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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. |