| A | B |
|---|
| Prehistory | Period of time before writing systems were invented |
| historian | Person who studies how people lived in the past |
| Old Stone Age | Period of time before nomads settled |
| Polytheistic | believing in many gods |
| city-state | political unit made up of a city and the surrounding lands |
| cataract | waterfall |
| dynasty | ruling family |
| colony | territory settled and ruled by people from another land |
| Judaism | Monothestic relegion-- founded by Abraham-- embodied chiefly in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Talmud. |
| monsoon | seasonal wind |
| sanskrit | The ancient language of the Hindus |
| Hinduism | the diverse body of religion, philosophy, and cultural practice native to India |
| ahimsa | Hindu belief in non-violence and a reverence of all life |
| confucianism | teachings of confucious |
| civil service | branches of public service that are not legislative, judicial, or military |
| polis | city |
| dictator | ruler who has complete control over a government |
| civil law | body of law dealing with private rights of individuals |
| Edict of Milan | constantine-- made christanity legal in rome |
| Archaeologist | study of the past |
| geography | study of people, their environments, and their resources |
| Agricultural Revolution | Occured when nomads settled down and started farming |
| theocracy | government run by relegious |
| empire | group of states or territories controlled by one ruler |
| pharoah | title of the rulers of ancient egypt |
| fertile crescent (Mesopotamia) | An ancient region of southwest Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern-day Iraq |
| monotheistic | the belief that there is only one God |
| caste system | System in whch classes are determined by heredity |
| dynastic cycle | the rise and fall of Chinese dynasties according to the mandate of heaven |
| atman | a person's essential self |
| nirvana | Union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth |
| 4 noble truths | buddhist belief for the causes and cures of suffering |
| untouchables | lowest of the ancient Indian caste system-- nomads |
| Daoism | philosophical system developed by of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu advocating a simple honest life |
| autocracy | A government by a single person having unlimited power |
| mandarins | A member of any of the nine ranks of high public officials in the Chinese Empire |
| democracy | Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives |
| veto | the power of a chief executive to reject a bill passed by the legislature |
| criminal law | Law that deals with crimes and their punishments |
| gospels | One of the first four New Testament books, describing the life, death, resurrection and teachings of Jesus |
| messiah | messenger of god |
| artifact | object made by human beings |
| latitude | distance north or south of the equator |
| Neolithic | period of the Stone Age beginning around 10,000 B.C. in the Middle East (New Stone Age) |
| cultural diffusion | spread of ideas, coustoms, and technologies from one people to another |
| Osiris | The ancient Egyptian god whose annual death and resurrection personified the self-renewing vitality and fertility of nature |
| Hatshepsut | Queen of Egypt (1503-1482) who on the death of her husband, Thutmose II (c. 1504), became regent for her son Thutmose III. She bestowed the title of pharaoh on herself and adopted all the pharaonic customs, including the wearing of a false beard. |
| mummification | practice of preserving the bodies of the dead |
| barter economy | system in which one set of goods or services is exchanged for another |
| covenant | binding agreement |
| Moses | In the Bible, the Hebrew prophet and lawgiver who led the Israelites out of Egypt |
| brahman | A single spiritual power that resides in all things |
| feudalism | loosely organized system of government in wich local loard governed their own lands but owed military service and other support to a greater lord |
| reincarnation | belief in the rebirth of the soul in another bodily form |
| Jainism | teaches the immortality and transmigration of the soul and denies the existence of a perfect or supreme being |
| Chandragupta Maurya | King of northern India (322?-298) and founder of a dynasty of Hindu kings of India that ruled until c. 185 B.C |
| patriarchal | describing a family headed by the father, husband, or oldest male |
| legalism | Strict, literal adherence to the law or to a particular code, as of religion or morality |
| Han Dynasty | unifyied and expanded china's national territory and promoted literature and the arts |
| monopoly | complete control of a product or buisness by one person or group |
| tyrant | ruler in ancient greece who gained power by force |
| Herodotus | Greek historian whose writings, chiefly concerning the Persian Wars, are the earliest known examples of narrative history |
| Augustus | First emperor of Rome (27 B.C.-A.D. 14) |
| Plato | Greek philosopher. A follower of Socrates, he presented his ideas through dramatic dialogues |
| Apostle | leader or teacher of a new faith or movement |
| sect | small relegious group |
| anthropology | study of the origins and developement of people and their societies |
| longitude | distance east or west of the Prime Meridian |
| domesticate | tame animals and crops for the purpose of cultivation |
| artisan | skilled craftsworker |
| Ra | The ancient Egyptian sun god, the supreme deity represented as a man with the head of a hawk crowned with a solar disk and uraeus |
| Amenhotep IV | King of Egypt (1375?-1358?) who rejected the old gods and initiated a monotheistic worship of the sun-god Aton |
| hieroglyphics | form of picture writing developed by the ancient Egyptians |
| rosetta stone | A basalt tablet bearing inscriptions in Greek and in Egyptian hieroglyphic and demotic scripts |
| cuneiform | wedge-shaped writing of the ancient Sumerians |
| behistun rock | deciphered cuneform |
| Sargon I | one of the Assyrian generals established himself on the vacant throne, taking the name of "Sargon" |
| Zoroaster | Persian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism |
| prophet | spiritual leader believed to be interpreting God's will |
| David | The second king of Judah and Israel. According to the Bible, he slew the Philistine giant Goliath and succeeded Saul as king. He is the reputed author of many of the Psalms |
| oracle bones | bone used by priests in Shang China to predict the future |
| Zhou Dynasty | 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 |
| karma | The total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining the person's destiny |
| Mahavira | founder of jainism |
| Asoka | King of Magadha (273-232) who united most of the Indian subcontinent under one rule and was converted to Buddhism, adopting it as the state religion |
| confucius | Chinese philosopher whose Analects contain a collection of his sayings and dialogues compiled by disciples after his death |
| silk road | An ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean Sea extending some 6,440 km (4,000 mi) and linking China with the Roman Empire |
| Leonidas | king of Sparta and hero of the battle of Thermopylae where is was killed by the Persians |
| Alexander | A Jew of Ephesus who took a prominent part in the uproar raised there by the preaching of Paul |
| Thucydides | Greek historian remembered for his history of the Peloponnesian War (460-395 BC) |
| Caesar | A Roman emperor, as being the successor of Augustus |
| inflation | economic cycle that involves a rapid rise in prices linked to a sharp increase in amount of money available |
| Paul | Apostle to the Gentiles whose life and teachings are set forth in his epistles and the Acts of the Apostles |
| martyr | person who suffers or dies for his or her beliefs |
| technology | tools and skills people use to meet their basic needs |
| nomad | person who moves from place to place in search of food |
| bureaucracy | Administration of a government chiefly through bureaus or departments staffed with nonelected officials |
| scribe | in ancient civilizations, specially trained person who knew how to read, write, and keep records |
| delta | triangular area of marshland formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of a river |
| Tutankhamen | King of Egypt during the XVIII Dynasty |
| hierarchy | system of ranking people within a society |
| Hammurabi | Babylonian king (1792-1750) who made Babylon the chief Mesopotamian kingdom and codified the laws of Mesopotamia and Sumeria |
| Darius | Unified Persia ruled from 522 B.C. - 486 B.C. |
| Diaspora | the scattering of people |
| Solomon | King of Israel famous for his wisdom and his architectural projects, including the Temple in Jerusalem |
| calligraphy | fancy or stylized handwriting |
| yin | The passive, female cosmic principle in Chinese dualistic philosophy |
| yang | The active, male cosmic principle in Chinese dualistic philosophy |
| dhrama | an individual's relegious and moral duties |
| 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 |
| filliel piety | respect for parents |
| Laozi | Chinese philosopher who founded Taoism |
| Wudi | The most famous Han emperor, he strenthened the government and economy |
| Accupuncture | medical treatment in which needles are inserted under the skin at specific points to relieve pain or treat various ilnesses |
| Pericles | Athenian leader noted for advancing democracy in Athens and for ordering the construction of the Parthenon |
| New Testament | The Gospels, Acts, Pauline and other Epistles, and the Book of Revelation, together viewed by Christians as forming the record of the new dispensation belonging to the Church |
| bishop | high-ranking Church official with authority over a local area, or diocese |
| pope | head of the Roman Catholic Church |
| Diocletian | Emperor of Rome (284-305) who divided the empire into east and west (286) in an attempt to rule the territory more effectively |
| Attila | King of the Huns (433?-453) and the most successful of the barbarian invaders of the Roman Empire |
| patriarch | higest church official in a major city |
| Byzantine Empire | The eastern part of the later Roman Empire, dating from A.D. 330 when Constantine I rebuilt Byzantium and made it his capital |
| heresy | relegious beliefs contrary to the official teachings of the church |
| Constantine | A city of northeast Algeria east of Algiers. It was founded by Carthaginians and was the capital and commercial center of Numidia |
| Odoacer | Germanic tribal leader who in 476 deposed Romulus Augustulus (reigned 475-476), bringing the Western Roman Empire to an end |
| icon | holy image of Christ, the Virgin Mary, or a saint venerated in the Eastern Orthodox church |
| Theodora | Byzantine empress (525-548) as the wife and adviser of Justinian I |
| Huns | A member of a nomadic pastoralist people who invaded Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. and were defeated in 455 |
| mercenary | soldier serving in a foreign army for pay |
| Old Testament | The first of the two main divisions of the Christian Bible, corresponding to the Hebrew Scriptures |
| schism | permanent division in a church |
| Justinian | Of or pertaining to the Institutes or laws of the Roman Justinian |
| Christianity | The Christian religion, founded on the life and teachings of Jesus |
| Visigoths | A member of the western Goths that invaded the Roman Empire in the fourth century A.D. |
| Pax Romana | time of Roman peace |
| diocese | district or region under the care of a bishop |
| autocrat | ruler who has complete authority |
| Crusades | holy wars |
| Alaric | King of the Visigoths (395-410) who plundered Greece in 395 and attacked Italy, conquering Rome in 410 |
