Unit 1 -Transformations Flashcards
The oldest script in the world (from Mesopotamia)
Cuneiform
The Sumerians are most famous for (4)
Ziggurat buildings, inventing cuneiform, the first literary epic of Gilgamesh, and for inventing the wheel
Who was the first Babylonian king
Hammurabi
A series of laws established during the rule of the Babylonian king which listed certain punishments for certain crimes
- tended to favor the elite at the expense of the poor (including slaves); women Had virtually no legal rights
- First law code to be written down
Code of Hammurabi
List the three Mesopotamian civilizations (in order)
Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians
What were the Assyrians known for?
Their ferocity and archers, military might
Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians built upon the glories and culture of their predecessors. This cultural continuity in Mesopotamia led to great advances in
The arts and sciences
Ancient Egypt owes it’s wealth and prestige to what
The flowing waters of the Nile
River
Why do historians have a broad insight into ancient Egyptians religion, philosophy, and general thoughts about the world?
They left behind a lot of writings
True or false:
Egyptians believed that their Pharaohs, or rules, were incarnations of divinities
True
True or false:
There was a separation of church and state in ancient Egypt
FALSE
Ancient Egypt was the opposite of the idea of “separation or church and state”
What were the two most important centers of civilization in the Indus River valley?
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
Why do historians know less about the Indus river valley civilizations then any other ancient civilization?
They didnt leave much of a historical record, and archaeologists still have not been able to decipher their written script
Which Chinese dynasty existed during the Bronze Age?
Shang? Check
True or false:
The rulers of ancient China were thought to have a special connection to the gods and heavens
True
True or false:
Olmecs had a written language, but no scholar as of yet has been able to decipher it
True
Similar to the Indus River valley
What ancient civilization thrived in present day Mexico?
Olmec
True or false:
The olmecs traded extensively and were skilled architects
True
What civilization emerged around 1000 BCE in the Andes of central Peru and was dependent on trade?
Chavín
What animal was very useful to the Chavíns, that made trade possible and were sheared for wool to make clothes? Without them, the Chavín would have been completely isolated.
Llamas
This was a wealthy kingdom along the Nile River, just to the south of Egypt in what is today Sudan. They warred, traded, and exchanged culture with the Egyptians for over two thousand years. Large quantities of slaves were taken from here to work in Egypt
Nubia
These were the people who lived on the island of Crete off the coast of Greece. Flourishing from 2250 BCE to 1450 CE, they traded avidly with their neighbors, especially with Egypt.
Minoans
They developed their civilization very slowly compared to other ancient civilizations. Between 1800 and 1200 BCE, the Mycenaean culture dominated them.
Mainland greeks
They flourished from 1700 BCE to 400 BCE. Originally from what is today Lebanon, they were the mercantile neighbors of the ancient Hebrews. As sailors and merchants, they crisscrossed the Mediterranean in search of trade and wealth. Their cities - Carthage, Byblos, Tyre, and Beirut - became dynamic centers of commerce and exchange. We get our alphabet from them
Phoenicians
These people, based originally along the Niger River, began to migrate and settle other parts of sub-Saharan Africa beginning around 1500 BCE. One of the most important events in African history, as they came to compose the dominant ethnic group south of the Sahara Desert
Bantu
Throughout the Paleolithic period, humans migrated from Africa to where
to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas
True or false: Hunter-gatherers were relatively egalitarian.
True. By making an analogy with modern hunter forager societies, anthropologists infer that these bands were relatively egalitarian.
How did the switch to agriculture change the food supply?
It created a more reliable, but not necessarily more diversified, food supply
examples of improvements in agricultural production, trade, and transportation (5)
- Pottery
- Plows
- Woven textiles
- Metallurgy
- Wheels and wheeled vehicles
The term civilization is normally used to designate large societies with cities and powerful states. What are some shared features? (3)
They all produced agricultural surpluses that permitted significant specialization of labor. All civilizations contained cities and generated complex institutions, such as political bureaucracies, armies, and religious hierarchies. They also featured clearly stratified social hierarchies and organized long-distance trading relationships.
These were powerful new systems of rule that mobilized surplus labor and resources over large areas. Early ones were often led by a ruler whose source of power was believed to be divine or had divine support and/or who was supported by the military.
states
Three new religious beliefs in early civilizations
- The Vedic religion
- Hebrew monotheism
- Zoroastrianism
Before 8000 BCE, every culture in the world was in which period, which means “Old Stone Age.”
Paleolithic
During the paleolithic period, humans migrated from where to Europe, Asia, the South Pacific, and the Americas.
Africa
When was the Ice Age?
Between 15000 BCE and 10000 BCE
What allowed humans to transition from being nomadic hunter-gatherers to permanent settlers?
The introduction of agriculture
When did humans first make it to North America? (from Africa)
30,000 and 14,000 BCE
What was was the most important and most commonly used material to make tools during the Paleolithic era?
stone
What came after the Paleolithic?
Neolithic
What were the 3 biggest things that began with the neolithic revolution?
growing crops, raising livestock, and living together as a society
True or false:
pastoralists rarely built large cities or complex societies like the cultures built on agriculture did.
True
In order to raise large herds, pastoralists had to move their herds every few months to greener pastures. As a result, cultures built on pastoralism rarely built large cities or complex societies like the cultures built on agriculture did.
However, because they moved around so much, who were often the ones who actually spread technology, ideas, religions, and trade goods between settled agricultural regions.`
pastoralists
And despite pastoralists’ low numbers, their lifelong training at chariot riding or horseback riding often made them a very significant military threat to agricultural regions.
What came after the Neolithic era?
The Bronze Age
What was the first metal discovered that was later used to make bronze?
copper
What came after bronze?
Iron
This was the first known form of writing came from the land of Mesopotamia, in the Middle East. around 3300 BCE. It was basically straight lines and triangles scratched into clay with a bronze knife.
cuneiform
Where did cuneiform come from?
Mesopotamia
This form of writing was mostly used for record keeping and determining who owed who how much wheat, but it was also used to write humanity’s first known piece of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Cuneiform
What form of writing did the Ancient Egyptians develop?
Hieroglyphics
In north India,what language was developed that is the basis of not only modern Indian languages but is also distantly related to all modern Middle Eastern and European languages?
Sanskrit
What was the name of a book of hymns that is one of the foundational texts of Hinduism, that was written in Sanskrit?
Rig Veda
What was a major architectural structure in Mesopotamia?
Ziggurats