AMSCO AP World History Chapter 2 – Flashcards
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Tigris and Euphrates
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Rivers that flow south from modern-day Turkey through what is now Iraq to empty into the Persian Gulf
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Mesopotamia
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Greek word meaning "between rivers", "the cradle of civilization"
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Fertile Crescent
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Overlaps with Mesopotamia but also includes an area to the west, along the Mediterranean coast
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Sumerians
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A group of nomadic pastoralists
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Sumer
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Civilization that provided the core and the foundation of several other civilizations in the Middle East
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Uruk
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The largest city in Sumer, with a population of 50,000
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City-state
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An independent city with its own form of government
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Polytheistic
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Worshiping many gods
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Ziggurats
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Large Stepped Pyramids
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Cuneiform
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The world's first writing system
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Scribes
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People who were skilled at cuneiform and were charged with record-keeping and later with the writing of history and myths
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The Epic of Gilgamesh
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Possibly the oldest written story on earth
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Babylonians
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Persian people who invaded and took control of Mesopotamia
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Empire
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A large territory that included diverse cultural groups
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Hammurabi
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The Babylonian's most powerful king
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Code of Hammurabi
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282 laws carved into stone monuments, their main purpose was to protect people's rights
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Astronomy
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The study of objects outside Earth's atmosphere
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Astrology
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Predicting the future by studying the movements of stars and planets
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Phoenicians
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Occupied parts of present-day Lebanon, Israel and Jordan around 3000 B.C.E.
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Carthage
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A Phoenician colony on the coast of North Africa that became a significant outpost in the region
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Alphabetic script
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A system of symbols (letters) that represent the sounds of speech
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Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews
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Lived in the region of Canaan--present-day Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon
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Abraham
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Founded Canaan; Jews, Christians, and Muslims all trace their religious heritage back to him
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Moses
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Led the Hebrew people out of Egypt
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Ten Commandments
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A code of conduct that became very influential in areas dominated by Christianity
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Jewish Diaspora
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The spreading of Jews throughout the Mediterranean world and the Middle East
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The Four Major Climate Zones of Africa
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1. Mediterranean 2. Desert 3. Rain forest 4. Savanna
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Sahara
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A desert in northern Africa
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Kalahari
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A desert in southern Africa
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Nile River
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A river that begins in the interior of Africa and flows north to empty into the Mediterranean Sea
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Desertification
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The creation of desert-like conditions
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King Menes
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United upper and lower Egypt
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Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom
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Three longs periods of stability in Egyptian history
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Pharaoh
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King or Queen leading Egyptian government
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Theocrats
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Rulers holding both religious and political power
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Hyksos
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Pastoral nomadic people from modern Syria who invaded Egypt, ending the Middle Kingdom
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Akhenaton
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The pharaoh who tried to change Egypt's religion during the New Kingdom
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Aten
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The sun god that Akhenaton wanted the Egyptian people to worship
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Ramses the Great
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A powerful pharaoh who expanded the Egyptian Empire into Southwest Asia
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Hittites
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Invaders of the Egyptian Empire during the end of the New Kingdom
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Mummification
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Removing the body's internal organs, drying the body with salts, and packing its insides and wrapping it with chemically treated cloth
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Hieroglyphics
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A form of picture-writing
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Papyrus
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A type of plant that was used to create an early form of paper
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Book of the Dead
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A paper book that Egyptians put in the coffins of dead pharaohs and some nobles; each version of the book was different since it told the story of the dead person
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Nubia
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A kingdom in the Upper Nile Valley that was heavily influenced by Egyptian culture
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Kush
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An important kingdom economically; After Nubia fell to decline, it reemerged as this kingdom
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Axum
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A kingdom founded on the plateau ofpresent-day Ethiopia; had an agricultural economy, Christianity was the official religion
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Indus River Valley
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Home to the indigenous peoples of the Indian subcontinent
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Dravidians
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The indigenous peoples of the Indian subcontinent
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Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
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Two sophisticated urban centers in the Indus River Valley
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Environmental degradation
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Damage to or destruction of the natural environment
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Deforestation
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The removal of trees faster than forests can replace themselves
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Aryans
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Indo-European-speaking peoples originally from Central Asia
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Barter
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A system by which one thing is exchanged for another
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Sanskirt
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The sacred language of the Aryans
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Hindi
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Official language of India, Sanskirt evolved into this
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Indo-European
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Overarching group of languages including English, French, Latin, and Greek Largest language family 48% of the world
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Vedas
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A collection of Aryan religious hymns, poems, and songs
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Rig-Veda
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Outlined proper priestly (brahmin) behavior
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Vedic Age
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Age marked by the Aryans' growing awareness of Dravidian beliefs
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Upanishads
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A foundational text for the set of religious beliefs that later became known as Hinduism
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Brahmin
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Priests
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Brahma
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An overarching, universal soul that connects all creatures on Earth
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Dharma
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To escape the seemingly endless cycle of birth and rebirth, one must perform righteous duties and deeds, known as one's:
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Karma
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One's fate
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Moksha
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Eternal peace and unity with brahma
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Huang He (Yellow) and Chiang Jiang (Yangtze)
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Two major rivers in China
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Loess
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A type of fertile soil that is yellow in color
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Xia Dynasty
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Not much is known about this dynasty It began with Yu passing power to his son Qi
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Dynasty
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A series of rulers who all belong to the same family
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Shang Dynasty
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The kings in this dynasty wielded tremendous economic and religious power
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Ancestor Veneration
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The practice of praying to your ancestors. Found especially in China.
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Pictographs
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Pictures that stand for words or ideas; picture writing
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Zhou dynasty
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Longest dynasty in Chinese history
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Golden Age
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The first 200 years of the Zhou rule, a period in society of relative peace, prosperity, and innovation
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Mandate of Heaven
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In Chinese history, the divine approval thought to be the basis of royal authority
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Feudalism
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A system of government based on landowners and tenants
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Maize
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Corn
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Mesoamerica
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Central America and what is now Mexico
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Chavin civilization
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A civilization along the coast of Peru
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Solder
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To weld, fuse or join, as with a soldering gun
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Olmec
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The foundation of several advanced civilizations in Mesoamerica
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Glyphs
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Pictures and symbols of real objects, used as a form of writing
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Oceania
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The vast region in the Pacific Ocean that includes New Guinea, Australia, and more than a thousand other islands
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Austronesian-speaking people
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Originated in southern China and later moved to Taiwan and the Philippines, Introduced agriculture to the people of New Guinea
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Aboriginals
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Australian natives who remained hunter-foragers
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Polynesia
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A chain of South Pacific islands that includes Samoa, Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand
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Easter Island
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An example of how humans can degrade ecosystems to a point that civilization collapses
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Nihilism
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The rejection of moral or ethical principles
