Download World History Midterm Study Guide Primary source

World History Midterm Study Guide
Primary source: eyewitness accounts of an event, laws, artifacts: reveal to
historians culture, lifestyle, prejudices and biases of ancient civilizations
Radiocarbon dating: determines the age of artifacts by measuring the amount of
radioactive elements remaining in the artifact.
Cultural diffusion: the spreading of ideas to other areas as a result of division of
labor, traders transported goods to sell and spread ideas
Prehistoric Man
Man originated in Africa
Australopithecus: the earliest hominids probably survived by moving
constantly in search of food and shelter.
Hominids: humanlike creatures that live about 3.4 million years ago.
Neanderthals:
1. Disappeared due to dying out or intermingling with Cro-Magnons.
2. Hunter-gatherers
3. Cared for their sick and aged. Buried their dead
4. Lived I clans of 35-50
5. Wore animal skins
Paleolitic artifacts: flint scrapers and cutting tools
Neolithic Revolution: cultural and lifestyle changes caused by the
development of agriculture and the domestication of animals
Neolithic agricultural revolution: long process of lifestyle change from food
gathering to food producing
With the invention of the plow, men took over farming and became the
primary food providers.
The first Homo Sapiens appeared about 100,000 to 400,000 years ago.
Neolithic settlements that developed into towns and small cities are
1. Jericho on the banks of the Jordan River
2. Jarmo in Iraq
3. CatalHuyuk in Turkey
Early Civilizations
The Fertile Crescent (Tigris/Euphrates River Valley) was frequently invaded
because there was no natural barriers so it was easy to reach by land.
The geographic feature that the ancient civilizations have in common is that
they all began in river valleys. (Egypt, Sumer, Harappa)
Began around the Yellow (China), Indus (India), Nile (Egypt),
Tigris/Euphrates (Mesopotamia)
Ancient Mesopotamia: started in the Tigris Euphrates River valleys. Two of
the cultures that started there were Sumer and Babylonia.
Studying the Nile, Indus and Huang River valleys is most important in
understanding the role of geography in the development of early
civilizations.
Sumerians: the first people to develop writing
Harappa
o Began in the Indus River valley
o Cities are notable for their grid-like layouts and underground sewers
Ancient cities
o Ziggurat: know what one looks like: structure common in Sumer,
Babylonia and Assyria.
o Babylonia: had the first written laws: Code of Hammurabi
o Ur, Uruk, Jericho, Aleppo are considered by historians to be among
the world’s first cities
Phoenicians
Created a simplified alphabet
Developed an easy to learn, 22 character, writing system (Greek alphabet
was based on it)
After 1000 B.C. became great traders
China
The oldest continuous civilization in the world
The natural barrier between India and China was the Himalaya Mountains
Silk Road: a trade route between China and the Mediterranean region.
Inventions: acupuncture, paper, compass
Shang dynasty kings tried to predict the future by scratching on oracle
bones.
Ancient Chinese believed that just and effective rulers would receive the
mandate of heaven to rule
The Great Wall of China is a long and massive wall built in ancient China.
1. Built to defend China against invasion
The yin yang symbol represents the dualism of nature
Huang River was called China’s Sorrow because it often flooded causing
death and devastation
Religions
Hinduism
Hindu holy texts are the Vedas and Upanishads
Caste system
Belief in reincarnation and moksha
Confucianism
Confucius
thought ethics, morals, and respect of family were of greatest
importance.
Stressed social order, harmony and good government could be
restored by organizing society around 5 basic relationships
Legalism:
believes that people are by nature selfish and untrustworthy
Shi Huangdi (a Qin Ruler) followed this philosophy when he
1. Burned “useless” books
2. Created force3d labor
3. Murdered hundreds of scholars
Dao: created by Laozi taught that the Dao was the governing force of nature
Buddhism
Holy texts: Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path
Founded by Siddhartha Gautama
Be able to identify a Buddha statue
Teaches the Four Noble Truths
Followers seek nirvana, the end of death, rebirth and suffering
Taught: selflessness, nonviolence, virtuous conduct
Nirvana: the release from the cycle of reincarnation that comes from
complete understanding
Hinduism and Buddhism: both believe in reincarnation
Zoroaster of Persia
Taught that humans had to choose between the forces of good and
evil
Zoroaster, Christianity and Islam are all similar in their beliefs of heaven,
hell, and final judgment day.
Judaism
Holy book: Torah
Moses: let Hebrews out of slavering Egypt and received the Ten
Commandments on Mount Sinai.
Persia
Be able to identify on a map
Conquered by Alexander the Great
Aegean Civilizations
Minoan and Mycenaean
Greece
Transportation and communication difficulty because of the mountainous
terrain
Words that are essential to the concept of the city state: polis, acropolis,
agora
Phalanx: a government body
Greek gods and goddesses had human qualities and unique personalities
o They were connected to city-states as guardians of each state
Be able to identify important buildings such as the Parthenon
Parthenon is admired due to its perfectly balanced proportions
Vase paintings illustrate scenes from everyday life
Sculptures exhibit the human traits of pride, beauty and grace, strength and
athletic ability
Homer wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey
Plato wrote The Republic
Pericles: believed that the essence of a city’s survival is ensuring citizen
participation in government
1. Sparta
Emphasized military and athletic ability
Paid a high price for their unbeatable army: they gave up much of
their personal freedoms
2. Athens
Created art, literature, philosophy and science
Had a direct democracy
Socrates: philosopher. He was condemned to death for corrupting the
youth of Athens and encouraging them to seek the truth through
questioning
3. Wars
Spartan land power and Athenian sea power were equally important in
turning back the two Persian invasions of Greece
The Battle of Thermopylae takes its name from the narrow mountain
pass where it happened
Salamis Straits: the smaller Greek navy was able to sink much of the
larger Persian fleet because the Greek ships were easier to maneuver.
Peloponnesian War
More than 1/3 of the Athenians including Pericles died as a
result of a plague
Won by Sparta
Macedonia
Alexander the Great was the Macedonian king who conquered most of
Greece after the Peloponnesian War.
Alexander the Great’s empire went as far east as the Indus River.
After Alexander the Great conquered Greece, he conquered the Persian
Empire, Egypt and the Indus Valley
Hellenistic culture: The mixture of Greek and Middle Eastern culture that
was formed during and after Alexander the Great.
o Indian, Persian and Egyptian cultures are represented in this blend
India
Asoka improved the living conditions of the people in India by planting trees,
digging wells and building rest houses along trade routes
Aryans established the social class system that came to be known as the
caste system.
Invention: concept of zero, infinity, the decimal system, numerals, and the
existence of gravity.
Zhou dynasty: the belief was developed of the dualism of nature which is
the root of many philosophies.
Egypt
Menes was the pharaoh that united Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt into one
kingdom
Cleopatra: first female ruler in history