Vocabulary Glossary

Kara Michaud
Marwitz B3
Skills and Prehistory
Primary Source: a source in which the information given comes from personal experience or
witness of the event
Secondary Source: a source that provides information based off of an evaluation of information
given by an original source
History: a study of past recorded events
Prehistory: events that occurred before occurrences were documented/written down
Paleolithic Era: the cultural period of the Stone Age that began about 2.5 to 2 million years ago,
marked by the earliest use of tools made of chipped stone
Hunter-gatherers: humans that relied hunting prey and gathering fruits, nuts, seeds, ect as a
main food source
Neolithic Revolution: a fundamental change in the way people lived, which included the shift
from hunting & gathering to agriculture (leading to permanent settlements). These permanent
settlements resulted in the establishment of social classes, and the eventual rise of civilizations.
Domestication: the breeding of animals to benefit humans
Pastoralists: sheep/cattle farmers
Division of Labor: a division of work between people in a community in order to increase
efficiency
Civilization: the stage of human social development and organization that is considered most
advanced
Artisans: a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand
Caste system: a class structure that is determined by birth, (if you are born into poverty, you will
remain in poverty).
Polytheistic: a religion that contains beliefs in many gods
Confucianism: a system of philosophical and ethical teachings founded by Confucius and
developed by Mencius. Stresses importance of respect and kindness.
Yin and Yang: the philosophy that there is a little good in every evil, and a little evil in all good,
and that all things are connected in the world.

Hammurabis Code: a well-preserved Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia, dating

back to about 1754 BC (eye for an eye).
Phoenicians: members of a Semitic people inhabiting ancient Phoenicia and its colonies. The
Phoenicians prospered from trade and manufacturing until the capital, Tyre, was sacked by
Alexander the Great in 332 BC.
Ziggurat: a rectangular Mesopotamian temple used to worship and believed to be dwelling
places for gods
Pyramids: massive pointed structures built for Egyptians as tombs for pharaohs where they were
buried with what they wanted to be with them in the afterlife
Greeks
Polis: a city-state in ancient Greece, mostly used for philosophical purposes
Monarchy: a form of government that relies one or two people, formally through family
bloodlines, to rule over a land/civilization/country
Direct democracy: a form of government in which all laws are created by a general vote of
society
Oligarchy: a form of government in which is run/ruled by a small group of people with
Homer: the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, who was believed by the ancient Greeks to have
been the first and greatest of the epic poets.
Socrates/Plato/Aristotle: famous Greek philosophers; Socrates taught Plato, who taught
Aristotle
Alexander the Great: a King of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the
Argead dynasty, who went on to conquer Persia and Egypt, his kingdom ranging from the
Mediterranean to the border of India.
Hellenistic World: a brief but thorough empire-building campaign changed the
world: It spread Greek ideas and culture from the Eastern Mediterranean to Asia
Early Civilizations
Cultural diffusion: the spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another
Delta: the alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river, 4th letter in the Greek alphabet
Monsoons: vital seasonal rains that hit India, leading them out of droughts and into prosperous
times for crops and farms, but can cause serious flooding and damage

City-state: a country made up of a city that controls the area around it

Dynasties: a line of hereditary rulers of a country
Pharaohs: rulers (mainly Egypt) who ruled for life and were held to the highest honor and
respect and buried in pyramids when they passed
Mandate of Heaven: Chinese philosophy through the belief that the Gods granted the Mandate
of Heaven to an individual, giving them power of the dynasty, but taking it away if the
civilization becomes corrupt
Theocracy: a form of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god
Bureaucracy: a form of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state
officials rather than by elected representatives
Early India and China
Karma: a Hindu belief that what goes around comes around, and that if you do something good
(or bad), something good (or bad) will happen to you.
Reincarnation: being reborn as another form of yourself, in hopes of fulfilling darma for good
karma to escape the cycle of reincarnation
Dharma: your spiritual duties as a Hindu
The Buddha: Siddhartha Guatama, a former-prince who gave up royalty to find to get his people
out of suffering through fasting, studying, and meditation (where he found enlightenment).
Nirvana: a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the
subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth
Confucianism: a system of philosophical and ethical teachings founded by Confucius and
developed by Mencius. Stresses importance of respect and kindness.
Legalism: strict adherence to law
Qin/Han/Tang/Song: Chinese Dynasties
Shi Huangdi: the King of the state of Qin who conquered all other Warring States and united
China in 221 BC
Bureaucracy: a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by
state officials rather than by elected representatives
Great Wall: a stone wall extending for fifteen hundred miles across northern China, built to
defend the Chinese border during ancient times.

Terra Cotta Army: a clay army buried with the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, under
his command of protection in the after-life
Civil Service:
Silk roads: roads throughout India that was a center for trade and cultural diffusion
Filial Piety: a Confucian philosophy that stood for respect for one's father, elders, and ancestors
Foot binding: the custom of applying painfully tight binding to the feet of young girls to prevent
further growth
Wu Zetian: the only female monarch of China; ruled the empire for over a century (624-705)
Romans
Patricians: elite landowning families that controlled most of society
Plebeians: common people
Law of Twelve Tables: constitution of the Republic, enforced the equality under the law for all
Republic: a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives,
and which has an elected or nominated president (rather than a monarch).
Veto: a constitutional right to reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body
Consul: one of the two annually elected chief magistrates who jointly ruled the republic
Legion: a unit of 3,0006,000 men in the ancient Roman army
Aqueducts: an artificial channel for conveying water, typically in the form of a bridge supported
by tall columns across a valley
Latin: the language of ancient Rome and its empire, widely used historically as a language of
scholarship and administration
Julius Caesar: a Roman statesman, general, and short time dictator of Rome, who played a
critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman
Empire
Augustus: the founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, ruling from 27 BC until his
death in 14 AD
Pax Romana: the peace that existed between nationalities within the Roman Empire
Constantine: a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD of Illyrian ancestry
Inflation: a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money