman territory ended in failure.
Saint Augustine
An influential church father and theologian; born in Africa and ultimately bishop of Hippo in Africa. He was a champion of Christian doctrine against various heresies and very important in the long-term development of Christian thought on such issues as predestination.
Coptic
A Christian sect in Egypt that was later tolerated after Islamic takeover.
bodhisattvas
Buddhist holy men who built up spiritual merits during their lifetimes. Their prayers after death could aid people to achieve reflected holiness.
Mahayana
A Chinese version of Buddhism that placed considerable emphasis on Buddha as a god or savoir.
Jesus of Nazareth
A prophet and teacher among the Jews believed by Christians to be the Messiah; he was executed in 30 CE.
Paul (previously Saul) of Tarsus
One of the first Christian missionaries; he moved away from instistence that adherents of the new religion follow Jewish law and his use of Greek as the language of the Church.
Benedict
the founder of monasticism in what had been the western half of the roman Empire. He established the Benedictine Rule in the 6th century. This paralleled the development of Basi’s rules in the Byzantine Empire.
animism/totemism
A religious outlook that sees gods in many aspects of nature and propitiates them to help control and explain nature. It was typical of Mesopotamian religions.
