Unit # 1: Civilizations and Cities Terms Flashcards
Akhenaten
Pharaoh that changed his name and tried to create a monotheistic society who followed Aten, 14th Century BCE, Egypt
Aryans
Indo-European migrants who settled India after 1500 BCE, their union with the Dravidians formed the basis of Hinduism
Axum
African kingdom centered in Ethiopia that became an early and lasting center of Coptic Christianity
Brahman
Universal soul in Early Hinduism
Caste system
Varna = caste = color, may have caused stability
May have been a distinction into classes because of color
Order (H to L)
Brahmin Priest
Kshatriya Warrior
Vaishya Merchant
Sudra (Commoner) possibly Dravidians
Çatal Hüyük
Neolithic society, not a complex society more of a town, around 10,000 - 15,000 people, had some craft-trades: pottery, baskets, artwork, religious practices
Chinook society
H&G people that lived in the Pacific Northwest area of the U.S., not nomadic, had a caste system including shaman, warriors, and traders, 3000 - 1850 BCE Fishing, Salmon, whales
Complex society
Civilization and cities, surplus of agricultural productions, large settled urban areas, complex division of labor
Crowd diseases
Diseases that flourish in crowded populations, occurred once people domesticated animals and lived in closer contact with each other in cities
Cult of Osiris
Was slain but all his body parts were gathered together so the Gods allowed him to have immortality, judged other people based on their heaviness of heart (sin) against a feather, first time talking about the next life
Dravidians
People that was semi-conquered by Aryan Indians (Indo-European), had a darker skin tone, become the lower class of the caste system
Endemic disease
An infectious disease that occurs frequently in a specific geographical area, contained in a population always
Epic of Gilgamesh
5th king of Uruk, many special stories told of him being half divine and half human, searched for a way to gain immortality
Epidemic disease
Outbreak of a new disease that spreads quickly for a short period of time
Founder crops
Crops from somewhere else that have been domesticated already that have to be implanted into a different area for that area to have them
Hammurabi
King of the Babylonian empire, he controlled the empire through central taxation, one of his biggest additions to history was his laws
Harappans
Highly sophisticated civilizations in Mohenjo-daro India, had different social distinctions, one of the first to have a sewage system
Hebrews
Seen to have started with Abraham, monotheistic religion, went into Egypt and left with Moses, had to be continually reminded of the True God
Hittites
Society that overcame the Babylonians, big contributions were light-horse drawn chariots and the refinement of iron metallurgy
Hominid
Belongs to the same family as Homo sapiens, were a lot shorter with smaller brains
Homo sapiens
More formidable than other species like neanderthals because of bipedalism, use of fire, greater vocalization, larger fore brains, ability to manipulate the environment
Homogenization of the disease pool
Diseases combined as people interacted more with other societies, different societies got infected with different societies and vice-versa
Indo-Europeans
Big group of people that may have been combined then spread out into different societies such as Hittites, Greeks, Medes, Persians, Celts, Aryan, Europe, India
More than half of the world speaks Indo-European languages
Magdalenian society
H&G People, hunted reindeer and smoked it for year around food consumption, their needs were met enough that they made amazing cave paintings
Monotheism
The belief in one God
Natufian society
H&G People, climate good enough that they survived on on wild wheat which they didn’t plant themselves
Eventually conditions changed that they went into AG
Neolithic era
New Stone Age which was marked by the discovery and mastery of agriculture
Oracle bones
Hollowed out bones that were used for divination, only done by heating them and then having the priests and kings interpret the cracks
Paleolithic (hunter-gatherer) society
Old-stone age, human societies before agriculture
Patriarchal society
Social organization marked by the supremacy of the father, women and children are dependent on the male, male makes the main decisions
Phoenicians
Society on the Mediterranean that were excellent sailors, influenced society because of maritime trade and communication networks
Shang dynasty
This society overcame the Xia dynasty because of different advancements like bronze, chariots, political organization
Slaves
Usually people that were conquered by other societies which became subordinates
Stratified society
A society in which competing groups have unequal access to power and/or resources, some groups being subordinate to others
Upanishads
Believed in the transmigration of the soul (Early Hinduism, reincarnation)
Varna
Word used by the Aryans which means “color” in Sanskrit which probably referred to the different social classes
Vedas
The sacred practices and teachings of Hinduism, not compiled until a lot later, controlled by the Brahmins
Xia dynasty
One of the first societies to try to organize public life in China on a large scale
