history Flashcards
dynasty
a series of rulers descending from a single family
line.
cultural diffusion
the
spread of one culture’s ideas, products, traditions, beliefs etc.
to another people.
polytheism
Belief in many gods -
Enil
most powerful god
three social classes were?
a. Priests and royalty (kings)
b. Wealthy merchants
c. Ordinary workers
Sargon of Akkad
Took control of the region, creating world’s first empire -
when several peoples, nations, or previously independent
states are placed under the control of one ruler.
2. The Akkadian Empire lasted about 200 years
3. Spoke a Semitic language (related to Arabic and Hebrew)
4 rivers
Tigris & Euphrates, Nile, Indus, and Huang He River.
Lower Egypt,
around the Nile delta which flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
Upper Egypt
developed later upstream
deserts were
on both sides of the Nile
Menes
Menes, the king of Upper Egypt,
Pharaoh
[means, royal house] – the ruler of Egypt
Type of government where the political rulers are thought to be divinely-guided, or even divine themselves is a ?
theocracy
, Pharaoh’s tomb very important, because it was still
a place of rule. Built massive tombs called?
pyramids
Social structure
Upper class
Landowners (become familiar with other terms for this class – i.e., aristocracy or nobility)
Priests
Army commanders
Government officials
Middle Class
(merchants / artisans)
Lower class
(peasant farmers, unskilled laborers)
Egyptian religion
polytheistic
mummification
embalming and preserving the corpse to prevent it from decaying.
Pictographs developed into
hieroglyphics
Unfortunately the Egyptians took their years of
well-protected geographic isolation for granted
and made little real defensive preparations
should the unthinkable happen.
who invaded?
invaded by the Hyksos
he Indus Valley was home to
the largest of the four ancient
urban civilizations
Egypt,
Mesopotamia, India and China.
What challenges did the people along
the Indus River face?
unpredictable rivers
(similar situation to Mesopotamia region)
strong winds / monsoons
Name three theories about why the Indus Valley
civilization ended around 1500 BCE?
The river may have changed course, natural disaster
(caused by heavy monsoons)
The people may have overworked the land
(overcutting trees, overgrazed, over-farmed land depleting nutrients)
Invaders
The Four Early River Valley Civilizations
Sumerian, Egyptian, Harappan, and ancient China
first people
1959 - Mary Leakey found skull fragments in East Africa more than 1.75 million years old
- 1974 - Donald Johanson found a partial Australopithecus skeleton dating back more than 3 million years
