World History Final Study Guide- Ch. 1-9

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Paleolithic: Of or relating to the cultural period of the Stone Age beginning with the earliest chipped stone tools, about 750,000 years ago, until the beginning of the Mesolithic Age, about 15,000 years ago.
Thermoluminescence: A phenomenon in which certain minerals release previously absorbed radiation upon being moderately heated.
Archaeology: The systematic study of past human life and culture by the recovery and examination of remaining material evidence, such as graves, buildings, tools, and pottery.
Hieratic: a simplified cursive style of Egyptian hieroglyphics, used in both sacred and secular writings.
Monotheism: belief that there is only one God
Papyrus: A material on which to write made from the pith or the stems of this sedge, used especially by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans
Cataracts: A large or high waterfall
Indo-Europeans: A family of languages consisting of most of the languages of Europe as well as those of Iran, the Indian subcontinent, and other parts of Asia
Ninevah: An ancient city of Assyria on the Tigris River opposite the site of present-day Mosul, Iraq. As capital of the Assyrian Empire, it enjoyed great influence and prosperity, especially under Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal (seventh century B.C.). The city was captured and destroyed by Babylonia and its allies in 612 B.C.
Gilgamesh: The semi-divine king of Erech, a city of southern Babylonia, and hero of an epic collection of mythic tales, one of which tells of a flood that covered the earth
Democracy: Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives
Hammurabi: Babylonian king (1792-1750) who made Babylon the chief Mesopotamian kingdom and codified the laws of Mesopotamia and Sumeria
Polytheism: belief in many gods
Neolithic: Of or relating to the cultural period of the Stone Age beginning around 10,000 B.C. in the Middle East and later elsewhere, characterized by the development of agriculture and the making of polished stone tools
Carbon dating: a chemical analysis used to determine the age of organic materials based on their content of the radioisotope carbon-14; believed to be reliable up to 40,000 years
Anthropology: The scientific study of the origin, the behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural development of humans
Forms of documents-: primary sources- archaelogical, eye wittness, text

secondary sources
Babylon: The capital of ancient Babylonia in Mesopotamia on the Euphrates River. Established as capital c. 1750 B.C. and rebuilt in regal splendor by Nebuchadnezzar II after its destruction (c. 689 B.C.) by the Assyrians, Babylon was the site of the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World
Hyksos: A Semitic people who invaded Egypt and ruled it during the 17th and 16th centuries B.C. They introduced the horse and chariot into Egypt
Darius: King of Persia, was the son of Hystaspes, of the royal family of the
Achaemenidae. He did not immediately succeed Cyrus on the throne. There were
two intermediate kings, viz., Cambyses (the Ahasuerus of Ezra), the son of
Cyrus, who reigned from B.C. 529-522, and was succeeded by a usurper named
Smerdis, who occupied the throne only ten months, and was succeeded by this
Darius (B.C. 521-486)
Pre-indo-Europeans: The reconstructed language that was the ancestor of the Indo-European languages
Zoroaster: Persian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism
Enkidu: legendary friend of Gilgamish
Aristocracy: A hereditary ruling class; nobility
Knossos: An ancient city of northern Crete near present-day Iráklion. The center of a Bronze Age culture that probably flourished from c. 2000 to 1400 B.C., it is the traditional site of the labyrinth of Daedalus and the palace of King Minos
Ahriman: Ahura Mazda's adversary, the chief spirit of darkness and evil in Zoroastrianism
Carthage: An ancient city and state of northern Africa on the Bay of Tunis northeast of modern Tunis. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the ninth century B.C. and became the center of Carthaginian power in the Mediterranean after the sixth century B.C. The city was destroyed by the Romans at the end of the Third Punic War (146 B.C.) but was rebuilt by Julius Caesar and later (A.D. 439-533) served as capital of the Vandals before its virtual annihilation by the Arabs (698)
Brahmins: The single absolute being pervading the universe and found within the individual; atman
Harappa: A locality in the Indus River valley of the Punjab in Pakistan. Archaeological finds dating back to the third millennium B.C. include the remains of a well-laid-out city and indicate a possible link between Indian and Sumerian cultures
Nirvana: Buddhism. The ineffable ultimate in which one has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion.
Noah- In the Bible, the patriarch who was chosen by God to build an ark, in which he, his family, and a pair of every animal were saved from the Flood.
Reincarnation- the belief that the individual soul is reborn in a different from after death
Inventors of the zero: Buddhists
Legalists: Strict, literal adherence to the law or to a particular code, as of religion or morality. A religion
Tao te ching: Written by Lao-tzu. What Taoism is based on
Han: A member of the principal ethnic group of China, constituting about 93 percent of the population, especially as distinguished from Manchus, Mongols, Huis, and other minority nationalities. Also called Chinese, Han Chinese
Sparta: A city-state of ancient Greece in the southeast Peloponnesus. Settled by Dorian Greeks, it was noted for its militarism and reached the height of its power in the sixth century B.C. A protracted rivalry with Athens led to the Peloponnesian Wars (460-404) and Sparta's hegemony over all of Greece. Its ascendancy was broken by Thebans in 371
Homer: Greek epic poet. Two of the greatest works in Western literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are attributed to him
Euclid: Greek mathematician who applied the deductive principles of logic to geometry, thereby deriving statements from clearly defined axioms
Oracles: A person considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinions.
Zeus: The principal god of the Greek pantheon, ruler of the heavens, and father of other gods and mortal heroes
Olympia: A plain of southern Greece in the northwest Peloponnesus. It was a religious center devoted to the worship of Zeus and the site of the ancient Olympic Games. The statue of the Olympian Zeus by Phidias was one of the Seven Wonders of the World
Apennine mountains: chain of mountains extending through Italy
Sicily: An island of southern Italy in the Mediterranean Sea west of the southern end of the Italian peninsula. It was colonized from the eighth century B.C. by Greeks, who displaced the earlier Phoenician settlers. The next conquerors were Carthaginians, who in turn were conquered by Romans in the third century B.C. After a succession of other rulers the island came under the control of the Normans in the 11th century A.D. and formed the nucleus of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, consisting of Sicily and southern Italy. The island continued to change hands until a later kingdom was conquered by Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860 and became part of unified Italy
Senate: The supreme council of state of the ancient Roman Republic and later of the Roman Empire
Plebians: the common people of ancient Rome
Hannibal: Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps in 218 with about 35,000 men and routed Roman armies at Lake Trasimeno (217) and Cannae (216). He was later defeated at the Battle of Zama (202)
Pompey: Roman general and political leader. With Caesar and Crassus he formed a ruling triumvirate (60-50) but was later defeated by Caesar and murdered in Egypt
First triumvirate: Pompey Crassus and Caesar formed the first government run by three men
Rubicon river: the river Caesar crossed declaring war
Nero: Emperor of Rome (54-68) whose early reign was dominated by his mother, Agrippina the Younger. He had his mother and wife murdered, and he may have set the Great Fire of Rome (64). His cruelty and irresponsibility provoked widespread revolts, which led to his suicide
Paterfamilias: A man who is the head of a household or the father of a family
Zealots: A member of a Jewish movement of the first century A.D. that fought against Roman rule in Palestine as incompatible with strict monotheism
Laity: All those persons who are not members of a given profession or other specialized field
Byzantium: An ancient city of Thrace on the site of present-day Istanbul, Turkey. It was founded by the Greeks in the seventh century B.C. and taken by the Romans in A.D. 196. Constantine I ordered the rebuilding of the city in 330 and renamed it Constantinople
Vandals: A member of a Germanic people that overran Gaul, Spain, and northern Africa in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. and sacked Rome in 455
Medina: The old section of an Arab city in North Africa
Mohammad: the Arab prophet who founded Islam
Abbssids: An Arabic dynasty (750-1258) that expanded the Muslim empire. It was named for al-Abbas (566?-652), paternal uncle of the prophet Muhammad
Mongols: A member of any of the traditionally nomadic peoples of Mongolia
Sultan: A ruler of a Muslim country, especially of the former Ottoman Empire
⬢ Bazaar- A market consisting of a street lined with shops and stalls, especially one in the Middle East
Mosque: A Muslim house of worship
Inb sina (avicenna): Arabian philosopher and physician; his interpretation of Aristotle influenced St. Thomas Aquinas; writings on medicine were important for almost 500 years
Mansa musa: Mansa Musa is mostly remembered for his extravagant hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca with, according to the Arab historian al-Umari, 100 camel-loads of gold, each weighing 300 lbs.; 500 slaves, each carrying a 4 lb. gold staff; thousands of his subjects; as well as his senior wife, with her 500 attendants. With his lavish spending and generosity in Cairo and Mecca, he ran out of money and had to borrow at usurious rates of interest for the return trip. Al-Umari also states that Mansa Musa and his retinue "gave out so much gold that they depressed its value in Egypt and caused its value to fall."
Griot: A storyteller in western Africa who perpetuates the oral tradition and history of a village or family
Chandraggupta maurya: Chandragupta, with the help Chanakya (Kautilya), who is also known as the Indian Machiavelli, destroyed the Nanda rulers of Magadha and established the Mauryan empire. It is said that Chanakya met Chandragupta in the Vindhya forest, after being insulted by the Nanda king
Brahman: The holy or sacred power that is the source and sustainer of the universe
Mohenjo-daro: A ruined prehistoric city of Pakistan in the Indus River valley northeast of Karachi. Its remains date to c. 3000 B.C.
Dharma: The principle or law that orders the universe
Utnapishtim: favorite of the gods and grandfather of Gilgamish; survived the great flood and became immortal
Buddhism: The teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct, wisdom, and meditation releases one from desire, suffering, and rebirth
Sanskrit: An ancient Indic language that is the language of Hinduism and the Vedas and is the classical literary language of India
Zhou: A Chinese dynasty (traditionally dated 1122-221 B.C.) characterized by great intellectual achievements, including the rise of Confucianism and Taoism and the writing of the oldest known Chinese literature
I ching: Chinese book of ancient origin consisting of 64 interrelated hexagrams along with commentaries attributed to Confucius. The hexagrams, originally used for divination, embody Taoist philosophy by describing all nature and human endeavor in terms of the interaction of yin and yang. Also called Book of Changes
Bronze: A medal made of bronze awarded to one placing third in a competition, as in the Olympics
Agora: A place of congregation, especially an ancient Greek marketplace
Aphrodite: The goddess of love and beauty
Aristophanes: Athenian playwright considered to be the greatest ancient writer of satirical comedy. Among his surviving plays are The Clouds (423) and Lysistrata (411)
Plato: Greek philosopher. A follower of Socrates, he presented his ideas through dramatic dialogues, in the most celebrated of which (The Republic) the interlocutors advocate a utopian society ruled by philosophers trained in Platonic metaphysics. He taught and wrote for much of his life at the Academy, which he founded near Athens in 386
Mycenae: An ancient Greek city in the northeast Peloponnesus that flourished during the Bronze Age as the center of an early civilization. According to legend, at one time Agamemnon was its king
Mt. Olympus: a mountain peak in northeast Greece near the Aegean coast; believed by ancient Greeks to be the dwelling place of the gods
Po river: a European river; flows into the Adriatic Sea
Centuriate assembly: roman senate
Tribunes of the plebs: There were 10 Tribunes annually. Tribunes represented the interests of the plebs (common people). Tribunes could introduce measures and laws and had the right to veto acts of other magistrates (including other tribunes). This power, of course, had very little meaning in the Imperial system as an Emperor could override any such attempt at a veto. They could convene the senate and much like a Quaestor could be enrolled in the senate. The 10 tribunes were broken down with the following titlesâ€™
Cato: Roman politician and general who wrote the first history of Rome. As censor he attempted to restore simplicity to Roman life
Crassus: Roman politician and general who joined Julius Caesar and Pompey in the first triumvirate to challenge the senate's power (60). Hungry for military glory, he invaded Parthia and was killed in battle
2nd triumvirate: legal arrangement, written into the constitution by the Lex Titia in November, 43 BC. In essence, this new government was a joint dictatorship, where the three members had ultimate authority capable of completely disregarding Republican and Senatorial tradition through the use of military force
danube river: the 2nd longest European river; flows into the Black Sea
octavian: Roman statesman who established the Roman Empire and became emperor in 27 BC; defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BC at Actium. aka Augustus. Created Pax Romana
gladiator: A person, usually a professional combatant, a captive, or a slave, trained to entertain the public by engaging in mortal combat with another person or a wild animal in the ancient Roman arena
Essenes: A member of an ascetic Jewish sect that existed in ancient Palestine from the second century B.C. to the second century A.D.
paul of tarsus: a Christian missionary to the Gentiles; author of several Epistles in the New Testament; even though Paul was not present at the Last Supper he is considered an apostle; "Paul's name was Saul prior to his conversion to Christianity"
gaul: An ancient region of western Europe south and west of the Rhine River, west of the Alps, and north of the Pyrenees, corresponding roughly to modern-day France and Belgium. The Romans extended the designation to include northern Italy, particularly after Julius Caesar's conquest of the area in the Gallic Wars
mecca: A place that is regarded as the center of an activity or interest
five pillars: the basic precepts of Islam, including belief in Allah and Muhammad the prophet, prayer, charity or almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca; also called Five Pillars, Pillars of Islam
khadija: wife of holy prophet sawa
seljuk turks: nomadic people from central asia. Known for ability as mounted archers
Syria: A country of southwest Asia on the eastern Mediterranean coast. Ancient Syria also included Lebanon, most of present-day Israel and Jordan, and part of Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Settled c. 2100 B.C. by Amorites, the region was later conquered by Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Islam was introduced in the seventh century by Muslim Arab conquerers. Syria was a province of the Ottoman Empire from 1516 until 1918, and the part comprising present-day Syria and Lebanon became a French League of Nations mandate in 1920. Separated from Lebanon by the French, Syria achieved full independence in 1946. In 1958 it merged with Egypt to form the United Arab Republic, which disintegrated in 1961. Damascus is the capital and the largest city
Caliph: leader of an Islamic polity, regarded as a successor of Muhammad and by tradition always male
Cairo: The capital and largest city of Egypt, in the northeast part of the country on the Nile River. Old Cairo was built c. 642 as a military camp; the new city was founded c. 968 by the Fatimid dynasty and reached its greatest prosperity under the Mameluke sultans
Hadith: A report of the sayings or actions of Muhammad or his companions, together with the tradition of its chain of transmission
Berbers: A member of a North African, primarily Muslim people living in settled or nomadic tribes from Morocco to Egypt
Swahili: Bantu language of the coast and islands of eastern Africa from Somalia to Mozambique. It is an official language of Tanzania and is widely used as a lingua franca in eastern and east-central Africa
Homo Saepians Saepians: â€œwise, wise human beingâ€- appeared in Africa between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago. The first anatomically modern humans
Ice Age: posed as a serious threat to human life. Most recent began around 100,000 and got coldest between 20,000 and 10,000 B.C. Covered large parts of Europe, Asia, and North America
Artisans: skilled craftsmen; merchants
Old Kingdom: 2700-2200 B.C. Built pyramids; mummification. An age of prosperity
Ur: established by 3000 B.C. among other cities by the Sumerians. Independent.
Middle Kingdom: 2050-1652 B.C. â€œGolden Ageâ€- stability. Expansion in land and trade. Pharaohs no longer â€œgod-kindsâ€
Cuneiform: created around 3000 B.C. by the Sumerians. A â€œwedge-shapedâ€ type of writing
Cyrus: ruled in the Persian Empire from 559 to 530 B.C. Captured Babylon in 539 B.C. Had Jews return to Jerusalem. Called Cyrus â€œthe Great.â€ Wise and compassionate to the people
Mesopotamia: between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers: means â€œLand between two rivers.â€ In the eastern end of the Fertile Crescent
Ahura Mazda: According to Zoroaster, a Persian religion, Ahuramazda was the supreme god who brought all things into being. Also had qualities that all humans should look up to i.e. Good Thought, Right, and Piety
Yoga: â€œunion,â€ a practice developed by the Hindus that is a method of training designed to lead to union with god
Karma: the force of a personâ€™s actions in this life determining rebirth in a next life
Mahabharata: one of Indiaâ€™s great historical epics. Over 90 stanzas. Written about 100 B.C. About a war between cousins in Aryan tribal society for control of the kingdom. Tale of moral dilemmas
Aryans: invaded the Indus-River valley civilization. Indo-European. Conquered the Harappans. Excellent at war. Nomadic. Developed the first writing system, Sanskrit. Wrote Vedas. Ruled by the caste system. Political power- Raja
4 Noble Truths: in Buddism. 1. Ordinary life is full of suffering. 2. This suffering is caused by our desire to satisfy ourselves. 3. The way to end suffering is to end desire for selfish goals and to see others as extensions of ourselves. 4. The way to end desire is to follow the Middle Path
Qin Dynasty: a Chinese dynasty (221-206 B.C.) that established the first centralized imperial government in China. Much of the Great Wall of China was built during the rule of this dynasty. Used Legalism. Four years after the emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, died, the dynasty ended
Lao Tzu: founded Taoism. Also known as the Old Master. No one really knows if he actually existed. Wrote the Tao Te Ching
Shang Dynasty: a Chinese dynasty (traditionally dated 1766-1122 B.C.) whose capital was present-day Anyang. The dynasty's reign was marked by a highly developed social structure, advanced writing, and the use of bronze. They used veneration of ancestors. Fu Hao lived during this time (influential wife who led military expeditions and armies)
Yin/Yang: in Chinese philosophy, the two cosmic forces of creative energy, yin being feminine/negative and yang being masculine/positive, from which everything originates and depends on the interaction of the opposite and complementary principles
Helen: supposedly caused Troy in The Iliad. Paris steals Helen, which causes The Trojan war against the other Greeks. Husband of Menelaus
Delian League: an alliance formed by the Athenians. Based on the island of Delos. Pursued the attack against the Persian Empire. By controlling the Delian League, Athens created an empire
Solon: Athenians gave power to Solon in 594 B.C. He was a reform-minded aristocrat. Canceled land debts and freed people who were in slavery because of debts, but refused to give land to the poor from the rich. His reforms did not solve Athensâ€™ problems
Socrates: a critic of the Sophists. Used a question/answer format. Believed all real knowledge is already present in each person. Questioned authority-got in trouble. Accused of corrupting the Athenian youth and sentenced to death. Taught Plato
Macedonia: a powerful kingdom in Greece. Philip II turned it into a chief power. Alexander later became king of it. Located near the Black Sea
Phalanx: soldiers marching shoulder to shoulder in a rectangular formation. Used by the hoplites in the Greek army
Corsica: an island of France in the Mediterranean Sea north of Sardinia
Consuls- chief executive officers of the Roman Republic, two of which were chosen every year; they ran the government and led the army into battle
Council of the Plebs: a popular assembly of the Roman Republic created for plebeians only, founded in 471 B.C.
Livy: a Roman historian. Wrote The History of Rome
Etruscans: By first mellennium B.C. settled in Italy. Early development of Rome based on the Etruscans. Found Rome a village, left it a city. Dress and organization of the army borrowed from them
Marc Antony: Caesars ally and assistant. Allied himself with
Cleopatra. Octavian defeated the army and navy of Antony and Cleopatra- they fled Egypt and committed suicide a year later
Cleopatra: see Marc Antony. A female egyption pharaoh.
Tiberius: tried to fix the growing economic and social crisis. Thought that Romeâ€™s basic problems were the decline of the farmer. Made some reforms. Killed by a group of senators in 133 B.C.
Trajan: a Roman Emperor during the Early Empire (of Pax Romana). A good emperor, created a program that provided state funds to assist poor parents in raising and education of their children. Extended Roman rule. Active in building public works
Sadducees: a member of a priestly, aristocratic Jewish sect founded in the second century B.C. that accepted only the written Mosaic law and that ceased to exist after the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70.
Messiah: Some people welcomed Jesus as the Messiah who would save Israel from oppression and establish Godâ€™s kingdom on Earth
Constantine: Issued the Edict of Milan which proclaimed official tolerance of Christianity
Huns: a member of a nomadic pastoralist people who invaded Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. and were defeated in 455.
Kaâ€™aba: a central shrine in Mecca
Islam: a monotheistic religion characterized by the acceptance of the doctrine of submission to God and to Muhammad as the chief and last prophet of God
Quran: the guidelines by which the followers of Allah are to live by
Crusades: any of the military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. AKA a Holy War
Damascus: a center of administrative, cultural, and economic activity for the Islamic world. In modern day Syria
Genghis Khan- Mongol conqueror who united the Mongol tribes and forged an empire stretching from China to the Danube River and into Persia. In 1206 he took the name Genghis Khan (â€œsupreme conqueror.â€)
Córdoba: a city in Spain that is home to the famous ninth-century mosque
Omar Khayyam: Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer remembered for his collection of quatrains The Arabian Nights. Didnt write down poems, composed them orally. Later written down by friends
Sundiata Kieta: â€œThe George Washington of Maliâ€ Defeated Ghana and united the people of Mali and created a strong government
Songhai-: an ancient empire of western Africa in present-day Mali. It was founded c. 700 by Berbers and reached the height of its power around 1500. Expanded under Sunni Ali. After 1468, controlled the trading empire. Reached height of power during the reign of Muhammad Ture. After Muhammad Tureâ€™s death, Songhai slowly declined
Australopithecenes: â€œsouthern apesâ€ Flourished in eastern and southern Africa. First hominids to use stone tools
Petroglyphs: a carving or line drawing on rock, especially one made by prehistoric people
Priests: a person having the authority to perform and administer religious rites
Pyramids: built mainly in the Old Kingdom for pharaohs and such
Solomon: ruled from 971 to 931 B.C. est. control over all of Palestine and had made Jerusalem into the capital. Expanded govâ€™t and army and encouraged trade
Ziggurat-: a massive stepped tower upon which the temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of a Sumerian city was built
Hieroglyphics: of, relating to, or being a system
Persia: also Persian Empire A vast empire of southwest Asia founded by Cyrus II after 546 B.C. and brought to the height of its power and glory by Darius I and his son Xerxes. Eventually the empire extended from the Indus River valley in present-day Pakistan to the Mediterranean Sea before Alexander the Great conquered it between 333 and 331 B.C.
Assyria: an ancient empire and civilization of western Asia in the upper valley of the Tigris River. In its zenith between the ninth and seventh centuries B.C. the empire extended from the Mediterranean Sea across Arabia and Armenia
Menes: united the villages of both Upper and Lower Egypt into a single kingdom and created the first Egyptian dynasty
Shamash: the sun god of Assyro-Babylonian religion, worshiped as the author of justice and compassion
Monarchy: government ruled by a monarch
Queen Hatshepsut: first female Egyptian pharaoh
Phoenicians: lived in the area of Palestine along the Mediterranean coast. Expanded trade. Improved ships and were great sea traders. Set up Carthage. Made alphabet
Untouchables: began as a slave class consisting of prisoners of war, criminals, members of minority tribes. Given menial, degrading tasks. Lowest position in the caste system
Siddhartha Gautama: the founder of buddism. First followed examples of ascetics and turned to meditation. Preached of his beliefs and died in 480 B.C.
Sati: ritual which required a wife to throw herself on her dead husbandâ€™s flaming funeral pyre
Bhagavadgita: a sacred Hindu text that is incorporated into the Mahabharata and takes the form of a philosophical dialogue in which Krishna instructs the prince Arjuna in ethical matters and the nature of God
Ascetic: people who practiced self-denial as a means of achieving an understanding of ultimate reality
8-Fold Path: aka The Middle Path 1. Right View 2. Right Intention 3. Right Speech 4. Right Action 5. Right livelihood 6. Right Effort 7. Right mindfulness 8. Right concentration
Confucius: known in Chinese as the first teacher. Created Confucianism. Traveled around China in an attempt to persuade political leaders. Believed it was useless to speculate on spiritual questions
Tao: the religion of Taoism. Taoism does not concern itself with the underlying meaning of the universe. It tries to set forth the proper forms of behavior for humans. Taoists believe that the true way to follow the will of Heaven is not action, but inaction
Shang Di: the Chinese belief of one supreme god, Shang Di (Supreme Emperor)
Mandate of Heaven: the authority to command or rule given by heavenly right (it became a basic principle of Chinese statecraft)
Iliad: Homerâ€™s epic poem about the Trojan Warâ€”the start (Paris stealing Helen), the fighting, and the siege after 10 years
Helots: one of a class of serfs in ancient Sparta, neither a slave nor a free citizen
Arête: a sharp, narrow mountain ridge or spur
Hades: the underworld in the Greek religion
Pisistratus: an aristocrat who seized power in 560 B.C. Remained popular with the merchants by aiding Athenian trade. Took land from nobles and gave it to peasants
Hoplites: heavily armed infantry soldiers. Fought in a phalanx. Had a round shield, a short sword, and a thrusting spear
Sardinia: an island of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea south of Corsica. Settled by Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians before the sixth century B.C., the island was taken by Rome in 238 B.C. and later fell to the Vandals (fifth century A.D.) and the Byzantines (early sixth century)
Praetors: chief executives of the Roman Republic; they were in charge of civil law as it applied to Roman citizens
Patricians: great landowners who became Romeâ€™s ruling class
Cincinnatus: Roman statesman who according to tradition was twice called away from his farm to assume the dictatorship of Rome
Julius Caesar: one of the 3 in the 1st Triumvirate. Romes dictator in 47 B.C. Gave land to poor and increased senate 900. Created 365 day calendar and citizenship for others. Assassinated on March 15, 44 B.C. (The Ides of March)
Lepidus: commander of Caesarâ€™s cavalry. One of the people in the Second Triumvirate
Imperator: commander in chief
Gaius Gracchus: Brother of Tiberius Gracchus. See Tiberius.
The 12 Tables: early code of Roman law. The tables were supposedly written in response to the plebeians' protest that the patrician judges were able to discriminate against them with impunity because the principles governing legal disputes were known only orally
Pharisees: a member of an ancient Jewish sect that emphasized strict interpretation and observance of the Mosaic law in both its oral and written form.
Jerusalem: the capital of Israel, in the east-central part of the country in the West Bank. The city was occupied as far back as the fourth millennium B.C. and became the capital of King David c. 1000 B.C. Destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II in the sixth century B.C., it was later ruled by Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, and Turks and by Great Britain under a League of Nations mandate
Diocletian: Divided empire into four parts because thought it was growing too big. Military gave him power. Made political and military reforms. Tried to restore empire
Visigoths: a member of the western Goths that invaded the Roman Empire in the fourth century A.D. and settled in France and Spain, establishing a monarchy that lasted until the early eighth century
Yathrib: aka Medina. North of Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula
Hegira: The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D., marking the beginning of the Muslim era
Umayyads: the first dynasty of Arab caliphs (661-750). Its capital was Damascus. Ruled a very large empire. Expansion brought wealth, new ethnic groups, but also other contact
Saladin: leader of Sunni muslims. In 1169, brought end to Fatimid dynasty. He established control over Syria. In 1187, army invaded Jerusalem
Jihad: â€œstruggle in the way of Godâ€ the custom of making raids against Islamâ€™s enemies in order to expand the Islamic movement
Umma: the Islamic community; Muhammad was its first political and religious leader
Sufi: a Muslim mystic.
Arabian Nights: written by Omar Khayyam. The stories are a collection of folktales, fables, and romances that blend the natural with the supernatural
Zimbabwe: south of the Zambezi River. Near Indian Ocean coast. Southern Africa
Timbuktu: near the Niger River. Hump of Africa. In the Songhai region

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