| A | B |
|---|
| Indo-Europeans | seminomadic people from the steppes north of the Caucasus Mts. |
| steppes | dry grasslands between the Black and Caspian Seas |
| migration | movement of people from one place to another |
| Hittites | an Indo-European people who settled in Anatolia around 2000BC |
| Anatolia | Asia Minor, a huge penninsula that is now modern-day Turkey |
| Aryans | Indo-European people who began to migrate into the Indian subcontinent about 1500BC |
| Vedas | four collections of prayers, magical spells, and instructions for performing rituals, belonged to the Aryans |
| Brahmin | Hindu priests in the Aryan and later Hindu caste system |
| caste | social groups in the Hindu religion |
| Mahabharata | epic of India; longest single poem in the world that told of the Aryans' struggles |
| reincarnation | rebirth of one's soul |
| karma | good or bad deeds that affect how one will be reincarnated |
| Jainism | religion, followers believe that everything has a soul and should not be harmed |
| Siddhartha Gautama | founder of Buddhism who became enlightened |
| enlightenment | complete wisdom and understanding of life |
| nirvana | Buddha's word for release from selfishness and pain |
| Minoans | seafaring people from Crete who dominated trade in the easterm Mediterranean from 2000 to 1400BC |
| Aegean | a sea between Greece and Anatolia, branches off from the Mediterranean |
| Knossos | Minoan capital city on Crete |
| King Minos | King of the Minoans who kept a half-human and half-bull monster called the Minotaur in a labyrinth |
| Phoenicians | the most powerful traders along the Mediterranean about 1100BC who originated from Anatolia |
| Palestine | region at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East |
| Canaan | area of Palestine, original home of the Hebrews |
| Torah | first five books of the Hebrew Bible |
| Abraham | chosen by God to be the "father" of the Hebrew people |
| monotheism | belief in one god |
| covenant | a mutual promise (between God and the founder of the Hebrew people) |
| Moses | led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt by crossing the Sinai Desert and Red Sea |
| Israel | later kingdom of the united Hebrews in Palestine |
| Judah | a place; the southern part of the Hebrew kingdom after it split up; Israel was the northern part |
| tribute | peace money paid by a weaker power to a stronger power |
