Vocabulary c. 8,000BCE - 600CE Flashcards
“Wisdom,” early collections of prayers and hymns that provide information about the Indo-European Aryans who migrated to India around 1500BCE
Vedas
A government ruled by God or by church leaders
Theocracy
A class of persons holding exceptional rank and privileges, especially the hereditary nobility
Aristocracy
A craftsman
Artisan
A cultural group with advanced cities, complex institutions, skilled workers, advanced technology, and a system of recordkeeping
Civilization
A document that made Christianity one of the religions allowed in the Roman Empire
Edict of Milan
A Greek city-state
Polis
A group of semi-nomadic people who, around 2000BCE began to migrate from central Asia to India, Europe, and the Middle East
Indo-Europeans
A member of the social class of priests in Aryan society
Brahmin
A Mesoamerica legend of a god who would someday return to rule his people in peace
Quetzalcoatl
A nomadic group believed to be from Central Asia, who invaded Europe near the end of Rome
Huns
A political system in which the people rule
Democracy
A seasonal wind
Monsoon
A series of rulers from the same family
Dynasty
A system of picture writing used in Egypt
Hieroglyphics
A system of writing originating in Mesopotamia in which a wedge-shaped stylus was used to press symbols into clay
Cuneiform
A term for hunting and gathering
Foraging
Agreement; in the Judeo-Christian heritage, an agreement between God and humankind
Covenant
An agricultural method in which farmers clear fields by cutting and burning trees, then use the ashes as fertilizer
Slash-and-burn cultivation
An Egyptian monarch
Pharaoh
An object made by human hands
Artifact
Animal bones or shells used by the Chinese priests to receive messages from the gods
Oracle Bones
Buddhist holy men who accumulated spiritual merits during their lifetime; Buddhists prayed to them in order to receive some of their holiness.
Bodhisattvas
Caravan routes and sea lanes between China and the Middle East
Silk Roads
Collection of teachings and sayings made by Confucius
Analects
The complicated system of subcastes in the Hindu caste system
Jati
Dry grassland
Steppe
During the Hellenistic age, religions that promised their faithful followers eternity a state of bliss
Mystery religion
God of the monotheistic religion of Judaism that influenced later religions of Christianity and Islam
Yahweh
Greek philosopher who rejected the theory of forms and ideas, he believed that people could depend on their senses and reason to answer the mysteries of the world
Aristotle
In ancient Chinese belief, the opposing forces that bring balance to nature and life
Yin & Yang
In Buddhism, a state of perfect peace that is the goal of reincarnation
Nirvana
In China, respect for one’s parents and other elders
Filial piety
In Hindu belief, the spirit’s liberation from the cycle of reincarnation
Moksha
In the Hindu tradition, the good or evil deeds done by a person
Karma
Large landholdings in the Roman Empire
Latifundia
Macedonian King who led an army eastward and conquered land from Greece to India. He was known as a brilliant military leader and his death marked the beginning of the Hellenistic Era
Alexander the Great
Mesopotamian Temples
Ziggurat
One of the 12 followers of Christ, or any of the professed followers of Christ in his lifetime
Disciple
Persian religion based on the teaching of the 6th century BCE prophet Zarathustra; its emphasis on the duality of good and evil and on the role of individuals in determining their own fate would influence later religions
Zoroastrianism
Pertaining to a social system in which the father is the head of the family
Patriarchal
Rebirth; a belief of both Buddhism and Hinduism
Reincarnation
Referring to a social system in which descent and inheritance are traced through the mother
Matrilineal
The codification of Roman law during the Republic
Twelve tables
The “will of gods” that granted a ruler the right to rule
Mandate of heaven
The belief held by many before the Scientific Revolution that the earth is the center of the universe
Geocentric theory
The belief in many gods
Polytheism
The belief in one god
Monotheism
The belief that spirits inhabit the features of nature
Animism
The Central Nomadic people who invaded China in the ancient world
Hsiung-nu
The custom among the higher castes of Hinduism of a widow throwing herself on the burning funeral pyre of her husband
Sati
The division of labor that aids the development of skills in a particular type of work
Specialization of labor
The era in which Greek culture blended with Persian and other Eastern influences and spread throughout the former empire of Alexander the Great
Hellenistic age
The exile of an ethnic or racial group from their homeland
Diaspora
The first five books of the Jewish scripture
Torah
The head of the Roman Catholic Church
Pope
The Hindu word for caste
Varna
The idea that ancient civilizations were able to achieve characteristics of civilization without contact
Independent invention
The introduction of agriculture, domestication of animals, and a more sedentary life during the Neolithic Age
Neolithic Revolution
The moral law of the Hebrews
Ten Commandments
The most popular Hellenistic philosophy; it involved strict discipline and an emphasis on helping others
Stoicism
The New Stone Age that was marked by the discovery and mastery of agriculture
Neolithic Age
The pattern of temperature and precipitation over a period of time
Climate
The portion of the Christian Bible that contains the Gospels that relate the account of the life of Jesus; letters from the followers of Jesus to the early Christian churches and the book of Revelation, a prophetic text
New Testament
The position in the Hindu caste system that was determined by one’s birth
Dharma
The practice of herding
Pastoralism
The religious term for “any expected deliverer”
Messiah
The Roman Peace; the period of prosperity and stability throughout the Roman Empire in the first two centuries CE
Pax Romana
The social division in Hindu society that fell in rank below the caste system; it was occupied by those who carried out undesirable occupations such as undertaking, butchering, and waste collection
Untouchables
The transition from foraging to the cultivation of food occurring about 8000 - 2000BCE; also known as the Neolithic revolution
Agricultural Revolution
The transmission of ideas and products from one culture to another
Cultural diffusion
