Final Exam Flashcards
Olmec
An early civilization in Mesoamerica characterized by intensive agriculture along the muddy riverbanks of the area and by the carving of stone ornaments, tools, and monuments.
Pulque
A liquor extracted from the agave plant that was used in religious ceremonies.
Nubia
The first “known” settlement of agricultural civilization. Located in the northern part of modern Sudan.
Coptic Christianity
The Egyptian form of Christianity. Still practiced in Ethiopia and has been around since the 4th century CE.
Chau Ju-kua
A Chinese explorer who wrote about the sorcery of the people of East Africa.
Mansa
In the West African State of Mali, a chieftain who served as both the religious and administrative leader and was responsible for forwarding tax revenues from the village to higher levels of government.
Nyame
The Ashanti people of Ghana in West Africa believed in a supreme being called Nyame. Worship of Nyame was the exclusive preserve of the king through his priests.
Taika Reforms
The 7th century “great change” reforms that established the centralized Japanese state.
Samurai
A class of military retainers whose purpose was to protect the security and property of their patrons. They are similar to European knights.
Bushido
The code of conduct observed by samurai warriors; comparable to the European concept of chivalry.
Onin War
A disastrous civil conflict which led to the virtual destruction of the capital city of Kyoto and the disintegration of the shogunate.
Shinto
A kind of state religion in Japan, derived from beliefs of nature spirits and until recently linked to belief in the divinity of the emperor and the sacredness of the Japanese nation.
Satori
Enlightenment in the Japanese Buddhist tradition. One monk, for example, reportedly achieved satori by listening to the sound of bamboo stick striking against roof tiles.
Trung Sisters
Widows of local nobles who had been executed by Chinese. They led a revolt that briefly brought Han rule to an end.
Monasticism
A movement that being in early Christianity whose purpose was to create communities of men and women who practiced a communal life devoted to God as a moral example to the world around them.
