Midterm Review

Mesopotamia

1. 5000 BCE: Farmers brought crop-raising to Sumer in southern Mesopotamia
2. 3800 BCE: Uruk expanded into the first city
3. 2500 BCE: Sumerians established Scribal Schools
4. 2100 BCE: Mesopotamian temples became ziggurauts 
5. Cuneiform: Wedge shaped sumerian writing
6. Polytheism: The worship of many Gods
7. Hammurabi: Mesopotamia ruler who's greatest accomplishment was the creation of the Hammurabi Code.
8. Hammurabi Code: Hammurabi's divine authority. A code of law that provides a wealth of information on people's everyday life in Mespopotamia. The code was corrupt, as it allowed for high society to simply pay bribes, but the code called for individuals of lower classes to face an eye for an eye punishment style. Not the first law code in Mesopotamia. 
9. Epic Poem: Stories of the successes and failures of heroes, that reflect the introspection of the people
10. 1755 BCE: When Hammurabi's extensive law code was introduced 

Egypt

1. Pharaoh: Title given to the king of Egypt, derived from a word meaning 'great house'.
2. 3100-2660 BCE: Unification of Egypt
3. 2660-2180 BCE: Construction of the pyramids began 
4. 1570 BCE: Creation of an Egyptian Empire/ The New Kingdom is Formed
5. 1100-653 BCE: Political fragmentation and conquest caused by outsiders
6. Gift of the Nile: The Nile's annual and predictable floods, which brought Egypt fertile soil for farming.
7. Book of the Dead: Collection of funerary manuscripts concerning Egyptian afterlife concepts.
8. Hieroglyphics: The form of writing used by Egyptians for important religious and political texts.
9. Hieratic: A simpler form of writing that allowed for scribes to write more quickly, and was used for documents of daily life.
10. Hatshepsut: One of the few female pharaohs, who existed during the New Kingdom, and promoted building and trade.

Harrappa India 

1. 2500-2000 BCE: Harrapan Civilization Thrived
2. 2500 BCE: Sophisticated Bronze Age Urban Culture Is Established in India
3. Harrapan Script: The Harrapan language that was incised on clay tablets and seals.
4. Mohenjo-Daro: Was a planned Harrappan City that had drainage pipes, and straight streets.
5. Great Bath: Is believed to have been a ritual pool for purification.
6. Lothal: Major port for exit and entry in Harrapan India
7. Cotton cloth: Cloth made of cotton, Harrapa was one of the earliest manufacturers of this.
8. Harrapan Cities: Weren't formed by villages that grew out of control, but rather were built ahead of time to be settled into.
9. Sanitation System: An advanced system for waste removal. Harrapan is the only ancient civilization to have a sanitation system.
10. Indus River: Provided rich, fertile soil for the Harrapan Civilization. 

Ancient China

1. Book of Documents: Describes the Zhou conquest of the Shang, as just noble warriors defeating a sadistic king and his irresponsible followers.
2. Mandate of Heaven: The theory that heaven gives the king a mandate to rule only as long as he rules in the interests of the people.
3. Shi: The lower ranks of Chinese aristocracy, these men could serve in either military or civil capacities.
4. Book of Songs: The earliest collection of Chinese poetry, it provides glimpses of what life was like in the early Zhou Dynasty.
5. 1050 BCE: The Zhou rose against and defeated the Shang
6. 900 BCE: When the Book of Documents were organized
7. 800 BCE: There were two hundred lords with their own domains
8. 771 BCE: Zhou King was killed by an alliance of non-Chinese tribesmen and Zhou vassals
9. 500 BCE: Citie began appearing all across northern China, as social and economic change quickened
10. 403-221 BCE: The Warring States Period

Indian Religions: Jainism and Buddhism

1. 520 BCE: When Mahavira founded Jainism
2. 500 BCE: Founding of Buddhism
3. Mahavira: The founder of Jainism
4. Jainism: Indian religion, in which everything has a soul, and everything has karma
5. Ahimsa: Non-violence
6. Kharma: One's bad deeds that weigh them down, and prevent them from escaping Samsara
7. Samsara: The Illusory Universe, Cycle of Reincarnation
8. Buddhism: Religion with the goal of achieving Nirvana, releasing one's detachments, to remove all suffering 
9. Four Noble Truths: The Buddha's message that pain and suffering are inescapable parts of life, that suffering is caused by human desires and attachments, people can triumph over their weaknesses, and that triumphing over weaknesses is possible by following a simple code of conduct.
10. Eightfold Path: The code of conduct set forth by the Buddha in his first sermon, beginning with "right conduct" and ending with "right contemplation".

Indian Religions: Hinduism

1. 400 BCE: When Hinduism Started
2. Hinduism: Religion with the goal of escaping Samsara
3. Upanishads: Taught/Introduced the Way of Wisdom
4. Moksha: Escaping Samsara
5. Samsara: The cycle of reincarnation, the illusory universe.
6. Dharma: One's place in the universe, one's true destiny. The moral law, and Hindu teachings. 
7. Way of Withdrawl: Asceticism and meditation on the Vedas, with no accumulated bad karma
8. Way of Wisdom: Realizing that you are a part of the universe, by reading the Upanishads, which allows you to be released from Samsara, and become one with the universe
9. Way of Works: You work your way through the caste system, until you are re-incarnated as a male Brahman, and are released from Samsara
10. Atman: Divine that is within you

Chinese Religions: Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism

1. Analects: Collection of Confucian sayings put together by his followers after his death
2. 551-479 BCE: Time of Confucius
3. Confucianism: Practice of the five relationships and filial piety
4. Taoism: Going with the flow, to become one with the Dao
5. Ren: The ultimate Confucian virtue, it is translated as perfect human-heartedness and nobility.
6. Five Relationships of Confucianism: Ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, friend and friend
7. Junzi: Gentleman, man of moral cultivation, rather than of noble birth
8. 369-286 BCE: When Laozy founded Taoism 
9. The Dao: The way, a term used by Daoists to refer to the natural order and by Confucians to refer to the moral order.
10. Legalism: Belief that laws should be heavily enforced, because without strong laws, people won't do the right thing. The belief that humans are naturally evil, and have to have strict laws and punishments to prevent them from being evil.

Zoroastrianism

1. Zoroastrianism
2. Dualism
3. Zoroaster
4. Ahura Mazda
5. Three Layers of Ahura Mazda’s Feathers: good relections, good deeds, good words
6. Ahriman / Angra Mainyu
7. 6th Century BCE: When Zoroastrianism was founded
8. 7th Century CE: When Islam became more popular than Zoroastrianism
9. Prophet
10. Freewill: In zoroastrianism, the people had the power to choose between working alongside with Ahura Mazda and the light, or fall with Ahriman into the darkness.

Achaemenid Persians

1. Satraps: The governors of the individual provinces, that divided Persia, known as Satraps.
2. Satrapies: The provinces that divided Persia, and were ruled over by Satraps
3. 550 BCE: Cyrus the Great (King of Persians) conquered the Medes
4. 559-530 BCE: The Time of Cyrus the Great
5. 521-486 BCE: The Time of Darius
6. Darius: Calling himself the King of Kings, who divided the empire into Satraps, lead by Satrapies.
7. 1000-500 BCE: The Time of the Assyrian and Persian Empires
8. 1000 BCE: Indo-Europeans migrated to Iran
9. Realistic Monumental Sculpture: Persians used them to show persians as being dignified
10. 600 BCE: Zoroastrianism takes root in Persia

Mauryan

1. 326 BCE: The Persian Empire Succumbed to Greece
2. 322 BCE: Greeks supplanted the Persians in Northwest India, Giving Chandragupta 
3. 322 BCE to 185 BCE: The Mauryan Empire 
4. Megasthenes: Greek ambassador sent by Seleucus who spent fourteen years in Chandragupta's court. His writings detail many elements of everyday life in the Mauryan Empire.
5. Chandragupta: Personally presided over court sessions, claimed all mines and forests for the state, controlled prostitution, and had kings in outlying areas of the empire pledge loyalty to Chandragupta.
6. Beaurecratic Departments: Utilized many departments that regulated many of the elements of Mauryan government.
7. Janapadas: Families in rural areas that acted as local rulers who: brokered trade, worked on public works, and enforced justice.
8. Panchagats: Five men who had the most power and influence in a specific city or town.
9. Pulisani: Public relations officers, who traveled around the empire, and reported public opinion back to the emperor.
10. Dharma Officials: Travel the empire, tell people to follow the dharma, and go to every house in the empire.

Axum

1. Aksum: A kingdom in northwestern Ethiopia that was a sizable trading state and the center of Christian Culture.
2. 200 BCE to 650 BCE: Time of the Aksum Empire
3. Tef, Millet, and Coffee: The three major foods of the Aksum Empire
4. King of Kings System: Kings paid taxes to the main king
5. Monophysites: Individuals who believe Jesus is God
6. Mahrem: The main god of their culture, who was believed to have had a convenant with Yahweh.
7. Gospels: The oldest gospels in the world are from Ethiopia
8. Sheba and Solomon: Were believed to have had sex with one another, and then stole the Ark of the Covenant
9. Coins: Aksum printed the first coins with Christrian crosses on them, in the world.
10. Betse: Fatal African sleeping sickness

Qin-Han

1. Three Ministries: The government during the Qin-Han Dynasty made up of these three departments: Civil, Military, and Censorate departments.
2. Civil Department: Performed public works
3. Military Department: Enforced laws
4. Censorate Department: Removed bureaucrats from office, who weren't enforcing legalism.
5. Civil Service Exams: Tests that allowed people the opportunity to become a member of one of the three departments of the three ministries.
6. 3rd Century BCE: They commissioned for the creation of a dictionary. Dictionaries standardize language and word meaning.
7. 105 CE: Paper is invented
8. Sericulture: Silk making. China was the only area in the world at the time that knew how to make silk.
9. Silk Roads: The many paths used by China to travel and trade silk.
10. Census: They took a census of their population, and utilized that information for military service and taxation regulation.
11. Mandate of Heaven: Was claimed by Qin-Han. Zhaou was the original writer of the mandate of heaven.