Midterm Flashcards
What was the Neoithic Revolution?
The shift from the hunting/gathering way of life to agriculture/permanent housing.
What was the main source of irrigation during the Neolithic Revolution?
Rivers
ex. Tigris and Euphrates
What is Sumer?
The earliest known civilization located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
What was the first written language?
Cuneiform
What were ziggurats?
Temples built by the Sumerians to worship their gods.
What were lugals?
Kings or leaders over the Sumerian peoples and city states
Define theocracy.
A civilization that is governed by the religious leaders of the area.
Who were the Akkadians and why were they significant?
The second major civilization;
active during the same time as Sumer;
development of city states;
Who was Sargon the Great?
Sargon was the Akkadian leader who fought back against and eventually conquered the Sumerian people, creating one large empire with one ruler. Absorbed Sumerian culture
What were the Amorites known for?
Hammurabi’s Code
What s Hammurabi’s Code?
First set of public laws;
king no longer sole judge;
sense of peace and order
During the Neolithic Revolution what was the main source for religion?
the elements around them;
unpredictable and uncaring
What was the Epic of Gilgamesh?
an epic about a friend’s death, Enkidu;
begs universal questions of life;
search for immortality which is found through immortality
What was the geographical element that defined Egyptian life?
the Nile River
What was the Nile’s main problem?
Unpredicatable flooding
Who was Manes/Menes?
A legendary figure that allegedly brought the people of Egypt together
During the time of the Old Kingdom, what does the term “pharoah” mean and who was he?
“Pharoah” literally translates to “big house”
This was the leader of the Egyptian people who lived in the big house.
What was Gizeh/Giza?
The pyramids built for the desceased pharoahs and peoples of power
Who were the Hyksos?
A semitic group of people who the Egyptians took over and proceded to rule over
What is the meaning of Ma’at?
“What goes around, comes around.”
A crude understanding of “karma”
Whta was the battle of Kadesh/ Qadesh and who was involved?
The battle between the Hittites and the Egyptians;
ultimately led to the breaking up both of these large nations
What was the myth of Osiris and what did it mean for the people of Egypt?
Osiris si the great-grandson of Ra, another Egyptian god.Osiris was given power over the underworld, making him in charge of your possible afterlife.
This made Osiris one of the main gods that the Egyptians tried to please.
Who was Ahkenaton and why was he significant?
He was a pharoah who belived the god Aton was the main god that mattered. This was the first time that monotheism was being considered.
Define henotheism/monolatry?
the recognition of multiple god with an emphasis on just one.
ex. Aton during the reign of Ahkenaton
What was papyrus?
The first type of paper made of the plant papyrus
What was the book of dead?
The book of Dead was the book of spells and incantations that the Egyptian priests read and performed over the dead pharoahs to ensure that they would experience a good afterlife.
What are hieroglyphics?
Picture writing that was used in multiple different nations throughout history
What is the significance of the Rosetta Stone?
The Rosetta Stone is important becuase it allowed for many languages to be translated. It broke the language barrier
What is mythic thought?
Mythology
Who were the Phoenecians?
A civilation that developed the first alphabet that was not composed of shapes and pictures but rather symbols. They were also traders. (port city)
What is the capitol of the Assyrian Empire?
Ninevah
What were the Assyrians known for?
A ruthless military power who first used the cavalry
Define covenant.
God is active in the wordl and he takes an interest in humanity.
promise
What is monotheism?
The belief in only one God
The Neo-Babylonians were known for their…
King (Nebuchadnezar)
hanging gardens
strong military
Who was Cyrus and what did he do?
A persian man who helped conquer Babylon in 539 bce
What did the Persian military pioneer?
Riding horses into battle making them both faster and powerful
The Persians greatly discouraged the absorbtion of culture.
false
The Persians were very tolerant
What were the leaders of city states called in the Perian Empire?
Satraps
What language did the Persians develop?
Aramaic
The persians were known for their sense of justice within their court system.
true
What are two practical things the Perisians were the first to develop?
Coinage
roads
What was Zoroastrianism? When and who developed it?
6th century
Presented by Zorathustra through songscollected into the Avesta.
This is the beginning of a monothiestic religion
Who was Ahura Mazda?
The creator god of zoroastrianism
Desribe the tenants of zoroastrianism.
The world is dualistic : Good vs Evil
You are required to choose one or the other.
Physical world by nature is bad, but the spiritual world is good and superior.
What is Crete and what civilization inhabitated it?
Crete was an island where the Minoan emerged during 2000bce
Who was the king of the Minoans?
King Minos
Who / when were the Minoans conquered?
The Mycenaeans
1600 bce
What were the Minoans known for?
trade
What was the name given to Greek city states and when did they emerge?
Polis
800-700 bce
What were the two greatest city states?
Athens
Sparta
What is the name of the war between the Athenians and Spartans?
the Trojan Wars
Who was Homer and what are his two greatest achivements?
Homer was the great epic poet who wrote both the Illiad and the Odysey
Was instamental in the development of religion
What is arete?
the idea of excellence in the time of the ancient greeks
What was a hoplite?
An everyday Greek soldier
What was an agora?
the open Greecian marketplace
Who was Achilles?
The Greek hero during the Trojan War whose one weakness was his heal. This leads to the achiles tendon we all have.
Athens was known for being a trade city.
True
Where was the Parthenon built and who was it built for?
It was built upon the Acropolis for the goddess of Athens, Athena.
What was the acropolis?
The highest point of Greece that was home to many different spiritual and important pieces of Greek history.
Who were areopagus?
Wealthy landowners who wanted a say in the decison making in Athens who went on to form a group.
Who was Draco and what did he do?
A Tyranical Greek leader during 621 bce who ultimatley limits the amount of power that is given to the wealthy in Athens
Who was Solon and what did he abolish?
An Athenian during 594 bce who abolished debt slavery.
Solon did what two things that directly impacted the way that Athens was to be governed?
He changed the qualifications for official positions from birth-right, to purley wealth
He developed the council of 400
Who was Peisistratus and how did he unify the people of Athens?
Gave land back to the public and held public festivals
How and when did Cleisthenes ultimately aid Greece?
He brought in the classical Greek period and the implamentation of FULL DEMOCRACY in 510bce
Council of 500 :divided by where you live
developed ostracism
Define ostracism.
When the council has a vote to determine whether or not one maybe allowed to live in the city anymore for various idfferent reasons. Potentially could be banned from the city for up to 10 years
What was the Delian League?
The league of city states that came together to atempt to keep Sparta at bay.
What was Sparta known for?
Being warlike and ruthless
Define agage.
A war-like, militaristic society
ex. Sparta
What was Pericles known for?
Bringing in the Golden Age of Athens
Being a great orrater
Being a leader in Athens who developed democracies
What did Pericles make possible for the poor?
He gave them goverment positions from which they could get paid for.
What was the boule?
An athenian assembly that met 40 times a year in which EVERYONE has a voice
Who sculpted the works within the Parthenon?
Phidias
When were the Peloponnesian Wars and who participated?
431-404 bce
Sparta vs Athens
Land vs Sea
Who was Sophocles?
A tragic Greek playwright
496 - 406 bce
Who was Thespis?
Developed drama
tragedy and comedy
530 bce
What is catharisis?
The release of emotion whether through crying or laughing
Who was the father of history?
Herodotus
Who chronolized the Pelopennesian War?
Thucydides
460 - 400 bce
What did Alexander the Great accomplish?
He conquered many nations and spread the Greek culture at the same time
Who were the three most important philosophers in Greece?
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Which philosopher wrote nothing and was put to death for corrupting the youth?
Socrates
The Socratic method is exposing weakness by….
asking questions.
Which student of Socrates left social life to ponder life?
Plato
Author of Republic
Plato
Said that our perception is flawed and we need to test it
Plato
Shadow vs. Reality
Allegroy of the Cave
Plato
Which student of Plato thought that humans can, through observation, fully understadn the world?
Aristotle
Travelling teachers who spoke persuasively; very skeptical of life truths; encouraged thought
Sophists
Who was the son of Phidias who later went on to be one of the greatest mathematicians the world ever knew.
Archimedes
Accepting anything that happens without showing emotion is known as
stoicism
The understanding that the gods do not intervene with human life is…
epicureanism
What is the river that runs through Rome?
Tiber river
What was significant about the Roman forum?
It allowed for a new level of participation in and amongst the people to be heard
Who is the people group who migrated from Lydia?
the Etruscans
Who were the people of power in Rome and what does it translate to?
Particians - patres- fathers
the Senate
Who were the everyday people of rome?
plebians
Who did Rome take most influence from?
the Etruscans
What was the main problem that the Roman face politically?
the struggle of orders
What was the highest elected office in the Roman Empire?
the consul
What were the wars between Rome and Carthage called?
The Punic Wars
Who was the leader of the Cathagenians in the Second Punic War?
Hannibal
Who was the leader of the Romans in the Third Punic War, later to defeat Hannibal?
Scipio
The Gracchian Revolution is the reform of…
land
Who faced conflict with Sulla?
Marius in 107 bce
Who was one of the most influential dictators the Roman Empire had?
Julius Caesar
How did Julius Caesar die?
He was murdered.
Who was the triumvirate?
Caesar
Pompey
Crassus
All part of the same regime that was collectively the most powerful
Where does the term “crossing the rubicon” come from?
It means to pass the point of no return.
Julius Caesar crossing the rubicon which was seen as an act of rebellion
Who came into power after Julius caesar was murdered?
Octavian
Who was the first Roman emperor, who ushered in the Pax Romana?
Octavian
What were the two names given to an emporer?
Princep and Augustus
What was the period of peace in Rome called?
Pax Romana
What purpose did the colosseum serve?
It was a place of entertainment/public spectacle
Who was the first emporer to be elected by the Senate?
Nerva
After many failed emporers, what became the new protocol for picking an emporer?
The new emporer would be adopted by the current emporer
Who were the top three adopted emporers?
Trajan
Hadrian
Marcus Aurelius - most powerful
What dies along with Marcus Aurelius?
The pax romana
Who was the Roman version of Homer?
Virgil
Who fathered the exploration of the human anatomy?
Galen
What was the emporer Diocletian most known for?
persecution of Christians
Who was the father of Constatinople, the capitol of the eastern Roman area that allowed freedom to practice Christianity?
Constantine
