Term
Neolithic Revolution
(10,000 B.C.E.- 5,000 B.C.E.) |
|
Definition
What it is:
The slow development of agriculture by early humans.
More detail:
It began around 10,000 B.C.E. in Western Asia, but spread slowly and unevenly to other parts of the world. The domestication of animals, namely dogs, and the cultivation of crops led to the development of agriculture, by women. Hunter-gatherer societies had become extremely complex and agriculture fed more people, and there were now more mouths to feed.
The first animals to be domesticated were dogs, then sheep, goats, and cattle.
The first plants to be cultivated were wheat and barely, followed by legumes.
The area in western Asia was an area of annual, dependable rainfall, also known as the Fertile Crescent. Located in modern day southern Jordan to southern Iran.
With agriculture came the development of a sedinitary lifestyle and the beginnings of villages. By 7000 B.C.E., small settlements were common and populations blossomed.
Specialization of labor also began during this period allowing for new crafts such as metalworking, beadmaking, and sewing to arise.
Negative Factors:
The spread of disease increased
The scale of war increased- More men available to fight now that there is a reliable food source.
Important sites:
-Çayönü Tepsi (Eastern Anatolia)
-Jericho (Palestine): 2,000 people
-Çatal Hüyük (South-central Anatolia): 6,000 people
The Bigger Picture:
The Neolithic Revolution laid the foundations for civilization. Without the development of agriculture, the migratory hunter-gatherer socities would not have settled down to live a sedintary lifestyle. Thus, villages and eventually cities, kingdoms, and empires would not have formed. Also, now that more time was available, as little hunting had to be done and the food source was reliable, specialization of labor occured. New skills and trades were developed into crafts we recognize today. The beginnings of war and disease as we know it also emerged. |
|
|
Term
Hammurabi
(1792-1750 B.C.E) |
|
Definition
Who he was:
The most famous Amorite king who ruled over Babylon for 42 years and attempted to create an Mesopotamian empire.
More Detail:
Hammurabi was a careful ruler who created an era of prosperity and cultural development.
Known best for his famous law "code." It was less a code, and more a list of rules that seemed fit for justice based on Hammurabi's judgement.
Hammuabi's Code:
Nearly 300 laws covering issues from commercial law to family matters, from wages to murder.
Inscribed on 49 vertical stone stele columns 7 and 1/2 feet tall that were placed in public areas.
The first law code to stipulate harsh penalities such as mutilation, drowning, or impaling.
Introduced the idea of retaliation for wounds- "If a man has sestroyed the eye of a member of the aristocracy: they shall destroy his eye..." (An eye for an eye; A tooth for a tooth).
Strongly favored the elite- punishments for lower class citizens were harsher, especially if the crime was commited on an upper class citizen. However, if an elite wronged a poorer person, the punishment was less intense.
Even more so, crimes against any free person were harsher
than those committed against slaves or semi-free persons.
Children could be punished for the crimes of their fathers.
Women did retain some rights.
Symbolized that the idea that the law belonged to everyone.
The Bigger Picture:
A legal and literary classic that would be copied later on.
A Reflection of Mesopotamian Society:
-Harsh
-Egalitarian
-Patriarchal
-Problems of debt |
|
|
Term
Cuneiform
(3500-3100 B.C.E.)
(2350 B.C.E.) |
|
Definition
What it is:
The Mesopotamian form of writing that evolved from pictographs to ideograms (abstract symbols that don't directly reflect paritcular objects) to phonetic (syllabic).
More Detail:
Cuneiform meand "Wedge-shaped" in Latin, which accurately describes what it looked like.
In the first centuries it was used for economic records and commercial transactions.
Later was used to record offerings to the gods.
2350 B.C.E.- Mixed system of 600 signs that were mainly phonetic.
Written on clay.
Used as the standard script for various Western Asian languages.
Used to record spoken language, records, poetry, and bookkeeping.
The Bigger Picture:
Writing developed as means of economic recording, not creativity.
A catalyst for change- allowed Mesopotamia to become sophisticated and dynamic.
Useful today as insight into the various cultures that used cuneiform. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who she is:
The Sumerian goddess of the sea, and even chaos.
More Detail:
In the Babylonian classic the Enuma Elish, Tiamat is said to have given birth to the first generation deities. She later makes war upon them and is killed by Marduk.
The Bigger Picture:
The Gods of Mesopotamia:
Tiamat reflects both the goddess of the sea and chaos, two things closely associated in Mesopotamian culture.
Both the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were unpredictable and
their flooding caused many problems for the Mesopotamians
and their crops
The chaotic rivers led to the pessimistic outlook the
Mesopotamians held.
The Enuma Elish:
An epic poem of creation and literary classic
Written in a form known as wisdom literature, which would
later be used by The Bible. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
A 4,132 mile long river in eastern Africa. It flows north and was the basis of life of ancient Egypt.
More Detail:
It flooded regularly, providing prosperity and an optimistic outlook of the gods for the Egyptians.
Egyptian villages and cities boardered the Nile.
Kingdoms formed in the Nile Valley in both Lower Egypt in the Nile Delta and the Upper Kingdom before the cataracts.
Major Cities:
-Memphis: Capital of Lower Egypt
-Cairo
-Giza
The Bigger Picture:
The predictable nature of the Nile reflected the Egyptian lifestyle, ever stagnant and optimistic.
Because the Nile rarely betrayed the Egyptians, there gods were not to be feared, but praised.
It allowed the Egyptian lifestyle to flourish. |
|
|
Term
Hyksos
(After 1700 B.C.E.) |
|
Definition
What they were:
A group of Semitic- speaking peoples from Canaan (Israel, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon). They invaded and conqured much of Egypt.
More Detail:
After taking over most of the Egyptian lands, they adopted many of the Egyptian customs.
They worshipped Egyptian gods, restored Egyptian temps, and
intermarried with the Egyptians.
Even though they adopted the Egyptian culture, the Hyksos were unpopular and eventually a revolt was started in Upper Egypt (which had retained a loose independence) creating a war and driving the Hyksos out.
After they were driven out, The New Kingdom began with Ahmose I and became an era of great rulers, an new ideals.
Brought chariots, new daggers, swords, and the composite bow.
Important Pharaohs:
-Hatshepsut
-Thutmose III
-Amenhotep IV
-Tutankhaten
The Bigger Picture:
The Hyksos disrupted the calm, predictable lifestyle of the Egyptians.
Once the Egyptians regained control of their usually isolated kingdom, they established changes.
A more militaristic, exansionist, religious reformed Egypt
emerged. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
An Egyptian book of instructions on how to properly prepare a body for the afterlife.
More Detail:
The Egyptians were optimistic about the afterlife and were constantly focused on it.
The prepared lavish tombs and were burried with all of their earthly possessions.
The afterlife could be pleasant and was a continuation of life on earth.
Mummification was also developed to preserve the body and all of its organs in the afterlife.
The heart is weighed in a divine court of judgement to determine the fate of the person in the afterlife.
The Bigger Picture:
Reflected the Egyptian concern and optimism about the afterlife. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
The Assyrian Capital in modern day iran.
More Detail:
The Assyrians were a warlike people who ruled the near east during the first millennium B.C.E.
Their innovations included using calvary as a main striking force and using iron in their armor and weapons.
They practiced deportations, uprooting people so that rebellions wouldn't occur.
Prevent rebellions and create a varied labor force.
Overextended themselves while trying to conquer Egypt and eventually fell to a Neo-Babylonian empire.
The Bigger Picture:
The Assyrians began from a small area around Nineveh and eventually conqured most of the Near East and even into Egypt.
They were a warlike people who utilized Calavary and iron weapons.
They were one of the first large empires of the world. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
An ancient city located in modern day Tunisia, it was originally home to the Phonecians.
More Detail:
The Phonecians were master sailors and developed the modern alphabet.
Carthage eventually gained independence from the Phonecians to become an independent state.
Would eventually become the focus of numerous Greek and Roman tales, namely the Aeneid.
Carthage would become the sworn enemy of Rome.
Would eventually fall to Rome after the Third Punic War.
Important leaders:
-Queen Elissa (Dido): Founder of Carthage
-Hannibal
The Bigger Picture:
Carthage would become the sworn enemy of Rome and involved in numerous conflicts with Rome.
Would evenutally become part of the vast Roman empire.
Virgil's Aeneid takes place partly in Carthage and explains why Rome and Carthage hate each other. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What they were:
Provincial govenors in the Persian Empire.
More Detail:
The Perisan Empire was devided in the satrapies, provinces, headed by a satraph, or govenor.
The Satraph was quasi-independent and powerful.
The king tried to keep a firm hand over the govenors and did so by having a royal secretary visit for an inspection.
Also grouped into units of administration and tax collection
The Bigger Picture:
Persia was a vast empire, the largest of it's time and all times before it.
The king needed to keep control over the vast empire, so he divided it up and kept a watchful eye over the various administrators- who handled daily tasks while the King delt with more important items.
Road systems developed to travel from province to province, most notably the Royal Road. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who he was:
Founder of the Persian religon Zoroastrianism.
More Detail:
The religion was founded about 1000-550 B.C.E. and persisted until the Muslims took over in the seventh century C.E.
Still exists in small communities in Iran.
Zarathustra's teachings exist in the Gathas ("Songs"), a protion of the holy book the Avesta.
Zarathustra lived in an area dominated by warriors who followed a violent, sacraficial religion.
Zarathustra rejected this.
He created an inward-looking, intellectual, ethical religion.
Fire represented purity and was the focus of ceremonies, not blood shed.
Not a strict monotheist, but one god had power over all people.
Ahura Mazda
Ethical Dualism
The twin children of Ahura Mazda were the Beneficent Spirit
and the Hostile Spirit.
Truth vs. Lies...good vs. evil
Every human must make the same choice between good and evil.
There is a spiritual and material state of being.
A person who pursued the spiritual state more had chose
good over evil.
Strong interest in the end of the world and a belief in a savior.
Ahura Mazda would eventually judge all the people who ever lived and act on them adequately...punishment or rewards.
The Bigger Picture:
Zoroastrianism heavily influenced Judaism.
Provided an alternate from the warlike peoples and religions of the area. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who he is:
The god of the Hebrews.
More Detail:
Yaweh made a covenant with the Jews...making them his chosen people.
The Ten Commandments were a list of Yaweh's laws that were accepted by the Israelites.
Major texts:
The Torah
The Bible
The Bigger Picture:
The Hebrews founded the world first true monotheistic religion.
Judaism would eventually lead way to Christianity and eventually Islam.
The people of the covenant were often exiled and persecuted and their kingdoms were often overthrown by outside forces. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who he was:
Perhaps the most important and influential Greek poet.
More Detail:
Homer's texts were biblical in importance to the Greeks.
His texts recounted the triumphs of the Greeks.
Lived in Ionia.
Influenced by earlian Anatolian poets.
His texts focus on the Trojan War and its aftermath.
It recounts tales of the gods, who are very human-like and interfering.
Based off of oral history and tales.
Heros are brainy and strong, but have faults too, such as pride and jealousy. They make mistakes, but are also triumphant.
Major texts:
-The Iliad
-The Odyssey
The Bigger Picture:
Homer's works were vital to Greek life and education.
They reflected the values of the Greeks in their heros and people.
Recount the history of the Trojan War.
Show insight into the Greek gods.
Provide a model for later poets, such as Virgil. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
An ancient Greek city-state.
More Detail:
Less than 100 square miles, in general.
Not just a city, but a community as a whole.
Numerous words developed from polis such as ta pollitika, or politics.
Two areas- Small, urban area, and a countryside where most people lived.
The urban area was used as an area of gathering and
commerce.
The polic was a common thing, belonging to the people.
Emphasis put on equality.
Major Polis:
-Athens
-Sparta
-Corinth
The Bigger Picture:
Various city-states emerged and gained power, even waging war on each other.
The polis had the starts of the modern civilization structure and even government formation.
Culture flourished within each individual polis, including art and intellect. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
A practice of Athenian democracy that expelled citizens from the city-state of Athens for ten years.
More Detail:
Often used to remove political opponents.
Used most often by Pericles.
Equivalent of the death sentence.
Repuation was so important that the person ostracised would
rather commit suicide.
Sometimes used to prevent a dangerous tyrant from overtaking Athens.
All based on a popularity vote.
The Bigger Picture:
Helped those who were popular stay popular by eliminating their opponents...like Pericles
Removed threats to the peace.
Used as a model for later civilizations.
Not actually Greek law or justice, just a vote of the people. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who he was:
Leader of the fith century Athens.
More Detail:
He established Athens as a great center of art and lterature and as a great empire.
Kept his control by ostracizing his opponents.
Closely connected to Demokratia, making it a staple of Athenian life and government.
Respected the common people.
An excellent orator.
Educated in philosophy.
Expanded Greece all over the Aegean Sea.
The greatest Greek navy existed under his leadership.
The Bigger Picture:
Democracy was now the way of the Athenian government.
Expanision led to the thirty year Peloponeasian War. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who they were:
The unfree peoples, or slaves, of Messenia in Sparta.
More Detail:
In about 725 B.C.E., the fertile Messenian lands were conqured by Sparta and the Messenians were forced to work for the Spartans.
The Messenians revolted between 675 and 650 B.C.E., but were repressed.
They performed the majority of manual labor in Sparta.
The lowest class in Sparta.
The Bigger Picture:
Sparta had to develop a top notch military in order to repress the Helots. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who he was:
An Ancient Greek philosopher, and the founder of the Western philosophical tradition.
More Detail:
Developed Socratic Method, a method of learning that relies heavily on inquiry.
Most notable critic of the Sophists.
His true knowledge was in knowing his ignorance.
Criticized Athenian Democracy, but started no revolutions.
Made many enemies by showing the Athenian leaders their ignorance.
Tried, convicted, and exiled in 399 B.C.E. for atheism and corrupting the young.
Commits suicide instead.
"Virtue is knowledge."
Claimed to never have taught anything.
Truth can only be found in people.
The Bigger Picture:
Began modern, Western philosophy.
His trial and coviction is considered on of Athenian Democracy's greatest blunders, and one of history's greastest injustices.
Teacher of Plato, who is in turn Aristotle's teacher. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
Overweening pride that eventually ended in retribution.
More Detail:
The pride caused the person do perform an action that would bring embarrassment upon them.
This cockiness was frowned upon by Greek society.
Normally the hubris of the elites was exposed, but also those who challenged Greek laws.
Considered a crime in Athens.
Homer's Examples:
-Achilles: Drags Hector's body through town.
-Odysseus: Calls out his name to Polyphemus.
The Bigger Picture:
Hubris was such an offense in the Greek culture that it was reflected in Homer's epic poetry to show it's devestating effects.
Demonstrates the Greek culture and values. |
|
|
Term
Alexander the Great
(336-323 B.C.E.) |
|
Definition
Who he was:
Alexander III of Macedon was the conquerer of the Persian Empire and he spread Greek civilization into western Asia, Egypt, and India.
More Detail:
Died at age 32.
Charismatic, handsome, intelligent, and well educated.
Educated by Aristotle.
Climbed his way to the top by a massacre of his male relatives.
He was ruthless, but cultured.
Founded 20 cities, such as Alexandria in Egypt.
Began the Hellenistic era in Greece.
Well liked all over.
The Bigger Picture:
Alexander the Great widely increased the Greek borders.
Didn't name a successor, so his military generals divided up his kingdom.
Started the Hellenistic Kingdom in Greece. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
A residency for intellectuals and a research center located in Alexandria.
More Detail:
Commissioned by King Ptolemy I.
Created by the desposed Athenian tyrant Demetrius.
Modeled on Athen's Lyceum.
The largest library of its time.
The Bigger Picture:
Housed various important works of literature and infomation.
Represented a break from the Classical period.
Helped to create advances in science, medicine, mathematics, and the more liberal arts. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who he was:
The Persian god of light and truth who also promised eternal life.
More Detail:
During the first three centuries C.E., mystery religions found popularity in Rome.
The cult of Mithras was popular among soldiers on the eastern borders of the Roman empire.
Mainly worshiped by men.
Believed Mitras has captured and killed a sacred bull whose blood and nody were the source of life.
Mitraism focused on bull sacrafice.
Initiates were baptized in bull blood.
The Bigger Picture:
Rome used the mystery religion of Greece and other previous civilizations instead of developing their own culture.
Mystery religion were secert, cult-like, and personal.
Christianity began like this as well and would eventually be widely accepted, or at least acknowledged in Rome. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it was:
The Roman elite class.
More Detail:
Made up only 5-10% of the Roman population.
All the government officials came from this class.
Owned most of the land.
The Bigger Picture:
A minority ruled a majority.
Eventually, Tiberius Gracchus, a patrician, became a tribune and passed a law distrubuting patrician lands to the plebians, creating a revolution in Rome. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who he was:
Military commander of the Carthaginian military.
More Detail:
Led the Carthaginian army, who was of questionable loyalty, into the Second Punic War.
A genius in military tactics, he led his troops onto the Italian mainland and won at the Battle of Cannae, killing 30,000 Romans.
Played a prominent role in Cathaginian politics for ten years.
He was forced into exile by Rome and in 183 B.C.E., committed suicide rather than facing Rome.
The Bigger Picture:
The Punic Wars finally settled the hatred between Rome and Carthage, with Rome coming out on top.
Even with amazing leadership under Hannibal, and others, Carthage had too many weaknesses and not enough resources to defeat Rome.
Rome emerged from the Punic Wars as the greastest power in the Mediterranean. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
Huge areas of land devoted to a single estate.
More Detail:
Often found on land that was conqured by Rome.
The land was taken by Senate members.
Huge plantations/estates.
Elites took all the revenue.
Worked by slaves.
The Bigger Picture:
Created discontent with the unpaid soldiers who had won the land for Rome.
Tiberius Gracchus rose up to equally distribute the land of Rome amongst the soldiers and plebians.
The major issue that acted as a catalyst towards Roman reformation all the way up until Caesar. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who he was:
A Roman general and politician who continued Roman reforms.
More Detail:
Marius continued the land reforms of the Gracchus brothers.
He showed concern for his own men, his soldiers.
Created a professional army.
The soldiers are loyal to their general.
The soldiers are paid.
Used the loyalty to be elected to consul six times in a row, something previously unheard of.
The Bigger Picture:
Marius continued to reform Rome, just as the Gracchus brothers had done before him.
He made Rome's army stronger and more loyal by paying them.
Greatly altered the Roman consul, by breaking the election rules. |
|
|
Term
First Triumvirate
(60-53 B.C.E.) |
|
Definition
What it was:
An alliance between Julius Caesar, Marcus Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompey that ruled over Rome.
More Detail:
The First Triumvirate was a conspiracy to run the state.
Pompey wished to recieve lands for his veterans in the east.
Caesar wanted to have free reign to do as he pleased in Gaul.
Crassus wished for a rebate for tax collectors and for Syria to make war on the Persians.
The group achieved their goals, and therefore didn't last long. Crassus died in battle, and Pompey feared Caesar's growing power and returned to favor the Senate.
The Bigger Picture:
The First Triumvirate led Caesar to his position of power.
Caesar expanded Rome's borders and created a Roman empire.
He sponsered radical reforms, and even introduced the calander.
He accepted dicatorship for life. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
What it is:
The title, meaning "First citizen", Octavian took to earn respect from the Senate.
More Detail:
This was part of Augutus' incredible propoganda.
Never took the title of monarch, even though he was one.
Used this to deal with the conservative senate.
Retain the form, change the substance.
The Bigger Picture:
Augustus gained the trust and approval of the senate by taking on such names and increasing the size of the senate.
He made them believe they were extremely improtant while giving them menial tasks.
He led Rome into an era of prosperity and unrivaled peace.
Expanded public works and entertainment as well as gave grain out to all citizens. |
|
|
Term
Barracks Emperors
(3rd Century) |
|
Definition
What it is:
A Barrack Emperor gained control through military force.
More Detail:
20 different emperors in 49 years.
Most died violent deaths.
Most began as commoners, enlisted soldiers, and worked their way up, killed the current emperor to take control.
North, East, and Roman commanders fight for the throne.
The Bigger Picture:
The Crisis of the 3rd Centrury.
An era of almost constant civil war.
Changed the ways of succession in place before that were characterized by peace. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Who he was:
A Pharisee who persecuted Christians that converted to Christianity to become on the the twelve apostles.
More Detail:
Originally named Saul.
Converted on the way to Damascus by a vision of Jesus.
Became Paul after his conversion.
Altered the meaning of being a Christian.
Broke from Jewish law.
Missonary missions.
Wanted to convert Gentiles.
The Bigger Picture:
Paul's teachings began the seperation of Christianity from Judaism.
Taught that not only studying Jesus' life as a model for ethics was important, but even more so how they've been offered hope and salvation.
Only faith in Jesus could save the soul. |
|
|
