World History: Terms/Ideas To Know Essay Example
World History: Terms/Ideas To Know Essay Example

World History: Terms/Ideas To Know Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 10 (2543 words)
  • Published: February 24, 2017
  • Type: Paper
View Entire Sample
Text preview

World history is a branch of historical science that studies the history of the human world. World history studies and describes the process of development of human society as a whole, with characteristic patterns manifested in the history of all peoples.

Terms/Ideas:

  1. Pastoralism: Branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock.
  2.  Patrilineal: System in which one belongs to one's father's lineage.
  3.  Matrilineal: A societal system in which one belongs to one's matriline or mother's lineage.
  4.  Hominids: Primate of the family Hominidae, which Homo sapiens is the only extant species.
  5.  Cuneiform: One of the earliest known forms of written expression.
  6.  Hammurabi’s code: A well-preserved Babylonian law code, consisting of 282 laws.
  7.  Upper
    ...

    Egypt: The strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur.

  8.  Lower Egypt: The fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea.
  9.  Mandate of Heaven: A traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers.
  10. Scholar-gentry: Landowners, who had passed examinations and were eligible to hold office in ancient China.
  11.  Legalism: One of the main philosophic currents during the Warring States Period and before, states that the strengths of the people are not sufficient to prevent chaos and political corruption, and recommends laws as the primary tool to fix the problem.
  12.  City-state: Independent entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as par
View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

of another local government.

  •  Monotheism: The belief in the existence of one god.
  •  Polytheism: The belief of multiple deities.
  •  Maize: A grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times (also known as corn).
  •  Civil service exam system: Examinations implemented in various countries for admission to the civil service.
  •  Delian League: Founded in 477 BC, was an association of 173 Greek city-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire.
  •  Peloponnesian League: An alliance in the Peloponnesus from the 6th to the 4th centuries BC. 19. Council of 500: A council with 500 members that helped decided on decisions.
  •  Hellenic Culture: Both the specific artifacts of the ancients as well as the ideas and ideals of democracy, beauty and balance.
  •  Hellenistic Culture: Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BC to about 146 BC.
  •  Eunuchs: A castrated man, usually one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences.
  •  Jati:The arising of a new living entity.
  •  Varna: The categorization of the Hindu society by four castes, hypothesized by the Brahmins and their sacred texts.
  •  Karma: Deeds that are actively shaping past, present, and future experiences.
  •  Nirvana: The state of being free from suffering in Indian religion.
  •  Reincarnation: Occurs when the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, comes back to life in a newborn body.
  •  Transmigration: A philosophy of reincarnation.
  •  Monasticism: A religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits
  • to fully devote one's self to spiritual work.

  •  Diffusion: The spread of ideas through different cultures.
  •  Oligarchy: Form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, corporate, or military control.
  •  Democracy: Political form of government in which governing power is derived from the people, by consensus , by direct referendum , or by means of elected representatives of the people.
  •  Silk Road: An extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, as well as North and Northeast Africa and Europe.
  • Individuals/Peoples To Know:
  •  King Menes: An ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the early dynastic period, credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt, and as the founder of the first dynasty.
  •  Queen Hatshepsut: The fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt,regarded as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty.
  •  Confucius: A Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period.
  • Laozi: A mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching.
  •  King David: The second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible.
  •  Abraham: Founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites and the Midianites and kindred peoples, according to the book of Genesis.
  •  Moses: Was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of
  • the Torah is traditionally attributed.

  •  Alexander the Great: a Greek king of Macedon, he is the most celebrated member of the Argead Dynasty and the creator of one of the largest empires in ancient history.
  • Julius Caesar: Was a Roman general and statesman, he played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
  •  Marc Antony: Was a Roman politician and general.
  •  Octavian: Considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
  •  Marcus Aurelius: Was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180.
  •  Constantine: Was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337, best known for being the first Christian Roman emperor.
  •  Diocletian: Was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305.
  •  Aryans: Speakers of Indo-Iranian languages.
  •  Dasas: A term used with the primary meaning 'enemy'.
  •  Chandragupta Maurya: The founder of the Maurya Empire.
  • Ashoka: Was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC.
  • Chandra Gupta: Was king of India and founder of the imperial Gupta dynasty.
  • Religions/Belief Systems To Know:
  • Confucianism: A Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius.
  •  Daoism: Refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions that have influenced Eastern Asia for more than two millennia, and have had a notable influence on the western world particularly since the 19th century.
  •  Animism: Is a philosophical,
  • religious or spiritual belief that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in all other animals, plants, rocks, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment.

  •  Buddhism: A religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha.
  •  Christianity: A monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings.
  •  Hinduism: The predominant and indigenous religious tradition of South Asia.
  •  Judaism: The "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people.
  •  Mesolithic era: A period in the development of human technology in between the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age and the Neolithic or New Stone Age, in which farming appeared.
  •  Neolithic era: Was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age.
  •  Paleolithic era: A prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history.
  •  Bronze Age: The period when the most advanced metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use) in that used bronze.
  •  Iron Age: The prehistoric period in any area during which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel.
  • Persian Wars: A series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and city-states of the Hellenic world that started in
  • 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the Greeks and the enormous empire of the Persians began when Cyrus the Great conquered Ionia in 547 BC. The Greeks came out victorious.

  •  Peloponnesian War: An ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta with the Peloponnesian League coming out victorious.
  • Punic Wars: A series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 to 146 BC. The main cause of the Punic Wars was the conflict of interests between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman Republic. In the end, the Romans were victorious.
  •  Indus River Civilization: A Bronze Age civilization which was centered mostly in the western part of the Indian Subcontinent and which flourished around the Indus River basin.
  •  Nile River Civilization: Civilizations whose ‘lifeline’ was the Nile River.
  •  Huang He civilization: Civilization built around the Huang He river and were the most prosperous in ancient China.
  •  Tigris-Euphrates civilization: Civilizations established between the Tigris and Euphrates river and used it as their main resource.
  •  Shang Dynasty: Was according to traditional sources the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia Dynasty. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley. According to the chronology based upon calculations by Liu Xin, the Shang ruled between 1766 BC and 1122 BC, but according to the chronology based upon the Bamboo Annals, they ruled between 1556 BC and 1046 BC.
  • Zhou Dynasty: Ruled from 1046–256 BC, followed the Shang Dynasty and
  • was followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, and the use of Iron was introduced to China during the Zhou Dynasty.

  •  Qin Dynasty: was the first ruling dynasty of Imperial China, lasting from 221 to 206 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. During its reign over China, the Qin Dynasty achieved increased trade, improved agriculture, and military security.
  •  Olmecs: Were a Pre-Columbian civilization living in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, near the modern-day cities of Veracruz and Tabasco. The most familiar aspect of the Olmecs is their artwork, particularly the aptly-named colossal heads.
  •  Chavin: The Chavín were a civilization that developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 200 BC. They extended their influence to other civilizations along the coast. The most well-known archaeological ruin of the Chavín era is Chavín de Huántar, located in the Andean highlands north of Lima.
  •  Maya: A Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems.
  •  Sumeria: Region of city-states known in ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq) as Sumer.
  •  Phoenicia: was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, Syria, and northern Israel. Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean during the period 1550 BC to 300 BC.
  • Athens: A notable polis (city-state) of Attica,
  • Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. In the classical period, Athens was a center for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Akademia and Aristotle's Lyceum, Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Pericles, Sophocles, and many other prominent philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world.

  •  Sparta: Was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. Given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars.
  •  Etruscans: civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. As distinguished by its unique language, this civilization endured from the time of the earliest Etruscan inscriptions until its assimilation into the Roman Republic in the 1st century B.C.
  •  Roman Empire: The post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean.
  •  Han Dynasty: Was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms. It was founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang. The Han Dynasty was an age of economic prosperity and saw a significant growth of the money economy first established during the Zhou Dynasty.
  •  Mauryan Empire: Was a geographically extensive and powerful empire in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC. It was one of the world's largest empires in its time.
  •  Gupta Empire: Was an Ancient Indian empire which existed approximately
  • from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. This period is called the Golden Age of India and was marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture.

  •  Kingdom of Israel: Was a kingdom that existed in the Land of Israel, according to the Bible, a period referred to by scholars as the United Monarchy. Historians date the kingdom from 1020 BCE to 930 BCE.
  •  Kingdom of Judea: Existed at two periods in Jewish history. A kingdom emerged in Judah after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David, who came from the Tribe of Judah, to rule over it. After seven years David became king of a reunited Kingdom of Israel, and David moved the capital from Hebron to Jerusalem. However, in about 930 BC the united kingdom split, with ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel rejecting Solomon's son Rehoboam as their king. The Tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Rehoboam, and reformed the Kingdom of Judah, while the other entity continuing to be called the Kingdom of Israel, or Israel.
  •  Assyrian Empire: Was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom centered on the Upper Tigris river, in Mesopotamia (present day Iraq), that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur .
  •  Sasanid Empire: Was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651.The Sassanid Empire, which
  • succeeded the Parthian Empire, was known as one of the two main powers in Western Asia and Europe, alongside the Roman Empire and later the Byzantine Empire, for a period of more than 400 years.

  • Architectural, Artistic, Literary Works To Know:
  •  Lascaux Cave Paintings: some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be 17,300 years old. They primarily consist of primitive images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time.
  •  Parthenon: A temple in the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their protector. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece.
  •  Pantheon: A building in Rome, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD.
  •  Upanishads: Philosophical texts of the Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main (mukhya) or old Upanishads.
  •  Ramayana: An ancient Sanskrit epic. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being the Mahabharata. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king.
  •  Bhagavad-Gita: A sacred Hindu scripture, though its philosophies and insights are intended to reach beyond the scope of religion and to humanity as a whole. It is at times referred to as the "manual for
  • mankind" and has been highly praised. It is considered among the most important texts in the history of literature and philosophy.

    Get an explanation on any task
    Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
    New