Midterm Flashcards
Book of the Dead
Egyptian book of spells for the funerary rites to allow the soul to pass on through the afterlife
Code of Hammurabi
Babylonian list of laws in Mesopotamia
Story of Gilgamesh
epic poem on king of Uruk from ancient Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature
Hymn of Enheduana
seven hymns are among the forty-two “Sumerian Temple Hymns” attributed to the high priestess Enheduanna
Phoenicia
created first alphabetical writing
Hebrews
language of Israelites
Persia
first civilization empire
Darius the Great of Persia
established the First Tax System, Customs Duties, Official Records and The Legal Code, in the world level.
Mandate of Heaven
theory that heaven gives the king a mandate to rule as long as he rules in the interests of the people, center of Chinese political ideology from the early Zhou period on
Taotie
a stylized animal face seen in Chinese bronzes, a monster
Warring states
the period of Chinese history when states fought each other and one state after another was destroyed. States: Qin, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Qi, Han, Chu
Zhou
dynasty that rose against the shang and defeated them in battle, period of transmitted texts
Shang
king was the high priest, society was marked by sharp status distinctions, farmers were obligated to work for their lords and their lives were similar to their Neolithic period ancestors
Neolithic
humans obtained food by raising crops and animals and continued to use tools of stone, bone, and wood.
The book of documents
one of the earliest Chinese books containing documents, speeches, and historical accounts about early Zhou rule
The songs of chu
a collection of fantastical poems from the Zhou Dynasty full of images of elusive deities and shamans who can fly through the spirit world;
The art of war
book by Sun Wu in which he describes the ideal general as a master of maneuver, illusion, and deception.
The analects
sayings by Confucius and his followers concerning the way to govern well
Crossbow
a powerful mechanical bow developed during the warring states period
Yin and Yang
a concept of complementary poles, one of which represents the feminine, dark, and receptive, and he other the masculine, bright, and assertive
Legalism
political theorists emphasized the need for rigorous laws and laid the basis for China’s later bureaucratic government
Dao
school of philosophy theorizing that regulations do more harm than good and that people are best left in a state of ignorance with minimal government; The Way, a term used by Daoists to refer to the natural order and by Confucians to refer to refer to the moral order
Confucianism
focus on zen, the ultimate virtue of perfect goodness, benevolence, humanity, human heartedness, and nobility; school of philosophy focusing on interpersonal relationships and encourages people to properly honor their social superiors and support those dependent on them
Zhuangzi
author of a book of the same name filled with parables, flights of fancy, and fictional encounters between historical figures, including Confucius and his disciples
Writing
logographic system of writing in which each word is represented by a single symbol, such as the Chinese script
Soil
drought resistant crops grown in the north and rice grown in the wet lands of the Yangzi River
Loess
soil deposited by wind; it is fertile and easy to work
Confucius
an earnest advocate of gentlemanly conduct, minimized importance of class distinctions and opened a way for intelligent and talented people to rise in the social scale
Xunzi
follower of Confucius; argued that people are born selfish and that only through education and ritual do they learn to put moral principle above their own interest.
Sun Wu
author of The Art of War. He argued that heroism is a useless virtue that leads to needless deaths. Discipline, however, is essential, and he insisted that the entire army had to be trained to follow the orders of its commanders without questioning them
Laozi
the author of a book of the same name, with a recurrent theme of mystical superiority of yielding over assertion and silence over words ; the people would be better off if they knew less, gave up tools, renounced writing, stopped envying their neighbors, and lost their desire to travel or engage in war
Mencius
successor of Confucius; proposed concrete political and financial measures to ease tax burdens and improve people’s lots; believed that human nature is fundamentally good, as everyone is born with the capacity to recognize what is right and act on it
Aeschylus
first great tragic poet
Agrippa
Roman general and close friend of Octavian (Augustus)
Alexander the Great
King of Macedon ; greatest military leader the world has ever known. His empire spread from Gibraltar to the Punjab, and he made Greek the lingua franca of his world; promoted absolute monarchy to the persian world
Aristophanes
only representative of Old Comedy whose work we have in complete form; wrote political satire and his humor is often coarse
Ashoka
a Hindu convert to Buddhism, was king of the Mauryan Dynasty in India; Following bloody wars of conquest, when Ashoka was considered cruel, he changed: He eschewed violence, promoted tolerance, and the moral welfare of his people.
Augustus (Octavian)
grand-nephew and primary heir of Julius Caesar; He dealt with the assassins of his father and the other Roman power contenders, and made himself the one-man head of Rome
Ch’in - The First Emperor
King Ying Zheng unified the warring states of China and became the First Emperor or Emperor Ch’in (Qin)
Cleopatra
last pharaoh of Egypt to rule during the Hellenistic era
Constantine the Great
inning the battle at the Milvian Bridge, reuniting the Roman Empire under one emperor (Constantine himself), winning major battles in Europe, legalizing Christianity, and establishing a new eastern capital of Rome at the city, Nova Roma, formerly Byzantium, that was to be named Constantinople
Cyrus the Great
is the first ruler of the Achaemenids; he conquered Babylonia, becoming ruler of Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean to Palestine. He ended the period of exile for the Hebrews, allowing them back to Israel to rebuild the Temple, and was called the Messiah by Deutero-Isaiah
Darius the Great
successor of the founder of the Achaemenid Dynasty; united and improved the new empire, by irrigating, building roads, including the Royal Road, a canal, and refining the governmental system known as satrapies
Euripides
third of the three great Greek tragic poets
Hammurabi
Babylonian king known for the Code of Hammurabi;
Hannibal
He subdued the tribes of Spain and then set about to attack Rome in the Second Punic War
Hatshepsut
a long-ruling regent and female pharaoh of Egypt during New Kingdom
Homer
father of poets in the Greco-Roman tradition; wrote Odyssey and Illiad
Imhotep
Egyptian architect and physician; step pyramid at Saqqara is thought to have been designed by Imhotep for 3rd Dynasty Pharaoh Djoser (Zoser)
Jesus
central figure of Christianity; For believers, he is the Messiah; For many non-believers, Jesus is a source of wisdom
Julius Caesar
He formed the Triumvirate, enjoyed military victories in Gaul, became dictator for life, and started a civil war. When Julius Caesar was assassinated, his death set the Roman world in turmoil; set in motion the creation of the Roman empire
Moses
early leader of the Hebrews and probably the most important figure in Judaism
Ovid
prolific Roman poet whose writing influenced Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and Milton
Sappho of Lesbos
Sappho wrote moving lyric poetry, odes to the goddesses, especially Aphrodite (the subject of Sappho’s complete surviving ode), and love poetry, including the wedding genre of epithalamia, using vernacular and epic vocabulary. There is a poetic meter named for her (Sapphic)
Siddhartha Gautama
spiritual teacher of enlightenment who acquired hundreds of followers in India and founded Buddhism
Solon
was elected eponymous archon ; He had to help the poor while not alienating the increasingly wealthy landowners and aristocracy. Because of his reform compromises and other legislation, posterity refers to him as Solon the lawgiver
Sophocles
the second of the great tragic poets, wrote over 100 tragedies
Virgil
wrote an epic masterpiece, the Aeneid, for the glory of Rome and especially Augustus
Zoroaster
saw the world as a struggle between truth and lie, making the religion he founded, Zoroastrianism, a dualistic religion. Ahura Mazda, the uncreated creator God is truth. Zoroaster also taught that there is free will.
