World History Chap. 2
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Fertile Crescent
- An arc of rich farmland in Southwest Asia, between the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea created by the Nile River Floods.
- Silt
- Thick bed of mud left over from flood.
- Irrigation
- Ditches that carry river water to fields and allow people to produce a surplus of crops.
- City-State
- A city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit.
- Dynasty
- A series of rulers from a single family
- Cultural Diffusion
- The spreading of ideas or products from one culture to another.
- Polytheism
- A belief in many gods.
- Empire
- A political unit in which a number of peoples or countries are controlled by a single ruler.
- Hammurabi
- Ruler of the Amorite in the Babylonian Empire from 1792BC-1750BC.
- Cataract
- A waterfall or stretch of rapids in a river.
- Delta
- A marshy region formed by deposits of silt at the moth of a river
- Pharaoh
- A king of ancient Egypt, condidered a god as well as a political and military leader.
- Theocracy
- A government in which the ruler is viewed as a divine figure or a government controlled by religious leaders.
- Menes
- A strong willed King of Upper Egypt who united all of Egypt.
- Pyramid
- A massive structure with a rectangular base and four triangular sides, like those that were built in Egypt as burial places for Old Kingdom Pharaohs.
- Mummification
- A process of embalming and drying corpses to prevent them from decaying.
- Hieroglyphics
- An ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds.
- Papyrus
- A tall reed that grows in the Nile delta, used by the ancient Egytians to make a paperlike material for writing on.
- Subcontinent
- A large landmass that forms a distinct part of a continent.
- Monsoon
- A wind that shifts in direction at certain times of each year.
- Loess
- A fertile deposit of windblown soil.
- Oracle Bone
- One of the animal bones or tortoise shells used by ancient Chinese priests to communicate with the gods.
- Mandate of Heaven
- In chinese history, the divine approval thought to be the basis of royal authority.
- Dynastic Cycle
- The historical pattern of the rise, decline and replacement of dynasties.
- Feudalism
- A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land.
- Sargon of Akkad
-
Controlled much of Mesopotamia
Created 1st known empire
Akkadians were Semetic(arabs of Hewbrew Descent) - Amorites
-
Established the capitol city of Babylon.
Established a single, unified code of laws called Hammurabis Code (282 laws) - Hammurabis Code
-
Offered protection to all classes.
Punishments were not the same for everyone.
Reinforced principle that the gov't was responsible for what happened in society - Three Challenges of Sumerians.
-
Floods were unpredictable,so people built irrigation ditches.
No natural boundaries, so they built walls out of mud bricks.
Limited Resources, so they traded with other people. - Shang Dynasty
- First Chinese dynasty that left written record.
- Zhou Dynasty
- Dynasty that used feudalism.
- Monarchs
- Military leaders who became full time rulers.
- Gilgamesh
- Legendary king who quested for immortality.
- Cuneiform
- Wedge-shaped writing.
- Sumerians
- First group of people to form a civilization.
- Babylon
- Capitol of Baylonian Empire that wrote the code of laws that our laws are based on today.
- Memphis
- Capital of Lower and Upper Egypot where first Egyptian Dynasty was established.
- Old Kingdom
- Third dynasty-lasted from 2660 to 2180 BC
- Osiris
- God of death that would weigh dead persons heart to judge their deeds in their life.
- Rosetta Stone
- Stone found by frenchmen that was used to decipher hieroglyphic symbols.
- Sirius
- Bright red star that show approximately 14 days before Nile flooded.
- Hyksos
-
Chariot riding Asians that invaded Egypt and ruled from
1640 to 1570 BC - Harappan
- Site where many Indus civilization artifacts have been found.
- Mohenjo-Daro
- Very planned Indus city. 1st city to have indoor plumbing.
- Huang He
- Yellow River. River in Northern China that has many unpredictable floods.
- Yangtze
- River in central China that was other side of fertile plain that Chinese civilization started on.
- China's Sorrow
- Other name for Huang He. In 1887 floods caused nickname. Killed nearly 1 million people.
- Peking Man
- Homo Erectus skeleton found in northern China near Beijing.
- Yu
- Leader of Xia Dynasty who's flood control and irrigation this brought prosperity.
- Shang
- People that ruled Northern China from 1532 to 1027 BC
- Shang Di
- Supreme God of Shang Dynasty.
- Zhou
- People who overthrew Shang Dynasty in 1027 BC
- Middle Kingdom
- Rule of Egypt from 2080-1640 BC