Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
H250 Midterm
Core course vocabulary for H250 at SCSU (Topics 1-7)
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Australopithecines | A species that sometimes walked on two legs. Nicknamed Lucy, she had both human-like & ape-like characteristics. |
| Domestication | Bringing a wild animal or plant under human control. |
| Evolution | The process by which species of plants & animals change over time as a result of natural selection. |
| Homo erectus | Literally "standing human." The human ancestral species that demonstrated family structure, mastered fire, cooked food, walked fully upright, and migrated out of Africa. |
| Homo habilis | Literally "skillful human." A distant human ancestor that was confined to Africa and was the first known for its toolmaking abilities. |
| Homo sapiens | Literally "wise human." Modern human beings with bigger brains and greater dexterity than previous hominid species, all of which eventually went extinct. |
| Hunting & Gathering | A lifestyle in which food is acquired only through foraging, fishing, and hunting rather than by planting crops. |
| Pastoralism | A way of life in which humans herd domesticated animals and exploit their products, such as hides, meat, and milk. |
| Settled Agriculture | A human lifestyle based on the domestication of plants and farming the same plot of land for more than one growing cycle. |
| Citadel | A fortress found in every Harappan city in the Indus River Valley in Pakistan. |
| Cuneiform | The first writing system |
| Epic of Gilgamesh | The first written story |
| Hieroglyphs | Egyptian "sacred carving" writing style that used both pictures and symbols. |
| Himalayas | The tallest mountains in the world |
| Monsoons | Seasonal winds that helped create the Indus River Valley in Pakistan. |
| Papyrus | Egyptian paper-like writing material |
| Pharaoh | The title of the god-kings of Egypt. |
| Polytheism | Belief in more than one god or goddess. |
| Pyramids | Giant stone structures used as tombs for Pharaohs & their families in Egypt. |
| River Basins | Areas rich in fertile soil, water, plants, and animal life where cultivators could produce an agricultural surplus. |
| Scribes | Individuals who mastered writing and used it to document economic transactions, keep lists, and record religious and historical texts. They were among the highest ranking members of their societies. |
| Ziggurat | A stepped platform that was used as a temple complex in Sumer (Mesopotamia). |
| Amorites | Literally "westerners." The name Mesopotamian urbanites gave to the transhumant herders who began to migrate into their cities. |
| Ancestor Worship | The earliest form of religious belief in the Shang Dynasty, China. Food & drink were offered to the recently dead in the hope that they would intervene with the long dead on behalf of the living. |
| Chariot | A horse-drawn vehicle with two metal-rimmed wheels with spokes that revolutionized warfare and was developed through the interaction between pastoralists and settled communities. |
| Hammurapi's Code | Laws created A Mesopotamian King that divided society into free, dependent, and slaves classes, each with distinct rights & responsibilities |
| Hyksos | Chariot-driving, axe- and bow-wielding, Semitic-speaking warriors who invaded Egypt. |
| Oracle Bones | These ritual tools were inscribed, heated, and interpreted by Shang priests to determine the will of the ancestors. |
| Steppes | Grassland |
| Vedic Peoples | An Indo-European speaking nomadic group that migrated from the Inner Asian steppes southeast into India. |
| Alphabet | The Phoenician system of writing based on relatively few letters that combined to make sounds and words. |
| Judaism | The world's first monotheistic religion. |
| Mandate of Heaven | Religious ideology established to communicate that legitimate transfer & retention of royal power was the will of their supreme god. |
| Monotheism | Belief in only one god or goddess. |
| Phoenicians | An ethnic group in the Levant known for their ships, trading, and alphabet. The same group is referred to as Canaanites in Hebrew scripture. |
| Qanat | An underground tunnel developed in the Persian Empire through which water flowed over long distances without evaporating or becoming contaminated. |
| Royal Road | 1600 miles of paved road that crossed the Persian Empire. Hostels and way stations along the route made it convenient for traders, travelers, and messengers. |
| Tribute | Payment of made by a dependent population to the dominant central authority. Payment may be in the form of wealth, slaves, goods, or services. |
| Varna | Sanskrit word for "color." Refers to the four ranked social groups in Vedic society: Priests, warriors, commoners, and laborers. |
| Vedas | Rituals and hymns orally transmitted in Sanskrit by Brahmin priests that eventually became the central texts in Hinduism. |
| Zoroastrianism | Dualistic Persian religion in which forces of light & truth battle with forces of darkness & falsehood. |
| Axial Age | The time period during which radical thinkers, such as Zoroaster, Confucius, and Socrates, offered dramatically new ideas that challenged the beliefs of their times. |
| Buddha | Literally "Enlightened One." His ideas about the relationship between desire and suffering and how to eliminate them through wisdom, ethical behavior, and mental discipline in order to achieve nirvana (enlightenment). |
| Chavin | Societies in the Andes Mountains that built vertical cities, manufactured goods (ceramics, textiles, and precious metals), & conducted limited long-distance trade using Llamas. |
| Confucius | Chinese radical thinker whose ideas about ethical living shaped the politically engaged "superior gentleman," and transformed society & government. |
| Daoism | The Chinese philosophy that emphasized the best way to follow the natural order of the cosmos was by doing nothing. |
| Greek Philosophers | The "Wisdom Lovers" like Socrates, Plato, & Aristotle. |
| Jainism | The Indian religion that encouraged purifying the soul through self-denial and nonviolence. |
| Olmecs | Mesoamerican people whose name means "inhabitants of the land of rubber," one of their major trade goods. Also known for their large carved stone heads. |
| Bodhisattvas | Enlightened beings in Mahayana Buddhism who have earned nirvana but remain in the human world to help others reach it. |
| Caravan Cities | Places like Petra and Palmyra that were located along the land routes of the Silk Roads and served as hubs of commerce and cultural exchange. |
| Cosmopolitans | Literally "citizens of the world." This term refers particularly to inhabitants of the large, multiethnic cities of the Hellenistic world. |
| Koine | The common Greek dialect that became an international language across the regions influenced by Hellenism. |
| Mahayana Buddhism | Literally "Great Vehicle." This version of Buddhism elevated Buddha to godhood and included boddhisattvas. |
| Mauryan Empire | South Asia's first large-scale empire that developed in the void left when Alexander the Great's army withdrew from the region. |
| Periplus | Literally "sailing around." A manual that preserved firsthand knowledge of navigation strategies and trading advice. |
| Silk Roads | More than 5000 miles of trade routes linking China, central Asia, and the Mediterranean. |
Created by:
Dr. K (SCSU)
Popular World History sets