Commonalities and Variations (500 B.C.E -> 1200 C.E.) Flashcards
What is Meroe?
A Nubian Nile Valley civilization in Africa.
Who was Piye?
A Kushite ruler who went on to conquer Egyptian lands.
What is Axum?
A city in Africa (where Northern Ethiopia is) that famously adopted Christianity.
What is interesting about Axum religion-wise?
It shifted from an entirely unique religion and belief system to Christianity within a couple of years.
What caused the downfall of Axum Civilization?
Soil exhaustion and eventually the death of a lot of citizens and collapse.
How does Axum kind of “live on” today?
It is strongly remembered and many traits of the civilization can still be seen in Ethiopia.
What was strange about Niger River Civilization government?
There were a ton of cities and it was very urban, but there was no large system that kept them all organized.
How did the Niger River Civilization function?
People produced enough food for everyone and refrained from fighting. They also made a kind of a weak caste system to organize jobs and they taught their kids the job that they had.
What was very different about interactions in America compared to many other places in the world at the time?
American peoples were completely separate from all Afro-Eurasian people, so they developed their own unique culture and lifestyle.
What Mesoamerican Civilization has attracted the most attention?
The Maya of Mexico.
What is the Popul Vuh (Mayan)?
The Mayan creation story that was carved into a stone frieze.
What were some of the advancements that the Mayans made?
They made advancements in math and even made their own phonetic language.
What was strange about the collapse of the Mayans?
It happened very suddenly, and we don’t know exactly why it happened.
What is Teotihuacan?
A huge city in Mexico that was at its peak at about 550 C.E.
How do we think that Teotihuacan was governed?
We think that there might have been multiple governors rather than a single ruler.
What is it like to live in the Andean highlands?
Living in the mountains makes it so that there are a lot of rivers and that it is very high up, making it extremely dangerous.
Who were the Chavin?
A peoples that lived in the Andean highlands starting at around the time of 900 B.C.E. They maintained control there for several centuries.
What was Chavin technology and government like?
They were definitely advanced for their time, they had a strong government system as well as many good technologies such as drainage canals and ventilation systems.
What kind of influences did the Chavin make?
They spread their technologies and their religious ideas to neighboring peoples, and they kept these ideas.
What is Moche?
A South-American civilization that sat on the Pacific Coast.
What were the rulers of Moche civilization like?
They had several warrior-priests that performed many rituals and sacrifices.
What are Wari and Tiwanku?
Two Andean empires that give us the biggest insight to what the culture of the area was like.
What is interesting about Wari and Tiwanku?
Neither owned specified areas of territory and both also produced a lot and traded a lot with neighbors.
How did the Bantu spread ideas?
Through trade, they spread their language and cultural ideas and technologies and such.
What was gender equality in Bantu areas like?
Men and women were very equal.
What is Luba Art (Bantu)?
Special Bantu art that depicted special and powerful women.
What is the Indian Ocean Maritime Network?
A network of sea paths that connected many countries and areas for trade.
What were some new advancements made in transport?
Better boats (such as Dhows) and the wheel was invented.
Who are the Chaco?
A peoples that lived in northwestern New Mexico.
How did Chaco lifestyle change over time?
They started living in permanent settlements once their crops finally adapted to the desert environment.
Who are the Mound Builders or Hopewells?
Peoples who lived in the Eastern United States who lived in mound houses. They were hunter-gatherer.
What is the Hopewell Interaction Sphere?
A large area of America where historians believe that the Hopewells interacted with each other.
What is Cahokia?
A large Mound Builder living area in Eastern America.
What pack animals were commonly used for transport?
Llamas and camels and horses.
What inventions made travelling with pack animals easier?
The inventions of the saddle and stirrup.
